Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], January 10, 1963, Page A4, Image 4

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An Independent Newspaper
A4
If Your Drive, Read This!
An intensive effort is being made by the Maryland
Traffic Safety Commission to reduce the terrible highway
death toll. The state has just completed one of the worst
years in its history from the standpoint of highway safety
with 587 persons being killed. Won’t you do your bit to
help in this tragic, needless situation?
Do you know, for example, that Maryland operates
under the point system which means that your permit is
subject to suspension or revocation if you have demon
strated you are a careless driver?
Here’s how it works: Any moving violation not listed
below and not contributing to an accident is one point;
violations contributing to an accident are three points;
speeding (exceeding posted limits by 10 miles or more) is
three points; failure to report an accident is five points;
permitting unlicensed operators to operate a motor vehicle
is four points; leaving after colliding, no personal injury,
eight points and with personal injury, 12 points; operating
after suspension or revocation of license, 12 points: obtain
ing or attempting to obtain a permit by misrepresentation,
12 points; loaning or altering a permit, 12 points; convic
tion for any homicide or assault committed by means of an
automobile, 12 points: driving under the influence of intoxi
cating liquor or drugs, 12 points; any felony involving the
use of an automobile, 12 points.
Any forfeiture of collateral shall be considered as a
conviction. A warning letter shall be sent to each licensee
charged with three points; the licensee shall be called in
for a conference when he reaches five points; the license
shall be suspended for eight points; the license shall be
revoked for 12 points.
Initial suspensions shall not be less than two days nor
more than 30 days. Subsequent suspensions shall be for
not less than 15 days and not more than 90 days. No
points assessed shall be retained for more than two years
after their assessment.
And do you want a reminder on the three major causes
of traffic fatalities? Here they are: (1) speeding, (2)
intoxicated drivers, and (3) following too closely behind
another vehicle.
If we were all a little more attentive while driving and
a little more considerate of others, traffic tragedies would
be reduced substantially. How about trying it?
'Political' School Heads?
Should the heads of school systems be more active
politically ? A study financed by the Carnegie Corporation
of New York and made under the direction of a Syracuse
University economics professors answers the question with
a firm “yes."
"Education is one of the most thoroughly political
enterprises in American life,” the professor has concluded.
We do not disagree. Certainly sewers, and planning and
roads and sidewalks and an array of other governmental
functions, also highly important, are steeped in politics.
The frequently-heard expression that “we must keep the
schools out of politics” is somewhat naive.
Approximately two-thirds of every Montgomery Coun
ty tax dollar is spent for public education. And it, of course,
doesn't make much sense to take one-third of the tax dollar
and classify it as “political” while not so classifying the
remaining two thirds of all public expenditures.
We do have elected school boards here and campaigns.
The campaigns are, very political although not Demo
cratic or Republican. Nonetheless they are political.
There is talk here of requiring school board candidates
tonm in primaries, something they do not now have to do.
Some are even beginning to wonder about the wisdom of
continuing the system of electing our school heads. Per
haps, they say, we would get better qualified school heads
through political appointment. That would make school
men more political but would not necessarily mean they
would not be qualified. The elective system, in itself,
doem’t necessarily produce qualified school board mem
bers, as we have seen.
We seem to be moving toward some sort of change
In the method of selecting school board members and this
could be a healthy development. Montgomery Countains
■hould begin to think about this question.
C'est Tres Magnifique!
Last week, as regular Sentinel readers will testify,
we carried an editorial lamenting the fact that beautiful
Mona Lisa was entombed in a vault in the National Gallery
of Art—waiting patiently for the politicians to gather to
make speeches before she could be unveiled to the Ameri
can public.
Suddenly, voila! Mona is now unveiled and, since our
editorial ran the French government has extended her
stay here by five days beyond what was originally planned.
We did not know that M. de Gaulle was a regular reader
of the Sentinel, too! But this is tres bien! Merci, monsieur.’
C’est tres magnifique!
“As President of the United States, it gives me
great pleasure to unveil the art treasure from the
French government—the Moner Leeser!”
Thursday, January 10, 1963
I appreciate very much this opportunity
to report to the people of Montgomery County
on the activities of their legislative delegation
in the Maryland General Assembly in Annapo
lis. And I am indebted to this newspaper
for making available the space for my com
ments and observations.
I hope this column will encourage county
residents to write to me at the Senate Office
Building, Annapolis, so I can get their
thoughts on legislation. This reaction from
citizens will be ex-
Bfek tremely helpful not
j only to me but to
1 other members of the
1 delegation, in fulfill
ng our role as the
| representatives o f
Ww/'\ the people of Mont-
HHjfr yrJSRy- • l gomery County.
*. _ HR r As is the custom
every legislative
* body, the opening
RRk HrHHhk i days of the General
Sen. Gude Assembly have been
taken up almost en
tirely by organizational decisions. These in
clude committee appointments, selection of
the House Speaker and the Senate President,
the designation of committe chairmen and
discussions on procedure.
One of the Republican Party's campaign
pledges in the county was to try to get more
State funds in recognition of our tremendous
growth, along with the need to relieve the
local tax load. Accordingly, one of my first
steps in Annapolis was to seek a seat on the
Senate Finance Committee. I am happy to
say that I succeeded.
This committee, the most important in
the Senate, handles all fiscal affairs, such as
the State budget, and the various laws allocat
ing State funds to the various counties. One
of these involves the complex school formula
under which money is distributed to counties
and Baltimore City to help them carry on the
education of the childrea Certainly, this is a
major source of revenue which I will explore
In an effort to obtain revisions which could
bring more funds to Montgomery County.
On the other side of the General Assem
bly, or State Legislature, Jim Miller Jr.,
chairman of our House delegation, is sure of
a seat on the Ways and Means Committee—
the equivalent of the Senate Finance Commit
tee. Incidentally, I was a member of the
Ways and Means Committee when I was a
delegate here some time back, so I do have
a thorough knowledge of the proceedings.
Just as the United States Congress does
most of its work in committees, so the Mary
land General Assembly concentrates its activi
ties in committees. Indeed, the chairmen and
members of the various committees have more
to do with the passage or failure of legisla
tion, working as committees, than any other
legislative institution.
These committees range in power and
authority from the top Finance and Ways
and Means down to Entertainment and Inter
governmental Cooperation. In between are
committees on Judiciary, Education, Agricul
ture; Banking, Insurance and Social Security;
Whittier List
Hie press appears to be
whipping Mr. Charles W. Bell
In place of the voters of Mont
gomery County for approach
ing his duties as president of
the School Board of Montgom
ery County as a very decided
majority of the voters issued
a mandate for Mm and his
associates to do. Obedient to
this mandate, Mr. Bell re
turned the superintendent of
school’s budget with the re
quest that a re-examination bo
made of the increase of $5,-
000,000 requested for opera
tions. Such re-examination waa
to be followed by recommen
dations to the board as to
where his budget could be re
duced in that total and to be
listed by items in inverse or
der of importance.
The outburst in the press
that attended the submission
of the list by die Superinten
dent of Schools, Dr. C. T.
Whittter, reflects the fact that
it is indeed a political docu
ment. Hie manner in which it
was prepared and submitted
are the criteria for determin
ing the degree of controversy
involved. Mr. Bell spelled out
the reasons why the majority
of the Board considered that
controversy had been height
ened through public discussion
with the teachers who had
been required by the school
staffs to attend such discus
itafeutti
fWtfl&lfofl
EstabUthei ms
by Matthew Field*
Published by
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Editor and General Man afar
LEONARD KAPILOFF
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Mem bar National Editorial AaaoclaUon.
Published every Thursday at 213 E.
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Entered as Second clas* matter at
Post Office, Rockville, Maryland, under
Act of Contrast. March A 187*.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year S4.SO Two Yeari r3O
Telephone: GArden 4-7700
Mailed In Maryland and tha
District of Columbia
•as Tanr S 3 00 sat at Mala
Inside Annapolis
By State Senator Gilbert Gude
The Public Forum
sions.
Hie list submitted, and tha
hubbub which followed, re
fleet the false theory that
quality in education varies di
rectly with the amount of
money spent. In the letter of
transmittal of the operating
budget, Mr. Whittier states
that "There are several meth
ods which can be used to ex
press the quality of eduaction
as it relates to a budget These
include analyses of ooet per
pupil, average salary, total
staff and pupil, class size, and
quality of staff, as determined
by training, experience, and
performance, and as reflected
in the total salary structure
used to recruit and train
staff."
Quality of education more
directly follows from capacity
of the students, educational
concepts and curriculum#
rather than from the number
of dollars invested. There is
no correlation between salar
ies and quality, size of classes
and quality, nor in training,
experience and performance
of staff and quality. Measures
for the determination of qual
ity in education and training
and symbols for the expres
sion of such measures in a
budget are not limited to nor
indeed expressed at all by dol
lar signs. They are measures
determining capacity of stu
dents, beginning and end skills
of the process and the verifi
cation of the need of such
skills by the individual in our
culture for his owh self ful
fillment and for the very sur
vival of both himself and of
his culture
In the absence eg arty foe**,
ures of quality by program,
where quality is the objective,
the School Board followed the
best precedent available in
such circumstance the Fed
eral Bureau of the Budget.
The bureau regularly assigns
dollar limits to the various re
questing agencies. It regular
ly holds hearings as to the
manner of absorption of dol
lar cuts by an agency and ex
pects that such cuts will be
absorbed by excision of fat
and not primarily of muscle.
There is no clear indication
that in the list of cuts submit
ted by the Superintendent,
Rules, Alcoholic Beverages, Labor, Motor Ve
hicles, Juvenile Problems, Veterans, Aviation,
Roads and Transportation; Chesapeake Bay
and Tributaries and Civilian Defense. There
is obviously a wide variety, which should give
an idea of the scope of problems coming be
fore the members.
Again, as in the Congress, the power of
toe committee chairman is tremendous. He
can hold up bills he doesn’t like, or push
through those he wants expedited, or even
“lose” bills he doesn’t want to come to n
vote. I recall that when I was a delegate here
several years ago, the chairman of one com
mittee (which shall remain nameless for obvi
ous reasons) locked up a bill he opposed in
his safe and went home.
Of course, that meant no committee meet
ings were held and that particular bill waa
“dead” until it could be taken out by one
means or another and put to a vote by the
committee. Some of the members even got a
State policeman to try to open the safe, but
they were unsuccessful Finally, after about
a week, when the legislative session was just
about over, the chairman returned. He got
the bill out Of the safe, but before it could
even be put to a committee vote, the General
Assembly adjourned.
This power is shared to a lesser extent
by the committee members themselves. The
committee action on a bill is a good indication
of its ultimate fate. If the measure receives
a favorable vote by the committee, it is prettv
well assured of final approval by the House
or Senate. But if the committee puts an un
favorable report on the bill, it is almost cer
tain the entire House or Senate membership
will do likewise. In fact, if a committee acts
unfavorably on a bill, it is rarely even report
ed to the floor of the House or Senate. Instead,
it is merely filed away unless the sponsor asks
that it be brought out with the unfavorable
report.
This might be a good place to explain,
too, the steps a bill goes through before final
passage. When a bill is introduced, that is
called first reading.” This means, the bill is
read to the full membership by a special read
ing clerk, and then referred to the proper
committee. When the committee makes its
report after voting on the bill, and the bill is
again read by the reading clerk, with or with
out amendments, that is called "second read
ing.” About a week after the “second read
ing,' the bill is placed on a printed sheet or
calendar and comes up before the full mem
bership for “third reading” or final action
” lw Procedure is the same in the House and
Senate.
I just want to mention again the impor
tance of the Finance Committee. The power
of this committee is recognized by the fact
that Its chairman also is the majority floor
leader. This places him just below the Senate
President in power and prestige. The job
tois year Is held by Sen. H. Wlnshlp Wheatley
of Prince Georges County.
Finally, I want to assure the voters of
Montgomery County that I am going to take
a long, hard look at any proposed State ex
penditures that add nothing to essential serv
ices. This, again, is in line with the Republi
can platform.
that any consciousness has
been given to “tat’’
Not to be forgotten is the
"gnawing” concern of the vot
ers as to the quality of public
school education. A similar
upheaval in California educa
tional leadership, and against
preponderate voter registra
tion by party, is laid to this
concern. It is no oomfort to
the voter to read in a recent
issue of the Saturday Evening
Post that Uncle Sam has re
jected increasing percentages
of men registered for the
draft. There has been a pro
gressive increase of rejection
from about 30 per cent in
World Wars I and II to the
recent all-time high of 58 per
cent. Most of the rejections
followed from deficiencies of
skill in verbal comprehension,
simple arithmetic, relations of
forms and shapes, and me
chanical ability. There is noth
ing in the budget proposal nor
found in the Montgomery
County school system to an
swer this voter concern.
Certainly all parties, both
on the board and in the staff
of the schools, desire quality.
There is much room for ma
neuver to reach common
agreement as to how best to
meet this desire. As objectives
and standards are defined,
measured, and priced, the vot
er will not only get assur
ances of the quality he desire#
but he will have delivered that
quality for which he has al
ready paid.
'fohn Crawford Webb
Smbke Inhalation
Kills 22 Fireman
A total of 22 firemen were
killed and 2,475 injured in 625
fires surveyed by the Inter
national Association of Fire
Chief# Thirteen of those killed
were victims of smoke inhala
tion, which was responsible for
more than 80 per cent of the
injuries.
The IAFC is working for a
program of better equipment
and education for firemen to
lessen the chances of injury due
to this cause. Commercial fires,
the survey showed, were the
most hazardous.
Welsh Rare Bit
Meet Monty Gopher
by Barney Welsh
When Monty Gopher came into my office
a week after New Years to wish me a Happy
New Year, nunc pro tunc, as he put it, I
knew I had it made. For Monty Gopher does
not waste his time talking to just anyone,
and he listens to no one.
For Monty Gopher is a man about 58, who
has lived in Mungummery County all of his
life and who is a descendant of a long line of
Gophers on both his father’s and mother’s
side. The Gopher family traces its lineage
back to Oliver Cromwell—both publicly and
privately.
The Gophers live on a 500 acre (more or
less> farm somewhere southeast of the Sugar
loaf. ’riie patent to the farm came from an
English King via Lord Baltimore. Monty
once tried to tell me which king it was, but,
with the delightful vagueness typical of
Mungummery County lore, he opined that the
original title to his farm was derived from
a son of Queen Elizabeth. I reminded him
that she was known as the “Virgin Queen”
and that the fact that she has a son is, at the
very least, a historical contradiction. This
confused him a bit and he asked me if he
should file a suit to remove a cloud on the title
of his farm. The name of the farm, inci
dentally is "Gopher Hills”.
From This Angle
Inflaming The Public
by Les Kimble
In the recent election campaign the school
administration and the costs of the school
system were attacked from ail angles, high
and low. Four school board candidates were
elected on an economy platform which prom
ised quality education. It seemed quite clear
that the new School Board, composed of four
new members and three incumbent members,
would have differences on matters of spend
ing and school administration.
To this column it seemed that even be
fore the new members took office, they were
making inappropriate public statements. A
news story on Nov. 11 reported that the new
School Board members warned that nobody
in Montgomery County’s school hierarchy, in
cluding Supt. C. Taylor Whittier, is indispen
sable. The new members added that nobody
would be summarily fired but each adminis
trator would be re-evaluated. The news story
indicated that the new members hinted that
the re-evaluation would be based on the man
ner in which the 1963-64 budget was present
ed. Later on the press reported that one or
more of the new members said in a state
ment that they demanded “confirmation or
denial from Dr. Whittier of persistent rumors
that he is planning to leave.”
Dr. Whittier recently presented a capital
expenditures budget of about *7 million,
about half the budget estimate made a year
earlier. Dr. Whittier pointed out that most of
the items eliminated from this budget were
deferrals and not deletions. This action seems
to have been made out of deference to the
economy-minded voters who elected the new
Board members.
Dr. Whittier proposed the budget for run
ning the schools and the new Board members,
without review, ordered him to find $5 million
>n Possible budget cuts. Dr. Whittier asked
the new members for guidance on where such
cute might be found. They gave him none.
The three holdover board members pointed
out such a cut in the operating budget would
GOP Views
They Want Economy!
by Gerda Crow
Economy in government is like cutting
down on calories with a diet. It trims off
excess fat but leaves the body politic in a
healthier state without impairing its service
ability.
Republicans campaigned on a platform of
economy in government. They promised,
however, not to lower the high standards of
the county nor to eliminate necessary services.
It is just possible that those elected to do the
job will accomplish it in spite of some kicking
and squealing from portions of the electorate.
Most citizens, no matter their political
philosophy, recognize that there are certain
areas which legitimately call for government
action. They know that in such matters of
public interest as education, highways, public
safety, community development and planning
the individual must rely on elected officials
in the conduct Of the public’s business.
And they are willing to pay the taxes
necessary to finance community services.
Their only request is that these services be
performed honestly, efficiently and economi
cally. This the majority voted for In the last
election.
There is. however, a vociferous minority
in Montgomery County which subscribes to
honesty and efficiency m government hut. ap
parently in good faith, doubts that economy
in government services is either possible or
desirable. They want no part of It. They
don’t even want to try.
Thi* group of liberals is already in
action against any plans for reasonable econ
omies asked for by the public. Watch dog
committees have been formed. Propaganda
has begun to pour out in tongue-in-cheek re
ports. This instinctive negative reaction to
conservation and caution in the spending of
taxpayers’ dollars indicates that the liberals
have lost whatever touch they had with, or
are ignoring, the expressed desires of the
voting citizens of this County.
The tabulation below will refresh their
recollections. It shows the shift of voter
thinking in Montgomery County over the past
four years. Even the Silver Spring-Wheaton
Monty’s people settled north of Silver
Spring in the eighteenth century but moved
away from the over populated “down-country”
shortly after the Battle of Bladensburg.
Monty’s great, great grandfather, Skinner
Gopher, fought in that famous battle and
was shot In the back while trying to cross
the creek which was flooded even then. Sldn
ner was taken into the wilds of “upper coun
ty” to recuperate, which he did, for no one
every kills a Gopher as they are a very tough
and wily breed of people. Some Gophers
have died from too much likker but natural
causes are what take most of them away.
I watched Monty with great interest ss
he coiled his six foot, five inch frame into
graceful loops and bends around the chair
behind the desk where I thought I always
sat. Monty was not an unassuming man. Ha
carried about 230 pounds with the ease of a
mountain man and the lack of bulges abova
his belt line attested to hours of outdoor work
and sport which had marked his younger
days. The thin red and blue lines on his faca,
just appearing, betrayed a lack of temperance
arid I wondered what insecurity was covered
up by those tattle tale capillaries.
Here was a man of considerable strength.
(Continued Page A-5)
damage the educational program and that It
was the responsibility of the School Board
members to cut, if such cuts were to be made.
At the meeting of the county’s Education
Association (teachers organization) to discuss
budget cuts one teacher is reported to have
suggested making cuts that would inflame
the public. Dr. Whittier said that such action
“was not the staff’s intention and no such
approach would be considered.” Dr. Whittier
submitted $5 million dollars worth of possible
cuts in educational services which was im
mediately branded by Chairman Bell as de
signed to irritate the public.
The new School Board members must
have based their possible $5 million cut on
some facts or presumed facts. If this Is true,
it is ha.-d to understand why they would not
share these facts with the Superintendent
whom they asked to make the cuts. The re
spoil,sibility for any cuts In educational serv
ices must rest with the new school board
members. They cannot take the credit for
saving $5 million and shift the responsibility
for the cut in services to the shoulders of Dr.
Whittier.
The statements which really Irritated and
inflamed the public were made during the
election campaign. The inflamed public elect
ed four new Board members. However, prop
er and effective such public irritants are in
winning an election, such methods cannot be
used to run a school system without creating
dissension in the school system and among
Uie citizens.
The four new School Board members
have spoken of “the demands of our citizens
for quality improvement at realistic expendi
tures.” They were elected by an inflamed pub
lic to produce that "quality improvement at
realistic expenditures.” The moment of truth
is at hand. The new Board members possess
the majority vote. Any cuts in expenses that
produce no harm to the school system will be
to their credit. Any cuts that damage the
school system will be their responsibility
area, always claimed by the Democmts as
solidly in their camp, has revised Ha voting
pattern. *
The following figures are percentages of
dates C * St # ° r the Republican Council candi-
Silver Spring- Wheaton
Republican
Rockville- 1958 1962 Incre ***
4th election district 35.3% 54.2% 189%
Coles ville—
-sth election district 39% 56.7% 17.7%
Bethesda-Chevy Chase
7th election district 48% 60.8%. 12.8%
-Silver Spring-Wheaton
13th election district 35.6% 52.2% 16 6%
Up-County— AH other
election districts 47.2% 65.7% 18.5%
In 1958 the Republican candidate lost in
even- area. The 1962 candidate won in every
rea He won in all election districts. He
ran almost entirely on a platform for Strictest
economy- in government. He won handily.
Other Council races had a similar pattern.
m ?** c,n warn those who
that th '* •**** want, top
I 1 ,ts sewed to it on a
??l tt y.! rf . 4 y nom<c Economy It the
bv th# J Mdhtgomew County
voters in November, they want steak with
R>rmhr T h ,‘ nk th<r wlu They put
Republicans In office.
* < thw * k>P Republican precinct
S‘ T n: . M L* nd Mnu Hunter Kennand, 7-22,
turned out 82% of the Republic™ vote in
p ™ ctort : Mr - Edith Otepka. 13-44,
„ Mrs. Jessie Lerch, 13-38, 80.7%; and
Mrs. Earl Spikes. ,V. 80%.
Another creditable addition to the Court
house is Hany W. Lerch, Kensington, who
began his duties as law clerk for Judge
Walter Moorman on Monday. For the past
year Mr. Lerch has been law clerk for Judge
Edward A. Timm. Federal Judge of the U. S.
strict Court for the District of Columbia.