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Seventy-eight years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
under authority of Board in Control of Student Publications
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News Phone: 764-0552
T. H.
White 's typewriting on the wall...
Editorials printed in The Michigan Doily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR: RON LANDSMAN
The five state propositions
behind the candidates
NOT ALL ISSUES on today's ballot are'
as exciting or as controversial as the
presidential race. However, five of the
most. important questions facing voters,
the five state propositions, do not even
involve candidates.
PROPOSITION 1 - (YES) - Hardest
fought of the five is a proposed amend-
ment to the Michigan Constitution
which would allow the state and local
governmental units to levy graduated
income taxes.
The need for passage of this amend-
ment is clear. The Constitution of 1963
prohibits the state or any of its subunits
from imposing a graduated tax. As a re-
sult, the state and a number of cities
have passed flat-rate income taxes. But
these taxes already allow the rich to pay.
less than their share since the tax rate #a
does not progress with income.
The crying need of the state and the
cities for more tax revenue must be met.'
And it cannot be met by increasing flat-
rate income taxes, for that would place
an unbearable burden on low- and even
moderate-income families.
State and local governments must be
allowed a means of progressive taxation.
The only way they can get it is through
passage of Proposition 1.
Opponents of the measure argue that
a graduated tax, by taking a larger chunk
of pay as income increases, will destroy
incentive. But if the federal income tax,
which has had a maximum rate of over
90 per cent, has not destroyed initiative,
it is doubtful that a state income tax,
with a maximum rate of about five per
cent, will.
Beyond the pure self-interest of the
well-to-do, there seems no rational basis
for opposing a graduated income tax.
Vote yes on Proposal 1.
PROPOSITION 2 - (YES) - This is a
referendum on Daylight Savings Time.
Movie theaters, farmers and s o m e
mothers oppose it; the state government,
most retail business, and "outdoor ath-
letes",support it. As of now, the entire
nation is on DST, as a result of a fed-
eral act; a state may exempt itself, and
this is the aim of the referendum.
Proposition 2 should be passed, both
for the benefit to Michigan commerce
and the enjoyment pf available summer
sunlight-not to mention avoiding con-
flict with other state governments. Vote
yes.
PROPOSITION 3 - (YES) -- This
would allow the state to b o r r o w
$335,000,000 for the purpose of fighting
water polution in the state's rivers and
streams. Anyone who has seen the Huron
Riyer or attempted to swim in the Detroit
River should realize why such a measure
is necessary. Vote yes.'
PROPOSITION 4-- (YES) - This mea-
sure would allow the state to borrow
$100,000,000 to develop the outdoor rec-
reation syster. As the cities and their
suburbs allow developers to encroach up-
on what available land there is, and as
other great parcels of usable land sit
idle, it is necessary that the state be
empowered to turn plunder. and waste
into socially beneficial parks and recre-
ation areas. Long hot summers hit home
when there's no place to cool off. Vote
yes.
PROPOSITION 5 - (NO) - This prop-
osition would allow state legislators to
run for office and hold other offices
while serving their terms in the state
Legislature. The only result of this would
provide an avenue for our less-than-
admirable lawmakers to turn their Lan-
sing stewardships into part-time jobs.
Vote no on Proposition 5.
-THE SENIOR EDITORS
By STEVE ANZALONE
The Making of the President, 1968, by Theodore H.
White? Atheneum, .$6.95?
THE SO-CALLED Great Debates were the deciding
factor in the 1960 election. Richard Nixon lost the
debates, and consequently the election, because he was
wearing a gray suit and a lousy make-up job. Right?
This armchair summary probably represents the
considered analysis of every fifth male at the cocktail
party. And responsibility for disseminating it can be
credited largely to one man: Theodore H. White.
White's position as chief national election chronicler
and opinion molder has been established in two seminal
works of political-journalism-in-retrospect, The Makings
of the Presidents, 1960 and 1964. In these two big-selling
informative, and occasionally insightful tomes of politics
for the masses, White performed with laborious precision
the' difficult task of making sense out of the myriad de-
tails of a Presidential campaign.
THIS YEAR, White may be in a bind.
If in 1960 White had to stretch to bring Camelot into
the television studios, and if in 1964 he had to milk dra-
ma from the defeat of a hapless Goldwater by a drab
Johnson, 1968 will undoubtedly pose vaster, perhaps in-
surmountable problems for the President-Maker scribe.
For whomever is elected today, 1968 has not been so
much the Making of a President as the unmaking of na-
tional politics.
It has been a year of little enthusiasm for any of the
Presidential nominees save Wallace, a year when the
"great middle majority" has been left to choose a Presi-
dent by process of elimination. It has been a' year of
disenchantment, with the left taking to the streets and
the right taking to Wallace.
IT HAS BEEN a year of collapse for the traditional
political forces: the unions can no longer deliver the
votes, the machines are on deathbeds everywhere, the
Democrats can't count on the solid South - but neither
can the Republicans.
And the campaign has been boring, Nixon un-
willing to squander his lead by taking a controversial
stand, Humphrey, inept, able only to swim in his own
verbiage.
The lead story of 1968 will not be the Making of a
President. It will be somewhere on the fringe, in Mem-
phis, in Los Angeles, in Chicago but outside the conven-
tion hall, on the campaign trail with Wallace, who is
more of a symbolic force than an actual contender, Any-
thing Theodore H. White can say about the Making of a
President in 1968 must somehow smell of irrelevance.
Yet 1968 is not 1969, and what seems sacrilegious
now may not seem so then. Treating the events of this
year in the terms of 1960 and 1964 may fit only too well
the politics-of-normalcy, good-feelings-of-Reconstruction
which 1969 may usher in.
The problem for Mr. White will be to create an in-
spiring, thematic chronicle of the 1968 campaign while
treading lightly on the nation's still-sensitive toes.
WILL IT BE THE YEAR the incumbent dropped out?
The year the nation elected a Vice-President? The year
the darlings were defeated in the conventions? What will
White's theme be? Where will he find the turning point?
What does he have to compare with Nixon's makeup and
the Great Debates? How can he play Making of the Pres-
ident without playing the much harder game, Great News
Stories of the Year?
White has two important elements this year of the
more exciting 1960 campaign that were missing in 1964'.
These are the presence of a phalanx of candidates in the
primaries and the spirit of a time when many people are
crying out for change.
In 1960, White described America as it was coming
out of the decade of the '50's. Analyzing census data,
White tried to define the sociological underpinnings of
popular political thought in 1960.
This year lends itself well to that kind of analysis,
although the 1960 census evidence has become a bit dat-
ed. Nevertheless, White will be able to extrapolate from
the unrest on campuses and in the ghettos, the reactions
of "the forgotten Americans," and the emergence of the 4
bourgeois proletariat.
ONE OF THE author's major problems will be to
create the romantic images he orchestrated so deftly in
the 1960 installment. Today's outcome will mark the
tragic figure. Although somehow Nixon and Humphrey
seem to lack the stature for tragedy, both are staging
dramatic comebacks.this year.
Nixon (Humphrey) could be Lazarus rising from the
dead; Humphrey from the hills of West Virginia and en-
tombment in a dead administration; Nixon from humil-
iating defeat in a gubernatorial contest and subsequent
self-immolation at a now-renowned press conference.
And then there is Eugene McCarthy, the lonely poet
in the cold of New Hampshire, but spare us another ref-
erence please to the Man of La Mancha,
White furthermore will be able to focus on some of
the campaign imponderables within a larger perspective.
What effect Johnson's eleventh hour bombing halt? The
timing and content of McCarthy's endorsement?
Finally, White will analyze for those who like that
kind of thing the nitty-gritty tactics of the actual, yes,
physical campaign. The advance work, the allocation of
funds, the new style of advertising.
WHITE'S PREVIOUS TWO volumes have been suc-
cessful because they have shown the American people
some of the intrigue, the drama, and the glory of politics.
How will he find nobility in the 1968 presidential race,$'
when the candidates have failed so miserably to capture
the imagination of so many people?
This time it will take a monumental effort for White
to stir our hearts with an appreciation of the art and
style of politics. Heart-stirring became harder in 1964,
and it may have become impossible in 1968.
But if Mr. White does fail to inspire us to a greater, 4
awe for the political process, he will at least probably
write a good account of an unusual, if uninspiring, cam-
paign. And if he does fail to move us this time, it may
not be his fault, but rather the fault of a campaign that
many Americans want only to forget.
amnmuHOWARD KOHN -
Lewis:
A
novice
far from heaven
DOUG HARVEY, a brash, young
recruit, rode patrol with a
beaming behemoth of a man
named Jim "Joe" Lewis when they
were both deputy sheriffs here in
1963.
"Harvey always wanted to make
it a one man show," remembers
Lewis.
Lewis finally had to quit his
$4900-a-year job in the sheriff's
department for a better offer with
Ford in late 1963. Harvey ran for
sheriff and was elected in 1964.
Lewis, a resident of Ypsilanti's
black community, did not forget
Harvey's brashness. He was often
reminded by headlines which be-
spoke Harvey's disrespect for the
public.
During the 1968 primaries Lewis
supported Clare LeFerier, a rene-
gade Democrat who believed he
could unseat Harvey by winning
a place on the Republican ticket.
When LeFerier lost, Lewis decided
to challenge Harvey.
A POLITICAL NOVICE, Lewis
had little appreciation for the
parochialism of party politics. But
he was lucky, and the New Politics
Party secured him a spot on to-
day's ballot.
Lewis, 29, walks boldly, bent
forward slightly as if on the verge
of blitzing the quarterback. His
face, lined with a scar, smiles
radiating candor, character and
somehow, success.
But he is, of course, as far away
from victory as most churchgoers
are from heaven.
Lewis' weakness is that he isn't
a politician. He has little interest
in the ideology of any of the par-
ties, even the New Politics Party.
He has difficulty mouthing the
rhetoric.
His campaign literature tells
about his wife and three sons and
his work in UAW Local 65. His
seven-point platform is simple
and straightforward.
Just maybe, his supporters say,
the electorate will want a sheriff
instead of *a showpiece or a show-
man and elect Lewis. Lewis is a
TooneV: A ist prosecution
lawman with very definite ideas
about the rappo; between the
sheriff's departmeht and the cit-
izenry. The keynote to his plat-
form is a Citizens' Review Board
which would investigate com-
plaints and criticisms of the de-
partment.°
CRITICS SAY that his pana
ceas are glib rather than inform-
ed and that he has never done
anything but talk. One of the,
things he is'talking about is law
and order.
"If those people who stand for
the law are going to take the at-
titude that they can get people
to respect the law by scaring them
to death, then we're going to have
rebellion," says Lewis. "I get wor-
ried when they start using Mace
and dogs instead of a handshake
and friendly advice."
Lewis refused to be intimidated
by his imminent political disaster.
On the premise he will need at
least 30,000 votes to win, he hopes
to win 85 per cent of the county's
16,000-black vote plus substantial
numbers of disaffected Democrats
and students. He has received the
active support of the McCarthy
and New Democrats coalition, the
Mobilization and that of some
prominent liberals.
Lewis' estimates are admittedly
high. New Politics people are con-
cerned enough about obtaining a
total of 13,500 votes in the stat
for their presidential candidate.
LEWIS HAS not been the ral-
lying point his friends Ooped he
might be. He steadfastly refuses
to appeal to the alienated simply
because they are alienated.
And he wilt not grossly guaran-
tee racial harmony, although he
is convinced the sheriff's depart-
ment can work for white and
black in unity in both Ann Arbor
and Ypsilanti. If elected, he plans
to appoint whites as undersheriff
and captain.
His campaign is staffed by 150-
200 volunteers, half of them stu-
dents, who have been canvassing
door-to-door for several weeks.
Some of them are so bitterly anti-
Harvey that they have not taken ,
the time to know their candidate.
They might be surprised at the
positiveness of his approach. They
might also be surprised at the
earnestness which projects a dig-
nity which is anathema to the
hopelessness of his cause.
"When you start something like
this you have to think about not
winning," says Lewis. "But you
also have to think about giving
people a chance to be people and
that's what I'm trying to do."
THE PRESERVATION of "law and or-
der" is at least as much the responsi-
bility of the County Prosecuting Attorney
as it is the task of municipal police and
county sheriff.
The prosecutor should be a Miason be-
tween the community which elects him
and the/ law enforcement agencies. Bet-
ter than anyone else in local government,
the attorney c a n ensure the equitable
dispensation of justice on the grass roots
level.
But traditionally in Washtenaw County,
and definitely under the direction of in-
cumbent Republican William Delhey, the
prosecutor's office has become the judi--
cial arm of the police. Allying himself
with .the law enforcement agencies, Del-
hey has distanced himself from the elec-
torate.
While Delhey has conspicuously failed
to take action against county officials ac-
cused of illegal activities, namely,Sheriff
Douglas Harvey and Drain Commissioner
John Flook, he has shown intense inter-
est in convicting those least able to pro-
tect themselves from police harassment
- blacks and students. a
Most significantly, Delhey has been ac-
cused of using "plea-bargaining" to ob-
tain a high rate of convictions. Local at-
torneys assert that the prosecutor auto-
matically books defendants,. on the most
severe offense and then encourages them
to plead guilty on lesser charges,
HOWEVER, Democratic candidate Johnr
Toomey represents a distinct and im-
pressive change from Delhey's policies.
Toomey, who has spent the majority of
1 is eight-year law career in criminal
work does not view the prosecutor's of-
fice as an extension of the police depart-
merit. Toomey has also spent a significant
proportion of his time defending indigent
clients.
The Democratic candidate speaks un-
equivocally on the issue of plea bargain-
ing: he states that charges leveled at a
defendant must reflect only the offense
of which the prosecutor has proof for
conviction
Although Washtenaw County has never
elected a Democrat as Prosecuting At-
torney, the community is hopefully
mnaking a realistic reappraisal of the'
prosecutor's role and will chose John
Toomey for Prosecuting Attorney in to-
day's election.
-PHILIP BLOCK
Handshaking for sheriff
Letters to the Ei
Election endorsements
Irrationale'
To the Editor:
rPHE DAILY has finally driven
me beyond the point of toler-
ance. I usually find it possible to
calmly read your publication des-
pite certain editorials whose con-
tents disagree markedly with my
beliefs.
The editorial entitled "Support
the National Student Strike" was
the crowning touch. This article
represents to me "the pinnacle of
a style of 'irresponsibility, biased.
unrepresentative, and logically in-
consistent journalism which has
markedmtherpages of The Daily
this semester.
A typical example of the irre-
sponsible editorials presented was
the one entitled "A rationale for
disruption" which appeared in the
October 4 issue. In this article
David. Duboff presents a poorly
reasoned, inconsistent, and in-
flammatory article under the guise
of editorial matter.
"Liberating in the lobby of
Rackham was enjoyable a n d
therefore meaningful."
I WOULD like to point out that
to stomp on Mr. Duboff's head
would for me be an enjoyable and
therefore meaningful experience.
I think that the previous state-
ment emphasizes the equivocation
and lack of meaning in the man-
ner in which "enjoyable" and
"meaningful" are used.
This absurd statement, of Mr.
Duboff's is not the first, nor will
it be the last, absurdity passed as
rational thought. The article is in-
flammatory in that it uses emo-
tionally charged words to present
an argument an: thereby succes-
lieve that there is no hope for a
sane, logical and rational discus-
sion of issues on the pages of The
Daily.
-David Fauman
Oct. 30
A choice ...
To the Editor:
THE "STRIKE" ad in Sunday's
Daily listed the endorsement,
among others, of Citizens for New
Politics. As we have been involved
in our respective election cam-
paigns, CNP has had no recent
meeting and has, therefore,
neither endorsed nor non-endorsed
the strike.
Personally, I favor the an-
nounced strike program. But I am
disturbed by the implication in
the ad that voters , have "no
choice." In the presidential race
the New Politics Party has pro-
vided what is, indeed, a choice.
A vote for Cleaver-Hochman is' a
meaningful, affirmative protest.
It is a vote intfavor of treating
the people of the world and our
own people with respect and de-
cency.
-Larry Hochman
Vice Presidential candidate
New Politics Party
Nov. 3
Toilet paper
To the Editor:%
THERE IS STILL hope left in
the world that goodness may
someday triumph. Too bad The
Daily won't see it if it ever ar-
rives.
I am here as a freshman. I find
the classes boring, insipid, a n d
litor
will follow her for the remainder
of her years here. To watch her
was well worth the cost of the
concert.
SATURDAY also h eld a sur-
prise. Kappa Kappa Gamma and
Lambda Chi Alpha had a float
that was both, beautifully done
and a good reminder t h a t we
should never forget what is going
on around us. I
It was a good thing that I saw
these two events, for had I not
seen them I never would have
known they had happened. I am
very disappointed to find t h a t
there was little or no mention of
these events in The Daily. I per-
sonally would much rather read
about what is going on here at the
University than at Columbia or
Berkeley. It is my opinion that
yours is no better than any other
newspaper, printing only what the
editors want to rather than all the
news. You call this editorial free-
dom; I call it Censorship with a
capital C.
I would like to take this oppor-
tunity to cancel my subscription.
I can no longer justify spending
the cost of your newspaper; the
dorms furnish toilet paper.
--Lewis Schiller
Nov. 4
DAILY POLICY
This seems an appropriate time
to reiterate The Daily's long-
standing policy on signed editor-
ials. Individually signed editorials
represent the opinions only of the
person or persons signing. Editor-
ials signed "The Editorial Direc-
tors" represent t h e collective
opinions of the editorial director
and associate editorial directors.
Those signed "The Senior Edi-
i
IN AN ELECTION YEAR when the
choice of candidates offers the voter
at best an echo of his views, The
Daily has not been able to endorse
many candidates with confidence.
On the national level The Daily edi-
tors could reach no concensus in their
selection of presidential, congressional
nor senatorial candidates.
However, if the political system is
to 'change significantly, it will un-
doubtedly change through the efforts
of local candidates working diligently
on the grass roots level.
'What strike? ..
0
The Daily has endorsed a slate of
candidates for County Board of Super-
visors, County Prosecuting Attorney
and Washtenaw County Sheriff.
For sheriff, The Daily endorses New
Politics candidate Jim "Joe" Lewis.
For County Board of Supervisors,
Marjorie Brazer (D-Second Ward); Ez-
ra Rowry (D-Fifth Ward), Eugenia
Carpenter (D-Fourth Ward), Lloyd
Williams (D-Third Ward) and David
Byrd (R-First Ward) were approved.
For Prosecuting Attorney, Democrat
John Toomey is endorsed.
.. you see a, strike?'
By ROB BEATTIE
LAST WEDNESDAY in my Shakespeare class, a girl on the far side
of the room asked the professor what he planned to do about the
election day's student strike.
"A strike?" What strike?" the class murmured. "Are they still
having trouble in Flint?"
The man up front with the liberal-I-like-students smile said "I'll
leave that up to you. I don't want to be authoritarian."
Democracy went to work. "They want you to take time out to think
about the war, the election and the University's role in all this," some-
one in'the back explained. "They" want something again; "we" aren't
involved.
"It is a time for those who are straddling the fence to sit back and
think. A time for them to make up their minds on these issues," another
person continued.
"Are there many fence straddlers at this University?" asked the
professor-turned-moderator.
"Only about 30,000 out of 35,000," I quipped to the girl on my right.
The class nodded; they seemed to agree on everything. -
"But we haven't heard any arguments against the strike," a girl in
the front row protested. The debate continued, but no one explained
why we should come to class.
I was moved to speak. "This strike offers us a chance to participate
in a dialogue on some of the important issues which we all ought to be
thinking about. Just because you disagree with the views of some of
the people who are organizing the strike, there is no reason for not
taking part. If you would participate in a meaningful dialogue, then
you ought to vote to call off class."
For a minute, I thought they were actually going to buy that line.
"YOU HAVE three alternatives," said the professor-turned-mod-
erator-turned referendum coordinator. "One: you can vote to partici-
pate in the strike, which means that I will not come to class. Two: you
can vote to have class and I will come. Three: you can vote 'I don't
*
4
1 P Ix t gFlri Batty
Editorial Staff
MARK LEVIN, Editor
I