Medford mail tribune., February 03, 1960, Image 5

Democrats' Platform Convention Reviewed
(Editor's note: The Demo
cratic party of Oregon last
week end held the first
party convention in the
state for about 50 years.
The Mail Tribune asked one
of the delegates. Marijane
(Mrs. Robert) Duncan, to
record her impressions of
it. Her report, slightly edit
ed, follows.)
By MARIJANE DUNCAN
We have had the unique
and invigorating experience
of attending, as delegates, the
first Platform Convention of
the Democratic party in Ore
gon. The enthusiastic response
given this innovation in Ore
gon politics by Democrats all
over the state, the press, and
the public, assures that it will
become a traditional part of
the program of our party.
There were eight elected
delegates from Jackson coun
ty, and eight alternates. These
were nominated and elected
at a meeting of the Democrat
ic Central Committee in De
cember. Our county chair
man, Frank Christian, and
vice chairman. Edith Rode,
were automatically delegates,
as was State Representative
Bob Duncan, speaker of the
house of representatives.
A preliminary meeting was
going on as we arrived Thurs
day, of the platform and reso
lutions committee, of which
Bob was a member. All com
mittee meetings during . the
convention were open to in
terested spectators, Democrat
ic or not. No secret, smoke
filled rooms here!
10 a.m. Friday
Bright-eyed delegates gath
ered under their banners
Jackson county was seated
way down front. There were
12 of us the first morning,
Frank and Phyllis Christian
of Talent, Mark and Louise
Norton of Phoenix, K. C.
(Swede) Wernmark of Cen
tral Point, Larry Sheehan of
Rogue River, Bruce Manley
of Jacksonville; and from
Medford, Edith Rode, Jo Hud
son, Marie Bosworth, .Bob,
and myself. Delegate Donna
Straus of Sams Valley arrived
that afternoon.
Bob Duncan nominated
Rep. Al Flegel of Douglas
county as permanent chair
man of the convention. Bob
found this a privilege, for Al
Flegel is not only a good and
valuable legislator, but a good
and valued friend. He was
elected by acclamation.
Every county' delegation
had submitted dozens of reso
lutions, which had been sort
ed into several categories:
education, taxation, agricul
ture, labor, economic develop
ment, civil lights, power, gov
ernmental re - organization,
natural resources, health and
welfare.
My committee was educa
tion, and we found we had
over 80 resolutions to work
over and consolidate for later
presentation to the platform
committee. (These were re
duced to 19 in education com
mittee and later reduced to
seven by the platform committee.)
secret diplomacy.'
20
DISCOUNT
At
COURTESY
CHEVROLET
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Tonight's Paper!
1:30 p.m. Friday
The delegates re-convened
to hear the keynote address
by Sen. Wayne Morse, who
began with words of praise
for the convention as an ex
ample of "grass roots democ
racy," and went on to criti
cize the' present primary sys
tem, particularly presidential
primaries which are held in
only a few states and cannot,
he ' said, be truly indicative
of the nationwide strength of
any candidate.
The senator urged the dele
gates to adhere to "Jeffer
sonian principles of democ
racy" in their platform, put
ting "human interests first,
materialism second." He de
tailed his own thinking on
some of the issues that would
come before the convention
and ended with a strong plea
for a "people's foreign policy"
which would bring interna
tional problems "under the
canopy of the United Nations"
and put an end to "dangerous j
2:30 p.m. Friday
Committees convened in
separate rooms, and those who
had not been assigned to com
mittees stayed in the hall to
hear short talks by several
party leaders. Former State
Chairman Howard Morgan
suggested that thought be
given to combining the open
primary system with the con
vention system of nominating
candidates, retaining the best
features of each.
Sen. Monroe Sweetland
spoke on the need for govern
mental re-organization in this
state. Sen. Alfred Corbett of
Portland outlined problems of
the aged; and Speaker Bob
Duncan summarized problems
which would face the next
Legislature and gave his ideas
for meeting and solving them.
In the committee meetings
ideas flew, with each section
of the state contributing its
viewpoint. Exchanges were
sometimes heated on contro
versial issues such as basic
school support, power devel
op m e n t, trade with Red
China, labor problems, and
welfare policies.
Some committees finished
by 5 p.m., others were still
going at 7. The platform and
resolutions committee, chair
manned by Kenneth Johnson,
young newsman of Salem,
and composed of 20 members
representing every area of the
state, was scheduled to meet
at eight to begin the arduous
task of writing the platform
to be submitted to the whole
convention in the morning.
S p.m. Friday
The platform committee sat
around the outside and inside
of tables placed in a U-shape
in a large basement room of
the Marion. Spectators and
reporters jammed the room
from the time deliberations
began until sometime after
midnight. Then the crowd
started to thin out. Your "re
porter," however, stuck it out
till after four, when the com
mittee finally, and wearily,
adjourned.
Each chairman presented
his, or her, compilation of
resolutions. These were read
one at a time; then discussed,
amended, tabled, or accepted.
Some became part of the plat
form proper, others merely
resolutions.
Upstairs, several stenogra
phers and five delegates
known as the "re-write" com
mittee, labored to put the
stuff sent up by the platform
committee into acceptable
form. Now and then one of
these people would appear to
urge both haste and economy1
- there were, they said, too
many resolutions and too
many words in those resolu
tions.
I was reminded of a session
of the Legislature when peo
ple start asking each other -
as they inevitably, do - where
on earth all these bills come
from, why do we need so
many changes in our laws
and government? The answer
is the same in both cases: dif
ferent things are: important to
different people at different
times. People from all over
the state come together with
their multiple and varied in
terests, desires, and needs. In
the Legislature, this results in
something like 1400 bills, of
which a little over half are
finally passed. In the con
vention, about the same per
centage of resolutions came
under the ax during that all
night session of the platform
committee.
There were moments of fun,
moments of tenseness and an
ger. At one point Rep. Barton
was heard to remark that it
seemed to him the committee
was not only trying to re
write the 10 commandments,
but the book of Leviticus as
well: At another point, teach
er members took umbrage at
the over - enthusiastic efforts
of someone to achieve the
economy requested by the re
write committee by peremp
torily tabling several of the
resolutions on education.
When a resolution directing
that 48 billions of trees be
planted during the next dec
ade was read, it was just too
much for some members. One
parsimonious soul suggested
that the word "billions" be
struck in the interests of prac
ticality. Rep. Duncan offered
a compromise: "Let's," he sug
gested, "just make it 'lots and
lots' of trees. The chairman
of the economic development
committee, in some discom
forture, hurried to explain
that the "billions" should
have been "millions' - but too
late. The committee had de
cided to leave reforestation
up to the gods, the squirrels,
and the forestry department.
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or. C
secure. We recognize that a
publicly-spent dollar is not
necessarily an evil dollar, and
that our state government
and federal government . will
be, in the last analysis, - a re
flection of the true philoso
phy of our people."
7 p.m. Saturday
Nearly 500 Democrats
crowded into the hall to hear
National Chairman Paul But
ler speak. It was, they say,
the largest gathering of Demo
crats ever in Marion county.
Butler, an attorney, has an
air of ascetic dedication. He
is eloquent and precise, con
vinced and convincing. He
spoke of the forthcoming
presidential campaign, care
fully avoiding the names of
any of the several well-known
candidates. He spoke proud
ly, however, of the man who
would be nominated on the
Democratic ticket as a man
who "would put human values
first, and referred to him as
the next President of the
United States."
And so the first Democratic
Platform Convention in Ore
gon was wound up in an at
mosphere of confidence, zeal,
and determination.
And we are already talking
about the next one!
THIS
COLLINS t
CHANGED m
AMERICA'S iV
DRUG I
HABITS! I
It JBest Collins
t mjO? ever tested!"
I used
Smirnoff
Vodka
instead of
gin.
Ten vears ago, the Vodka Collins was
an unknown drink. Today, thanks to
Smirnoff, almost everyone who drinks
at all knows and loves this tall, cool
CoDins-with-a-difference. It's one of
the delicious Smirnoff drinks that have
changed the drinking habits of America !
it leaves you breathless
1
You'll find smooth Smirnoff blends
happily completely with just about
anything that pours. Next time you fix
a Collins, try mixing it with Smirnoff!
NOTE: There's a world of difference in
Vodkas. Be sure your Vodka is Smirnoff,
standard vodka of the world since 1818.
VODKA
THE GREATEST NAME IN
80 AND 100 PROOF. DISTILLED FROM GRAIN. STL PIERRE SMIRNOFF FLS. (DIVISION OF HEUBLEIN), HARTFORD, CONN.
9 a.m. Saturday
Some of the late-working
delegates were not so bright
eyed this morning, but near
ly all of them were present.
Chairman Flegel, who had
given up and gone to bed
around 2:30 a.m., was as ebul
lient as if he'd enjoyed the
traditional . eight hours. No
time was wasted in getting to
the business at hand; and
there began a wonderful dem
onstration of democracy in
action.
All over the large hall, un
der banners bearing those
colorful, saga-provoking Ore
gon county names - Umatilla,
Harney, Multnomah, Coos,
Curry, Clackamas, Klamath
these people, the elected dele
gates of many other people
. . . farmers, housewives,
teachers, mill-workers, law
yers, lumbermen, business
men, stenographers, carpen
ters . . . read and listened and
discussed . . . jumped up to
protest or suggest or amend
. . . voted "aye," voted "no,"
voted separately, voted to
gether. All day long the process
went on, as plank after plank
was presented, debated, ac
cepted, or rejected. At the end
of the day a platform was
written, a vast sigh of relief
and satisfaction was sighed all
over the hall, and the. mem
bers of a great party . were
brought closer together in
spirit and in purpose than
they had ever been before in
this state.
Certainly, not everyone got
everything he or she wanted.
Certainly, parts of the plat
form were more pleasing to
some than to others. But the
whole was arrived at by the
marvelous process of democ
racy the exchange of ideas,
the compromise of one's own
desires and wants and needs
with those of other people;
so that no one is left out en
tirely, and all are helped and
strengthened.
And, at the very last, to
the surprise of the rest of us
in the Jackson county delega
tion, one of our own resolu
tions was presented to the as
semblage by the Speaker of
the House, and was received
enthusiastically and voted
unanimously as a separate
plank of the platform. We had
felt it was an important-even
vital - part of any platform,
and the others all agreed.
Here it is:
"Finally, recognizing that
many, indeed most, of the
above programs and .benefits
can be achieved only if we
are willing to pay for them,
we affirm our willingness, as
good citizens of a progressive
and 'forward-looking state, to
submerge our private wants
to the public good, to be our
selves willing to ; make the
necessary sacrifices to secure
those benefits for the people
which we " cannot otherwise
Chessman Hearing
Scheduled Friday
San Francisco - (UPD - Chief
Judge Richard H. Chambers
of the Ninth U. S. Court of
Appeals will hold a hearing
Friday in Tucson, Ariz., on
convict-author Caryl Chess-
mans latest petition to escape
execution.
Chessman, 38, is scheduled
to die in the gas chamber at
San Quentin Prison on Feb.
19. He has sidestepped seven
previous dates since 1948,
when he was convicted for
kidnap, robbery and rape in
Los Angeles.
Chessman filed last Friday
for a certificate of probable
cause, which would give him
the right to file a full-fledged
appeal with the court. He also
requested a stay of execution.
TO LAUNCH SATELLITE
London - (UPD - Britain will
launch its first space satellite
late next year from an Amer
ican base and using an Ameri
can Scout rocket, a British
space research scientist has
disclosed. Professor H. S. W.
Massey said a British delega
tion recently discussed the
project with the National
Aeronautics and Space Ad
ministration in Washington.
He said the satellite's planned
orbit would carry it over
England and Scotland.
Top Fashion News
9480
SIZES 12-30
Spring's coming! Sew this
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a dramatic collar that curves
gently away from your neck.
Buttons to waist above soft,
4-gore skirt. Short, 3A sleeves,
too.
Printed Pattern .9480:
Misses' Sizes 12, 14, 16, 18,
20. Size 16 takes 4?4 yards
35-inch.
Send FIFTY CENTS (coins)
for this pattern-add 10 cents
for each pattern for first-class
mailing. Send to Marian Mar
tin, Medford Mail Tribune,
Pattern Dept., 232 West 18th
St., New York 11, N.Y. Print
plainly NAME, ADDRESS
with ZONE, SIZE and STYLE
NUMBER.
JUST OUT! Big, new 1960
Spring and .Summer Pattern
Catalog in vivid, full-color.
Over 100 smart styles ... all
all sizes ... all occasions.
Send now! Only 25c
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