ustxtxb_obs_1973_06_29_50_00013-00000_000.pdf

June 29, 1973 13 ALAN POGUE Photographer of political events & pseudo events, of people in their natural surroundings , Rag office 478-0452 Austin ID A PRESS 901 W 24th St Austin Multi copy service. Call 477-3641 Wallaces suspected a vile, raclib conspiracy and a royal snit was in the making. Although no written invitations were ever sent out, eventually the word got around to most folks and those who attended felt that a fair sampling had been there to speak. Skinnies on Connally Since 1866 The Place in Austin GOOD FOOD GOOD BEER 1607 San Jacinto 477-4171 MARTIN ELFANT Sun Life of Canada 430 Cullen Center Bank Building Houston, Texas 77002 A new crop of John Connally rumors has grown up in Washington to the effect that Juan John is not happy. The D.C. press corps is waiting for an announcement in the next few weeks concerning a change in Connally’s status. One source reports that Connally had not counted on having to take a leave of absence from his law firm and having to resign his directorships, that he wants the money. Another alleged discontent is that Connally came aboard the Republican ship during hard times, expecting and deserving the credit from Republican regulars such a move would bring, but he did not expect the Watergate case to get any worse. The situation has, of course, deteriorated even more since Connally announced his switch. Connally can either back off from this administration or plunge in deeper. There is still some talk of giving him the job of secretary of state, but the stumbling block seems to be Henry Kissinger, whose dislike of Connally is no secret. A fundraiser for the Farmworkers. Ruth Ellinger of the state AFL-CIO staff is throwing a bash for the United Farmworkers on Saturday, June 23, 7 p.m. to midnight at her home 2905 Richard Lane, Austin. It’s a buck to get in and a buck a drink. Sissy Farenthold and Irene Ramos Chandler will be the guests of honor and all the local libs, labs and rads are expected to turn out. A nice little set of bills we overlooked during the session \(and that we pick up now on the thin news peg that they’ve just been signed by the provide a little help for Texas tenants. The state is still far, far from the kind of progressive tenants’ legislation being proposed and passed in Michigan, Minnesota and elsewhere, but at least a beginning has been made. Persons 18 and older can now enter lease agreements. There is now a law governing the provisions for the return of a tenant’s security deposit, a long time sore spot. In college towns such as Austin, some less than scrupulous landlords have invariably managed to go through recently vacated apartments and find some degree of damage that they claim entitles them to retain the deposit. Other changes prevent landlords from locking-out tenants as a means of eviction and prevent landlords from shutting off utilities paid for directly by the tenant. Tenants are also entitled to know now who the landlord is or at least who acts for him. In the past, tenants who have tried to sue their landlords have been stymied by non-disclosure. The new legislation also straightens out the question of the landlord’s lien on a tenant’s belongings for unpaid rent. The lien must be contracted for and an itemization has been made of what is exempt from the lien. The credit for these bills goes to Sen. Bob Gammage of Houston and Reps. John Bigham of Temple, Luther Jones of El Paso, Carlos Truan of Corpus and Matt Garcia of San Antonio. A post-session effort to save us from a higher-interest-rate bill was successfully mounted by the Texas Consumer Association and Sen. Bill Patman of Ganado. SB 209 passed despite Patman’s attempt to scotch it just because it didn’t look quite right. A closer look convinced him and TCA President Lloyd Doggett that it didn’t look right at all. They set out to convince Gov. Dolph Briscoe to veto the thing, and he ended up doing just that. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jack Ogg of Houston, would have effectively eliminated the 10 precent usury ceiling on real estate loans. Lenders would have been allowed to spread out the interest “points,” the jiggers which have heretofore weighted the annual interest rate on a long-term loan toward the beginning of the repayment period. In one of the examples provided by the TCA, SB 209 would have allowed the moneylender to receive, on a $20,000, 20-year mortgage, .15 percent interest for each of the first five years, particularly if there is a declining principal balance. Of course, the principal balance is not likely to decline so much if the initial interest costs are very high. Proponents of the bill contended that if the loan is terminated prior to the agreed date, the moneylender would have to refund sufficient monies to keep the average interest rate within the 10 percent limit for the time during which the loan was outstanding. But the catch is that Texas law does not recognize prepayment penalties as interest: thus the prepayment penalty rate could be manipulated to wipe out interest refunds. Bookkeeping & Tax Service CU 503 WEST 15TH, AUSTIN 78701 OFFICE HOURS: 9 A.M. TO 5 P.M. AND BY APPOINTMENT ANYTIME 1111B NO III IN MB MB UN IN IN MI MI *FUTURA PRESS AUSTIN TEXAS Ft/TURA PRESS Phone 512/442.7836 1714 SOUTH CONGRESS Contemporaneous with the era of largesse in federal-land sales was a period of state-land sales that far outstripped it in prodigality. With both hands legislators dealt out their states’ lands to speculators. .. . Texas awoke in 1885 to find its vast public domain virtually exhausted, including the half of its huge holdings dedicated in 1875 to the public-school fund, which had “not received by ten or twelve million acres the half of the public domain thus dedicated.” It was revealed that under Democratic Redemption rule “frauds covering immense quantities of these lands have been committed. A Democratic commission’s investigation showed fraudulent sale of 700,000 acres in two or three years.” In all, Texas granted to 12 railroad companies a total of 32,400,000 acres, an area larger than the state of Indiana. C. Vann Woodward, Origins of the New South \(quotes from The Dallas Morning News, O a a I I I I I 11111 111111 I Ask for the Union Label on your I printing. It doesn’t cost you more, I but it shows that you care more! I P.O. BOX 3485 AUSTIN. TEXAS I