ustxtxb_obs_1971_09_10_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

16 The Texas Observer DO YOU TEACH political science sociology history civics economics government social science social studies literature journalism creative writing Your students may welcome the opportunity to receive the Texas Observer at special reduced rates for a semester. For orders of ten or more copies of each issue sent to a single address the cost for the semester is $1.75 per student \(including the 5% Classroom subscriptions will begin with the first issue in September and continue into December. Eight issues in all. In addition we will send, for each person subscribing, any two of the following widely-read reprints: MAY THE LOBBY HOLD YOU IN THE PALM OF ITS HAND / AUSTIN LOBBYISTS AT WORK \(May 24, REFORM IN TEXAS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE STATUS OF SEVERAL PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AND PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE \(Feb. 14 BEN BARNES: THE EARLY YEARS / SOME QUESTIONS AS TO MONEY LLOYD BENTSEN: HIS FORTUNE / HIS RECORD IN CONGRESS \(Apr. 3 Or, other back issues may be substituted for the bonus selection as long as the supply lasts. Send your order now to The Texas Observer, 600 West 7, Austin, 78701. You may revise the quantity as the class rolls settle, at which time we will bill you. We also invite requests for sample copies of recent issues for your students to examine. Washington and in Texas, that the salary increases of Texas state employes and teachers would not be affected by the freeze. They were told that written assurance of that fact would be forthcoming. But instead of written assurance of the right of Texas to carry through on the pay raises contained in the law of the state, the governor heard word via television that state employes and teachers were included in the freeze. So, the gov plucked. He did not, he said later, consult the lieutenant governor nor the speaker, nor Senator Bentsen, nor Senator Tower, nor John Connally, nor anyone else in Washington, nor, in fact, did he consult Crawford Martin, attorney general of Texas. Some people might think it odd that the governor did not consult the attorney general, who is the state’s lawyer. But other people tend to feel that perhaps the governor and his staff tend to feel that the attorney general tends to make decisions in accordance with the wishes of John Connally. Well, anyway, the governor went ahead and issued this proclamation ordering the heads of state agencies not to abide by the wage-price freeze. Now that presented another legal curiosity, because there isn’t anything in the state constitution that says the governor has the right to order the heads of state agencies to do anything. When your civics teachers tell you that this state has a weak executive branch, they ain’t just a-kiddie’. NEXT THING that happened was that the governor was all over the national tube. Opinion of the gov’s ability as a television performer seemed to vary according to the degree of familiarity of the viewer with the gov. Those who have been privileged to see the gov frequently felt he really did a rather outstanding job: he made no major bloopers, spoke excellent Lubbockian English and let his generally unnoticed sense of humor peep through. But those to whom the gov is a relative stranger seemed embarrassed by his performance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Oh, can’t you just imagine the reaction when they heard him in all those effete Eastern living rooms,” moaned an Austin attorney. “I don’t think I’ll leave the state for a few years I can’t take the hazing.” The case took on increasingly peculiar dimensions: it was clear that the governor could finesse the constitutional question of whether a presidential executive order takes precedence over a state law by convening the Legislature in special session to amend the law. According to the state constitution, only the governor can call a special session; he can do so whenever he feels like it and he can set whatever agenda he pleases. Smith explained on television that he was not even considering calling a whole bag of worms.” The governor’s Eastern inquisitors seemed unimpressed by the Texas House are seriously considering trying to impeach the speaker as soon as the next special session is called. In the meantime, the President’s men were not inactive. Ronald Ziegler, White House press secretary, issued a statement implying that Smith was being unpatriotic. Smith, in hurt astonishment, said, “I never thought of that.” He re-emphasized that his only purpose was to get the constitutional question clarified. He vowed to stand firm in his beard plucking. But that was before the Sunday papers came out. Smith took a unanimous drubbing on the editorial pages around the state. Papers that can ordinarily be relied upon to zealously defend states rights did not even mention the constitutional question on which Smith had based his action. Even The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal voted Smith into the `me first’ brigade, scratching, grasping, wrestling for preferential treatment.” The Dallas Morning News developed a credibility gap, finding Smith’s performance “hard to believe.” The unkindest cut came from The Dallas Times-Herald, which printed an open letter of apology to the President on behalf of all patriotic Texans. The Times-Herald even discovered that Smith was being supercilious. Supercilious and Preston Smith constitute an oxymoron. It ended on Monday and not with a bang. Robert Calvert, the state comptroller, faced with a presidential order to enforce the wage-price freeze and a gubernatorial order to ignore the wage-price freeze, had consulted the attorney general. The attorney general, in essence, advised him to obey the presidential order. Smith, who had said throughout that he desired only to see the constitutional question adjudicated, announced that he would not bring suit to get the question settled in court. He felt, he said, that it would be unseemly for one branch of the executive department to sue another. M.I. BIG THICKET MUSEUM Saratoga, Texas Open Saturday through Thursday, morning and afternoon. Support Your Big Thicket Association