ustxtxb_obs_1971_07_30_50_00010-00000_000.pdf

research has shown Malathion to be harmless to warm blooded animals. Adkisson said it might kill fish if sprayed in sufficient quantities directly on a pond. Bull! public statements, Preston Smith said, “Bull!” in response to rumors that Dr. Elmer Baum would resign as chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee. Then Smith’s executive assistant Otice Green confirmed that Baum’s resignation was in the works. Green said he and Jerry Hall, the governor’s press secretary, were already working with the SDEC’s nominations committee on a replacement for Baum. “We are determined that this time we should have a man with very definite organizational abilities,” said Green. William P. Hobby, son of the former Texas governor and president of The Houston Post, announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor on July 6. Hobby, 39, who has never before held elected office, is considered to have a good chance of winning. His father, the late William P., Sr., was lieutenant governor in 1917 when the late Gov. James Ferguson was impeached. The senior Hobby was later elected governor and served one term until 1921. Oveta Culp Hobby, mother of the new candidate, is a strong-minded woman about whom innumerable stories are circulated. She was commander of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II \(and is sometimes called “The Health, Education and Welfare in Eisenhower’s cabinet. The family also owns KPRC radio and television in Houston: Hobby is not expected to have campaign financial problems. Hobby describes himself as a liberal on social issues and a conservative on financial issues. He is close to Ben Barnes, with whom he visits frequently, and some observers think he will be Barnes’ unofficial choice for the job. However, with such close Barnes allies as state Sens. Ralph Hall and Wayne Connally still expected to declare, no one thinks Barnes will make an open endorsement. Hobby said he expects no help from Barnes. “He’ll run his campaign and I’ll run mine,” said Hobby. Hobby has held numerous civic posts and served on the Texas Air Control Board. He has overcome what was once a serious speech impediment. Post reporters are under strict orders 10 The Texas Observer Dirty 30 The Dirty Thirty, reunioning in Austin for a strategy session, came out with its own legislative ranking, based on 19 votes concerning ethics and reform questions. Most of the votes selected by a bi-partisan group of the Thirty were taken early in the session. The final vote on passage of the House redistricting bill was included, along with four votes on the appropriations bill. Some of the legislators now traipsing about the state claiming to have been great reform fighters during the past session look pretty silly by the Thirty’s ranking. Price Daniel, Jr., the liberal/moderate reform speaker candidate, didn’t make it into the top 30, though he does come in 31st. Rayford Price, another speaker candidate who claims to be gung-ho for reform, is even further down the list. He voted for reform four out of 19 times. And Jim Nugent, whose sycophants are given to calling him “Mr. Ethics,” got 0 out of 19 votes. The Menton Murray Memorial Award for a perfect access of Menton Murrayism goes to Rep. Menton Murray of Harlingen, chairman of the House General Investigating Committee, which is in the process of ferreting out All concerning legislators and Frank Sharp and NBL, and so forth. The five-man committee, appointed by Mutscher, achieved new heights of inactivity during the session. Four months after the committee came into existence, it progressed to the point of hiring a lawyer to help it investigate. And that lawyer is John V. McShane of Dallas. Now John McShane, until less than a year ago, was engaged in a law partnership with David Witts. And David Witts was named advisory counsel to the investigating committee. And David Witts is a hefty landowner around Terlingua and David Witts is the owner of the Texas Warrant Co. And the Texas Warrant Co. is the … ah , loan company for state employees. Now we wouldn’t want to suggest that Witts is close to Mutscher or Heatly or anyone else connected with matters about to be fearlessly investigated by Murray’s committee. \(For “Do you think the press has treated the public officials a matter of record that when a legislator of our acquaintance introduced a bill this past session that would have permitted state employees to be paid fortnightly, rather than monthly, thus obviating much of their raison d’etre for seeking loans, that bill was referred by Mutscher to Heatly’s committee, from whence, despite appeals for a hearing, it emerged nevermore. Having triumphantly found a lawyer, Murray began his investigation by sending a five-page questionnaire to all House members. Among the questions designed to get to the heart of the matter were: “Do you think the press has treated the public officials fairly?”, “Do you think the press has treated the public officials unfairly?” “Have individual papers or reporters been biased pro or con?” “Which ones?” “In what manner?” Murray sent his House colleagues a cover letter along with the questionnaire, the last paragraph of which reads as follows: “Please give us the benefit of any information or suggestions you have and if you can squeeze it in, whisper a little prayer for us. We need all the help we can get. Sincerely, Menton J. Murray.” Press awards Second Worst Epithet of the Month Award goes to The Dallas Morning News, forhaving described Price Daniel, Jr., as “the braintrust of the Dirty Thirty.” Aw, gosh, guys, didn’t you have anyone covering the session who knew who the Thirty were? Absolutely The Worst Epithet of the Month Award to The Houston Chronicle, for having described Gus Mutscher, in a July 18 article, as a “reform candidate” for Speaker. Oh, *#!&%$#t !, guys. And even &#!*+$#!!!! The adjective sheepish hardly does’ justice to the attitude of the fellow from The Houston Post, who pointed out an error in the July 16 issue of the Observer. It seems that the Post was not four days late on the Pentagon papers story it was only two days late. And just because the Post then buried the story inside, uh, well, uh…. In one of his more memorable to treat Hobby like any other candidate. Hobby told an Observer editor with some pride that Post reporters were the only ones asking him really tough questions at his announcement press conference. The mysterious Bank of Sark \(see Observer, fame, has at last been tracked down, more or less. Several readers were kind enough to write in and suggest the obvious connection with the Island of Sark in the English Channel. The Observer has been in correspondence with Charles Raw, financial editor of the London Sunday Times, about the peculiar institution and Raw’s investigation of it. The July 10 issue of Business Week carries a long piece on the con man’s bank, which is located next to a hairdresser’s on the Isle of Guernsey.