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May 16, 1968 - Image 4

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Michigan Daily, 1968-05-16

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Ehe ichgan Biy
Seventy-seven years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
under authority of Board in Control of Student Publications

The constitution that almost was

4

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

News Phone: 764-0552

Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.,
THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN GRAY
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The arts ofdte w s-.

By DAVID MANN
and JENNY STILLER
THE VOTERS of - Maryland
demonstrated their usual de-
gree of competence Tuesday when
they rejected by an 83,000-vote
margin a new state constitution
which might well have served as
a model for other states in the
years to come.
The constitution failed to win
the voters' approval, in metropoli-
tan and suburban Baltimore, on
the politically-Southern chicken-
farming Eastern Shore, and
among the largely Republican
farmers -in the northwest. Only
the two suburban Washington
counties favored adoption of the
new charter in place of the state's
ailing and much-amended consti-
tution of 1867.
This vote takes on the propor-
tions of a political tragedy, end-
ing, according to H. Vernon Eney,
the Baltimore lawyer whopresid-
ed over the non-partisan conven-
tion which drafted the proposed
constitution, all chance of con-
stitutional reform in Maryland
for at least a generation. It leaves
the state burdened with an ar-
chaic constitution in the worst
Reconstruction-era tradition, a
government burdened with super-
fluous office-holders, a malap-
portioned state legislature, and
an electoral system and judiciary
having very little in common with
the-realities of twentieth-century
American politics.
The rejected constitution, on
the other hand, was written with
an eye to practical administration
of government and easy adapta-
tion to change, containing major
structural revisions in every area
from voting laws to legislative ap-
portionment.
It reflected many of the turns

that American political and legal
thought have taken in the hun-
dred years that have elapsed since
the current constitution was writ-
ten, and would have more than
adequately patched up the holes
left in that document in the wake
of Supreme Court rulings on free-
dom of religion, racial discrimin-
ation and one man-one vote ap--
portionment.
PERHAPS the most significant
change was in the voting laws,
which would have ;been broadened
to include whole new groups of
citizens in the electorate.

county, state, nation and world
are available as never before. The
state school system and the mod-
ern communications media are
greatly responsible.,
The new constitution would also
have lowered the voter residence
requirement from one year to six
months, in light of the mobility
of the American population and
the speed of modern communica-
tions. Another innovation was a
provision allowing residents of
United States enclaves (Federal-
ly-owned property such as An-,
drews Air Force Base and the
Naval Academy) to vote in na-

itably be included in the T S.
Constitution. These were a guar-
antee protecting people against
"unreasonable searches, seizures,
interceptions of their communica-
tions, or other invasions of uheir
privacy" without a specific and
duly authorized search warrant,
and a provision banning discrim-
ination by the state based on
"race, color, religion, or national
origin."
The expansion of the tradition-
al constitutional prohibition of
unreasonable searches and seiz-
ures to include protection against
unreasonable interception of com-

"Maryland is the only state with no constitutional provision for freedom
of religion, language in the 1867 constitution requiring a religious be-
lief having been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before that court decision, jurors in Maryland had to attest to a belief
in God and divine retribution in an afterlife complete with aheaven and
hell."
.'r:'I{%1.}?r::-:-}}y:{{{{".
y..,.:-'rvie :."::1......R 1: ".Ar:v"r{,":{{i{ }},'}:."};:~i}}-ti,.Y"::v '} y +";">.rn1,.y g y,.2 $: :a.. . .-V }+.Ar:r?'4 :"{,;1" ;, ," ''1 ..}.,..1,{y.1.A.11Y':"111fE,11Y '.A M ., v.m:Asi"X . +""':y1 i^- ....;;. ::.:

Under the proposed constitu-
tion, 19- and 20-year-olds were
to be enfranchised, thus bringing
the number of states allowing cit-
izens under 21 to vote to a total
of five (the others being Ken-
tucky and Georgia, 18; Alaska,
19; and Hawaii, 20).'
Ah explanatory document pub-
lished by the constitutional con-
vention justified the 19-year-old
vote on the grounds that the "ed-
ucation and experience" of this
age group was on par with that
of the rest of the adult popula-
tion of the state. "The convention
felt," the publication stated, that
"opportunities to learn about the
political realities of the city,

tional, state, county and munici-
pal elections.
FURTHER proposed demorcat-
ization of the electgral process
was evident in the section of the
constitution dealing with refer-
enda. To prevent laws already
passed by, the state legislature
from being overturned in a ref-
erendum vote by small but active
pressure groups, a referendum,
vote would have been ivalidated
if less than 25 per cent of the
people voting in an election voted
on the referendum question.
The Bill of Rights (Article 1)
of the new constitution contained
two protections which might prof-

. _ - . z

DIFFICULT as it is at this juncture to
predict with any certainty the con-
sequences of the breaking of ties between
the American Federation of Labor, Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations and
the United Auto Workers, a number of
things seem likely:
" The AFL-CIO will 'be seriously
weakened. UAW head Walter Reuther
will take with him not only about 10
per cent of the AFL-CIO's national in-
come, but some of its most important
personnel as well.
AFL-CIO head George Meany will un-
doubtedly have to dip into emergency.
funds to make up for the loss, until a
proposal for increased national affilia-
tion dues can be made at an AFL-CIO,
convention. To maintain the bureaucra-
cy and political programs at their cur-
rent level, an increase in the current cost
per-member of AFL-CIO affiliation is
written on the wall with UAW gone.
Reuther is head of the AFL-CIO's In-
dustrial Union Department (IUD) which
represents about 60 factory worker un-
ions. At the same time as it loses its
director, IUD will also lose several other
key members who are Reuther associates.
In addition to being hit in this par-r
titular department for personnel, the
prospective of a mass desertion by UAW
leaders at local and state levels could
leave the AFL-CIO in an at least tem-
porary limbo,. .
UAW's disaffiliation will lead to mul-
tiple national and state lobbies with re-,
sultant i organizational complications'
even if both groups are lobbying for the
same programs.
And the jurisdiction disputes which
the AFL-CIO was formed to avoid may
re-occur with the departure of the UAW.
0 New policies and a new labor image
may 'be in store both for the UAW and'
for some AFL-CIO unions.
Speculation that the UAW-AFL-CIO
rift was spurred by a growing personality
struggle between Meany and Reuther
accounts for little, for the feud between
the two labor titans has always been
based as much on ideological differences
as on Reuher's ambition to succeed the
aging Meany as AFL-CIO head.
The. UAW's more progressive attitude
on everything from international rela-
tions to bargaining procedures is well

.iiiul wlaii iaDt . /
rigid bargaining procedures possible. As
head of the IUD Reuther has been re-
sponsible for such innovations as bo-
alition bargaining and computerized re-
search. As a separate organization, UAW,
may be more likely to improve on the
fairly stringent regulations on where,
when, and h~ow to, bargain it was bound
by as an AFL-CIO member.
In the second place, UAW's disaffilia-
tion may lead to a modernization of
American labor's current fairly provin-
cial image. Reuther has been notably
more sympathetic to international la-
borers than the staunchly anti-commun-
ist Meany. Potential dealings with labor
groups abroad - possibly even behind
the iron curtain - could be an integral
part oft the campaign to update labor's
image, emphasizing especially a more'
active interest in non-labor social issues.
With many of the causes that unions
were originally set up to further - re-
spect for the laborer, better working con-
ditions and salaries - largely under con-
trol - there has been. a need for a long
time for unions to seek a new ,direction.
AFL-CIO has limited its political activi-
ties largely to backing of a specific can-
didate rather than to backing an issue
The extent to which UAW's prospec-
such as civil rights or education.
tive new directions will spill over into
other unions depends on Meany's re-
action to the UAW withdrawal and the
attraction of a new labor affiliation for
unions still in the AFL-CIO.
The fact that Meany, now 73, has not
been threatened by Reuther's past blus-
terings enough to change his stand sub-
stantially makes it doubtful that he will
initiate any innovations from the head of
the AFL-CIO.
* The likelihood of walkouts by other
unions sympathetic Reuther is quite
real - possibly leading to a new national
labor group.,
The 85,000 member Chemical Workers
Union, the 165,000 member United Rub-
ber Workers, and the 25,000 member
American Federation of Government
Employees have shown personal and
problematic sympathy with Reuther.
UAW has cooperated on the staff level
with the nation's largest union, the
Teamsters, but top Teamster officials re-
main non-committal on the possibility
of joining a UAW-led national labor

A Mac e
By THOMAS S. BODENHEIMER .was lo
and ..his wif
LAWRENCE ROSE he ear
EDITOR'S NOTE: )n the substit
April 13 edition of the New may h
Republic 1967-68 Daily Editor his o
Roger Rapoport wrote an ar- GOEC
ticle headlined "MACE in the "no la
Face," mentioning two incidents it "will
which transpired locally March age to
16" which led the Ann Arbor branes
City Council to suspend police ophtha
use of. Mace pending a Univer- . eightc
sity investigation of its contents. damag
In the following article ( the New ocurre
Republic, May 11, 1968, reprint- the da]
ed with permission of the New at leas
Republic, Copyright 1968, Har- a pern-
rison-Blaine of New Jersey, nately
Inc.), a Washington, D.C. physi- I'ano
cian and a San Francisco oph- from in
thalmologist write of the re- eye bur
sults of their investigation. ter ex
AS NOTED by Roger Rapoport seconds
in his article ("MACE in the eyelids
Face," April 13), a veil of mystery pain, b
has surrounded the chemical com- these ci
position of MACE. Now, for. the reactio
first time, however, the formula a range
can be made public, thanks to an tims w
inadvertent disclosure by a' poison their fa
control center in San Francisco of
a Public Health Service document AN
which gives the secret formulation. ,questior
The General Ordnance Equipment given b
Corporation's MACE is a solution and t
of .9 per cent chloroacetophenone mental
(CN), 4 per cent kerosene, and dose-of
some Freon propellants in 1,1,1, all exie
trichloroethane. hadr d
had di
What are these chemicals and questio
what are their effects? CN is the resting
most commonly used tear gas, probabl
causing irritation of the eyes, skin trichlor
and respiratory tracts. Its prime skin as
effect is intense pain and tearing tion of
of the eyes. Rare deaths have been confusi
caused by high concentrations of obvious
CN in closed spaces, and severe
eye damage has been produced by The s
the application of pure CN to the able tes
eye. The inventor of MACE, Alan Rapopo
Litman, told us that MACE could ingly s
now as
not be harmful because it has such arsenal.
a small amount of CN, and the tests dc
other chemicals in MACE are not and ind
harmful. These other chemicals, apparen
according to Litman, have no ef- ficials.
fects on humans and are present ' compan
only to dissolve the CN and give of this
MACE its spraylike property. resultsr
dicate
THE CHIEF liquid, 1,1,1, tri- fundam
chloroethane, in this new police that te
weapon, is by no means a harm- theway
less compound, however. The Pub-' Rose, w
lic Health Service says that it eyes wi
causes irritation of the eyes, muc- (simula
ous membranes,. and lungs, pro- mal dev
duces apathy, confusion and dizzi- in its Ii
ness, and can lead to central ner- mament
vous system depression, liver dam-
age, and heart abnormalities. Lit- AN I
man says that the apathy and health t
dizziness of those who have been lice dept
shot in the face with MACE are for poli
really secondary results ofthe and tol
blindingpain. More likely, these not yet r
symptoms are direct toxic effects ing fli
of the 1,1,1, trichloroethane. hmadealrt
Kerosene has effects similar to routinel
those of 1,1,1, trichloroethane, police fi
particularly on the nervous system in an e
and the lungs. It is not clear what MACE;1
these chemicals do to the skin. back be
)uiman has been quoted widely as ing. The
. , --- - - of MAC

oking for a device to protect
e against any attacker), and
nestly conceives it Ps a safe
ute for lethal weapons. He
ave fallen into the trap of
wn company's advertising.
writes that MACE causes
sting aftereffets" and that
not cause permanent dam-
the eyes or mucous mem-
. One of us (Dr. Rose), an
Ilmologist, has now seen
cases of post-MACE eye
e. Severe burns of the eyes
d in three cases. Much of
mage is not permanent, but
t one person has developed
anent corneal scar, fortu-
outside the line of vision.
ther, partial loss of vision
complete healing of a deep
rn is present, two weeks af-
posure. Four cases showed
degree skin burns of the
and face with continuous
listering, and deep redness
for three or four days. In
;aes of severe eye and skin
n, the MACE was used at
fo six inches, and the vic-
ere not allowed to wash
ces or eyes.
ADDITIONAL important
n arises from' the story
y a Presbyterian minister
hree students about their
status after getting a large
MACE at close range. They
rienced a one- to two-hour
of mental confusion and
fficulty answering simple
ns put to them by the ar-
officers. This confusion is
y related to the 1,1,
oethane, which soaks the
d clothes, allowing con-
evaporation and inhala-
the toxic chemical. The
on at the time of arrest has
civil liberties implications.
um total of publicly avail-
t results on MACE, as Mr.
rt pointed out, is frighten-
nall, considering that it is
standard item inthe police
nReports of toxicological
)e by police departments
lependent laboratories are
itly available 'to police of-
Yet the manufacturing
y, GOEC, will release little
information. The sparse
made public by GOEC in-
that the tests violate a
ental research principle-
st conditions approximate
MACE is used in practice.
tests were repeated by Dr.
ho sprayed three rabbits'
th MACE at close rang
ting police use). One ani-
eloped a scar on the cornea
ne of vision, causing per-
partial blindness.
EXPERIENCED p u b li c
oxicologist, asked by a po-
artment to approve MACE
ce use, did limited tests,
d the police that he could
ecommend it as safe pend-
ther study. His warning
~te difference; the police
ady decided to issue MACE
y to its men. The Boston
orce has been criticized
ditorial for not employing
the police chief had held
cause of inadequate test-
Spressure is for routine use
E,. before adequate testing

reappraisal

THE MEDICAL Committee on
Human Rights has just passed a
resolution calling for the imme-
diate banning of MACE as a law
enforcement weapons, "until such
time as it has been proved reason-
ably safe by federally conducted
tests, with 'openly, published re-
sults." The committee maintains
that MACE should be regulated as
a drug, with adequate testing for
safety before use. Of course, MACE;
is designed to hurt people less
than the police nightstick of re-
volver. No. oneknows, however,
what the risk isof permanent in-
juries -fron MACE. It is really
safer than a properly used night-
stick? Should it be used, as it has,
to disperse demonstrators; should
it be restricted to extremely serious
situations; or should it be banned
forever? Qnly open, unprejudiced
scientific testing in an atmosphere
free from emotion can give us the
answers.
6opyright 1968, Harrison-
Blaine of New Jersey, Inc.

munication or invasion of privacy
was specifically directed against
the "arbitrary use"' of wiretap-
ping and bugging devices "by
means of which the state may
obtain access, with or without
physical intrusion, to the most in-
atimate privacies ' of a person's
life," a constitutional convention
publication read.
THE INTENT of this provision,
the convention said, was "not to
place a total constitutional ban
on the use of detection devices
by the state, but to permit inter-
ception of communications only
when authorized by the court un-
der the same strict safe-guards
applicable to other searches and
seizures."
The prohibition of racial and
religious discrimination by the
state was adopted by the conven-
tion as a positive j reaffirmation
of the principle of equality be-.
fore the law in light of recent
federal legislation and court de-
cisions. Some legal experts be-
lieve that the provision, which'
technically bans only discrimin-
ation by the state, could have
been interpreted to ban' discrim-
ination by any state-supported or
licensed group.
Other parts of the .'Bill of
Rights were less revolutionary,
and would have served only to
bring Maryland up to date with
the rest of the country.
A section guaranteeing separ-
ation of church and state is
couched in language similar to
that of the federal Bill of Rights.
Maryland is the only state with
no constitutional provision for
freedom of religion, language in
the 1867 constitution requiring a
religious belief having been de-
clared unconstitutional by the
U. S. Supreme Court. Before that
court decision, jurors in M9ry-
land had to attest to a belief in.
God and divine retribution in an

afterlife complete with a heaven
and hell.
ANOTHER such p r o v i s i o n
would have extended the federal
guarantee against double jeopar-
dy to the state level. Although
most state constitutions already
include such a guarantee, in
Maryland it is not unusual for a
person to be tried twice for the
same crime. (Under the present
court system, if the prosecution
loses at the low court level, it can
try a defendant again at the next
level.)
Other provisions of the pro-
posed constitution were specifical-
ly designed to straighten the
tangled lines of authority now
prevailing in the state's govern-
ment andhto bringathe composi-
tion of the legislature more in
'line with recent one man-one
vote rulings by the Supreme
Court.
REFORMS in the legislative,
judicial and executive branches
were all aimed at more efficient
functioning of the state, but the
fact that certain long-established
offices (such as Register of Wills
and County Sheriff) would have
been abolished under the new
constitution undoubtedly account-
ed for some of the opposition to
it.
In the executive branch par-
ticularly, the proposed constitu-
tion would have established a di-
rect line of responsibility from the
governor's office down, abolish-
ing and downgrading some posi-
tions and adding the office of
lieutenant governor to aid ad-
ministrative efficiency and estab-
lish a clear line of succession.
A provision establishing ai pro-
cedure for review and reappor-
tionment of both legislative and
congressional districts every ten
years reflects a concern with the
rapidly changing population pat-
terns of the state. This kind of
provision is 'a sensible one for all
but the most sedentary states to
adopt.
The failure of the proposed
constitution is more than a one-
state issue. Eney called it "a dis-
tinct setback for revision in all
states" and labeled constitutional
reform "an absolute essential for
every state in the union. I have
hopes for the future, however,"
he said, "because it is essential
and imperative to combat the
atrophy and stagnation in our
state governments."
On the whole, the voters- of
Maryland have rejected a model
charter which might, as its oppo-
nents pointed out, have cost the
state some headaches and a bit of
money to adopt, but which would
have proved of infinite value in
the long run..
Hopefully, other states in
search of constitutional reform
will adopt some of the provisions
of the defeated document, and
voters of those states will have
the sense and the responsibility to
approve them.,,

04

Ep

Letters:* Sterile knolde

To the Editor:
THIS IS A REPLY to Lucy Ken-
nedy's letter-editorial (Daily,
May 14):
I read your letter to Mrs. King
with mixed feelings. I certainly
share your concern with the prob-
lems of poverty in America, but I
disagree with your views on the
Poor People's Campaign and I
don't understand how you can .be
at loss for something to do when
there is so much crying out to be
done.
The Campaign, as I see it, is
not just "sound and fury" driven
by highsounding rhetoric and slo-
gans. It has a specific objective
to meet the needs of a specific
group of people: a guaranteed an-
nual income for people who can't
work and a decent job for all those
who ban. You suspect that the
Campaign is merely a front with
the real action going on behind
Congressional doors. But it is pre-
cisely because that action in Con-
gress will not take place at all un-
les's there is a.direct confronta-
tion, and hopefully, of the mili-
tant nonviolent kind.
When social injustice is so deep-
ly institutionalized, and the in-
equitable distribution of wealth
and power so profoundly en-
trenched as it is in this country,
I think one can say with a dog-
matism backed by all history,
that the wielders of power and!
wealth are not going to share their
privileges voluntarily. So the di-
rect action component of this
Campaign is not just a front-it
is, the culmination of a struggle
which began with rational per-
suasion, lobbying, legal appeals,
and with all other avenues sealed,
the poor people have turned to the
only other (other than violence)
means at their disposal: civil dis-
obedience.
I AM ALSO puzzled by your re-
quest to Mrs. King that she tell
you specifically how you can
channel your concern into doing
something, given the manifold and

- tiL.

1

In Cold Blood

vidual conscience, I don't think
that I, or Mrs. King, or anyone
else, has the privilege or respon-
sibility to tell someone else exactly
how he should translate his con-
cern into action, even when re-
quested to do so. The available
possibilities are evident enough,
but to channel someone to spe-
cific alternatives would be ethic-
ally questionable, and for him to
accept it uncritically would be
irresponsible,
However, I do sympathize with
your position. I interpret your plea
for something to do as an unhap-
py commentary on the tendency of
our university education to aca-
demicize all knowledge, and to
sterilize it of its moral impulse,
such that many students (myself
included) are seldom touched by

courage to serve' carried into
practice.
But I do trust, Miss Kennedy,
that out of your deep concern with
the evils of poverty, and from the
articulateness of your writing and
your imagination, you will find
ways of action that you personally
feel are best to make freedom and
economic justice, not just Cam-
paign slogans, but realities.
-Wallace D. Loh
Kirkism
To the Editor;
AT THE Tuesday evening meet-
ing (May 14) of Voice-SDS,
the following resolution was
passed:
"We are appalled by the "Kirk-
like" 'tactics of the University of
Alin irr -n * f r i c ro i 7. .3...

1

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