Sbmtsomcii genfmel
An Independent Newspaper
4
Role of William B. Wheeler
A new round of conflict of interest questioning has
arisen as a result of the role of William B. Wheeler in
county land development. Personable, able and popular,
Wheeler is a member of the Washington Suburban Sani
tary Commission, a member of the Democratic State Cen
tral Committee, a member of the Council’s Coordinating
Committee, a leading zoning lawyer and is associated with
title firms that do a land office legal business as sub
urban growth continues at a fast pace.
For the benefit of those who do not keep up with
the intricacies of government, the Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission, in large measure, determines where
sewer and water lines will go. These lines, in turn, de
termine where homes will be built. Zoning lawyers are
those legal specialists who represent developers seeking
approval of subdivisions which must follow water and
sewer lines. The Council Coordinating Committee is a
powerful group of key officials who meet periodically to
review problems of county-wide scope, particularly those
that relate to development problems involving County
agencies. A close look at where sewer lines are going is
one of the group’s major functions. On the coordinating
Committee, beside Mr. Wheeler, are County Manager Ma
son Butcher, School Superintendent C. Taylor Whittier,
and J. Newton Brewer, vice chairman of the Maryland-
National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Mr.
Wheeler’s business interests, as a result of his association
, with title firms, are keyed heavily to county growth. As
a member of the Democratic State Central Committee he
sits in a policy-making position within the Democratic
Party and, of course, in Montgomery County as in most
areas, politics and government often are rather closely
intertwined.
Accordingly, it must be difficult at times, to say the
least, for Mr. Wheeler to decide with a clear conscience
at what point his personal interests may clash rather
violently with his public responsibilities. This is called
conflict of interest and is a problem that has and will
for a long time beset good government.
In some cases Mr. Wheeler has no problem in de
ciding his role. This is when the Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission approves costly sewer lines to a de
veloper who is a client erf Mr. Wheeler’s in his capacity
as a zoning lawyer. In such cases, Mr. Wheeler sits mute
during a meeting of the Sanitary Commission while his
colleagues discuss the question. He does not participate
in such decisions. To do so would make a mockery of
government. Because of his silence and inaction due
to his deep personal involvement in the case he is de
priving the public of representation on the Sanitary Com
mission that it needs and deserves.
A further complication for Mr. Wheeler arose last
week when he disclosed he is one-third owner of a 60-
acre tract in the path of a proposed sewer to Olney that
would make possible an 824-home development. In that
case, which could not be approved unless sewer lines were
extended to the development, he was the attorney rep
resenting the developer in trying to win approval of a
preliminary subdivision plan. He also was the lawyer
representing Cherry Valley Estates subdivision, near Ol
ney, which could not be built without sewer lines (which
were approved).
Mr. Wheeler’s actions, we are confident, have not at
any time violated any law. We are certain he would not
consider doing anything illegal. But by his actions he
has raised questions from the public as to whether spe
cial favors may have been granted. We ask such ques
tions ourselves. But such public questions are never
answered. Because of this, doubt lingers in the mind of
the questioner. And public confidence in good govern
ment where no special favors are granted is undermined.
It is possible, as has been pointed out by the Mont
gomery County Citizens Planning Association again and
again “avoid the obvious and unnecessary handicaps im
posed on the planning process by the appointment of men
whose personal fortunes are known to be bound up with
the development of the very land they are responsible
for planning.”
The Chasm Widens
The yawning fissure that sometimes separates the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commis
sion and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
on land development policies with the County Council
in the middle walking a tight rope ls again illustrated
by the outbreak this week of strong differences between
them over extension of sewer lines to land in Olney owned
by a Prince Georges County developer who wants to put
up an 824-home development there.
Happily, the County Council does have final veto
authority over sewer line extensions but that was a hard
won victory after many years of struggling to gain it and
it is only of fairly recent vintage. Until this veto author
ity was won—and to a large extent even now the M
NCPPC and the WSSC determined growth and develop
ment patterns through their almost independent planning
and utility line powers. Yet, as was recently pointed out
in the report of Public Administration Service, it is
and should be the responsibility of the elected council
men, not the appointed planners and sewer and water line
officials, to decide how and where the county is going to
grow. Much more coordination of these all-important func
tions is needed.
Meanwhile, the latest plan of the WSSC to extend sew
er lines through more than seven miles of rural land to
reach the land of a developer located inside the Patuxent
River Watershed and outside of the district within which
the WSSC is supposed to operate seems so silly on the face
of it that we trust the County Council will give it short
shrift when the time comes to approve or disapprove the
proposed sewer line extension.
City Responsibility
We have every reason to believe Russell L. Montney,
planning and urban renewal director in Rockville, and the
Mayor and Council at the County Seat are well-informed
on the single hair which divides success and failure of
urban renewal.
We know also the urban renewal director and city
heads are subjected to continuing pressures from individ
uals and groups who seek special favors for special in
terests.
Further, we know all governing bodies sit in the hot
Thursday August 2, I9i
Any Rabbits In Any of These .. .?
■ t . .j,,.-., . ais —nn fm numrtHuumuil
Letters To The Sentinel
The Public Forum
Gilts Petitions
Your readers were Intro
duced to the Giles-Johnson De
fense Committee by your ex
cellent news account and edi
torial last week.
Those who would like to re
ceive more detailed or last
minute information, or who
would help circulate the peti
tion for clemency are invited
to give their names to our
Secretary, Mrs. R. J. Gleason,
14724 Westbury Road, Rock
ville 13, Md.
Mrs. Howard F. Ross, Chrmn.
Giles-Johnson Defense Comm.
Extreme Sentence
The Sentinel of July 26, car
ried a well prepared and fac
tual front-page story regard
ing the formation of a citizen’s
group to aid in changing the
death sentences of the Giles
brothers. The story is both
shocking and hopeful! There
is a thread of understanding
here for which all thinking
Montgomery County citizens
will be grateful. Nothing hurts
a court community worse than
a miscarriage of justice. While
we are shocked by the extreme
sentence of Judge James H.
Pugh, we appreciate the volun
tary efforts of Mrs. Howard
F. Ross which bring a hopeful
contrast beyond general expec
tations.
No mere sentimentalist, Mrs.
Ross is specially qualified to
exercise leadership of this new
committee. To search for and
find unused evidence amid the
various rumors, assumptions
and probable prejudices which
contributed to such a sentence,
requires training and integrity.
These are enhanced by Mrs.
Ross’ natural sense of fairness
and her modesty. Who is this
capable woman?
A graduate of Carleton Col
seat and, at times, “give a little” to quiet the clamor . . .
especially if giving-a-little does not appear to affect the
general welfare to any great extent.
Rockville’s urban renewal plan, first in Montgomery
County, is in the spotlight. The present city government
has done a remarkable, efficient job of coping with prob
lems of growth in the past eight years. It has accomplished
much for the city. Failure of urban renewal, especially in
view of a now apparent trend toward convincing towns
and other special districts to sacrifice charters and go un
der county government, is unthinkable.
We feel seeds of failure for urban renewal in Rock
ville have been sown and that others are about to lie
broadcast.
Rockville approached urban renewal on the premise
that decay and blight had afflicted its central business
area a high tax district. Focus has been and is ... on
downtown Rockville. What happens will be “Big News.”
It now becomes incumbent on city fathers to erect
every safeguard against failure. The most important safe
guard it can erect is a hold-the-line stand against recom
mending or granting any commercial zoning within the
city limits until urban renewal plans are shaped up.
Pressures to grant commercial zoning exist. Accusa
tions of holding up progress and inconveniencing small
neighborhoods and areas will be levelled. As time lags
for unveiling of urban renewal plans, pressures will in
crease.
In this respect, city officials must not lose sight of
the over-all picture, the general welfare of the city, and
the ultimate objective .... a well-planned, prosperous
central business district that will pay heavy taxes and
equalize the tax burden on home owners.
In particular, we emphasize that granting of zoning
which will permit construction of any shopping center
within the city, large or small, whittles away at the eco
nomic foundations of the very area which, hopefully, city
fathers would rebuild and preserve.
We believe Rockville has wise government that will
neither shrink from nor duck the responsibilities it created
by coming up with the idea of urban renewal in the first
place.
lege, Minn., she specialized in
Political Economy prior to her
training in Public Administra
tion at the University of Cin
cinnati. She holds a Phi Beta
Kappa Key. Mrs. Ross is the
wife of Howard F. Ross, a De
Pauw University graduate who
also received his M.A. from the
University of Cincinnati. They
are the parents of two teen-age
daughters. Mr. Ross believes in
his wife and works most loy
ally to assist in meetings she
has called as does the eldest
daughter, an advanced student
at Goucher. Their family home
where Mrs. Ross was doing the
ironing when I called for this
information is the meeting
place and symbol of true
American democracy.
We who take pride in Mont
gomery County and believe in
justice will do well to get in
touch with committee mem
bers having petitions to be
signed, asking Gov. J. Millard
Tawes to commute these harsh
sentences of Judge Pugh.
Mrs. C. A. Bernhard
On Gilas Case
Every time it comes clearly
to my attention that someone
is to be executed—be it Caryl
Chessman, or an unknown
Hungarian sentenced to stran
gulation for opposing the state
—I go thru a certain amount
of anguish. This is perhaps
the result of having read
Oscar Wilde’s "The Ballad of
Reading Gaol” once too often.
It’s a childish reaction, but
anyhow I’m troubled.
In the case of the young
Giles brothers, described in
your editorial last week,
there’s a more substantive
basis for concern. About the
same time as these boys were
sentenced, it was the duty of
Judge Katherine Lawler Shook
to impose sentence on Carl
Estep, a very brutal rapist.
Her reasoned sentence of life
imprisonment instead of death
was most carefully drawn.
Judge Pugh’s brief sentence of
death for John and James
Giles stands out in contrast.
From studying the tran
script of the trial, it seemed
to me that the Giles brothers
acted as well as rapists can, if
that makes any sense. In spite
of the repulsiveness of the of
fense, the motivation was sim
ple, irresponsible passion un
complicated by brutality, and
there appears to be some doubt
as to whether the older brother
(22) is actually guilty. The 16
year old victim submitted to
her unhappy plight with no
little calm and cooperation,
and evidently survived the or
deal with as few after effects
as possible.
Why then the sentence of
death by Judge Pugh and the
declaration that the court
would show no mercy? The
only way I can understand this
is that his moral code must be
very stern. He may have felt
in this sentence, much as many
consciencious judges before
him at other times and places
who meted out death to pick
pockets and cattle thieves, that
the only way to stamp out an
unpardonable crime is to treat
the perpetrators as severely
as possible.
Perhaps he is right, and we
are all the safer for his action.
Yet the sentence leaves me un
comfortable. I would hope that
others might find time to
study the transcript and reach
their own conclusions.
Harold A. Knapp, Jr.
PAS Review
The League of Women Vot
ers of Montgomery County has
awaited with interest comple
tion of the Public Administra
tion Service study of Mont
gomery County government.
Since adoption of the Char
ter in 1948, the county has
experienced unprece
dented growth and has
changed from a suburban
community to an urban cen
ter. with a responsible role to
play as a part of a great me
tropolitan area. It is necessary
to inquire into the adequacy
of the goveniment, established
thirteen yea is ago, to meet the
new conditions and our future
neews. The question is a mat-
Established 1855
by Matthew Fields
Published by
MORKAP PUBLISHING CO.
ROGER B. FARWUHAR
Editor and General Manager
LEONARD KAPILOFF
Publisher
BERNARD KAPILOFF
President
ELLY BRADLEY
Associate Editor
KENNETH CURRAN
Advertising Director
MICHAEL R. McDADE
Circulation Manager
Member Audit Bureau of Circulation,
Maryland Press Association. Afflllata
member National Editorial Association.
Published every Thursday at 215 E.
Montgomery Ave., Rockville, Md.
Entered as second class matter at
Post Office, Rockville. Maryland, under
Act of Cong! ess, March 3, 1873.
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Telephone: GArden 4-7700
Mailed la Mary land and the
Welsh Rare Bit
Roadrunner Golfers All
There are times when I feel that I, with
all others of the human race, have been
dumped upon the planet earth, without rule
or compass, and am unable to govern my
self or my destiny. I also feel that this con
dition is meant to last until the bureaucratic
moralist arises and discovers that the chief
end of mankind Is happiness, and that the
way to secure happiness is to form a govern
ment which appoints a commissiion which
forms a committee which selects a sub-com
mittee to frame a body of rules which all Mun
gummery Countians must obey to gain hap
piness.
But until this happy time comes, I must
wait until the rules are published and shall
continue to seek my own happiness by my
own methods. And one of these methods is
learning to play this challenging, annoying,
frustrating, damnable and delightful game
of golf. One cannot make his own rules on
the golf course (although I have been tempted
to use a hand-mashie from the cat-tails off
number ten at River Road), but the rules
which govern golf, although as inflexable as
the law of the Medes and the Persians, are
not as onerous as bureaucratic laws. Further
more, the cost of golf is called “green fees or
dues” and never taxes. As a matter of fact,
“dues” can be arranged so that “taxes” are
reduced.
One of the reasons that we boys in
men’s clothing play this game is because
we generally like each other. In the adult
world of the law, men can seldom really
show they like each other, and that old
maxim “Heres to my partner and friend,
good and true; you cheat him before he
cheats you.” generally dominates social
connections.
I belong to a gaudy group of road run-
From This Angle
Deliberate Senators, Deliberate!
by Les Kimble
The Senate Judiciary Committee is hold
ing hearings on a variety of proposals for
counteracting the alleged effects on our re
ligious heritage of the recent Supreme Court
decision on prayer in the public schools. Sen.
J. Glenn Beall of Maryland is sponsoring,
with 14 other Senators, an amendment to the
Constitution saying that nothing in the Con
stitution should be construed to prohibit pub
lic schools from providing for voluntary par
ticipation in nonsectarian prayers.
The key word is nonsectarian. What is
a nonscctarian prayer? One made up by gov
ernment officials as was the case with the
New York State Board of Regents prayer
that the Supreme Court just threw out? Is
such a prayer one that a majority of religions
can agree on? How large should the majority
be? 51% 66 2 3 % 75% 90%?
Let the Senators consider the case
of a single Protestant child In a public
school room full of Catholic children.
Let the teacher lead the children in an ob
viously Catholic prayer. Would the Sen
ators consider that the Protestant parents
had a legitimate protest? Would the Sen
ators consider a protest still legitimate if
the Protestant child were forced to leave
the room every morning to avoid hearing
a prayer alien to his faith? Or reverse
the situation and let it be a single Cath
olic child listening to an obviously Prot
estant prayer
I believe that most Americans would
agree that such an arrangement should not
be allowed to continue. If this is true for
Catholic or most Protestant school children,
should it not hold true for a religious minori
ty, no matter how small that minority may
be? Should we penalize children of certain
religious minorities by making them leave the
room of a public school to avoid hearing a
prayer alien to their faith? Or should we
just make them sit through it without tak
ing part? How large does the minority have
to be before the same consideration is given
to them that is given to the major Protestant
and Catholic groups?
Is it possible that an arrangement al
lowing the majority to determine the content
of prayer in a public school would some day
produce in the various states having one pre
dominating religion a public school system
devoted to one religious faith? Say the Mor-
tor of concern to every
thoughtful citizen.
The County Council is to he
commended for initiating a
comprehensive review of gov
ernment organization and oper
ations in terms of intergovern
mental relationships. The Pub
lic Administration Service,
which it engaged to conduct
the six-month study, is a non
profit, non-political organiza
tion with a nationwide reputa
tion as consultants on prob
lems of local government.
The first volume of a two
part final report was released
July 17. It contains 108 recom
mendations for changes to be
considered in structure and op
eration of the county govern
ment. The second volume of
the report will be released in
mid-August. We believe the
full report and its recommen
dations should be the subject
of careful study by citizens
and Interested organizations
before judgments are made on
its merits.
Within hours of the release
of the first volume, it was de
nounced as ridiculous, prepos
terous and politically moti -
vated. Some critic* implied
by Barney Welsh
ners. Only a few of us play golf very well,
and all of us have our weaknesses. The only
golfer who has no weakness at River Road
is the coach, Jim Hightower, and he never
plays. There is one left-handed professor of
law who can control everything about his
game except his temper, and that fact that
he converted to playing right-handed has not
cured his left-lobed temper. Then there is the
famous radiologist of Suburban Hospital who
shot an 84 and fainted when he added up the
score. There is a real estate expert at the
Washington Post who is called “Automatic”
because of his deadly putts, and we have a
retired Colonel who commutes from Ft. Meade
to River Road. Rumor has it that a ten-foot
putt is a gimme for him at River Road—where
there are no generals.
Then there U “Big Mack” the stone
man. “Big Mack” tips the beam at nearly
as much as he Is across the beam, and,
when he hits the ball from the tee, It has
been known to go 300 yards—and wind
up back of the tee.
Even the staff is colorful. Several of
them can jump over the bar like Brummel,
the Russian highjumper, to avoid the Club
mascot: a Great Dane who ate his first man
when just a puppy.
Of course there are ladies who play the
game. There is a foursome which made itself
famous last Sunday by being played through
by five other foursomes: and these other
foursomes were not so fast either.
Of course we have our real golfers. But
they seldom play with us: they being young,
ramstuginious men, all of them unmarried
and being deeply entrenched heterosexuals
and rapid road-runners. And so this is why
we were dumped on earth: and its a nice
place, at that.
mon religion in Utah, the Baptist religion In
some Southern states, and the Catholic re
ligion in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Mas
sachusetts?
What some Senators seem to be Im
plying Is that those religious minorities
who don’t agree with the religious pray
ers provided by the government, or by
some religious leaders approved by the
government, will just have to lump It or
order their children from the public school
room every morning when the “nonsec
tarian” prayer is said. Do the distin
guished gentlemen of the Senate of the
United States of America realy mean this?
In the Everson Bus case the Supreme
Court said: “No tax in any amount, large or
small, may be levied to support any religious
activities or institutions, whatever they may
be called, or whatever form they may adopt
to teach or practice religion.” This statment
was repeated In the famous McCollum case
by the Court. During the Catholic drive for
aid to their parochial schools this statement
was dismissed by some Catholics as mere
dicta, not binding as the words of a regular
decision are. In the Torcaso case, Justice
Black, speaking for a unanimous Court,
quoted the above statement, saying, "We were
urged to repudiate as dicta” these sentiments.
“We decline to do this . . .” That took care
of the dicta claim.
Since some members of the Senate ap
parently belive that the recent Supreme Court
decision regarding prayers in the public
schools threatens our religious heritage, let
the U.S. Senate examine the words of the
Supreme Court quoted above and tell the
American people what word or words of the
Court they would change.
The Senate of the United States Is now
considering action to change the effects of
the Supreme Court decision made in the light
of the Courts view of the First Amendment
to our Constitution. That First Amendment
is part of our Bill of Rights. That First
Amendment guarantees our freedom of re
ligion, freedom of press, freedom of speech,
the right of people peaceably to assemble,
and the right of the people to petition the
government for a redress of grievances. Let
the members of the Senate consider with
great care any action taken that bears on
these rights. Deliberate, Senators, deliberate.
that the 108 recommendations
were intended to be a package
of reform to lie put into effect
immediately. Such reactions
reveal either lack of time or
unwillingness to make a fair
appraisal of the report. They
suggest a greater interest in
maintaining the status quo
than in the welfare of the
county as a whole.
The League Of Women Vot
ers of Montgomery County be
lieves that any conunent on
the changes proposed would
be premature at this time.
Our members will study and
discuss the report formulating
positions on the various recom
mendations.
We are pleased the Council
authorized the PAS survey
and has given us basis for an
objective evaluation of our
county government.
-Mrs. C. M. Derryberry,
President
league of Women Voters
of Montgomery County
More On 'Tropic'
Will you please tell me why
you are beating the drums for
Tropic of Cancer t Are you
being paid by Arthur Miller to
Q
be his press agent? You are
doing an excellent job of pro
moting his hideous writing,
and if he isn’t paying you, he
ought to be.
W hy don’t you pick a worth
while cause and plead for it
as diligently as you are plead
ing for Tropic T
Don’t you know that base
immorality prefaced the fall
of the Roman Empire?
Dos Passos and Untermeyer
are literary experts you say.
How do we know what type
minds they have? Freud, ac
cording to some individuals,
was supposed to be an expert
on psychology but I don’t buy
his type of, thinking. I have
discussed the subject of this
immoral and depraved writ
ing with many people in var
ious walks of life and they all
agree that this filth must be
stopped.
May I suggest that you read
an article entitled “An Editor *
Looks at Sin and Salvation”
by Jenkin Lloyd Jones, editor
of the Tulsa Tribune. It
might give you some food for
thought.
L\ ey ln Koepenick