ustxtxb_obs_1965_02_05_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

teration of the party’s position” on issues, and other state resolutions adopted shored up that point. kof The President’s budget included money for the Dallas federal center and also money for a new VA hospital in San Antonio. The Dallas development was hailed, of course, by Democrats there, and John Leedom, the GOP chairman, made a statement suggesting in effect that the center was a bribe proffered to the voters by the administration. The President’s budget significantly did not include funds for the Trinity River development. . . . Sen. Tower said the budget should contain less for welfare and about $6 billion more for military hardware. Tower has a plan to let people put off paying 1964 income taxes due because of underwithholding. He says he will support some federal spending, as for conservation and highways, thus giving rise to speculation he is trying to sound moderate. vf Sen. and Mrs. Yarborough gave a re ception in Washington in association with the President’s inauguration and attracted crowds estimated by the Washington press corps at 3,500. .. . Yarborough and Tower together proposed making the Alibates arrowhead site a national monument. . . . Cong. Henry Gonzalez, San Antonio, has a new oil import-freezing bill; Cong. Jake Pickle, Austin, wants to bar the Federal Power Commission from assuming jurisdiction over intra-state private power companies and REA coops. . . . Sen. Yarborough is on money subcommittees for military construction, agriculture, the District of Columbia, legislative appropriations, and the Treasury and Post Office. Cong. Jim Wright is the No. 1 Democrat on an ad hoc committee to draw up the first bill to fight poverty in Appalachia…. Louie Mathis, Houston, has quit as Yarborough’s press man, taking a job in the U.S. Office of Information. 1# PASO, the Political Assn. of Spanish Speaking Organizations, intends to seek foundation money, according to a spokesman. . . . PASO backs Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz opposing the use of braceros in the U.S. . . . Roy Evans, secretary-treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO, is in Mexico for two weeks for international labor meetings, including one designed to solve the problems caused by commuters. . . . Larry King, one of our contributing editors, is now editing a Washington periodical called Capitol Hill. . . . Mrs. Mary Wilson of Dallas, labor organizer and an active figure in liberal politics in Texas, reported to police she was abducted, beaten, and cut on with small knives by young abductors who knew she was active in the Friedrich strike in San Antonio. . . V The Daily Toreador at Texas Tech says in an article by student editor Steve McGee that the campus is “dominated by fear.” . . . Cong. Olin Teague apparently told a Washington interviewer he seeks to represent some 70,000 persons living in southwest Dallas county under redistrict ing. . . . Gov. Connally reappointed Secre tary of State Crawford Martin, Highway Commissioner Hal Woodward, State Parks and Wildlife Commissioner Will Odom, and Jack Ross, member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. toor Several Episcopal clergymen met in Victoria to plan an “offensive” against the National Council of Churches and Christ in America. . . . The Dallas News “Weathervane” says Nazi organizers are making headway in Dallas. Guest Editorial From the Gilmer Mirror: “Gov. John Connally continues to have our support, but his opinion of competent public officials has lessened this support somewhat in the surprise and swift naming of Speaker of the Texas House Byron Tunnell of Tyler to fill the post of Railroad Commissioner. “Mr. Tunnell, a so-so law student, a soso legislator, made friends carefully and with a purpose as he became Speaker. He retained a conservative background, conservative enough to qualify himself as a Republican if the occasion demanded it. He represents everything the Democrat Party doesn’t, and President Johnson certainly is no hero of Mr. Tunnell’s. “We, speaking for the people, must ask a few questions. What does Gov. Connally owe a rather lackluster Speaker to reward him with such a powerful position? Gov. Connally, unquestionably the most popular Texas governor since World War II, should not have to cater to any clique, faction or interest. “Mr. Tunnel! in the past has never fought any big battle for programs that Gov. Connally espouses for all the people. What is the reason for elevating Mr. Tunnell? It’s a question many ‘little’ people are asking and will ask Gov. Connally. “The Railroad Commission, despite its name, is a regulatory body and it regulates railroads, of course, and transportation, but is also regulates the operation and production of oil and gas in Texas. This is what makes it the most powerful agency in the state. “Regulation of any industry by a state agency is for one purposeregulation in the public interest so that all segments of the public are protected in the operation of this industry. “The people who operate such industry, be it oil and gas, railroads, or television stations, should be a bit fearful of these regulatory bodies. They should be assured that the men who administer in these agencies will act for the public in every instance. “Therefore it is with some foreboding that we read that the Texas Mid-Continent says that Mr. Tunnell suits them just fine. If he suits the oil and gas lobbyists fine, the next question iswill he also suit the general public as well. Next: The Legislature The next issue of the Observer will be given over to extensive reports on the Texas legislature, which now has its business well under way. “As a rule of thumb, when a member of a regulatory agency DOESN’T suit the industry he is trying to regulate, he usually is acting in the public’s interest. We would have rather seen the oil and gas industry say that the governor’s appointee would bear watching. Gov . Connally, as popular as he may be, has lowered his esteem in many areas with Mr. Tunnell’s appointment.” Bound to Be Unfair I would like to object to your unfair comments about proposals to abolish the state ad valorem tax. No doubt your lack of the facts causes you to latch onto this issue as a liberal one. The state levies the same 42c on the $100 assessed valuation rate in each of the 254 countiesthe same rate on each county valuation less homestead exemptions. In Nueces County we assess at a relatively are helping operate a modern general hospital that takes care of the poor people, a county tuberculosis hospital, an up-todate juvenile department and welfare department, among other things. Other counties with fewer problems or fewer attempts to solve their problems operate on about a 10% assessment basis, which simply means that we pay more than our share of state ad valorem taxes because our valuations are relatively high. As a matter of fact we pay almost as much as Bexar County, which is almost three times our size. Bexar County voters chose a hospital district. When a uniform tax rate is levied without regard to assessment basis in 254 counties in Texas, it is bound to be unfair. While I would like to see it abolished altogether immediately, Governor Connally’s proposal is certainly an intelligent starter. Come out of that cloud of ivory tower February 5, 1965 15 SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW THE TEXAS OBSERVER 504 West 24th Street Austin 5, Texas Enclosed is $5.00 for a oneyear subscription to the Observer for: Name Address City, State This is a renewal. 0 This is a new subscription.