The people's voice. [volume], December 16, 1955, Page Page Two, Image 2

About The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
WHA T DO YOU THINK?
By GRETCHEN G. BILLINGS
The Republican press has been busy
the past few weeks publicizing what
seems to be a major rift in the Demo
cratiC ranks on several major issues,
the most important of which is oil.
Mostly Republican editors are feel
ing sorry for Jack Toole, State Demo,
cratic Chairman, who, they anticipate,
may have to battle for his position
over the question of "conservativism"
. liberalism."
Last week in an editorial in his
CUT BANK PIONEER PRESS the
well-known Republican dissenter Dan
Whetstone opened up the sore in the
Democratic body politic and applied
a portion of salt.
Mr. Whetstone raised an interest
ing question which he pursued one
step and then stopped.
He said, ". . . it enchants me to
speculate as to where these moder
ates will finally find a political home
after their banishment."
He doesn't conceive they will find
retreat in the Republican party, how
ever he is fatalistic about their need
for "Restful Harbor."
I don't think Mr. Whetstone is
. ■
vs
very worried about what happens to
the conservative Democrat who lapses
into silence between elections like
the sap in a tree and then runs out
at election time and gets things all
sticky. The Republicans have the same
kind of characters in their ranks.
The people who find themselves in
a dilemma are the Liberals if the
Democrats go conservative. What
would the Liberal and Independent
voter have to choose from if, for in
stance, both tickets were to have an
"oil interest" candidate for Gov
ernor?
Where does the Liberal and Inde
pendent go then? Where is their
Restful Harbor '?
If the Democrats don't go Liberal
then there isn't much use in voting
for them, because it becomes a mat
ter, merely, of patronage and power
for the man who is in and has no rela
tion whatsoever to a philosophy of
. •
EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR
FEDERAL AID
ti
ff
By J. M. PETERSON, Poison
The National Educational Confer
ence called by President Eisenhower
went on record as strongly in favor
of more federal responsibility for the
financing of the nation's schools. Ac
cording to the news reports, the reso
lution met with little opposition and
much less of the old fear that the so
called federal aid would mean Wash
ington Control of our local schools.
This resolution, passed by the near
ly two thousand delegates, should not
surprise anyone. It was a natural out
growth of the growing conviction that
America is one big family and not
a multitude of semi-autonomous com
peting communities. And, as America
accepts the one family idea, education
becomes a national problem which
calls upon the nation to take action.
Much of the old opposition which
was so strong even ten or twenty
years ago, may have been due, in part,
to the unfortunate use of the term
federal aid," as meaning outside
help for the less fortunate or less
capable or industrious. The term was
and is now an unfortunate misnomer.
The delegates thus merely ac
knowledged, in a public way, that the
responsibility for education and equal
opportunities for education is with
*.
the federal government. As a conse
quence, the whole nation must be
used as the taxing unit.
The arguments for the nation as
the taxing unit are the same as those
used in Montana a few years ago
when the people asked the legislature
to make the state assume responsibil
ity for a larger share of the school
costs.
IN RIGHT DIRECTION
At that time some counties and
some districts could get along very
well with low levies for schools. Other
counties and districts were unable to
provide standard educational facili
ties with even intolerably high taxes.
Some districts had to tax themselves
three or four tmes as heavy as others
to provide equal facilities. The old
inequities have not been wholly
erased. But when from forty to fifty
per cent of the cost of education is
provided or raised on the state level,
we are going in the right direction.
government ... as near as I can
see it makes a Democratic party un
necessary.
People say to me "A bad Democrat
is better than a good Republican,"
and I suppose Republicans repeat the
same phrase in reverse,
And that is where Liberals are
put in a bind. Democrats figure the
philosophy of the Republican party
is too archiae forliberals-to stomach.
j (Dan Whetstone figures its too
chiac even for "moderate" Demo
crats) that they haven't any place to
go, and they will vote Democratic no
matter who the candidate is.
So as long as the Liberals tag
along, conservative Democrats will
be able to hold power in the party,
Elections are not won by the votes
of the party liners, and if we adhere
to the two party system we must have
two different parties, and not just
two power groups crowding mid
stream,
ar
Third parties in America have nev
er been successful as such, but they
have done wonders in making the two
party system work. Either the Liber
als will have to abandon reactionary
Democrats, voting for reaction where
it is supposed to be, or they will have
to work on a third party basis if there
is to be any hope of keeping the two
party system alive,
I guess, really, there is no "Restful
Harbor" for the restless liberals. The
list of "moderate" Democrats Mr.
Whetstone printed as looking for
"Restful Harbor" was premature, an
other look through the binoculars, Mr.
W., and you will find, I believe, they
are already anchored in "Restful
Harbor"—see over there under the
cliff away from the ravages of wind
and weather?
There wouldn't be room there for
the Liberals, we have too large an
entrouage in tow—there's the people
who don't have enough to eat, enough
to wear—a decent place to live—and
besides, man alive, that harbor is
filled with yachts and I just looked
The same inequities we had in Mon
tana prevail as between states; New
York state, for instance, has a per
capita income of better than $2,000;
California and Nevada also have per
capita incomes of over $2,000; Missis
sippi's per capita income is a little
over $800, that of Arkansas about
$950.
Obviously, educational opportuni
ties in these states are not equal. A
two hundred dollar per child expendi
ture in New York takes less than ten
per cent of the per capita income.
The same expenditure in Montana,
which has a per capita income of
around $1,700, takes 12%; in Mis
sissippi it takes 25% of the per capita
income. This does not harmonize with
the ideal to which America is com
mitted—democracy and equality of
opportunity.
If the people in the cities and states
having twice the income of others
could be said to possess greater wis
dom, greater ability to produce and
more ambition, there might be an ar
gument—via the old individualistic
philosophy.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF
ANOTHER DAY IS GONE
But these are not the reasons for
their higher incomes. America has
lost not only the sense of community
but the self sufficiency of the olden
times. Communities are now only so
in name. The whole value of the in
dividual's production no longer re
mains at home, often not even in the
county or state.
Generally a larger part of tke ulti
mate value of his production goes to
the stockholders of companies which
are domiciled in the the richer states
and cities. They are the processors,
the transportation companies or
others that operate on a national
scale. The foreign companies like
those in the insurance business, to
give but one example, get consider
able of their earnings from Montana,
but the earnings are not necessarily
divided among its citizens. They go
to the stockholders who are likely to
reside in New York.
So wealth is now produced on a
national scale. Since this is so, the
taxes raised from this wealth w'here
behind me and I'm riding a barge—
no there's no room in "Restful Har
bor" for my kind of Liberal.
Humor was added to the political
scene this week when a group of
Montana citizens were flown by Navy
plane to San Diego to see the Navy
at work. Mary M. Condon, Superin
tendent of Public Instruction, and
Ken Byerly, editor of the Lewistown
Daily News and poet laureate of Fer
gus county found thmselves seated
side by each for the ride down and
back.
Mary and Ken have, for the past
umpsteen years been fighting like a
cat and a dog. Ken has written poetry
about Mary and her travels, among
his forms of criticism of the State
Superintendent.
Harry absolutely refuses to print
poetry in the paper, so if he prints
this little piece of mine don't try to
improve on it—it is lousey, I know—
almost as bad as. what Ken writes—
but I just couldn't resist:
Mary and Ken rode to the sea
Jn a beautiful flying boat.
Said Mary to Ken, "How can it be
We're side by side and this
thing still floats?
..
• •
Said Ken to Mary, "It must be a joke,
"When they surely know how
we feel,
"But I might as well hang up your
cloak,
We can't do much but go thru
with the deal.
. »
• •
Then Mary to Ken as they sat side
by each,
I can't walk away till we reach
the beach.
So forget you don't like me and
pretend we are friends,
"Till we get home and your
pretending can end."
. >
U
So Mary and Ken rode high in the air,
For hours their truce was
maintained up there,
But its still a dilemma who would
ever dare
To put side by side such an
unlikely pair.
WILLIAMS URGES PLAMNED
FEDERAL AID TO SCHOOLS
BA LTIMORE— ( AFLNS ) —Michi
gan Governor G. Mennen Williams
called for a $16.6 billion federal aid
for schools program over the next five
years to be financed by foregoing re
ductions in the federal corporation
income tax and increasing it if neces
sary.
Williams said continuation of the
present 52 per cent rate, and if neces
sary an increase of one per cent up
to an estimated 56 per cent at the end
of five years, is reasonable "because
it is only through such expansion of
the education system . . . that busi
ness and industry would be able to
satisfy their needs for more and more
and still more trained men and
women.
In an address to the Maryland State
Teachers Association Williams pro
posed the following program:
1— Spend $1 billion a year for the
construction of elementary and sec
ondary schools in addition to the $2
billion he said the states are now
spending.
2— Spend $500 million a year for
college and university construction.
3— Spend $320 million the first
year and up to $1.9 billion in the
fifth year for school operating funds.
4— -Spend $200 million a year for
adult education.
5— Spend from $250 million to
$450 million a year for the education
of unusual and exceptional children.
Union Employes Help
Company Financially
CINCINNATI, Ohio—Over 500 un
ion employes of the Hamilton Tailor
ing Company here are lending $100,
000 to their employer in a graphic
demonstration of labor-management
solidarity in the United States. The
company was short of cash after some
recent acquisitions.
The company does a $7,000,000 a
year business.
ever it is should be distributed on a
national scale.
The World War probably as much
as anything else taught us the reality
of education as a national problem.
Youth from all states were drafted to
defend the country. In the lower in
come states, with little opportunities
for training in public schools, the per
centage of rejections ran very high,
Editorial . .
Some New Ideas Also Needed . .
GENUINE DEBATE ON FOREIGN POLICY
LONG OVERDUE
Important GOP circles are expressing consternation over
the announced intention of some Democratic leaders to bring
to the American people in the months ahead, a full discussion
of American foreign policy.
This Editor is convinced that such a
cidedly in order. For all of the blustering and blundering by
Dulles & Co. about stopping Communism dead in its tracks, -
Communism has not been stopped. For all of the irresponsible
assertions that the Democrats stand guilty of "20 years of trea
by Dick Nixon, the Communists have not been deterred
the least by the "buddy-buddy" approach espoused by Mr.
Eisenhower at Geneva. In short, the Republicans have done
no better job of "containing Communism" than did the Demo
crats.
great debate" is de
n
> •
son
m
There must be a very basic reason why nekher the Democrats
nor the Republicans have scored outstanding successes in the
foreign policy field. Why is it? What is so wrong in our foreign
policy that it sells slowly if at all to countless hundreds of mil
lions of the world's peoples?
In the fields of medicine, engineering and other sciences,
when something is wrong the specialists do not indiscriminately
butt their heads against the wall simply because such an ap
proach is popular with the press, radio and sizeable blocks of
public opinion. Rather, the scientists attempt to diagnose the
ailment and then, oïïfce diagnosis has been made, seek to find
a cure for the malady. A similar approach should be made in
any "great debate" on our foreign policy.
We already know that our offers of guns, planes and Ameri
can control of their industries and natural resources have not
proven the proper formula whereby we can "win friends and
influence people" in Asia, Africa, South America, and yes,
even much of Europe. Our "tanks instead of tractors" foreign
policy has not, is not, and never will stop Communism or any
other political philosophy which offers down-trodden people
hope—hope for three square meals a day, hope that the infant
death rate may be materially reduced, hope that eventually
they may achieve something better than a starvation standard
of living.
In one decade, while the Communists have gained control of
the destinies of upwards of a billion of the world's peoples, we
haven't even been able to hold our own right here in the West
ern Hemisphere. Gone is the "good neighbor" policy so pain
stakingly developed under the guidance of Franklin D. Roose
velt. Gone, too, is the respect and admiration that many of our
Central and South American neighbors held for us during and
prior to World War II.
Can we blame our diplomatic failures entirely on the Com
munists? Hardly. Surely, the Communists had nothing to do
with our lining up by the side of France to throttle the demand
for an end of colonialism in North Africa. (On this, we have
the Administration's word for it—there just aren't any Com
munists in the State Department since the GOP came to power.)
When we unseated the left-wing government of Guatemala
and replaced it with a corrupt, brutal dictatorship did we make
any friends in Central or South America, except for the local
functionaries of United Fruit, the rich landowners and the
privileged few?
When we forced NTAO approval of German rearmament,
did we in any way enhance America's prestige among most
Europeans who recall only too well the marching of German
feet over their prostrate lands on three different occasions in
loss than a century?
A "great debate" on American foreign policy is definitely
in order. We must debate more than the worn out determination
of the Republicans to defend Chiang Kai-shek and the condem
nation by the Democrats for cutting the armed forces. We need
more, when it is all over than great amounts of heat and little
light.
American people are not satisfied when the only result is
Tweedledum loudly castigating Tweedledum and vice vera.
We need a debate over a forward-looking, dynamic foreign
policy that will inspire the world to listen. Otherwise we will
continue to find the Communists quietly taking into their fold
another hundred million or so of the world's people, while we
have been talking much and saying nothing.
'BAIT' ADS FROWNED ON
WASHINGTON, D. C.—(CNS) —
Bait" advertising has grown to such
proportions that Federal Trade Com
mission publicly warned consumers
about it, December 3. Be on your
guard, FTC cautioned.
—if one store advertised a product
at a much lower price than other
..
stores;
if the sales clerk is reluctant to
show you the product advertised;
—if you're told the advertised
product isn't as good quality as you
can get in a similar, more expensive
product;
—if the clerk tells you that the
advertised product is only a floor
sample and that you'll -wait two or
three ■weeks to get one like it; or
—if the "bargain" merchandise is
sold out in a suspiciously short time,
"but let me show you something else
even better.
■ •
Bait" advertising is a way to lure
customers into the store, FTC says,
and isn't honest merchandising. If
FTC discovers a firm using "bait
ads, it orders the firm to stop. If the
firm violates the order, it is subject
to a $5,000-a-day penalty.
..
9f
THE PEOPLE'S VOICE
Published weekly by The People's
Voice Publishing Co., at 1205 Lockey
Street, Helena, Montana.
HARRY L. BILLINGS. Editor
Entered ns Second Class Matter De
cember 7, 103a, at the Post Office at
Helena, Montana, under the Act of
March 3. 1879.
Subscription Price: $3,00 a Year
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