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Show DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1977 A 5 We stand for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments of government, each fully independent in its own field. I his study on S.L. Valley must not just gather dust If theres going to be any consolidation of Salt Lake City and County operations in the foreseeable future, it evidently will have to be done on a piecemeal basis. If the futility of more sweeping consolidation of the two governments wasnt apparent from repeated rebuffs at the polls, it certainly should be from this weeks report on a study commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce. The bottom line of the study by the Denver-base- Touche-Ros- d s private ac- counting and consulting firm is tough but, under the circumstances, realistic: Before even thinking about merging into a single unit of government, the city and county should put their separate houses in better order. When such a conclusion is reached by what began as an effort to bring much if not all of Salt Lake Valley under a single government, the handwriting on the wall should be unmistakably clear. Even so, this is no endorsement of the status quo. If Salt Lake City and County officials dont undertake some streamlining and modernization, it will be not because of this study but in spite of it. Specifically, the study calls for the city and county to improve their machinery for getting feedback from the public . . improve their personnel systems, including better training for local employees and upgrading management skills . . . and to separate the executive and legislative functions of local governments. The objective of the merger movement never was consolidation for its own sake. Rather, consolidation was merely . intended as a means of improving city and county operations. If the needed improvement can be achieved by the methods outlined by the Denver consultants, thats fine. Certainly the separation of executive and legislative functions would be a major step forward, ridding the city and county of the commission form of government and remodeling local government more closely along the lines of the principles of the U.S. Constitution. But even if the proposed improvements are achieved. Salt Lake Valley still will be left with the duplication and waste created by a multitude of overlapping taxing and governing units so numerous that citizens cant monitor them as closely as should be done. This situation argues for more consolidations at the departmental level like the one worked out several years ago between the health programs of Salt Lake City and County. Consolidations, for example, among at least some of the seven fire departments, seven police agencies, and several garbage collection units in this valley. Unfortunately, if this study is like a number of others aimed at improving various aspects of city and county government in this area, it will accomplish little except to gather dust. Even some of the limited improvements being urged by the Denver consultants are already encountering resistance from certain local officials. As long as Salt Lake City and County wont go along with wholesale reforms, more modest but steady improvements at the grass roots are essential. For local officials to keep resisting even piecemeal change, as the Denver consultants confirm, simply won't do. long-outmod- How safe is troop pullout? Is it safe to pull out the 33,000 American troops in South Korea without precipitating another attack from the North? That question is being pondered by Congress in the wake of President Carter's sacking of Maj. Gen. John Singlaub last week as chief of staff of U.S. forces in Korea. The general testified this week before a House Armed Services Investigations subcommittee. General Singlaubs reassignment, however, shouldnt divert the nations attention from the troop withdrawal issue. And no doubt the administration has many arguments on its side for the move, not the least being to cut military expenses. President Carter has proposed a staged withdrawal of ground forces over period, and has perhaps a five-yepromised both Japan and South Korea that he would consult with their governments. He has assured that air and sea support will continue. Mr. Carter has even softened his campaign promise to remove U.S. nuclear weapons from South Korea. And. since U.S. ground forces comprise only about 5 percent of those on the South Korean side, a gradual withdrawal would appear a safe venture as long as ar Podgorns of the What's in name? An editorial from the Charlotte VC. t Observer ( are a company president, an abattoir operator or a behavioral scientist and you are on someones mailing list, chances are that someone paid $25 per thousand names to get yours. Home addresses of factory workers If you and $45 per thousand cost more $50. those of policemen still more Someone at The New York Times gleaned this information from a now catalogue issued by a New York company that rents lists. So if youre on one or more mailing lists but you're not a big shot, at least you have this solace: Your paycheck may be worth less than those ol the big shots, but your good name is worth A d Carter's getting flak from the fiscal wings ent philosophies and styles. One surely gets a different view of the conservatism of the administration from Secretary of the Treasury W. By Ur. Herbert Michael Blumenthal Stein Sens. George McGovern and Ted Kennedy, AFL-CIChairman George Meany and others have been complaining that President Carter is too conservative, at least in domestic policies. They take the attitude of disappointed consumers who bought something and didnt get what they paid for. One expects them to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or with Ralph Nader. Of course, McGovern et al wouldnt have much to complain about if Carter did turn out to be a conservative. He rail in the 1976 primaries as the most conservative of all the Democratic candidates except Wallace. He didnt have the support of his present critics in the primaries, and he didnt have much support from some of them in the general election. Carter won the election with support from conservatives; he had almost a clean sweep of the South, traditionally the most conservative part of the country. But whatever the merits of Sen. McGoverns claim to consideration, it is still interesting to ask whether Carter is behaving or thinking like a conservative. This question is hard to answer because what we have from the administration on many issues so far is talk. And while Carter's own talk is always a little hard to pin down, the talk of the administration is even more so. That is simply because the administration is a number of different people with differ removed abruptly from the party's ruling Politburo, apparently against his will. That leaves Communist Paity Secretary Leonid Brezhnev even more in command than ever. Premier Alexei Kosygin is the other member of the troika that has ruled Russia since Nikita Khrushchevs ouster 13 years ago. Beginning with Stalin, every Soviet dictator has dealt ruthlessly with challenges to his power. The only improvement has been that instead of the massive purges carried out by Stalin, era the Russian leaders of the have been less bloodthirsty than the e Communist boss. Khrushchev, for instance, was not killed or imprisoned. But he w'as reduced to a nonentity as only the Communists know how A similar fate presumably awaits Podgorny, although the only official action so far has been to remove him from the ruling Politburo. Ilis status undoubtedly will be further clarified when the Supreme Soviet, the post-Stali- n long-tim- Russian rubber-stammeets on June 16. p parliament, But the full meaning of his plunge from power undoubtedly will not be known for years, if ever. As Churchill observed in 1939: "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma Liltlo has changed since then. or Budget Director Bert Lance than from Secretary of Labor F. Ray Marshall and HEW Secretary Joseph Califano or Vice President Mondale. Administration spokesmen sometimes try to resolve the identity problem by saying that Carter is a conservative on fiscal matters and a liberal on human matters. This is a formula President Eisenhower sometimes used. It doesnt mean much because the issue commonly is whether human problems are letter solved by conservative 1 conditions will be better. They dont see any progress towards Carter's announced goal of balancing the budget in 1981. In fact, while the liberals are worried by Carters repeated statements of devotion to conservatives are not impressed by it. They see in it only a budget-balancin- g, hope that the private economy will be strong enough by 1981 to generate enough tax revenue to balance the budget easily. They see no policy to make the economy that strong. Conservatives are worried about Carters energy program. They have lots of specific complaints about it, but basically they see an "Politicians love to say that if they are criticized by both conservatives and liberals, they must be on the correct path. " fiscal measures or by liberal ones. President Carter may be a conservative to Sen. McGovern. He is not a conservative to many conservatives, especially in the finan- cial and business munities. One evidence of this is the stock maiket, where sluggish performance is partly attributed to worry by investors about Carters policies. Conservatives look at the budget. They see that Carter plans to spend in the next fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1, 1977, about $22 billion more than President Ford proposed to spend in the same year. They see that he expects to have a deficit in that year which will be $10 billion to $15 billion higher than this year's, even though economic attitude that business not only the energy industry, but other industries as well can be the source of huge tax revenues which can then be used for the benefit of the people. They are worried about a tendency to see business as something different from the people and opposed to the people, rather than as a way people organize to get work done. Politicians often love to say that if they are criticized by both the conservatives and the liberals they must be on the correct path. This is sometimes tru", but not always. To walk the narrow path between right and wrong is not the best cf policies. Despite Sen. McGoverns complaints, conservatives are doubtful that Carter is coming down on the right side. Advice to graduates A teacher of mine was fond on saying to me, "I want to make philosophy fall from power many weaknesses of dictatorial regimes is that there is almost never any provision made for a peaceful transfer of power. That is particularly true of Russian Communism, where the ruling tribunal seems locked in a power struggle. Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny, one of the three top Russian rulers, has been One Korean forces were reinforced by U.S. weapons. But the two U.S. divisions in Korea act as a tripwire. If the North Koreans invade, U.S. involvement will be immediate. It is, perhaps, that very knowledge that keeps North Korean Dictator Kim from another military adventure. That, however, can also be an argument for withdrawal, since it would permit the U.S. more flexibility in deciding how much involvement it wants. And certainly the U.S. needs to use some leverage against President Parks repressive South Korean government, which has been using the invasion threat as an excuse to take away democratic freedoms. President Carter has been accused of winking at civil rights violations in South Korea w'hile condemning Russian acts. Here is his chance to use his influence for more democratic actions in South Korea as a trade-of- f for continued U.S. commitments to that nation. Considering the fact that the last Chinese troops left North Korea in 1958, and that Defense Secretary Harold Brown has confirmed that South Koreas own forces are able to defend their withdrawal country, a carefully-phasenow appears safe. "Hey, Hawkeye, Jimmy says we're bugging out for home!" not genius-proofin- - mon cement speaker's privilege of dispensing gratuitous advice to a captive audience. I was tempted to lecture sternly about shoes. Academic gowns focus attention on the shoes that protrude beneath, and 1 tremble for my country when I see sneakers and semiplatform shoes worn to commencements by the rising generation. Fortunately, the other end of the student matters more. And this small university is properly proportioned to function, so students here have their minds well-tende- am Having turned 36, entitled to lecture the young: I am more than halfway through my allotted years and am on lifes downward slope. It is traditional to pour upon graduates syrupy talk about the future belonging to them. But it is better to be able to offer congratulations because n "belongs'' o them 1 tl-- genius-proof- , It was painfully obvious to both of us I would be no obstacle to g of anythe thing. But his point was this: The world has suffered much from the bright ideas of clever people who are so uninformed about the past that they do not know that they are addressing old, wrong questions in old, wrong ways. Understandably, undergraduates have employment on their minds. But they should be protected from the acquisition of merely "useful knowledge. Commencement would be a melancholy ceremony if those graduating had devoted four years to looking ahead nenously to the next four decades of necessitous employment in the workaday world. Rather, education should be primarily an against the disease of our time, which is disdain for times past. Emerson lamented that college education often was a ship made of rotten timber, of rotten, honeycombed, traditional timber without so much as an inch of new plank But education in the hull should produce people laden with traditional timber, not hlmming with new ideas. After all. most new knowledge is false. Vs Princeton's president. that SAN DIEGO, Calif. On a hill overlooking the bay. under the sort of slightly overcast skyYhat people here consider inclemency, San Diego University recently conferred upon me the com- fool-proo- f. Can Detroit do it? Dear Detroit, dont mean the city, but the automobile industry. When I was a boy you were a legend in m house. My father said you could do anything. If people wanted convertibles you could make convertibles. If they wanted long fins on their cars you could give them long fins. One magic wave of your wand and you could make the best engine money could buy. We kids used to sit on the side of the parkway pointing out Packards and Nashes and Studebakers and Hudsons and Fords and Buicks and Pontiacs and Chryslers and De Sotos, and zowee! every once in a while a Cord, which many of us agreed was the finest looking car of them all. There was no doubt that Detroit was the GREATEST! When World War II came. Detroit rose to the challenge, producing tanks and guns and personnel carriers. No one told you how to do it. Y OU KNEW HOW TO DO IT! There was no question in any GIs mind. Whether it came to Jeeps or bulldozers. Detroit was turning out the stuff that would make Hitler and Mussolini and Tojo sorry they ever messed with the good old U.S.A. You were beautiful, Detroit, and the country knew once the war was over, you would provide us with all our peacetime dreams. Some kids may have been fighting for Moms Apple Pie, but there were a lot more fighting for the new Ford, or in the case of officers, the new Lincoln, that they were saving up to buy when we buried the Germans and sank the Japs. Yessir, you were something. After the war you rolled up your sleeves, and your engineers gave us air conditioning and stereos and windows that opened and closed by pressing a button. You put an engine in the back, an engine in the front; you gave us tinted glass and defrosters (front and rear), and you figured out a way of building the radio aerial right inside the windshield so no one could see it. You designed more powerful motors and better brakes, and gave us seats that would fall down into place. There was nothing that you couldnt think of to make the car better and attract more customers. You were the pride of the American industrial revolution, and anything that was asked of you, you would say without hesitation "CAN DO." But lately all this has changed. When you were asked to cut down on the poisonous emissions fpitting out of your exhaust pipes, the spirit went out of you. Instead of rising to the challenge as you did for so many years, you sent us your presidents and chairmen of the board crying crocodile tears into the Potomac, claiming you couldnt do it. Why cant you do it, Detroit? You can do anything you set your heart on. You can make cars fly or go underwater. You can engines and vinyl roofs that give us slide open at the press of a switch. What kind of pantywaists are you? What happened to the fighting geniuses who used to thrive on challenge? Where are the men of steel who would never admit defeat? Dont send us your lawyers and lobbyists to flood the halls of Congress pleading its consuming car. impossible to make a clean low-fuDont threaten us with closing down your factories because the standards set for you cant be met. Go back to the drawing boards, retool your factories, hire the best brains that money can buy, and GET ON WITH THE JOB! Let's have no more shameful whining. Detroit. If your executives don't have the stomach for it, find some who do. All of us are rooting for you. Anyone who gave us automatic transmission and torque converters, and put a Chevrolet engine in an Oldsmobile car, can figure out a w ay to give us clean air. I am enclosing a copy of "The Little Engine That Could, which I think is must reading for everyone in your industry. I believe it will inspire you to give the clean emissions problem another try. Get off your keester, Detroit, and let's have no more bellyaching. You hear? I n high-price- d el Wilson wrote often and well about the university seat of vital as societys an organ of rememory, collection for the transmission of the best traditions. He regarded education as a conserving enterprise, a way on making young people artificially old" by steeping them in seasoned ideas. Woodrow We seek to set them securely forward at the point at which the mind of the race has definitely arrived, and save them the trouble of attempting the journey over again, Wilson said. We ART BUCHUUALD are in danger DOUG SflEYD of losing our identity and becoming infantile in every generation We stand dismayed to . . find ourselves growing no older, always as young as the information of our most numerous voters the past is discredited among them, because they played no part in choosing it. . ... So the Class of 77 should live with a crick in its neck, figuratively speaking, a crick in its neck from looking backward. That may not be rhetoric posture, but it is prudent. And it is the duty of conservatives like me to affirm homey virtues like prudence at movable feasts like commencements. So wherever they are heading, I wish graduates Godspeed, or such speed as is prudent while looking I it's good democracy "Ah, to see the return of T |