ustxtxb_obs_1968_11_01_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

LUXURY AT LOW COST IN HOUST N, TEXAS Corner Prairie and San Jacinto SINGLE RATES From ..4 $4 COMPLETELY AIR CONDITIONED CENTRAL DOWNTOWN LOCATION SPECIAL FAMILY RATES The SAM HOUSTON HOTEL J. S. Mickelson, President Manager In My Opinion You Don’t Have to Agree with Us Austin Well, this election year is nearly over, thank . goodness. The choices are not pleasant ones, not for those who are interested in meaningful, orderly change in our state and nation. The outpouring of letters to Dialogue in this and recent issues about the campaign bespeaks a deep concern about the future of our public affairs, a concern I don’t see forthrightly reflected by the candidates; they go on about “law and order” and “ending the war in Vietnam” as if that were enough to let us know what they have in their minds. Bah. Let’s hope some new politics are in the offing, as so many have so ardently wished this year. But, clearly, 1968 is not the year of new politics. To those of you who have been concerned about the Observer’s stance as, particularly, to the Humphrey candidacy, let me say we do not speak for Texas liberals; we speak to themand to all others interested in Texas and national politics. If you have cancelled your subscription \(about ten have cancelled in so because of our doubts aboul the vice president, you misconstrue, I think, what your subscription represents; it entitles you to receive our journal but we have never formed our editorial policy to conform to some sort of consensus of those who support this publication. To do so would run diametrically contrary to the free spirit we seek to nurture in this fortnightly. The editor speaks his mind; the readers consider his opinions, then make up their own minds. I don’t expect or want that most of the readership will agree with me all the time, and hope fervently that never will be the case. I do want to present my views in as forthright a manner as possible. This is valuable in a democracy; essential, really. We are not under the impression that our subscribers agree with every word in the Observer; by subscribing you don’t have a say in the editorial views herein expressed. You do have free and ready access to the letters MARTIN ELFANT Sun Life of Canada 1001 Century Building Houston, Texas CA 4-0686 column, wherein we earnestly try to run virtually every letter received, particularly those dissenting from opii2ions and interpretations published by the editors. A Good Word In these days of complaining about cops, of concern about the quality of the people we have authorized to enforce many of our laws, I think it proper to put in a good word for one police force which invariably, so far as I can deter mine, treats the public with the respect and courtesy due it. I refer to the highway patrol of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety. I was stopped near LaGrange the I have been stopped in my 15-years’ driving career by the DPS some six or seven times, I guess. Without exception the officers have been courteous, unabrasive and matter-of-fact. I think this speaks well, first, of the character of men who form the DPS ranks; but, also, it reflects clearly the value of seeing that our peace officers are well-trained. The legitimate complaints of citizens against their lawmen in Texas and elsewhere these days are due in part to inadequate preparation of those officers, including, mostly, not instilling in them an appreciation of the fact that lawmen owe the public respect, even citizens who may be breaking the law. New Left, Please Note A massive bibliography, listing all references in the public prints to President Johnson is being prepared these days for the LBJ library now going up on campus of the University of Texas here. Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals are being scanned for mention of LBJ. The Observer is informed, reliably I’m afraid, that our modest contributions to the public discussion of our president are listed in the bibliography’s “extremist publications” section. A Vile Canard I have heard it said that Texas Republicans are, this year, running “a bunch of guys named Joe” for statewide offices, the governorship and the rest. This is a Sproesser. And there’s Millard. And there’s. .. . G.O. November I, 1968 15