Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], December 06, 1962, Page A4, Image 4

About Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974

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italsMtqlomfeSeiiM
An Independent Newspaper
A4
Right to Know!
Government by secrecy, potentially a final stepping
stone before a responsive governing body topples head over
pocketbook into the abyss of decadency, is gaining accept
ance among Montgomery County’s elective and appointive
agencies at a disturbing pace.
Twice in recent days, powerful arms of the County
Government have reached out to slam a door in the face of
taxpaying citizens and their representatives, the press. One
arm embraces the future of 90,000 school children; the
other, the future dignity of an ethnic group.
It started small, like the stone select by David.
The County’s Human Relations Commission, watch
dog group over the 11-month-old Public Accommodations
Ordinance, has, since its formation, been accorded the privi
lege of closed meetings to allow free discussion of specific
complaints brought before it alleging discrimination.
The press, anxious as any good citizen to maintain
harmony among all people, has accepted these “executive”
discussions because the law which created the Commission
implies that no other subjects may be discussed behind
Closed doors.
But at the November meeting, Chairman Kenneth B.
Wentzel slammed the door to discuss his Commission's up
coming budget. He asked the audience and the single re
porter in attendance to leave the room.
The Commission’s budget is not a legal or proper mat
ter for a closed meeting. The budget is tax dollars and tax
dollars come from the people with their consent ot be gov
erned. I’hey have a right to know, not only how much is to
be spent, but the reasons the Commission wants to spend it.
This week, the newly constituted School Board, in of
fice only hours, went into closed session, ostensibly to dis
cuss the idea of hiring a special budget consultant. Over
two dozen spectators went home. Press representatives
waited on the promise that a “resolution” was forthcoming.
The Board put the cart before the horse. There was no
public discussion of whether a consultant is needed. This
question, an obvious predicate to picking the man for such
a job, should have been decided in the open and for the rec
ord.
The reason leading to a final decision, big or small, is
every bit as important as the decision itaelf. The trend to
ward more and more closed sessions by governmental agen
cies is an unhealthy one. Public business must be conducted
In public!
Scanlon Proposal
Right in the Maryland Constitution, in language plain
to see and easy for all to understand, is the requirement
that the General Assembly shall take “the sense of the
people” in regard to calling a convention for altering the
Maryland Constitution once every 20 years. And, as indeed
they must, the assemblymen dutifully pose the question to
the voters every 20 years. And the voters routinely vote
"yes,” saying let’s call a constitutional convention.
But there it ends. Despite many “yes” votes by the
people over the decades there hasn’t been a Constitutional
Convention since 1867—95 years ago. The legislature has
always refused to call such a convention. Their stated
reason for this has always been that while a majority of
those voting on the question did, in fact, call for such a
convention, the total voting favorably has never consti
tuted a majority of the state’s voters.
The constitutional provision states: “If a majority of
voters at such election or elections shall vote for a conven
tion, the General Assembly at its next session shall provide
by law for the assembling of such convention ...” Because
the drafters of the original constitution in 1867 failed to
use specific language, spelling out whether they meant a
majority of those voting or a majority of the state’s voters,
the question has always been up in the air. And the Gen
eral Assembly, historically dominated by rural assembly
men, has successfully evaded its responsibilities. The rea
son: rural lawmakers in the face of heavy urban growth
have enjoyed voting strength all out of proportion to the
number of people they represent. And, obviously, they
wanted to keep this strength. A Constitutional Convention
might upset their balance of power.
Attorney Alfred L. Scanlan, general counsel of the
Maryland Committee for Fair Representation, this week
urged Montgomery County legislators to support a bill—
already supported by the Legislative Council—that will
call for appointment by the governor of a “blue ribbon”
Constitutional Convention Commission. Such a commis
sion would study and report on the need for substantial
revision of the archaic constitution. The proposal is a good
one. County legislators would perform an outstanding
public service by getting behind such a move. The question
of whether the General Assembly has a duty to convene
the convention, approved overwhelmingly by state voters
in 1950, is now before the Court of Appeals! In the light
of recent rulings, the court’s ruling may well be favorable.
Then the General Assembly will be required to call such a
convention. In the meantime, the study commission urged
by Scanlan could devote intensive study to the manner in
which the “horse and buggy” constitution should be
brought up to date. And the final product when it comes—
as indeed it is bound to before very long—would undoubt
edly be a better one.
An Enriched Community
The extent to which some public spirited Montgomery
County iesidents are willing to throw themselves into com
munity causes, often with personal sacrifice, is one of the
many wonderful—and in some respects unique—features
of our community.
One of many such “causes” is now being pushed with
great skill, vigor and enthusiasm by a group of county
citizens determined to raise funds and build a Montgomery
County Arts Center.
Biggest boost received to date in the campaign was the
gift of seven valuable acres of land for use as an arts center
site by Lawrence Levin. Second big gain was last Thurs
day night’s highly successful event the group sponsored at
Indian Spring Country Club which poured an additional
S7OOO into the till. This was made possible only by the
willingness of some 900 county residents to pay $25 each
to attend.
For too many years the county’s too few artistic and
cultural events have been held in inadequate quarters and
there has been insufficient stress on the arts—painting,
drama, poetry, ballet, music and the like.
County residents by contributing just a little can get a
great deal more back in the foim of rich entertainment
for themselves and even more dividends in the form of a
better community in which to live.
Thursday, Decamber 6,1962
The Public Forum
Open Zoning
Your excellent editorial on
the open spaces zone, the re
port of the Council meeting at
which it was defeated and the
release, on the same day, of
President Kennedy’s statement
approving the "Year 2000
Plan” Including the preserva
tion of open space, indicates
the Increasing need for re
gional planning as opposed to
planning dictated by local pri
vate interests. Montgomery
County is a part of the Wash
ington metropolitan area and
has an obligation to conform
to the plan for its develop
ment, including the preserva
tion at open space.
The standard objection,
voiced by those opposed to any
change In the present blanket
one-half acre zoning In the
Upper County, Is that requir
ing larger minimum lot sizes
would be taking away a land
owners right to do as he
pleases with his land without
compensation. With the popu
lation increase, more and more
people living closer together
have brought many new prob
lems and as a result govern
ment control (like it or not),
in the form of community
planning, subdivision regula
tions, building codes, plumbing
codes and zoning ordinances,
has come into being. A land
owner cannot build apart
ments, or stores, or establish
a junk yard, or build a glue
factory, or use his land in any
way for which It is not zoned
by the County authorities.
These restrictions, too, take
his property rights wdthout
compensation, but everyone ac
cepts this as necessary, In the
public Interest, to prevent the
haphazard mixture of conflict
ing land uses that come with
unguided growth.
In the Upper County, the
presently allowed scattered
subdivision of land on one-half
acre lots in rural areas is a
perfect example of haphazard,
unguided growth resulting in
Increased taxes to provide pub
lic services to these Isolated
subdivisions, the loss of open
space and, if continued, the
destruction of the remaining
natural beauty of the County.
The County authorities, more
than ever, have an obligation
to take whatever steps neces
sary to preserve open space in
cluding the adoption of a large
lot rural zone. Let us hope the
new County Council will see fit
to do so without delay.
H. B. Atkinson Jr.
Words of Praise!
Now that the armchair gen
erals and cocktail-circuit stra
tegists have decided how they
won the election, maybe a few
words of praise should be said
for that large, gentle force; the
people who really did the job.
We mean the hundreds of
parents, grandparents, friends,
neighbors and students who
distributed literature by tramp
ing from door to door all over
the county, visiting numerous
shopping centers passing the
message to shoppers, leaving
it on cars, in stores, or attend
ing meetings, or any place
where groups of county citi
zens happened to be gathered.
The people who spent hun
dreds of hours making thou
sands of telephone calls and
addressing innumerable enve
lopes and all of the dozens of
other chores Involved in an
election of the kind we have in
Montgomery are the ones who
got out the message, turned
out the voters, manned the
turn of events just witnessed
by certain bewildered candi
dates and various astounded
experts. Only those wit \ eyes
that cannot see or head in the
clouds believe any difft rently.
Anyone who cared eno igh to
listen knew that there was a
great dissatisfied mi Ititude
yearning for a change or the
better and grimly dete mined
to see it brought about.
t&A felOJfftrt lacKJ f?
ra WniswE™ nsnt# .
C&7fs'MJo)& m, los to**us Hires
"He says the same thing every year ... ■'hen, a couple
of days before Christmas, it’s egg nog, chestnuts roast
ing in an open fire, the whole bit!”
I
It is a shame that tl\a poli
tical waters were mudtHed by
sour-grape dissidents, power
hungry outcasts and those of
little faith, because there art
now those who claim all sorts
of strange things contrary to
the facts of the matter.
It was a real pleasure
though, to work with the hun
dreds of citizens who did the
job of electing the new Mont
gomery County Board of Edu
cation, and we hope that these
people will keep a close watch
on the activities of the new
board members to be sure that
the long-sought after changes
become realities.
E. M. Davis
E. M. Furlow
B. J. Xander
(Coordinators)
Citizens United for Responsible
Elections (CURE)
On Protest
You are not alone in your
distress at the CAP pre-elec
tion tabloid (your column 21
November), and at our house
we feel great shame that we
did not share the honor with
you of a prompt condemna
tion. Too many of us were de
terred by what was described
to me as its ‘diabolical timing’,
although that serves as no val
id excuse.
When that “thing” arrived
in the mail and we discussed it
with neighbors and friends, it
was the consensus that resi
dents of our county are fine
and intelligent people whose
votes would not be influenced
by such undocumented (and
undocumentable) innuendos.
Two hours at the polls election
day were more than enough to
disillusion me, but too late.
However, let’s not just “get
on with the job”: let’s, as
many as are willing, band to
gether to assure that such
slum-ward politics have no sec
ond opportunity to disgrace
our county.
And perhaps the State's At
torney will consider this letter
as one voter’s protest.
Mrs. Thomas G. Casey
Slow Drivers
I don't know where you hap
pen to live, but I live in Rock
ville. Do you know Rockville
Pike, which is really an ex
tension of Wisconsin Avenue?
When it reaches Congressional
Plaza, for some strange reason
It becomes East Montgomery
Avenue. Ever noticed that?
Anyway, the speed limit all
the way from Pooks Hill to
Viers Mill Road is 45 miles per
hour. But one would never
know it. It might as well be
25 the way some drivers poke
along. And do they stay in the
right-hand lane? Oh, no! They
drive in pairs, neck and neck.
If they have side or rear-view
mirrors, they never use them.
If they did, they would see
their long tail of irate but pa
tient drivers dragging along
behind them.
Ever tried sounding your
horn on one of them? It
doesn’t do any good, so save
your battery! Where are they
going, these monopolists of the
highways? In the mornings,
we know they are going to
work: the praking stickers on
their bumpers tell us so, And
oh, how loathe they are to get
there! During evenings and
weekends, they still do not
want to arrive, and what is
worse they assume that no
one else does either—the doc
tor trying to get to a sick pa
tient; the mother trying to get
home to a child; a teacher or
a pupil to his class. Busy peo
ple who work on tight sched
ules are forced into a state of
nervous tension by these in
considerate overtraquilized in
dividuals.
The serious side of this issue
is that not all the drivers in
the tail remain patient. Then
the accidents happen. I do not
know what the statistics show,
but I’d wager that more ac
cidents are caused indirectly
by the slow-poke than are ever
caused by the speeder. And of
course, the slow-poke Is never
Involved. If the Montgomery
County Police were to give
tickets for slow driving, they
i would make money. They csjv
> not make much out of speeders
> on Rockville Pike, although
they are always giving out
tickets: Irate held-up driver
making a dash through that
, red light? Irate held-up driver
making a rash attempt to pasa,
or doing a 60 mph dash on a
, clear stretch in an effort to
make up the lost time? It
wouldn’t have happened if he
had not become exasperated
, by slow-poke.
When dual lane highways
were first constructed, drivers
were meant to stay in the
right-hand lane except to pasa
or to make a left-hand turn,
i Too bad the rule isn’t enforced
for it is now rarely possible to
pass—slow-poke No. 2 is mono
polizing the left-hand lane
dragging his tail behind him.
This is not a plea to break
the speed limits—it la a plea
to keep up with them. How
about stepping on the accelera
tor, old chap? And how about
staying in the right-hand lane?
Marian Oakleaf
Mississippi Speaker
Much has been written and
said about Mississippi during
the past few weeks. Unfortu
nately, the Mississippi view
point and the reasons for Mis
sissippi's situation and attitude
seldom get a hearing before
Northern audiences.
The Mississippi State Sover
eignty Commission, upon in
vitation, will send volunteer
speakers to recognized service
clubs and civic organizations
to present in a factual manner
what we call “A Message From
Mississippi”. All expenses of
the speakers will be borne by
the Sovereignty Commission.
If any clubs in your area
would like to have a Mississip
pi program, or any combina
tion of clubs, please write Pub
lic Relations Department, Mis
sissippi Sovereignty Commis
sion, New Capitol, Jackson,
Mississippi.
Erie Johnston, Jr.
Public Relations Director
Animal Cruelty
People without mercy, con
science and love for defense
less beings are no more than
monsters and sureiy are a
menace to all other people as
well as other species of ani
mals. So long as cruelty is
condoned by society there will
be no change in the hearts of
such people. It is next to im
possible to arouse a spark of
pity or conscience in ministers
and get them to open their
mouths to speak a word from
the pulpit or write a word in
a church paper on behalf of
animals. So the burden of
humane education is thrust
upon lay people, and of course,
if newspapers, television and
the movies would publicize
with proper scorn and disap
proval the exploitation of ell
the humbler creatures, they
could stir up the public con
science and opinion and raise
’ the level of civilization
Which seems to be pretty low.
I hope you will give serious
• thought to these matters and
1 perhaps curtail some of the
less important features in your
paper and give some forceful
1 publicity to the civic and mo
ral duty of people to be decent
to all other species. No form
of Life is insignificant or
cheep. One could start in any
where with the horrors
| of boiling, broiling, steaming,
roasting and baking live crabs,
lobsters, oysters and clams;
the use of cruel barbs and
lures for catching fish, and
then putting cords thru their
eyes or gills while still alive;
confining hens on nests in tiny
Inclosures without ever letting
them out to exercise on the
ground, and often glaring elec
tric lights are placed on them
to their misery, considering
their thin eyelids. Then there
Is the whole damnable busi
ness of hunting with guns and
arrows, trapping, etc., and the
senseless cruelties of rodeos,
and abuses of riding horses.
And there are somany stores
selling fishes and turtles, and
fishes and turtles, and caged
birdes, in all sorts of filth and
without properattentkm. No
one knows what the ignorant
and careless storekeepers do
with the sick and injured of
these victims.
So long as these things are
not brought to the attention
of the public and described in
all their ghastliness, people
will remain apathetic and
completely indifferent toward
these appalling conditions. I
understand that bullfighting
could be stopped in some of
the countries where it is done
If American tourists would re
fuse to attend them. Of course,
you are aware ofthe indescrib
able anguish inflicted upon
helpless beings In medical and
industrial laboratories, as well
as cruel experiments carried
on even in schools- deliberate
ly corrupting young people.
Phrocens Hamilton
Welsh Rare Ms
Barney's Pollies
by Barney Welsh
Perhaps you recall last week’s column
was about psychiatry. You may have been
disappointed in it because it was not funny,
or because it tended to make you uncomfort
able and start wondering if life would not be
a bit brighter If you consulted a psychiatrist.
If this was the case, I am sorry. I did not
want -to make life more difficult for anyone,
and, besides, the answer to the question is
probably “NO”; so you can relax and regress
In your old neurotic pattern and enjoy your
self.
A person whose opinion about writing I
value, cryptically remarked that she liked
Welsh Rarebit and that the column was “fun
ny.” Now I appreciate the pleasant compli
ment; and, I must confess, that some other
people think the column is funny. But, do you
know, I do not intend the column to be funny.
Actually, I smile about as much as a well
cured side of country bacon and my moods
are generally on the depressed side, and I
cannot tell a good story—parlor or otherwise.
I have trouble getting up enough steam for a
laugh and I am more frequently moved to
tears than laughter.
But there are some things which amuse
me. Most of them originate in Mungummery
County. There are three fundamental institu
tions in our county where I look for fun. One
is in the court room; the other is In Mungum
mery County politics and the other is at the
River Road Runners Club where I busted my
first golf club.
I was in court the other day watching the
trial of one of our more colorful local drunks.
He was being tried by one of the less exper
ienced Judges and was trying to talk his way
out of our lovely Detention Home with the
nice green grass enclosed in a court yard for
the prisoners to gaze upon. He was arrested
while walking in a state of drunkenness on
the main streets of the County Seat. The
judge asked him in rather gentle tones why
it was that he was walking while drunk. The
accused said, “I had to walk, your honor. I
was not drunk enough to drive.” He is over
there cutting Mungummery County grass now.
I happen to think that the political and
educational situation in Mungummery County
is a bit grotesque. Maybe I better move out
of the county to get perspective on things,
and I would, too, but I am afraid to go away
From This Angle
A Way With Horses
by Les Kimble
Whenever I see a horse I am tempted to
admire it. They really are beautiful creatures.
In the fields of Montgomery County some
fine specimens may be seen. As a means of
transportation, however, I hold the horse in
deep suspicion.
It is true that the automobile, or at least
the ones that I have owned, can bd downright
balky at times. After spending some time
trying unsuccessfully to start a car on a cold
morning, it is possible to believe that the car
has a malevolent intelligence. At such a time
when one looks at the front of the car it is
possbile to see an expression of stubbornness
in the lines around the headlights and the
grill, but this is all a product of the Imagina
tion. A car is a thing of metal, without life
and a will of its own, but this is not true of
a horse.
In the movies and on television we have
all seen the magnificent performances of
horses. The swinging doors of a Western
saloon fly open, and the hero, a handsome
young cowboy, comes somersaulting out with
.45 caliber bullets plucking at his clothes. At
the end of the third somersault, in one motion
he rises to his feet and springs into the air
in a leap which starts him for the saddle of
his horse. As he leaves the ground in this
leap, he draws two pistols and shoots three
men standing In the doorway of the saloon.
As he soars over the hitching rail, he holsters
his weapons and lands on his horse with both
hands free. His horse, which a moment before
had been tied to the rail, breaks Into a full
gallop just before he settles into the saddle.
Of course, this was a trained movie horse.
I can assure you that real horses do not act
this way. and I speak from experience. In
the mid-30's I was riding by the polo-grounds
in Peking, China, when a shipmate called out
to me. He was cantering by on a fine white
horse which he had rented from a local con
cession. At his Invitation I got out of the
rickshaw and walked over to his mount. He
suggested that I ride the horse around the
field while he had a cigarette. Having seen a
Hopalong Cassidy movie a short time before,
I readily agreed, and swung myself up into
CD Shelters
(Continued from Page One)
nity shelters under school build
ings was proposed “to empha
size the need for development
of school-oriented, community,
dual-purpose shelters and for i
rapid construction of such shel
ters adequate to the needs of
various parts of the county.”
“It is the contention of the
MCCP-TA,” he said, “that a
strong civil defense shelter pro
gram is the goal, and this goal
can only be achieved through <
the cooperative efforts of the
Montgomery County Council,
the Board of Education, the Of
fice of Civil Defense and each
citizen of Montgomery County.”
Community shelters, the
resolution stated, “should be
accessible to the general pop.
ulation as well as students” j i
and that such shelters located 11
from Mungummery County, and now that the
Cuban mess is under control, and I lived
through it here, I guess I can stand anything.
Well, what is so grotesque and gargoylish
about it? When I consider that it has been
said that we have the highest income of any
county in the world, and that we have the
most advanced and progressive school system
in the United States; and all of us are proud
of it; I am clean flabbergasted when we elect
people to run it who campaigned on a "cut
down to the bone” economy platform. But
50,000 Mungummery County citizens can’t be
wrong and I hope we don’t get de railed from
what I thought was the right track.
Of course, law and politics are serious
things and there should not be anything fun
ny about them. Therefore, I seek mirth at my
old golf course among my Road Runner com
panions of the River Road Club who appear
to thrive among the cat-tails and water of
Poolesville. And well they might; for I know
of no place else where a member can say,
“Mr. Babbs, I am coming up to the Road
Runners Den for Thanksgiving dinner, and I
want a dozen blue-points to start off with and
an individual 15 pound turkey stuffed with
oysters and golf balls set down beside me,
with all the American winter dishes served
family style.” I had such a dinner set before
my feasting eyes, and I would have enjoyed
it except for one blemish: I had just busted
my three iron. Even the potent libation re
nowned as the “Frazier Special,” a brew mixed
up by the Club philosopher, failed to restore
my good humour.
I have busted baseball bats, hockey sticks,
lacrosse sticks, tennis rackets and even a
cricket bat, but I never expected to bust a
three iron. It was around a cedar tree. I
busted it on my follow through of a mighty
swing about 180 yards from the green on
number ten. Of course my ball had no busi
ness being so near the tree, and I had no busi
ness swinging a golf club so hard. But that is
not funny. Yet the thing is that I was on the
Golf Committee and I had insisted on having
the tree placed there as a hazard for other
golfers; and it looks like I was hanged on the
tree that I planted. All the Road Runners
think that is funny and the tree is now known
as “Welsh’s Folly” and I have ordered a fence
around it to keep the dogs off.
' the saddle with all the dash and aplomb my
tight blue Navy uniform woul permit
, I fitted my feet carefully In the stirrups,
/ lifted the reins, leaned forward in the saddle,
and clucked encouragement to the horse. Noth
ing happened. My fine white horse Just stood
there. I tried again. There was no doubt
about It. The horse was Ignoring me. Hav
ing seen lots of Western movies, I wasn’t dis
couraged, for I had seen many cowboys start
their horses.
I loosened the reins, stood up in the stir
i rups, and banged the saddle with my free
hand while yelling, “Get up, get up.” That
at least drew the horse’s attention. He turned
his head and looked at me. Although this
horse couldn’t talk, from the expression on his
1 face I could tell that what he wanted to say
was, “What in the heck are you trying to do?”
, It became quite clear to me that it was
, Just a matter of showing this horse who the
boss was. I shortened my grip on the reins
and swung the free end back and forth, slap
ping it against the horse’s neck. After a
minute or two I began pummeling his sides
wdth the heels of my shoes and slapping his
rump with my free hand. After a few min
, utes of this activity, the horse turned his
head, looked me straight in the eye and
sneered. Some men have assured me that a
horse can’t sneer, but I still maintain that this
one did. But that is all he did. He didn’t
move one foot regardless of what I did or
said, and I will admit to some pretty salty
language.
At this moment I began to worry about
my shipmate. He was stretched out on the
ground and apparently in throes of some kind
of a fit. By the time I dismounted, I could
see that my shipmate was merely laughing.
After recovering his strength, he climbed
aboard the horse, which immediately trotted
off.
As I said before, I hold horses in deep
suspicion. After brooding over this incident,
I have decided that this column has the wrong
title. It should be—to be read with the tone
of voice used by anarchists when they say,
“Down with everything” _ “Away with
Horses.”
under schools "are easily ac
cessible to the entire popula
tion.”
They could be used during
nonemergency periods “to fa
cilitate school and community
activities,” it declared.
In a letter to P-TA presidents
and civil defense chairman, van
der Smissen stated the commu
nity “has been caught unpre
pared” because of apathy.
“At the time of this writing
it appears that we may have a
second chance to prepare for the
crises yet to come,” he wrote.
"There Is no question that
there will be additional crises,
any one of which may be the
last big blow-up,” he added.
The answer, he declared, is
“adequate community shelters.”
He urged all persons interested
in working for such a program
in their communities to contact
him.
r
IMgfiaeqi
Cwwfjlifiifel
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year $4.50 Two Years *7 50
Telephone. G Arden 4-7700
Mailed In Maryland and the
District of Columbia
•" * MM set M Mas.