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Show gait fake Monday Morning, September First Section The Public Forum Sfilmme 17, 1973 Pape 1 4 Thinkings Confused Political Parties Election System Undergoing Basic Alterations Political popularity is a fragile commodity, as Republicans have discovered once more. While the televised strains of the Watergate hearings reverberate, professional pollsters find the GOP suffering lost loyalty. Party officials and workers tirelessly emphasize that the Republican organization had nothing to do with skulduggery uncovered by the Senate Select Committee investigating campaign practices. The blame, everyone is regularly reminded, belongs to the ad hoc Committee to Reelect the President. Right now', however, that message seems stalled in a holding pattern. According to a recent Gallup Poll, public e association with the GOP has hit an low. From May to September, only 24 percent of the voters considered themselves Republicans. Not since 1964, when the figure reached 25 percent, has GOP standing been so unappealing nationally. Is the party doomed? Not likely. Dr. Gallups statistics disclose that the Republicans havent held a popularity edge for 30 years. Even during the Eisenhower years, more Americans considered themselves Democrats than Republicans. In early 1969, soon alter Richard M. Nixon won his first presidential term, only 28 percent of Americas voters claimed to be Republicans. all-tim- The continuing diatribe Tribune: Graham has the inregarding whether Dr. Billy s to other as opposed of Gods favor, side track that ludicrous and organizations, is so stupid comment. it hardly deserves the dignnity of any confused Howevsr, wlwt it does is reveal the fanatnear and and conditioned type of thinking reli- sectarian to adherents ical beliefs that many Editor. ret-giou- Forty-tw- o percent were still opting for the Democratic Party. But another interesting development is emerging. Dr. Gallup confirms that the share of people who line up with no particular party, but see themselves as independent voters, is steadily growing. Pegged a low 20 percent in 1940, the independent category has inched to 33 percent this month, 9 percent higher than the Republican grouping and only 10 percent lower than the Democrat. Fomm Rules submitted Public Forum letters must be fun writers bear and Tribune exclusively to The Names must be address. and name, signature but may be withhe d printed on political letters limited to for good reasons on others. W liters are be given will Preference 10 one letter every days. to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters pertrue name. All letters mitting use of the writers condensation. to are subject Obviously, from his landslide victory last over a wholesale disaffection among Democrats for their presidential candidate in 1972. And now Watergate has spoiled that political gain. Both events are reflected in the latest Gallup of. It is precisely this condition, gions are capable and the political and economic conflicts of interest most rewhich underlie them, that is the cause of of histowars and ligious persecutions, inquisitions I and Wars World ry, as well as the present. Even II had religious overtones. fall, Mr. Nixon triumphed findings. Neither major party has had its popularity rating changed much over the past several years. Yet the number of those shying away from any party connection increases while election returns alternately favor both parties. If there is any central conclusion to be drawn, it isnt that either Repbublicans or Democrats are in trouble so much as the system of electing by political parties is being Copyright fGrab the olive branch Tunneling is an ancient art. In Babylonia tunnels were an inherent part of an extensive irrigation system. It is thought that a pedestrian tunnel was dug beneath the Euphrates B.C. to provide passage River about from the royal palace to a temple on the opposite bank. 2180-216- ; 0 The proposed channel tunnel, 32 miles long, would be the longest ever constructed. It would consist of two parallel tubes lined with cast iron or concrete. Each will carry a single line of railroad track. A third service tube will run betwen them. The channel tunnel dream probably pre-- dates Napoleon who, in the early 19th century saw such a bore as an easy way to invade England. By the same token, Englishmen have resisted tunnel construction for years on grounds that the channel which cut the islands off from the continent also constituted a formidable defense against attack from that direction. There still is an argument that the tunnel will be vulnerable to sabotage, and environmentalists, as could be expected, are complaining it will have a r. unfavorable impact on the Kent countryside. The latest tunnel attempt, if it gets underway, will be the third launched from the British side. In the 1880s engineers began digging near Dover but their operations were stopped by Parliament on national security grounds. Another attempt in 1924 was stopped for the same reason. ; " anti-dru- g The New York City administration and even police officials have opposed the law. They Interland' we i'Al liar WMd. DBHERATliy inujL HELP CltNLtSS AyiTi'-- : IRHlMlU KUC;U w Rk-- wimr Ai' NO amerca , tit CIC'Ml) mm- - halt ;ui AMD N6 KM 7, (i i Jms L IN Tunes Syndicate for the tapes. at-- k Now, with England entering the Common Market and the desire to join Europe overshadowing any lingering fear of invasion, the government seems eager to push ahead with the tunnel link. The channel tube, if it materializes, could prove to be Englands point of no return to the insular past that shaped its unique character. Thats a high price, even greater than the $2 billion cash outlay, to pay for progress. priate. The reasons for the Jax enforcement of drug laws are not difficult to find. Chiefly they consist of too many people, including too many judges, believing tnat society is to blame for the drug problem, that the addict is sick and to be pitied, that law enforcement is suspect in general. There is of course some truth in most of this, but it is scarcely all there is to be said about the drug problem. We would think it far more important to recognize, for example, that the problem is a terrible curse on many innocent people, especially poor people in urban slums. Given the cultural milieu in which the new law will operate, indeed, we think it entirely premature to worry that it will send too many people to jail. We would think it at least as likely that it will fail in something clrse to the opposite sense. To wit, that the current law enforcement system cannot be forced to carry out such a law, that ways will be found around its mandatory features, and that the previous pattern of will remain little changed. If the time should come when the new law sends addicts to jail in throngs, that will be the time to relax some of its harshness. If a system of mandatory treatment would be made to work, for example, it would be both far more humane and far less costly than mandatory jail sentences. But the key to this ideal is making the treatment truly mandatory. Those who skip out must be found and jailed, not only in theory but in fact. In short, you come back to the same point: The first problem is getting the law enforced. So, while Governor Rockefeller's law is far from the one we would choose in an ideal world, in todays world there is a good deal of sense behind it. The mandatory sentencing is a forthright attack on the central problem of and the show of seriousness may in itself help change the attitudes that have hampered enforcement. We would hop,; eventually to move on to something better, but in our view that will happen not if the new law fails but if it succeeds. result is the simultaneous incidence of the worst inflation in years in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. worldwide condition which we are just beginning to grasp. Producers are in the saddle everywhere, and widespread inflation is only one of the dimly understood , consequences. A good example of the 1 general condition is protein TV foods. There is an over-al- l fSShLud world shortage because of Mr. Kraft the convergence of a number of factors which are rarely examined togeth- The pinch in foodstuffs, moreover, coincides for many of the same reasons with a shortage of other primary products. The prospective oil crisis is notorious, and many metals and fibers are also in short supply. So there are bound to be other results apart from inflation. One is the catch of fish, a major souice for feeding livestock. Thanks to modern methods, the catch rose steadily and dramatically from 1948 through 1969. Eut after reaching nearly 70 million tons that year, as against only 20 million tons in 1948, it began to slump. There was a considerable drop in 1969, a slight drop in 1970 and a considerable drop again in 1972. Excessive Fishing is the excessive The reason for this fall-of- f fishing which has caused so many nations to try to extend their claim to coastal waters. For example, there was a precipitate rise in the haddock catch from 1954 through 1965. Since than it has been dropping steadily, and in 1970 it was the 1965 peak. Fisheries, in other only words, are being exhausted, and it is going to take a long, slow effort to rebuild them. d one-sixt- h A second factor to examine is grain consumption in the Soviet Union. The record from 1955 through 1970 is one of ups and downs. Whenever there was a bad harvest, there wrns a tightening of belts expressed in a reduction of grain consumption. But the regime of Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev is selling itself on the theme of the full breadbasket. Instead of asking Russians to eat less when the crop is bad, Moscow now imports grain from abroad. Last year alone, the Russians imported 28 million tons of grain, which represents a terrific drain on the world market. The largest previous record import of grain was done by India during , when the figure reached the famine of of last years Soviet imports. only about Thus the change in Russias attitude constitutes a major new drain on food resources unlikely ever to go away. Population Growlh per-capi- . Spoilage Will Continue While bumper crops are now being harvested in this country, soaring food prices are fueling a record inflation here and abroad. How ccine? The answer lies in a er. contend the elimination of plea bargaining means that many more cases will require trials, and that even the 100 new judgeships created in conjunction with the law will not be enough to keep up with the load. Judges resent the laws strict limits on their discretion. These complaints would be easier to sympathize with were it not for the statistics on enforcement of the previous drug law. Tney show that in New York City only 2 of those arrested on drug felonies were sent to prison, and that within this 2 were given the maximum term. In other only 2.5 words. Governor Rockefeller's law is intended to reverse a total collapse in enforcement. In that situation Draconian measures are scarcely surprising, and for that matter, scarcely inappro- Logan High Prices and Bumper Crops? Tough Drug Law for a Tough World From the Wall Street Journal lOQS$Vr I os Angelos Joseph Kraft Another Viewpoint Since New Yorks tough new drug law has been in effect for barely over a week, its obviously far too early to tell whether its harsh sentencing policies will reduce the drug problem. Yet whatever modifications may eventually prove necessary, the law is a welcome sip of seriousness about the drug problem. The law, passed at the urging of Gov. Rockefeller, requires judges to sentence anyone convict-ed of selling heroin or other narcotics to life im-- ; prisonment, subject to parole after a minimum term. It drastically limits plea bargaining, the practice under which the state will drop serious charges if the accused pleads guilty to lesser of fenses. The law also provides stiff terms for sale or possession of other drugs for example, mandatory imprisonment for one to 15 years for a second offense of possessing one ounce of marijuana. Also, a $1.C00 reward is established for turning in a drug pusher. Naturally, a chorus of denunciation is currently being heard. Some find the law repressive. The New York Civil Liberties Union is seeking ways to test its constitutionality. Some workers suggest its not needed because new methadone programs and a street shortage of heroin have already dented the drug problem. People worry about the teenagers caught experimenting with marijuana. Governor Rockefellers critics say the only reason for the law is to further his presidential ambitions. then (973 fundamentally altered. Tunnel Side Effect Another of the worlds elusive dreams seems close to coming true at last. If the British government actually joins with the French to tunnel under the English Channel it will be fulfilling a dream of Napoleons as well as breaching what Shakespeare saw as a barrier against the envy of less happier lands. The fratricidal strife, murders, bombings, etc., Northern Ireland is a Christian motivated haof this religiously orime example tred. Every earthquake, epidemic, famine, hurriof heavencane, flood and drought, belies the idea solicitude. ly Of course, the religious reply to this is that the humAlmightly is punishing us fox our sins. Pure of fanin this that day is It incomprehensible bug! tastic scientific advances, space travel, the atom, etc., that so many people are victims of this medieval mentality. Which of these, if afflicted with a serious disease, would not consult a physician first? Progress it may be slow, and at times even torturous, but has a way of seeping into the thickest skulls. J. R. REID now afflicting Foodstuffs Pinch One result is that the underdeveloped countries and not only petrolerich in primary products should have increased bargaining power. A um second result is that the United States has a different kind of power in the world. This countrys great asset now is not the capacity to bomb Hanoi. It is the capacity to export wheat, soybeans and com. So, far better deals than we have cu in the past should be arranged in the future in order to foster both American prosperity and this countrys diplomatic influence. But these are only the most obvious consequences. The central fact is that we are moving a into a world nobody understands very well producers world. Accordingly, it makes sense for all of us, and especially those in authority, to be cautious about w hat lies ahead. largely because in the capacity of many ,of population growth developing countries to feed themselves. A striking example is currently supplied by the famine now affecting the string of countries along the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. Population growth in those areas has brought a rise in grazing herds. As grasses and other vegetation have been eaten away, the quality of the soil has deteriorated. Accordingly, the desert is now spreading south. There are food shortages in Chad, Niger and parts of the Sudan, and only a long-terprogram of reforestation can begin to restore the old natural balance. The shortage of available foodstuffs has as its first consequence a scramble led by the richer countnes for what is available. The immediate Orbiting Paragraphs Word of a shortage in anything sets the hord-er- s to work. The man at the next desk says a visit to his attic indicates his wife must have heard there is a shortage of empty boxes The young person seeking a career is advised that about the werst thing you can be in our society is a consumer. One psychologist says educational toys don't really increase the child's intelligence. However, he often can learn quite a bit by playing with the box they came in. Comic Display Editor, Tribune: In watching the senators interviewing Dr. Kissinger on television I had the sensation that I was watching a group of actors entertaining us with a comic initiation of our august leaders. Such excessive deference and unctiousness would be funny if it were not for real. It is posiand downright naus ms. tively CHARLOTTE M. HOWE Action on Minimum Wage Awaited The Washington Post Federal union leaders will await the outcome of a congressional attempt Wednesday to override Mr. Nixons minimum wage veto before making a legislative push to derail the President's December civil service-militarWASHINGTON y pay plan. raises are due, Although by law, Oct. 1, Mr. Nixon for the third year has proposed deferring them for economic reasons. He wants the raises held off until December, and still has not decided whether they will be for an average 4.77 percent as his advisers recommend, or for 5.47 percent as the unions demand. catchup-with-industr- y 1966-67- third factor is the decline The LDS Church leadership must bear a large portion of the burden for what has resulted in the destruction of the temple setting. I feel The Tribune can, as it has done in the influence to force past, use its considerable changes in concepts and help to keep some of the good architectural relationships that we still have in this beautiful city. JOHN S. BENSON Mike Causey Little Chance one-thir- d A Editor. Tribune: I join in grieved agreement with the statements made by Georgius Y. Cannon about the arcliitectural travesties perpetrated on the downtown area of Salt Lake City and, it appears, to be continued unless those who spoil can be convinced to change their ways. chiefs and union independents realize they have little chance of persuading Congress to go against the President on the touchy federal pay issue, especially when the main issue is a deferral. The Democratic majority is batting where the unions have the most clout zero in five attempts this year to override presidential vetoes. AFL-CI- two-mont- The most recent victory for the President came Wednesday when the opposition failed by s mafive votes to muster the necessary jority needed to make the Health Care Bill law Next override over Mr. Nixons objections. attempt will be on the Minimum Wage Bill veto, one in which the powerful AFL-CIis putting out a major effort. two-third- Mr. Nixon vetoed that touchy political bill on grounds that it would price many employers out of business and thereby deprive the young and poor of jobs. Labor counters that is a further attempt of the administration to protect big business profits at the expense of workers. Minimum Package Whatever the merits of the White House and union arguments, the fact remains that the miniHealth mum wage package, and the Care Bill, are much more important in Congress than any federal pay plan. For that reason, it figures that if Congress couldnt beat the President on those issues, it certainly wouldnt work very federal pay raise hard to reschedule a delay. Federal union leaders are banking on Watergate backlash and the minimum wage Issue to coalition previousgive a Democratic-Republicaly lacking backbone to stand up to the President. If they see the White House beaten on the mim- now-dea- two-mont- h n 1 d mum wage proposal, they will push a campaign for the October pay raise. Otherwise, as one federal union leader puts it. The President can do apparently as he pleases, and Congress wont touch him. He said that speculation that Mr. Nixon might give on the pay raise amount, if he wins the effective date he wants, is also optimistic speculation. If he can get the date he wants, and knows Congress isnt going to stop him, why should he compromise with us (the unions) on the amount he wants, the union official said. Of course we'd like to beat him, and we can get the necessary motion of disapproval introduced in the House. But we arent sure the Democratic leadership will back it, because they must be getting tired of losing. Another union commander admitted that few congressmen were willing to tangle with the President over a federal pay raise deferral. These congressmen have to live with voters who think federal workers are already overpaid. Do you seriously think they will fight hard for a pay speedup that their c.mstitutents don't understand, and probably don't favor? I dont think so. h two-mont- h Bill Mauldin |