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Show r7Tuesday Morning, November 5, 1968 First Section ' - John P. Roche The Legacy of Free Men " Electoral College Still Makeshift Page 12 Thercs a Reason for Our Persistence Traditionally, almost by second nature, responsible newspapers urge readers to go to the polls and vote for the candidates of their choice. They do this not because editoprinting a rial or news stoiy is an easy way to fulfill a civic responsibility but because they firmly believe in better government results from greater citizen participation. Delegation of the voting privinumber lege to an of persons over the years has come about because enlightened citizens and governments became, indeed, are still becoming, convinced that this is so. Today there is a growing consensus to extend the vote: to through changes in state laws; to minority groups through enforcement of civil rights laws, and, through adoption of federal residency requirements, to more than five million Ameri ever-increasi- If the framers of the United States Constitution were to appear as observers of the. presidential election they would be startled by the fantastic speed of communications, by the that canditechniques dates can employ, and, of course, by the scale of the whole enterprise. But I doubt if anyone could teach them much about the substance of demowhich cratic politics hasnt really changed in the past two centuries. One thing would, however, surprise them and start them wandering about the political sense of their descendants. One can almost hear James Madiscn exclaiming to Alexander Hamilton, My God, Hamilton, they still have the Electoral College! To which Hamilton cans now barred from voting by outmoded state residency regulations. Clearly the march toward more universal sufferage has not lost momentum. But there is a counterforce at work which numbers in its legions many of those fortunate souls whose right to vote is under no legal encumbrance but who seldom enter a polling place. It recruits the indifferent, the lazy, the resigned and disenchanted, the ignorant and the snob, the spiteful and the spumed. Allowed to go unchecked thi3 kind of fifth column undercuts and eventually nullifies gains made by those working to' spread accessibility of the ballot trx. Ultimately it can destroy the democratic process. That is why we never stop pleading that those eligible to vote do so. The Tribune believes that voting is more than a civic good deed. could well reply, Madison, you always scoffed when I told you what idiots most people are. But this should convince you. This year the Electoral College has been much in the news. The dialogue above is obviously invented, but the point is valid and compelling. Whether or not this years presidential election lands up in the House the time has come to get rid of the Rube Goldberg contrivance that the Founding Fathers cooked up as a temporary compromise, but whichhas lingered on as a potential disaster area. ' - Justice Must Be Both Equal and Fast In trying to determine why people resort to unlawful force to gain sometimes lawful ends the National Commission on Causes and Prevention of Violence has looked into many facets of American life. It has put into the record the opinions of numerous experts in fields relating to both the fomenting and suppression of defiance of the law. No conclusions have been reached but some recurring themes are beginning to be noticed in the thousands of words of testimony. One such thread of opinion is that stricter law enforcement alone is not the answer to violent crime. It was stated again this week by Francis A. Allen, dean of the University of Michigan law school and a former professor' of criminal law and criminology. Dean Allen told the commission that persons tend to obey the law when the groups with which they identify withhold approval and acceptance of those who violate it. Group attitude about the importance and respectability of lawful behavior will depend, in turn, on widely prevailing views of the justice of the legal order and of the society that created it. It therefore follows that a widespread and confident conviction of the essential decency of the law and its agencies is an indispensable condition of law and order in a free society. Individuals, and some political candidates, who call for or promise prompt restoration of law and order seldom say how they will accomplish it. But the implication is that resort to massive force is first on their agenda. This is self defeating for as the state brings greater force to bear on a segment of the population already disposed to deny the law its voluntary support, doubts of the justice of the system are only intensified and respect for the law further diluted. As Dean Allen suggests, there is a better way. It is less dramatic but its long term results are more likely to be beneficial. Instead of intensifying enforcement the emphasis should be on building respect for the law by removing its inequities and injustices. William T. Gossett, president of the American Bar Assn., told the commission that, in the light of facts produced by other commissions and scholars it is not surprising that the poor, black and white, resent and fear the law since they experience far more often and far more vividly instances of the law doing something to them than for them. This must be changed and it can not be changed simply by stricter law enforcement. first and vitually important step in meeting the challenge posed by both Dean Allen and Mr. Gossett was suggested by Patrick V. Murphy, head of the new Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, who told the commission that speedier justice can help reduce violent crime. Citing overloaded court dockets and understaffed courts throughout the country, Mr. Murphy concluded that the police officer on the street needs to be backed up by a modern court system that provides prompt trials. He might have added that such a court system must include ways to assure that the poor are dealt as good a brand of justice as their more affluent companions before the bar. A modern court Obviously such a to cost is more. So the system going must answered by that be question finally those who cry so loudly for a return to law and order and the rest of us who share their objective but suspect their methods, is simply this: Are we willing to foot the bill? To answer with another question: Can we afford not to? Rickovers Silent Submarine Wins Approval Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, who makes a habit of winning battles with both the Navy brass and the Pentagon, added another victory to his list last W'eek when Defense Secretary Clark Clifford restored construction of a quiet nuclear submarine to full development status. The submarine will have the job of silent surveillance, being able to move undetected in underwater areas where foreign subs are known to operate. However, in order to eliminate noise, speed had to be sacrificed. Rickover explains that at the present time it is not possible to design a sub that is both fast and quiet, so he wants some of both. Earlier this year, Secretary Clifford approved development of & full class (about 20 boats) of fast The Grant Cartoon attack submarines that should be in service by 1974-7(The fast attack subs have a guesstimated speed of 60 knots compared with the silent subs 25 knots.) 5. Clifford's decision on the silent sub undoubtedly was based on intelligence reports on Soviet progress in developing an undersea nuclear navy. It is a decision that will carry over into the next national administration, no matter who holds the presidency. And we are confident that it will be ratified by the next administration, again no matter who holds the presidency, because it fills definite need of national security. Rickover has been proved right so many times in the past in his arguments over submarine planning that there is every reason to believe he is right once again. Bill Vaughns Orbiting Paragraphs American car manufacturers will produce which dont look big enough to hold all the stuff the average motorist carries in the glove compartment. mini-model- s, The Thoughts of Chairman Mao" are being published with a moisture proof coer. Perhaps there is some apprehension that they wont hold water. the Periodically the complaint Is heard that Banner" is too hard to sing. But much of the charm of our pubic gaihcrings is the suspense over whether the soloist is going to make it. Star-Spangle- d Some income tax forms will be printed in red letters in places where mistakes are most common. Maybe taxpayers can reciprocate by writing their mathematical errors in red ink, too. Who are you oting for Muskie or Agnew? f Things were considerably easier for the political spocchwriters L this campaign year when nobody in the crowd listened anyway. I ' Much in News The Public Forum For the Man Editor, Tribune : I am neither a disgruntled Democrat nor a disappointed Republican, I vote for the man. On several occasions, I have represented Utah at national conventions, most of them being held at Washington, D.C. I have often been asked who represents the State of Utah in the United States Senate. If our present senior senator is not known after 18 years, he certainly will not be known after 24 or 30 years. You do not have to be in the United States Senate for 20 years in order to gain prestige or respect. Our present senior senator did not make a mark, even during the Eisenhower Administration. Why cant Utah be represented with young, energetic men such as Frank Church n of Idaho, Laurence Burton or Milton L. of Utah. This year I am voting for the man and not Veil-enman- the party. ALAN D. FRANDSEN Park City Computer President Editor, Tribune: Richard Nixon is one of the few men in the history of our nation who has made politics a science. He has studied it as diligently as any student In medicine or music. Mr. Nixon has the facility to distinguish the wheat from the chaf. He determines the problem to be studied, discusses it with others, then when he has all the material on that subject from research also, he analyzes it and arrives at a workable solution. mind is Only a man with a computer-lik- e able today to cope with the complexities of government I would like to add that the computer has been one of the greatest boons to the business world in this generation. It always provides the right answer. EVELYN F. WOOD By Our Readers can now retire with a state retirement of $240 a month and in addition receive full Social Security payments. Why does Gov. Rampton ask for the support of Utahns, of both political parties, when he has gone on record, many times, as being a loyal supporter , of Hubert Humphrey for president? I do not feel that our governor should try to force any citizen to become a member of a union or to give endorsement to Hubert Humphrey for president. Let us vote for the entire Republican ticket, from Richard Nixon as president to Carl Buehner as governor. WILLIAM B. MAUGHAN Consistent Position Editor, Tribune: In his desperation, Hubert H. Humphrey has made a deliberate attempt to exploit the fears of 28 million retired Americans by distorting Nixons position on Social Security. Humphrey has charged that if Nixon was elected he would cut back all frills like Social Security and aid to education and medicare. This was a deliberate misrepresentation. In a national address on Oct. 22, Nixon said, I am not only for the benefits of Social Security and Medicare I want to improve and extend them so they will cover more people and be more effective for each person who needs them." He said, I have proposed and I urge automatic cost and increase in Social Security so that when prices go up, benefits go up automatically. Nixon also favors an Increase in widows benefits, new pension for those who work past 65 to build their benefits to higher levels, and a relaxation of the existing limits on how much Social Security recipients can earn. Nixons position is consistent with the policy of the Eisenhower Republican administration which expanded Social Security benefits to more Americans. REX J. HANSON Sad Case In the Dark Editor, Tribune: I am writing to get a few things off my chest. I am a veteran of both World War II and Korea, having served overseas for three years in both wars. I was working at the Ogden Army Depot when Eisenhower went in as President. They laid 2,000 of us off a week after he was inaugurated. When the Democrats went in in 1964, I got a Civil Service job and have been working all the time since. All Sen. Wallace Bennett does is yell about so many civilians working in military fields. Barry Goldwater said if he got in he would see to it government employes were fired right and left. Vice President Hubert Humphrey said the eight years of the Eisenhower Administration were eight years of slumber. I certainly go along with that. Anyone voting for Republicans on the national level are certainly In the dark. CARLOS HICKMAN Tooele Vote Gathering Editor, Tribune: Will Gov. Calvin Hampton answer the following questions? Why has he opposed the right to work law? To get the labor vote. Why did he tell Granite PTA officers, The time is long past when school boards should deal with each individual teacher now that collective bargaining is a part of business"? To get the teachers vote. Why does he give state employes almost everything they ask for? To get the vote of all state employes. Why does he approve the employment of hundreds of stale employes who are over the retirement age of 65? Not because they are so valuable to the state that they cannot be replaced. Is It because he wants their political 4 one-side- JACK FAIRCLOUGH True Friend Edior, Tribune: Please, Mr. Weilonmann, don't say Sen. Bennett has never opened his door to the little people. It is terribly hard for us to listen to talk like that because we are some of the little people who Sen. Bennett not only opened his door to, but his heart as well. To us he is Senator Hope and Senator Action. We urge every person in the State of Utah to keep in mind that a true friend is hard to find, and since we've found one good and true, dont turn him in fur someone new. SENA B. THOMAS Midvale DONNA C. PAINTER L ... Written in 1788 ' This statement, written, in March 1788, was superb propaganda nonsense. Hamilton was safe in saying it because all the delegates to the Constitutional Convention; were pledged to secrecy and Madisons notes on the debates did not appear in print until 1840. What had happened in the Constitutioftal Convention was quite different The basic problem was that everyone present knew who the first President would be George Wash- could not but ington agree on how o they get him elected. There were a number of con- flicting views. James Wilson argued for direct election by the people, Madison proposed election by the national legislature, others .felt the state legislatures should have a hand in the selection. , -- Off and on throughout the summef of the delegates tried to glue this one 'together, but finally turned it over to one of my favorite committees: The Committee on ; Postponed Matters. , 1787 Compromise Masterpiece - This committee came up with a masterpiece of compromise: every position gpt .. a piece of the action. First, the state legislatures had the right to determine the mode of selection of the electors; second, the small states received a bonus in the form of a guaranteed minimum of three votes in the Electoral College; third, the big states got acceptance of the principle of proportional power above the minimum; fourth, the people could be directly involved in the choice of the electors if the states agreed and, finally, if ho candidate achieved a majority, the right of decision went to the national legislature the House for the president, the Senate for the vice president. "7 . , Editor, Tribune: The Tribune has become strident in its espousal of the LBD proposal. This is your papers right if fairly done, but it saddens me to see a newspaper that has ranked among the best, prostitute itself in so dubious an endeavor. LBD is an issue about which reasonable minds may honestly differ yet you have used news space for LBD add in its favor. vocacy that is In this regard, your state edition of October 18, is but one example. On Page IB, you reported a press conference of Gov. Rampton, in which he said he was against LBD and would not vote for it, yet this newsworthy fact did not appear in your story. Instead your reporter chose to account for only those items of information that would favor LBD or, at least, would not disfavor it. You have a right to editorialize in the editorial section against us backward, archaic and provincial Utahns who oppose LBD. There the line should be drawn in the public interest. In "news space reporters ought to be as zealous in reporting facts and views which indicate LBD is bad as they are in seeking out and writing about those that may favor it. support? A state employe with 40 years experience and with an average salary of $600 a month Part of the problem is that Hamilton' did too good a job in justifying the college in The Federalist" (No. 68). My daughter, for example, came home from school a while back quite annoyed. She feels, I fear, that one of my functions in life is to get her in trouble in social studies. Her complaint this time was that I had told her we were voting for Humphrey and Muskie, but she had heard that we were really voting for a bunch of wise guys. She declined to identify her source. Rut I know the ultimate source: Hamilton writing that the election should be made by- - men most capable of analysing the qualities a small number of adapted to the station persons, selected by their fellow citizens from the general mass, who will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicated an investigation. In short, a College of Cardinals. i This proposal, which we know as the Electoral College, was received with virtually no debate or controversy. The general view seems to have been that it would get .Washand then posterity could ington elected worry about it and find a better mechanism. The Electoral College was, In other words, a jerry-rigge- d improvisation put together to meet an immediate crisis, and the framers had faith that their successors could remedy any defects in their hasty work. Has not the time come for us to justify the trust the Founding Fathers had in the wisdom of their descendants? I j 1 ' |