ustxtxb_obs_1966_09_30_50_00012-00000_000.pdf

Page 16

by

had begun, ten D.P.S. cars were parked outside the auditorium and several others were parked in the basement of the building. Credentials subcommittee chairman Garrett Morris of Fort Worth reported Ito the S.D.E.C. that Harris County conservatives had lost their convention because of a “fast gavel and voice vote” after three roll call votes indicated conservative control. “The subcommittee would not have hesitated to seat the Blanton [conservative] group” if they had sent a rump delegation, Morris said. The liberals, then, would be seated, but would name S.D.E.C. members for districts seven and eleven, leaving districts six and fifteen to the conservatives. Mrs. Carr, in rebuttal, spoke eloquently and with composure. ‘I was there,” she told the committee: “this is not what happened,” she said of Morris’ recapitulation. “When are we going ‘to learn in the Democratic Party of Texas that there is room for both liberals and conservatives? It was a known fact that the liberal’s had won the [majority of] precinct conventions. There were no protests in the 72-hour period for protests.” Conservatives, alleged Mrs. Carr, went to the courthouse and “pulled enough files of precinct convention minutes” to let the conservatives win. “They just checked the liberal minutes” and not conservative ones. “We checked all 280 minutes and found that there should have been 211 of them thrown out” because of technical errors. “I want to ask you,” she ‘said to committee members, “can your counties withstand the tests of their minutes? . . . So what’s this all about? The conservatives became concerned because the liberals had won and no one in the precincts had protested, so they [conservative leaders] had to do it for them. “Governor Connally has nothing to fear in this committee. What can these eight [liberal’s] do on the S.D.E.C. but express a minority opinion and it is a minority, though this may not be so after the next voter registration. Remember, the people you’re taking votes from today are experienced party workers, who wear boots that have marched working for the Democratic Party, and,” she concluded, “those boots may one day march over you.” Several S.D.E.C. members apparently were concerned about whether the Harris County 72-hour rule for protests of precinct conventions should apply. Gaston Wilder of Beaumont \(a proxy for Ann G. Evans, also overturning results of precincts for which no protest had been filed in the ‘specified time. Morris answered that this didn’t matter, as the requirements of procedure \(signwith a 72-hour rule in effect. Wilder moved that the subcommittee report be tabled, which would have sent the question to the floor of the convention. C. R. Johnson of Texas City seconded the motion. It failed by voice vote, several voting in favor. The subcommittee report was then accepted by another voice vote with only Mrs. Carr dissenting. She left to advise Harris County dele 12 The Texas Observer gates. standing outside. what had happened. “Remember who your enemy is, who did this to us,” she told her delegation. “It was John Connally and Waggoner Can-. Carr should be praying, because Connally definitely hurt him. . . . If I were Mr. Carr .. . I’d ask Gov. Connally if he really is supporting me.” “No deal,” a man in the crowd shouted. “I’ve got an idea,” Mrs. Carr went on, “let’s march to the Capitol steps and meet with the Valley farm workers’ entinel” “and elect him governor,” someone broke in. “I’m glad to be off the committee now, to hell with John Connally and his whole group,” Mrs. Carr said. The group burned its convention credentials, then began its march. Meanwhile, inside the auditorium all seemed tranquil ; the formalities were getting under way, although twelve minutes late because of the credentials deliberation. Delegates seated in Austin’s chilly municipal auditorium seemed to be largely unaware of the dissension that had been confined to anteroom’s and was finally being carried on foot to the Capitol steps, About 200 marched, including ‘perhaps 20 from Midland and a few from McLennan County. There the Valley ‘sentinel was greeted. “We’ll vote for everybody but Carr,” said Mrs. Carr. “Some liberals will go fishing, some will vote for John Tower.” Another Houstonian urged, “Get rid of Connally and his gang.” Resolutions were passed on civil rights, a state $1.25 minimum wage, dredging of live oyster reefs in Texas waters, permanent voter registration, air and water pollution control, and the recent auto insurance rate increases. Stanley Woods, who opposed Connally in the primary, and newly-elected state Sen. Barbara Jordan spoke. Mrs. R. D. Randolph of Houston, veteran of a previous state convention walkout, sent a message: “I love you all, and you did the right thing.” After an hour and ten minutes the rally adjourned to Scholtz Garten “to continue our discussion of democracy.” Back at the convention, Robert G. Rogers, liberal chairman of the Kleberg County delegation, saw the Harris County seats were occupied by some 35 to 50 delegates. After the roll call vote on accepting the S.D.E.C. report on temporary organization of the convention, Rogers asked party chairman Will Davis, who was presiding, how many votes Harris County would have; the county, Rogers said, was not bound by the unit rule, so could cast only as many votes as there were delegates present. Some widely scattered applause greeted this. Davis replied that only a member of the county delegation could raise such a point. Rogers retorted that Kleberg County would change its 17 votes on accepting the temporary organization report from aye to no. This made the vote 6,062 aye, 124 no. Rogers’ effort was the nearest the liberals came to disrupting the flow of the convention. Another try occurred before the platform committee, but had no effect. The Harris SDEC delegation seated includes liberals Burney, Mrs. Adair, Robinson, and Mrs. Evans, plus conservatives John B. Allien and Mrs. Marcella DonaldRobinson and Mrs. Adair \(former secretary of the Harris County NAACP were believed to he the first Negroes ever on the S.D.E.C. John H. Crooker, Jr., of Houston, supported the four liberal nominees being placed on the committee, saying they were “people of the moderate liberal wing.” But then all four liberals said they wouldn’t serve without their four collegues. THE GOVERNOR’S KEYNOTE address at the state Democratic convention was a surprise, and a significant one. He strongly urged the legislature to submit to the voters an amendment calling for a constitutional convention. He said the document coming out of suoh a gathering should be approved by the voters. The whole process could take as long as four years, the governor told reporters. The Connally-controlled convention gave another push to the idea, listing it first in its platform, and delegates applauded the governor’s references to the proposed change. Thus the League of Women Voters ‘members, who long have called for a revised constitution, now are beginning to be joined by conservatives in this issue. After the usual keynote address nods in the direction of past achievements, Connally turned his 30-minute talk to the subject ‘of a modern constitution. More than half of his speech dealt with this. He said the present document is cumbersome; it has been amended more than 150 times in 90 years and “In ‘the past two years people of our state have been called on to vote on more amendments to our constitution than have been approved for our federal Constitution . .. in almost 200 years.” The document is too rigid, Connally went on, as it requires an amendment, for example, to increase old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and other welfare payments. The constitution Is out-of-date; Connally noted that it specifically directs the legislature to regulate vagrants, requires railroads to locate lines within three miles of a county seat, disfranchises anyone who participates in a duel, and requires the Court of Criminal Appeals to take a three-month vacation each year. The present set-up provides a weak executive, Connally said. Elected officials have no control over 86% of state expenditures, and though the executive department ‘is made up of ‘several hundred agencies, the governor can appoint only one major department head, the secretary of state. Connally ‘took care to demonstrate that he understands why the constitution is structured as it is, noting that it was written by Texans who had ‘suffered misgovernment during Reconstruction and who therefore set up a government with limited powers. And “this is not to say that the constitution of 1876 is, as a whole, a defective document for guiding the destinies of our state. Our constitution contains ‘much that is good, much that is relevant to the conditions of today. We must realize, though, that in a complex society government inevitably becomes ‘more involved in various facets of our lives. It therefore must be able to react at a ‘pace comparable