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Show 'm 'W WW a"' f n" 'V' a 'vr ART DUQKVALD Hadn't you met my brother Mery?' DESERET NEWS 'Good Declaration , Buf SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH , We Stand For The Constitution Of The United States As 14 A Having Been Divinely Inspired EDITORIAL PAGE TUESDAY, AUGUST (NOTE: Art Euchwald has on Into quarantine for a lew weeks so that he doesn't give the astronauts any nerms. We are reprinting some of his favorites.) 12, 1969 Have you ever wondered what would have happened if the people who are in charge of television today were passing on the draft of the Declaration of Independence? The scene is at P h iladelphia WJULY-TV- . Several men are sitting around holding copies of the declaration. Thomas Jefferson comes in nervously. Tommy, says the producer, Its just great I would say it was a master- Let's Ratify Protocol War On Gas-Germ The American military has only itself to blame for the strictions which the Senate voted Monday to impose on re- gas-ger- m weapons. If the Army had been completely frank with the public right after the leath of more than 6,000 sheep following nerve gas tests at Dugway Proving Ground instead of trying to cover up . . . piece. If it hadnt tried to pretend there was little or nothing to warfare agents by worry about in shipping rail, when actually the railroads have an increasingly shaky safety record If it hadnt sought to dump unneeded gas warfare supplies in the Atlantic when it could have disposed of them without running the risk of polluting the ocean . . . Then this countrys weapons program likely would have escaped national scrutiny, as it had for so many years prior to the Dugway episode. As it is, there have been so many bad judgments and miscues including the accidental release of some U.S. gas stored on Okinawa that the military has shown it needs Bomeone else to look over its shoulder when it develops, tests, stores, and transports CBW agents. Hence, the Senate vote to require congressional clearance of all CBW spending . . . advance notice to Congress for the testing and shipping of CBW agents . . . and a ban on storage of such agents outside the U.S. without prior notice to the nation involved. Indeed, so critical has the public become of the entire CBW program that its very foundation is being seriously questioned. The CBW program is based on the premise that because Americas enemies have the means of waging warfare with gas and biological agents, we need those same means, too, if only for deterrence. But must that deterrence depend on the existence of weapons in Americas hands? Wouldnt Russia or any other hostile nation be sufficiently deterred by the likelihood that the U.S. would reply with nuclear weapons if lethal gas or germs were used against U.S. troops or population centers? On July 2 Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations urged all nations to achieve what he called the effective elimination of chemical and biological weapons from the arsenals of war. It would be premature for the U.S. to take such action before the sweeping reappraisal of this countrys CBW programs that President Nixon ordered less than two months ago has been completed. Even when that review is completed, it seems foolish to ban all CBW weapons when they include agents more humane than most military devices, since they only stun a foe instead of maiming or killing him. Meanwhile, President Nixon can and should resubmit the 1925 Geneva Protocol on gas warfare to the Senate for ratification. Th t document does not prohibit a nation from retaliating in kind after it has been attacked with weapons, only from initiating such warfare. The U.S. and Japan are the only major nations which have not ratified the protocol. There is no reason for our continuing to abstain from it. chemical-biologic- We love it. Tommy boy, the advertising man says. It sings. There are a few things that have to be changed, but otherwise it stays Intact. Whats wrong with it? Mr. Jefferson asks. Theres a pause. Everyone looks at the man from the network. Well, frankly, Tommy, it smacks of I mean, weve being a little got quite a few British listeners and something like this might bring in a lot of midi. al .... chemical-biologic- - al anti-Britis- Now, dont get sore, Tommy boy, the agency man says. Youre the best Declaration of Indepedence writer in the business. Thats why we hired you. But our sponsor, the Boston Tea Company, is interested in selling tea, not independence. Mr. Cornwallis, the sponsors repreI think he has a sentative, is here and few thoughts on the matter. t Stans Pledges Census Secrecy al Why The Vacation? So far this year Congress has taken off 10 days over Linr coins birthday and a week during Easter plus shorter breaks in connection with Memorial and Independence days. Starting Wednesday, the men who make the nations laws are going to take their longest vacation of the year, and wont be back at their desks until the day after Labor Day. The question about all these congressional vacations is: Vacation from what? To date, Congress hasnt delivered a single appropriation bill even though the budgetary year ended June 30. All manner of other measures remain either in committee or in dreamland. Among them are bills dealing with foreign aid, mine safety, Electoral College revision, water pollution, voting rights, control of organized crime, regulation of bank holding companies, and reform of the postal system. As the Washington Daily News lias said of the long Labor Day recess, This is a vacation Congress hasnt earned, doesnt need, and cant afford. Absolutely no one, in government, or out, nor any agency, public or private, can get from our Commerce Departments Census Bureau any information of any kind on you as an individual. The law strictly prohibits it, and heavy penalties are provided for violating this prohibition. There has never been a known violation. The information received from any one family is combined with that from others, and used only for statistical purposes. This complete assurance of privacy is one of the main reasons Americans have always been so cooperative in providing information about themselves and their houses in the census. They also know how important it is to be as accurate as possible, because of the vital uses made of census data. Nine months have passed since the great Wallace threat dissolved, and most of the steam has seeped out of the drive hot-lin- hot-line- hot-lin- e hot-lin- e al For example, census information on the number of children of age and where they live enables communities to plan adequate school facilities for the future. Also, the population count assures our people of equal representation in making the laws which govern them, since seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned among the states according pre-scho- ol , to population. In addition, census data on education, unemployment and income enable our government to allocate funds under fed- eral programs equitably among the peo- ple who need help the most On occasion, our census enumerators come across a citizen who is more concerned with being obliging than he is with accuracy. One enumerator asked the father of the neighborhoods largest family how many children he had. He came back: has approved a radical proposal constitutional and House Rules has sent the resolution to the floor. The measure will have high priority when for amendment, members recess. JAMES J. KILPATRICK , Neverthe-les-s, the House Judiciary Committee hot-lin- Secy. Maurice H. Stans . . . "complete privacy" return It may be hard for apolitical readers to recall just what was embodied in the great Wallace threat. The fear was that Alabamas former Gov. George Wallace, running on a third party ticket, would win enough electoral votes to prevent either Nixon or Humphrey from obtaining a clear majority of the total. In that event, Wallace might have bargained off his bloc before the electors cast their votes in December; or the election might have been thrown to the House, where each state would have cast a single vote. No one knows what might have happened. As it turned out, nothing happened. One North Carolina elector, who had been expected to vote for Nixon, exercised his constitutional right and voted for Wallace instead. Even so, the Wallace total fell short; Nixon had 31 votes to spare; and the putative crisis passed. The can of worms remains. The uncertain and cumbersome procedures by which a President is elected scarcely can be defended. The problem of the maverick elector is small; the contingency of election in the House is remote; but the palpable unfairness of the winner take all system, by which a small number of popular votes may control a States entire electoral vote, cries out for remedial action. Yet the situation emphatically does not cry out for the drastic scheme approved by the House committee. The committee calls for direct popular election of our Presidents hereafter. Under its resolution, the effective regulation of virtually all elections would pass from the states to the Congress. The proposed amendment, if ratified, ultimately would destroy the concept of Federal union. This is not electoral reform, said John Dowdy of Texas. It is political transformation. Popular election sounds so easy! What could be simpler, what more democratic? On close examination, as still other members of the House committee observed, the problems are immensely Check, unless Mr. Jefferson changes it the way we want thim to. Mr. Jefferson grabs the declaration and says, Not for all the tea in Boston, and exits. The producer shakes his head. I dont know fellows. Maybe weve made a mistake. We could at least have run it up a flagpole to see who saluted. t fi H I Three years ago my daughter was hit by a car while walking home from William Penn School. Fortunately her injuries consisted of only a bruised hip and leg and a broken arm. Which one of the Granite School District officials will accept the and bear on his conscience a more se- -' rious injury one of the children will probably re- ceive if they are forced to walk this hazardous route to the William Penn School? In 1950, the count was 1,849,568. But in the following decade, Detroits population declined, like that of many other older cities, as the inner core began losing residents. The 1960 total stood at EVERLY -B- ' What will the census of 1970 show? For the answer to that question, and many others about Detroit, and a thousand other cities, watch this space next year. You will see a mirror image of your city, state, and nation. In order for that image to be as accurate as possible, be ready to stand up and be counted on census day, April 1. counting on you! The proposed amendment would drastically alter this federal scheme. Congress would provide for a runoff election-i- f no presidential candidate received 40 per cent of the vote. Congress would fix minimum residence requirements. Congress would provide for absentee ballots. Congress would write laws for just about everything else. And because it would be chaotic to have two sets of electors, one for presidential elections and another for state elections, the states would have to abandon powers they retain under a fed-erstructure. Nothing but a shell would remain. This may be what the people want. It may be a good thing. But good or bad, the proposed change is fundamental, and ought to be approached in a spirit of prayerful thought. In my own view, a far better and wiser answer can be found. C. SAATHOFF E. 4040 South 1559 - When Drunks Drive 1,670,144. What has Utah done to eliminate the drunk driveffect, very little. Drunk drivers are criminals and they should be punished as criminals. It would be bad enough if drunk drivers only killed themselves, but in the process of destroying themselves they take thousands of innocent people along with them. Last year nearly half of all highway deaths were caused by drunk drivers. Nearly 28,000 people were killed because drunk drivers are allowed to use their license to drive as their license to tell. Thousands of families have been saddened because these criminals are allowed to roam free. er? In Businesses have a social responsibility to protect their employees health and safety, whether on or off the job. One way business can help protect their employees off the job is to educate them about the extreme dangers of driving after drinking. Highly trained employees are a business most valuable asset; they deserve this investment, both from a moral and an economic viewpoint. I would like to urge all businessmen and all citizens to become involved in this cause and pressure the government into doing something effective to eliminate the problem. --DALE K. NEWTON Park St. 1909 al GUEST CARTOON complex. Under present law, each State fixes its own qualifications for voting and supervises its own elections. The system a newcomer to Mishas its drawbacks sissippi must wait two years before he can vote in a presidential election, while a newcomer to Maryland may vote after 43 days. But the system has advantages also: The State constituencies are confined; they are of manageable size; and they operate in each state under a body of established election law. Were sorry you feel that way about, it, Tommy, the agency man says. We owe a responsibility to the country, but we owe a bigger responsibility to the sponsor. The British are the biggest tea drinkers in the Colonies. Were not going to antagonize them with a document like this. Isnt that so, Mr. Cornwallis? The Granite School District took similar action about three years ago. At that time the Utah Highway Patrol listed the intersection at 39th South and Highland Drive as one of the most hazardous in Salt Lake County. Their count showed approximately 55,000 vehicles pass the intersection per day at an average speed of 40 miles per hour. With no curb and gutter and sidewalks only on the east side of Highland Drive, this places the traffic flow at speeds of 40 miles per hour within one or two feet of the children walking on the sidewalk. With this report and considerable pressure from the parents, the bus service was restored after a few months. million. Ill be it The Granite School District announced on August 7th that it will discontinue school buses on 28 routes previously classified as hazardous. This will affect approximately 200 students who attend William Penn School and live west of Highland Drive and south of 39th South. The total number of questions to be answered, by the average family next April is about the same as in the 1960 census and actually fewer than in any other census during the past 100 years. Four out of every five households will answer only 23 questions. One home in five will be given a longer questionnaire and only one household in 20 will have 89 questions to answer. so Our only goal is that communities, states, and the federal government can base their broad social and economic programs on fact and not guesswork. The first population count of Detroit, for example, was made in the 1820 census. It was a bustling village of 1,422 souls. By 1900, the city's population had reached 285,704. In the next 20 years, when it was becoming the motor car capital of the world, Detroit reached almost a Mr. Jefferson says, Gentlemen, I was told to write a declaration of indeYou eipendence. Ive worked hard on ther take it or leave It as it is. Keep School Buses We are careful to hold the number of these questions to as few as possible. No information is collected unless there is a necessary, constructive use for it. That Electoral Can Of Worms reform. Nearly two years ago an American magazine editor suge be set up to provide fast communicagested that a tions between the U.S. and Red China. The Nixon administration should blow the dust off this proposal and take a fresh look at it' now that it has agreed to e establish a ton and West Germany. between Wap Since the U.S. already has a hotline to London as well as s the projected one to Bonn, earlier objections that to Communist capitals alienated our allies just arent valid. The that has connected Washington and Moscow since 1963 is considered well worth while. President Nixon is said to have used it 11 different times, particularly when North Korea shot down a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan. The White House informed the Kremlin that any future attack on American reconnaissance flights would bring military retaliation. Because the leaders of the two biggest powers were in immediate contact, aware of each others actions and intentions, the world was safer during a crisis that could have literally blown up in its face. For the same reasons, a should be established between Washington and Peking. Five years have passed since Red China developed its first nuclear bomb. In another four years the Chinese are expected to develop their own inteicon-tir.cntmissiles. An ICBM can be fired and hit its target in time it takes to code and the messages through normal diplomatic channels. The U.S. doesnt need to trust Red China or recognize it diplomatically. But we should recognize that if war by miscalculation is to be avoided, words will have to travel faster than weapons, rather than the other way around. de-co- and secrecy. for elect oral Words Vs. Weapons i history. But let me assure you we use a very special kind of mirror for the census, like no other youve ever looked into. The faces in the census looking glass are all blank; no ones identity is revealed in the reflection. This is to assure our people complete privacy. The moment you set down information about yourself on a census questionnaire or give it to an enumerator who calls at your house, you become a mere statistic. You become a protected by an inviolable wall of silence Mr. Jefferson says, But every word of it is true. Ive got documentary proof. The agency man says, Look, Tommy boy, it isnt a question of whether its true or not. All of us here know what a louse George can be. But I dont think the people want to be reminded of it all the time. If you remind people of all those taxes George has laid on us, theyre not going to go out and buy tea. I quota? Every 10 years since 1790, someone has had the job of holding a mirror up to the American people. I have that job next year. The mirror will be the 1970 decennial census of the United States. And its going to be the biggest, the best, the most revealing look at ourselves in our HI. letters to the editor How many do you need to meet your By MAURICE H. STANS Secretary of Commerce gas-ger- m Mr. Cornwallis stands up. I think I that we dont can speak for everybody want to go over the heads of the mass of the people who we hope will buy our product. You use worlds like despotism, annihilation, migration and tenure. Those are all egghead words and dont mean a thing to the public. Now I like your stuff about life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. They all tie in groat with tea. But youre really getting into controversial water when you start attacking George r The Cleanest City y I just arrived from San Francisco today in time to see Salt Lake Citys July 24 parade, with which I was greatly impressed. The floats were colorful and original and there was a fine spirit surrounding the affair. However, what impressed me even more was the clean up. Never have I seen such efficiency and thoroughness, and your city must be commended. I am only nineteen years old, a student at the University of San Francisco, but I have traveled much throughout the world and extensively in Europe. Never have I been in such a clean city. It has been a joy to visit here, and I am looking forward to returning here again to enjoy your hospitality. -P- AMELA ANN STONE San Francisco . Try Chicken Wire? Regarding the acoustics of the Salt Palace, I would like to mention that the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, had the same trouble when first built. Crews stretched chicken wire across the hall, and it is still there and is a success. -F- REDERICK L. KURR Ottrslt Frtt Praia Murray k |