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Page 4 Section I Portland Obeervr, May 25, 1963
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EDITORIAL/OPINION
Profit motive denies medical care
The conscience o f the nation is said to be
measured by its treatment o f its young and old.
The fact that this country falls far short is most
evident in the area o f medical care.
A seven-month-old baby in Eugene was
nearly denied the right to life because his foster
parents could not provide $60,000. The baby
requires a liver transplant to live.
The State Adult and Family Services Division
first denied funds for the operation because it is
still considered experimental, then decided to
fund it.
The tragedy here is not just that AFS would
quibble about funding an operation needed to
sustain life, or that it would be forced to quibble
out of consideration for priorities of need. The
real tragedy is that such an enormous price tag
could be put on essential health care.
Money makes the difference between life and
death. Thousands of people in the country die
because they just do not have the money to
pay. The exciting new discoveries o f science
are not used to heal but to make money.
Daily on the news we hear of parents and
communities attempting to raise thousands o f
dollars for operations and other health care for
children while the medical industry holds out for
higher prices and greater profits. The inventors
of the artificial heart are already looking for
enormous profits at $15,000 a hit.
In a nation as rich as ours, health care should
be the right o f every individual and no one
should suffer or die because of lack o f resources.
Return MHRC budget,programs
Commissioner Margaret Strachan attempt
ed to justify her handling o f the Metropolitan
Hum an Relations Commission at a meeting
with M H R C Commissioners last week, but
failed miserably.
Her pleas that she is committed to civil and
human rights will fall on deaf ears as she tries
to explain how stripping M H R C o f its staff
and programs can strengthen it.
Strachan’s public position is that she wants
M H R C ’s role to be advocacy. I f she were even
minimally aware o f M H R C ’s activities since
she has been on the C ity Council, she whould
realize that M H R C is heavily involved in
advocacy— and in research, conciliation,
mediation, education, etc.
Strachan’s personal
agenda originally
appeared to be an effort to control M H R C ,
which is independent o f City control although
funded by the City and the County. The role
o f the Council liaison is to be a liason, not a
director. Failing in her efforts to control,
Strachan appears to have the total destruction
o f M H R C in mind.
She slipped a suggestion into her Tuesday
speach to M H R C , the idea o f making M H R C
a private non-profit agency that would receive
City and County funds. Whether this is a
smokescreen or a valid suggestion, it is
dangerous and should be vigorously opposed.
Although M H R C is a district C ity/C o u n ty
commission and has the independence needed
to monitor C ity and County efforts at equal
justice, employment, etc., it still has the
authority and integrity o f government. It
carries far more weight than any private non
profit group could. Also, next year the City
could decide it has other priorities and the
private non-profit corporation could be left
without funds.
M H R C must retain its official standing and
must regain its total budget and programs. It
plays an important role in M ultnom ah County
and the C ity o f Portland and should be
strengthened, not destroyed.
Ronnie's role
The Democrats could learn a few choice
phrases from C uba’s newspaper, Granma.
Responding to Ronald Reagan’s blatant lies
about Cuba in a speech in M iam i last week, the
Granma said the speech “ moves one to think
that some o f Ronald Reagan’s speechwriters
insist on giving the mediocre actor his most
ridiculous role as a discredited and mentally
dense President of the United States . . .
CM ««
“ M orally speaking, Reagan is not even
comparable to the bandits he killed in his
cowboy pictures.’’
The Williamsburg Summit:
U.S. against the world
by William Pomeroy
Judging by the heavy skirmishing
and exchanges o f fire that have been
occurring between the leading West
ern powers as their annual summit
meeting on economic problems
nears, the gathering o f heads of
government that begins on M ay 28
at Williamsburg, Virginia, could re
semble more o f a policy shoot-out
than a cooperative meeting o f allies.
Not for the first, the battle lines
have been drawn between the U .S.
and the other six countries (Federal
Republic o f Oermany, Britain.
France, Italy, Canada and Japan)
that set up the economic summit ar
rangement seven years ago as one
means o f trying to cope with the
capitalist system’s economic crisis.
As the crisis has deepened, each suc
cessive meeting has reflected the in
tensifying rivalry among partici
pants. especially the three main cen
ters o f the U .S ., Western Europe
and Japan.
A ll o f the principal Western
powers, faced by shrunken domestic
markets made worse by very high
unemployment and by cuts in gov
ernment spending that undermine
purchasing power, have set goals o f
maximizing exports.
The consequent growing trade ri
valry is featured by protectionist
measures, export subsidizing, and
currency manipulation, designed to
give each others' exports a competi
tive edge while curtailing imports
from "allies.” Past summit meet
ings have failed to heal the widening
breaches in the capitalist alliance
over these issues.
Into this situation, the Reagan
Administration, obsessed with its
desire to wreck the Soviet economy
has thrown the aggravating issue o f
halting East-West trade. This has
fallen like disaster among the allies
o f the U .S ., which see in trade with
the Soviet Union and other socialist
countries a major and welcome
form o f relief for their depression-
ridden industries.
Last year's summit at Versailles
was overshadowed by the row over
the Reagan attempt
to force
Western European countries to can
cel agreement to buy Soviet natural
gas and to compel Western compan
ies not to provide equipment on a
large scale for the building o f the
Soviet pipe line to convey the gas
from Siberia. The other summit
countries refused to submit to the
Reagan demands, defied the Reagan
sanction moves, and inflicted a ma
jor foreign policy reverse on the
U.S.
The preliminary sounds of battle
that have been preceding this year's
Portland Observer
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Political prisoner: The case of Summers
by Dr. Manning Marable
"From the Grassroots"
One clear indication that the U .S.
government is escalating its forces
of repression is the growing number
o f political-inspired trials o f black
dissidents.
Examine the case of Mack politi
cal activist Darnell Summers. In
1968. the Michigan Stale Police Spe
cial Intelligence U nit began surveil
lance o f D etroit’s M alcolm X C ul
tural Center, then directed by Sum
mers. The day after a state patrol
man. Robert Oonscr, was m ur
dered. the state decided to pin the
slaying on Summers. Policemen
went into the Center, destroyed
property, and seized membership
lists and telephone bills. Illegally
wiretapping Summers' associates,
they were ultimately unable to se
cure sufficient evidence to put the
black activist away.
In the early 1970», Summers be
came part o f a progressive political
group
in
West
Oermany,
"F ig h tback,” and initiated a small
band, "A fro d es ia." U .S. agents not
only were sent into Fightback to dis
rupt the organization, but even
threatened U .S. army personnel
who attended Afrodcsia's concerts.
Summers' new associates, his ex-
wife, and even his landlord were vic
tims o f intimidation. Finally, after
fourteen years o f harassment, the
U.S. government has extradited
Summers from Germany to stand
trial for the first degree murder of
Oonser.
The state’s evidence is admittedly
shaky at best. One "witness,” O a k
Simmons, was also first charged
with Oonser'» killing, and at one
time implicated herself. Summers
declared that the had lied because o f
police coercion. Michigan Judge
Joseph B. Sullivan dismissed the
murder charges against Simmons on
the grounds that the evidence was
weak, and that a trial fourteen years
after the fact was a blatant violation
o f any defendant’s Constitutional
rights to due process and a prompt
trial. Yet this same judge now says
that Summers must be tried for
murder, and even denied defense
motions to dismiss for violation o f
Summers’ right to a quick trial!
This leaves M ilfo rd Scott, an un-
stable inform ant whose medical rec
ords classify him as a "sociopath."
Scott at first claimed that Summers
was involved in the murder. Yet as
early as 1969, Scott also admitted to
the prosecutor that his testimony
was "nothing but lies" written by
police agents. Even on the witness
stand, police have stated that Scott
"has told so many different versions
that you couldn’t trust him to say
the same thing twice in the same
d a y ."
The criminal justice system has
pulled out all stops to convict and
imprison Summers. Judge Sullivan
has stated that “ it would not be
within the province o f this Court to
disqualify (Scott) and to strike his
testimony because he, at one time,
stated it was untrue." Judge Sulli
van even denied the motion for trial
transcripts to be paid by the state,
even though the coat o f thousands
o f dollars will m a te it difficult and
even perhaps impossible for Sum
mers to appeal his decision.
W hy are the U .S . government and
the State o f Michigan goint to such
lengths to place Summers behind
bars? H e it a member o f the Revolu
tionary Communist Party, a m ili
tant left organization. But one does
not have to be a communist, or a
revolutionary, to take a stand for
justice and civil rights. The tactics
used against Summers are being re
peated against many hundreds of
black and white community leaders,
trade unionists, and independent
politicians every year. In this con
text, the trial o f a Darnell Summers
for a crime he did not commit illus
trates the cynical manipulation of
the law to subvert and to destroy the
very basis o f civil liberties and civil
rights. For if a black revolutionary
can be imprisoned on such ridicu
lous evidence, can the harassment
and arrest o f progressive religious,
political and community figures be
very far behind?
Quorum of One
by Greg Wasson
S A L E M — Land use planning is
the kind o f issue that supports the
advice never to discuss politics or
re lig io n w ith strangers. O o v e rn -
m en t-m an d a ted land p lann ing
requires a redefin itio n o f the term
independence and a reth in kin g o f
the sanctity o f property lines. In the
fin a l an alysis, i f the state adopts
m eaningful guidelines, someone is
going to be to ld to do som ething
they don’t like.
Three times in recent years. O re
gon voters have said th a t’ s o kay
w ith th em , re je ctin g e ffo rts to
repeal the Land Conservation and
Development Commission.
O reg o n is poised to enter the
second phase o f w hat Sen. L .B .
Day (R-Salem) calls " a monumental
effo rt to bring sensible planning to
the entire state, not just the cities.”
D ay, who headed the L C D C in its
early days, says that as soon as the
local governments adopt plans that
accomm odate state guidelines, the
focus w ill return to the cities and
counties.
But, there’ s the rub. Some local
governments have shown themselves
unable, or u n w illin g , to construct
plans that pass slate muster. Rep.
Bill Bradbury (D-Langlois), a repre
sentative from the South Coast, says
the state needs to cut local govern
m ent some slack and loosen the
process up. He favors the approach
contained in H B 2295 passed by the
House last week.
Williamsburg summit come chiefly
from Western European and Japan
ese reactions to a crazily stubborn
effort by the Reagan Administra
tion to intensify rather than tone
down its drive against East-West
trade. Those reactions have a more
determined sound than they had last
year.
One o f the decisions o f the Ver
sailles summit (more face-saving for
Reagan than anything else) was to
prepare special studies on East-West
trade as a guide to policy-making.
In a typical move, however, the
U .S ., without waiting for the studies
to be finished, has rushed ahead
with its own unilateral steps to
wreck such trade.
Early in A pril, President Reagan
sent to Congress a bill for renewing
the U .S . Export Administration Act
o f 1979, which expires in Septem
ber. Included in the new bill are pro
visions that would enable the U .S.
to impose unilateral sanctions on
foreign companies that sell goods to
the Soviet Union and other Warsaw
Pact countries, sales considered in
imical to U.S. "national security."
The definition o f "national secur
ity” would be drawn up by the U .S .,
not by the western summit, and
(T h e Observer welcomes Letters
to the E d ito r. They must be signed
and include the writer's address. We
reserve the right to edit for length.)
T hat bill creates breathing room
in the land planning process by in
tro d u c tio n o f the concept o f sub
stantial compliance, where, to quote
the b ill — “ on the w h o le, the
purposes o f the goals have been met
and any failure to meet the individu
al goal requirements is technical or
minor in nature.”
Is "technical or m in o r" specific
enough language? Some think not.
The legislation is now property of
the Senate, and Sen. John Kitzhaber
(D-R oseburg) heads the committee
slated to deal with the issue. W hile
he agrees w ith B ra d b u ry th a t the
law m akers need to m o d ify the
planning process, he approaches the
task with a bit more caution.
" T h e tric k is to construct that
language tight enough so that, while
you provide some d iscretion, you
provide it within very carefully con
structed parameters. I'm satisfied
w ith the fle x ib ility provided in the
House b ill but not the parameters
that surround the concept and fence
concept o f substantial compliance.
" T h a t ’ s a bunch o f hooey. You
ca n ’ t be h a lf-w a y there; y o u ’ re
either in compliance or you're not.
The way to handle the situation is to
a llo w an e ffe c tiv e exceptions
process that says, o k a y , there are
some times when you can’ t fo llo w
the rules and i f local g overnm ent
can show how the good outweighs
the b ad , d evia tio n s should be
allowed on a case by case basis."
A ctually, there seems to be little
substantial d ifferen ce between the
concept o f substantial compliance
or an expanded exceptions process.
Either approach amounts to a grant
o f significant latitude.
“ I ’ d have to say th a t’ s tr u e ,”
agrees K itzh ab er, w ho allows that
discretion is the qintessential double-
edged sword. “ The question is, who
are you giving the discretion to?”
lan d ."
D a y, who serves on K itzhaber's
c o m m itte e isn ’ t impressed by the
T h e answer? T h e L C D C . I t ’ s
almost a given that this legislature
w ill grant the commission broader
fle x ib ility in saying how close is
close enough when it sits in
judgment o f local plans. The added
discretion w ill create the possibility
fo r backsliding and place more im
p ortan ce on w ho is g o v ern o r and
who he or she appoints to the com
mission.
G iven
the
co m p lex io n
of
Oregon's present executive branch,
that’s a disquieting prospect to O re
gonians committed to preserving the
things that make Oregon special.
would fit the Reagan reasons for
denying technology to the Soviet
Union. The sanctions would be in a
form o f cutting imports for such
companies. Also, the U.S. would as
sume the right to dictate to subsidi
aries o f U .S multinational com
panies in foreign countries its anti-
Soviet trade bans.
Francis Pym, the British foreign
secretary, issued a rebuking state
ment hitting at the U .S. for endeav
oring to apply extra-territorial con
trol over trade with socialist coun
tries. "There is a strong commercial
interest shared on both sides o f the
Atlantic in ensuring that our trading
system is kept open." said Pym.
Also, " W e feel our political inter
ests are very much involved and we
hope that they will be taken into ac
count.”
The former British foreign secre
tary, Lord Carrington, made a
strong speech to the International
Institute o f Strategic Studies in Lon
don. He said: "Indiscrim inate sanc
tions against the Soviet Union are
neither feasible nor desirable." Say
ing that Western countires should be
"ready to do business with the Rus
sians when it benefited both sides,"
Carrington asserted, " T h e notion
that we should face the Russians
down in a silent war of nerves,
broken by bursts o f megaphone di
plomacy, is based on a misconcep
tion of our own values, o f Soviet be
havior, and o f the anxious aspira
tions o f our own peoples."
Reporting from E EC headquart
ers in Brussels on A pril 29, the
Guardian correspondent wrote that,
"Diplom ats fear that further fric
tion could trigger a serious, political
crisis within the ranks o f the leading
industrial countries." The Guardian
correspondent saw disaster threat
ening the summit. A t Williamsburg,
it will be the U .S. versus the world.
it in.
" I w ant to have som ething in
there that says just because yo u ’ re
ta lk in g ab o ut a sm all area geo
graphically, that doesn’ t by d efin i
tion make it minor. A 10-acre shop
ping center in the middle o f an ex
clusive farm zone would obviously
be a m a jo r develop m ent even
though i t ’ s only a sm all parcel o f
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