Herald and news., April 10, 1963, Page 6, Image 6

PAGE 6-A
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls, Ore.
Wednesday. April 10, 1961
EOSON IN WASHINGTON
Greater Love Hath No Man
Water Research
Center Proposed
Veteran constitutional lawyers generally
Relieve that the U.S. Supreme Court hates to
jae pushed into really fundamental, historic
'decisions like the one a year ago on state leg
islative reapportionment.
These lawyers feel the record shows that
the high court will duck the big issue as long
as it can, skirting the fringes by deciding
cases on technical or other limited grounds.
Even when, as in the spring of 1962, the
court finally does come to grips with the
central controversy, it frequently takes no
more than a beginning step and then sits
fcack to study the reaction throughout the
fialion.
' That was the course followed in the reap
portionment matter. The court merely said
i&d legislative apportionment was a thing the
federal courts could properly concern them
selves with, since it mighl deprive citizens of
equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the
Constitution.
There were no guidelines laid down. So
no lower court today really knows how far, if
at all, it can depart from a standard of near
perfect equality of representation and still as
sure "equal protection."
True equality, of course, must be rooted
in the "one man, one vote" idea which re
flects itself in legislative districts with almost
Identical numbers of voters.
Most advocates of this idea accept "prac
tical equality" as the best attainable, thus
allowing certain minor concessions to peculi
arities of geography, traditional city or other
political borders, and the like.
Over these differences there is no real'
dispute.
(Portland Oragonlan)
The House and Senate committees on
constitutional revision, meeting jointly, seem
to be spending more time discussing changes
to remove legislative "roadblocks" than dis
cussing fundamental principles of a new con
stitution. Those who say the commiltccs must be
"practical" I.e., produce a Constitution .
which will be approved by the necessary two
thirds majority of the Senate and House for
submission to the people, and will have at
least a 50-50 chance of adoption by the voters
are themselves creating certain risks, as
suming tay favor a new Constitution.
.The risk Is that those voters who support
the product of a distinguished group of citi
zens who drafted the proposed Constitution,
in whole or in most of its essential parts,
will be alienated by numerous revisions. And
this support may bo lost while opponents
will not be won over.
The Legislature itself should not for
get that it rejected, time after time, proposals
for a Constitutional Convention and insisted
on the privilege of itself submitting a new
Constitution to the voters. In other words, the
Legislature asked for it, and got the voters'
permission, In 1960, to draft -the document.
The Legislature clioso most of the members
of the Constitutional Revision Commission
which submitted the draft. The people, we
suspect, will expect the Legislature now to
submit to them a full document, unmutilatcd
in its essential portions, to replace the 100
year old, cluttered Constitution in existence.
It cannot be said that there is a con
suming public demand for a new Constitution.
But there is important support among public
leaders for the draft achieved by the Revision
Commission after a year and one-half of work.
And there is grave doubt that a Constitutional
Convention is either needed or that it could
BERRY'S WORLD
"U mid to be 'Afferent' to be
I'm juit out of the
Issue Before The Court
Where the controversy arises is with
those who argue that the strict population
formula for apportionment should be delib
erately modified to produce an overweighting
on behalf of the rural populace.
This does not mean, as so often still pre
vails today, a weighting that leads to domi
nance by a rural minority.
What is contended is that a pure popula
tion formula will leave the rural elements so
small a factor that their economic and other
interests will be almost totally submerged in
state affairs.
Many lawyers consider "interests" the
key word. They are not satisfied by arguments
that our democratic system protects minori
ties in their "rights," for those are not at stake
What the rural community or district needs is
adequate attention to tilings not a matter of
right for instance, a new earthen dain for
farmers, a measure controlling fertilizer qual
ity or governing mining safety.
The question: Would a legislature tipped
80-20 for cities and suburbs, apportioned on
a strict numerical basis, do the rural job?
It is no answer to say that in the years
of rural dominance the rural elements blocked
urban interests. Our goal can hardly be to
correct one wrong by perpetrating another.
.What weight to give rural interests,
where they are a minority, while still provid
ing Americans with "equal protection" in
representation is the issue the Supreme Court
must soon decide.
When it comes, probably next season,
it will be as historic as the ruling which broke
the long stalemate over this vital issue.
Whose Constitution?
produce a. Constitution as good as that now
before the Assembly.
The Senate and House committees are
working hard on the Constitution draft, hold
ing many meetings, discussing freely the pro
visions. But it must be obvious that it cannot
spend the time the Revision Commission
spent, and that the people will not welcome
legislative protectionism or throat-cutting o
executive or judicial branches. Reasonable
revisions, yes; obstructionism and major
changes in constitutional reform, no.
Some legislators are shrugging off the
whole responsibility, saying that a Constitu
tion has no chance of approval at this session.
But if nothing is done, probably the draft Con
stitution will be submitted to the voters by
initiative, if that is determined to be legal
procedure. Or, failing that, an initiative will
be launched to call a Constitutional Conven
tion to do the work the Legislature wanted to
do, and did not do meaning a delay of at
least four years.
We can only remind the Legislature of its
own words, Senate Joint Resolution No." 20,
51st Legislative Assembly, creating the
Revision Commission: "Whereas, parts
of the Constitution . . . have become obsolete
. . . and many conflicts and ambiguities have
been created by scores of amendments; and
Whereas, Oregon cannot adequately reflect
Its Twentieth Century attitudes in the frame
work of a Nineteenth Century Constitution;
and, Whereas, more than 350,000 voters of
Oregon in 1960 approved an amendment per
mitting the Legislative Assembly to propose
revisions to the Constitution of Oregon. . .."
It is time for the two committees to vole
on the main-line issues of the proposed Con-'
stitution, executive, judicial and legislative
(reapportionment), and thereafter to see that
their amendments do not conflict with the
clearcut principles delineated therein.
Al
tmployednou)
mob.'
manac
lly lulled Press International
Today is Wednesday, April 10,
the lOOth.day o 19fvl.
The moon is approaching its
la.it quarter.
TIk- morning stars arc Venus
and Saturn.
The evening star is Mars.
On this day in history:
In 1841. Horace Greeley pub
lished the first issue ot the New
ork Tribune.
In lBt!), Waller Hunt ot New
Wk City received a patent or
the safety pin.
In 1SM5, the infamous Naii con
centration camp at Buchenuald
was liberated by tlie 80th Division.
In 19ii2, an increase in steel
prices so angered President Ken- .
nedy that he stepped in and forced
the boost to be wiped out. '
A thought lor the day: English
writer Samuel Butler said: "A hen
is only an egg's way of making
another egg."
Si
By SYDNEY J. HARRIS
The constant theme of the
hucksters in the field of entertain
ment which today means mostly
television is that they arc "giv
ing the people what they want."
Those of us who deplore the
moronic offerings in mass enter
tainment are sneered at as egg
heads who arc out of touch with
reality. The hucksters insist that
not only are they giving the pub
lic what it wants, but that the
public loves it.
Both these propositions are
demonstrably false. As a glaring
example of their falsity, I cite
a recent syndicated television
column out of Hollywood with the
headline: "40 Nighttime Shows
Destined fur TV Ax."
The story said: "At least 40
of network TV's current crop of
weekly nighttime shows will be
dropped by summer. About half
of this number were series which
made tlieir debuts last fall."
If the hucksters know what the
people want, and are giving it
to them, how does it happen that
the majority of TV programs lead
so brief a life and undergo so
suddenly tragic a 'death? Why
is programming in such a con
stant state of chaos and confu
sion? Why is the search so des
perate for "new" material
which usually turns out to be
as ghastly and unimaginative as
the old material?
I submit on the overwhelming
evidence itself that not only do
the producers and networks not
know what the public wants, but
the public Itself docs not know
until it gets it.
It is a false assumption to hold
that the demand creates the sup
ply: in the arts and entertain
Variety Bit
ACROSS 44 Exclamation
1 Strain of triumph
5 Farm building 46 Specters
9 LiPht touch
40 Harass
12 Operatic solo
13 Toward the
sheltered tide
14 Pffore
15 Drawert
17 tergal point
18 Froien ram
19 Asvlum
21 Kind
23 Offspring
24 Mouth part
27 Church service
29 Nested boxes
32 Kind of gura
.14 United
M Small (lap
54 Valued
58 Entire
67 Allowance for
waste
58 Having pedal
digits
&9 Driving
command
HO Fowls
61 Sprightly
DOWN
1 Enervates
2 Verbal
.16 Malevolence
3 Number
37 Second vending 4 Kent openings
38 Fillip
39 Scoria
41 I .one Scout
Serine tab t
42 Knglish coal
6 Air raid alarms
7 Anatomical
network
fi Coiy spots
. L-i i irnn -v rim 'in '
1 3 5 6 17 18 I 9 110 111
T2 n i4
75 IS yj
k E3
21 22 -IS
24 2& 126 ! 27 28 jP 25 30 3I
32 33 " 3T 35
J6 ' 37
35 ""139 40 "1?!
42 43 I m 44 45 ' ' '
4737" 48 jr" 49 b0"5i52
53 h ba
3 57 58
59" 60 61
' I I I I I I I I IP
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
ment, it is the supply that cre
ates a demand. There was, for in
stance, no "effective demand"
for off-Broadway theater: but the
supply continued until Die habits
of theater-goers were changed,
and today off-Broadway theater
is the most vital and fi'uitful as
pect in American drama.
There is never a demand (or
anything that is good until it
comes along and takes hold of
people. This it cannot do unless
it is given a chance, unless time
and care and money and energy
and patience are expended upon
it. Advertisers well know this
there is no demand for a new
product, generally shaking, until
repetition and exposure over a
wide area and for a considerable
time generate such- a demand.
It is nothing less than a
downright lie to suggest that the
TV producers are giving the peo
ple what they want and the fran
tic activity in changing program
formats every few months expos
es this lie. And it is equally men
dacious to suggest as one re
cent book does that the viewers
on the whole arc "satisfied" with
their TV fare. If they were, tele
vision would not be the program
matic lunatic asylum it has be
come. ,
QUESTIONS
AND
ANSWERS
Q How do television waves
travel?
A In straight lines.
Q When was the American Le
gion organized?
A-ln 1919.
Answerto Previous Puzim
3U
10 Range
11 Trial
16 Kind of bomb
20 Annovs
22 Contests of
33 Man, for
instance
35 Envoy
40 California
volcano
peed
43 Direction
24Kscapei (slang) 45 Denominations
25 Persia
4A Male deer
28 Feminine
47 Vigorous
48 Have existed
50 Preposition
M Soothsayer
52 Whirlpool
appellation
30 I nit j of
reluctance
lift SRioBMlPQ m Hn
Willi
LETTERS
TO THE
EDITOR
Deserved
I would like to commend Al
bert Lynch, Tim Mason and Le
ora Egger for their recent letters
appearing in this column in ref
erence to scholarship aid.
Their courage in standing up to
half-truths and distortions and
their well written letters reflect
their own past efforts and seri
ousness in education.
These letters should encourage
even more scholarship aid and
public recognition as it is so very
much deserved by the respon
sible student.
The scholastic responsibility' of
today's students will be the only
deterrent to the (low of miscon
ceptions and fallacies brought be
fore the public by the misguided
and uniformed for whatever reason.
Phil Troyer,
1941 Del Mora.
Diffe
rence
Two statements by Secretary
t'dall of the Interior Department
following a 40-minute "survey"
of the area proposed for a na
tional park south of Florence
wiped out any gains he might
have made by his recent pub
licity -trip, complete with TV
coverage by a Portland advertis
ing man.
1. When asked if the park serv
ice would provide overnight fa
cilities within the park area. Sec
retary Wall's immediate reply
was, "No." These would be lelt
to private operators outside the
seashore, he explained.
This would mean that the 243
family campsites now maintained
by the U.S. Forest Service and
similar facilities in the Umpqua
Lighthouse State Park would be
eliminated although they are ex
tremely popular with the public.
The forest service has plans for
some 2.000 more family units.
These families, most of which
cannot afford to stop at motels,
would come here, take one look
and drive on. As it is thoy often
spend several days, enjoying the
dunes, the beaches, the lakes, the
woods and camping out.
2. When asked if he agreed
with the statement by Conrad L.
Wirth. director of the park serv
ice, that the proposed area which
includes many year - around
homes, should be returned to a
wilderness stale. Wall said it
was the aim of the park service
to return such places to a "prim
itive state."
People who live here know that
before long the area would be
come an impenetrable jungle mi
fast does underbrush grow in this
humid climate.
These policies illustrate the dif
ference between the National
Park Service on one hand and
the I'.S. Forest Service and state
parks on the other. The latter
two make use of the land for
the public whereas the National
Park Service locks it up.
Jack Parker,
Box KC3,
, Florence, Ore.
PS. Duncan's bill which just ar
rived includes the nationally fa
mous Honeyman State Park!
Bv PETER EDSOV
WASHINGTON (NEA - BiHs
have been filed to pave the way
for construction of a Sio million
water museum and research cen
ter on government park land near
the Washington Monument. They
were recently introduced by
Chairman Wayne N. Aspinall,
D-C'olo., of the House Interior
Committee, and Rep. Itobert
L. F. Sikes. D-Fla.
The exact location proposed is
13th Street and Independence
Avenue, SW., west of the Bureau
of Engraving and north of the
cherry blossom Tidal Basin,
known to all. tourists.
The proposed legislation calls
for the government to lease this
choice land for $1 a year for up
to 99 years to the Bureau of
Water Resources.
This is a private trust set up by
the National Rivers and Har
bors Congress, one of the most
powerful organizations in the so
called "water lobby." It usually
gets what it wants, eventually if
not immediately.
Bureau of Water Resources
proposes to raise funds by the
sale of bonds for construction of
a six-to-eight story building cov
ering the equivalent of a city
block.
Operation and maintenance of
the building would be financed by
rental of office and exhibit space
to the 50 states, federal govern
ment agencies handling water re
sources, and related private,
nonprofit organizations.
This is definitely something
new in the financing of govern
ment museums.
The $30 million aquarium pro
posed by Rep: Michael J. Kir
wan, D-Ohio, and approved by
the last Congress is to be built
at government expense, paid
back by admission charges.
Smithsonian Institution got its
start by a bequest in the will of
Briton James Smithson to the
U.S. government for a national
museum.
Money for the proposed Cul
tural Center in Washington must
be raised by private subscription.
The "Water Resources Educa
tional Building." as it's to be
called, is the brain child of Hon
'ry Holland Buckman, a Jackson
ville, Fla., engineer who has been
president of National Rivers and
WASHINGTON REPORT
By FULTON LEWIS JR.
WASHINGTON It lias been
a frustrating career that George
Armistead Smathers has spent
in the United Stale Senate.
Thirteen years ago, Smathers
moved up from the House of Rep
resentatives, trouncing the veter
an Claude Pepper in doing so.
In an early speech, he warned
that "today the Soviet Union is
moving into Latin America in an
attempt to fill the vacuum we
have left here." Few listened as
Smathers begged U.S. planners
to turn their eyes southward. Time
and again 170 times, to be exact
Smathers took the Senate floor
to warn the American people of
the Communist threat throughout
Latin America.
While Americans fawned over
Fidel Castro, the Junior Senator
from Florida warned that "Cuba
could easily become a prisoner of
the Reds."
When Castro rolled into Havana
in January. 1959. Smathers asked
Secretary of State Christian Her
ter not to recognize any govern
ment until Castro had held at least
one free election.
Hcrtcr brushed aside the sug
gestion. When Castro came to this coun
try in April. 1959, Smathers blunt
ly asked when he would hold free
elections. Told by Castro it might
be "three or four years," Smath
ers again warned of "this youthlul
Caesar who has peppered his gov
ernment with hard - core Com
munists." When Castro began seizing U S.
property with reckless abandon,
Smathers demanded to know when
the State Department would act.
It never did.
One year alter Castro came in
to power. Smothers was still a
lonely figure begging for' a get
tough policy by U S. leaders. In
January and February of I960,
he traveled throughout Latin .Am
erica and came baik with an
eight point program designed to
topple Castro.
He suggested the implementa
tion of economic sanctions against
Castro. "A man, who if not a
Communist, is certainly doing the
work of the Communists with the
direct help of the Communists."
When U.S. diplomats continued
to treat Castro with kid gloves.
Smathers lashed out at "sicken-
Harbors Congress for the last five
years. He is the first head of the
100-year-old organization who has
not been a member of Congress
or an ex-member.
Buckman has been working on
this project for several years.
His idea is to make this a
world center of water resource
information.
The proposed building would
house the world's largest library
on water and related subjects in
all languages. A legal division
'would concentrate on water laws
throughout history. A huge audi
torium would be available for wa
ter organization conventions.
Outstanding tourist attraction
in the building would be a 200
foot map of the United States,
with Texas alone measuring more
than 50 feel from El Paso to Tex
arkana. The map would show
every U.S. dam, flood control and
navigation development, every
reclamation and irrigation proj
ect, every river and harbor im
provement. Since there are thousands of
these public works and new ones
are being added all the time,
color transparencies of each one
would be photo-projected in scale
on a huge curving surface viewed
from a gallery 40 feet above.
Electronic viewing devices like
telescopes would enable specta
tors to view close-up enlarge
ments of any home state project.
The building would also be a
research center. Among the sub
jects Buckman has suggested for
study are the design of nuclear
powered, automated cargo sub
marines, improved lock and
bridge construction, elimination
of stream pollution and the
study of interstellar ice clouds as
a source of water for future
space travel.
But all this is dream stuff.
The immediate problem is to
get reports on the project from
Department of Interior, Agricul
ture and Army Corps of Engi.
neers. Aspinall does not intend
to push the legislation until he
gets this approval.
His bill also makes design of
the Water Resources Educational
Building subject to appioval by
the Fine Arts Commission. Au
thority granted in the legislation
would terminate if construction is
not begun within five vears.
Smathers Calls For
Curbs On Commies
ing appeasement," but policy re
mained the same.
Two months after the Bay of
Pigs, Smathers told the Kennedy
Administration it is "both wool
headed and dangerous to hope
Castro Communism will wither
away and die on the vine. West
ern nations must act now to ex
pel Castro before he wins his race
with time. "
Almost two years ago, Smathers
urged U.S. recognition of a gov
ernment - in-exile, and the crea
tion of an interAmerican police
force to deal with Castro sub
version. That the 'suggestions
were received coolly is an under
statement. In a recent major
speech, Smathers again asked for
creation of a government - in
exile, its leaders to be chosen
by a free vote of the hundreds
of thousands of Cuban refugees
now in this country.
He said:
"Once formed and established,
the Cuban government, under the
Rio treaty of 1047, the Caracas
agreement of 11)54, the Punte Del
Este agreements of ii, and in
fact the basic provisions of the
OrganizoU-on of American Stales,
could call upon all nations of the
Western Hemisphere for military
and financial assistance.
"With this military assistance,
they could begin to tighten the
noose on Fidel Castro. The gov
ernment - in - exile would itself
be abie to, with the use of PT
boats and other craft acquired
throughout the hemisphere, place
a selective - type blockade on the
island of Cuba, cutting olf the
supply of oil and other essential
items needed tor Castro's armed
forces."
Simultaneously, it could foster
defection within Cuba by provid
ing arms and munitions to those
w!w would turn against Castro.
Propaganda barrages could be
established wilh Cubans talk
ing to Cubans. Tiie exile govern
ment could ask for and insist,
under the above-named treaties,
that all Lalin American nations
give the boot to Castro envoys.
This would stop most of the
subversive propaganda now flow
ing out ot Cuba. The exile regime
could ask that all hemispheric
trade with Castro end. It is a
proposal. Latin experts agree,
both realistic and practical.
But is is doubtful that am one
is listening at Foggy Bottom.
1
'