Spain endures more Franco
By PAUL O'DONNELL
"SPAIN: END OF Franco's Era?"
read the headline of the magazine
page of Detroit's largest newspaper; the
article that followed dealt with Spain's
attempts to enter the Common Market,
the growing number and power of the
groups that oppose Franco, the regime's
heavy-handed methods, and the dicta-
tor's old age. The article was dated
February 18, 1963. Eleven years later,
after a six-week absence from power due
to illness, the 81-year-old former assoc-
iate of Hitler and Mussolini is back
in the driver's seat, and many of the
problems mentioned in the decade-old
article still remain unresolved.
Burying Franco before he dies is an
easy trap to fall into, even with the
knowledge that people have been predict-
ing Franco's death or downfall for years.
Journalists recently reacted to news of
Franco's serious illness by writing about
"Spain after Franco" and "the difficult
transition from Dictatorship to Mon-
archy." Much evidence did, however,
point to a new era in Spanish history.
Prince Juan Carlos' assuming the posi-
tion of chief of state, political turnover
in neighboring Portugal, and increased
activity of anti-Franquist groups inside
and outside Spain led many observers to
conclude that Spain's hour had come.
Then, on September 1, doctors declared
Franco to be "clinically cured" a n d
physically capable of once again as-
suming the responsibilities which he had
delegated to Juan Carlos. The state-con-
trolled television talked of a "guarantee
of stability and continuity," but the Cau-
dillo's comeback did nothing to answer
the real question: what happens after
he dies?
WHILE THE NIXON resignation and
the Ford succession proved that Amer-
ica's power-transfer mechanism operates
efficiently, events in the past year under-
score the uncertainty of Spain's political
future. A year ago, Franco's successor
Juan Carlos was to have been aided by
Premier Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco's
trusted deputy, in case of Franco's
death. Carrero Blanco would have guid-
ed the first steps of the new chief of
state, for Juan Carlos, although the
grandson of Spain's last king, will never
be the "strong man" that Franco is.
Just as Portugal's Caetano represent-
ed Salazarism after the death of Salazar,
so Carrero Blanca would have assured
the continuity of Franquism after the
Caudillo's death. When Carrero Blanco-
was assassinated last December, the me-
chanism for orderly succesion broke
down. When the new government, head-
ed by Carlos Arias Navarro, was nam-
ed, the divisions within the ruling oli-
garchy became increasingly obvious.
Spanish internal policy has since var-
ied between cautious liberalization and
political crack-downs, arrests, and execu-
tions.
MEANWHILE, PORTUGAL'S revolu-
tion of flowers, which last April depos-
ed a dictatorial regime which was even
older than Franco's, did nothing to en-
courage optimism about stable transi-
tion in post-Franquist Spain. Before the
Portuguese revolution, Spain and Portu-
gal shared the dubious distinction of be-
ing the only two dictatorships in Western
Europe. Now Franco is all alone; even
Spain's Mediterranean neighbor, Greece
now has a civilian government.
After the military takeover in Portu-
gal, many Spaniards speculated openly
about the possibility of a similar action
taking place in Spain. The man most
often suggested to lead the hypothetical
takeover is Gen. Manuel Alegria, a poli-
tical moderate. An unconfirmed rumor
circulated in backroom political dis-
cussions that Diez Alegria received doz.-
ens of monocles in the mail after the
Portuguese coup. The momocles, as the
story goes, were to en..xurage Diez!.
Diez Alegria to "do like Spinola."
Such an eventuality seems far-fetched
for many reasons. Diez Alegria, who has
never commanded troops and has neither
the political nor the military influence
that Spinola does, was recently relieved
of his functions as chief of the High
General Staff. All this makes him an
unlikely candidate for being the Span-
ish Spinola. Certain fundamental differ-
ences between the Portuguese and Span-
ish armies also discourage the possibil-
ity of a similar coup in Spain, among
these the facts that the Spanish mili-
tary has remained closer to the right-
wing authoritarian traditions of the re-
gime than its Portuguese counterpart,
and that the Spanish army hasn't been
involved in bellicose action in over twen-
ty-five years. That a Spanish Spinola
might exist, somehow and somewhere, is
mostly wishful thinking on the part of
the anti-Franquist opposition.
DESPITE the government's recent
moves towards limited political liberali-
zation, the majority of the Spanish peo-
ple live, and have lived for thirty-five
years, in a political vavuum. The Fran-
quist regime's standard operating pro-
cedure has been one of barring demo-
cratic elections and political parties,
opposing free speech, and m'Iffling t h e
press when it sees fit.
Due to news suppression inside Spain,
Spaniards can often find out about poli-
tical events in foreign -ountries soon-
er than they learn of goings-on in their
own country. Just as the Portuguese
people and its leaders are having diffi-
culties making the transition from dic-
tatorship to democracy after almost a
half-century of dictatrshio, so Spain
will have to face the problem of a poli-
tically unexperienced populace if it ever
embarks upon a democratic venture.
Despite the "de-politicization" of the
general populace, however, important
currents of political thught are devel-
oping. At the university level, student
strikes, protests, and unrest have been
continuous over the past several years,
especially in the large population cent-
ers. Political organizations on a clandes-
tine level have also seen consolidating
their forces over the )ast few months.
Among the left-wing .>position forces
that have recently come together are
the "Democratic Congress," which in-
cludes many non-Communist groups
(Socialists, Christian Democrats, a n d
Social Democrats), and the "Democrat-
ic Junta," which was created by the
exiled chief of the Spanish Communist
Party and other figures of opposition
who are also in exile. For the moment,
however, both the left and the right-
wing oppositions are waiting for Franco
. .. AND WHEN Franco goes, J u a n
Carlos will step up, but it is difficult to
tell what kind of country Juan Carlos'
Spain will be. A constitutional mon-
archy? A dictatorship with a figurehead
king? A military democracy? A repub-
lic? Spain, which has been governed by
two different dictators, one king, and
one republic during the twentieth cen-
tury, doesn't lack historical models.
Whatever the political future of Spain
may be, Franco's return t) power does
not make that future any clearer.
One Socialist leader went so far as to
say Franco's return merely "compli-
cates the political situation, increases
tensions and will make peaceful change
more difficult."
Paul O'Donnell is a Daily European
Correspondent.
94c Airi t axen4a D
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Wednesday, September 18, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
The musical street sign name
Sarah Bad Heart Bull
ANY LATE-HOUR traveller negoti-
ating the streets of our fair town
might well depart dazzled with vi-
sions of municipal efficiency unpar-
alled.
Among Ann Arbor's most resonant
PR voices are those ubiquitous street
signs controlling the wee hour roost-
ing patterns of vehicles the town
over. When the itinerant or new
resident first spots the "No Parking:
Mon, Wed, Fri, 2 am to 5 am" rising
above the parkway, he or she is
stricken by the notion of a garbage-
guzzling armada of street-cleaners
vigilantly scouring the town every
other weekday night, lest a dozing
citizen might awaken the next morn
only to step on a deserted Tootsie
Roll wrapper.
However, no such delusions of
curbside grandeur afflict more sea-
soned Ann Arborites. It's common
knowledge that our City Fathers
might do better to cleanse our high-
ways and by ways by equipping Shak-
in' Jake with a 20-foot scarf and
magnetic soles.
THE FACT IS - brace yourselves -
Musical Street Signs is just an-
other version of the imaginative
money - mongering game in which
this city prides itself.
Probably the most compelling fea-
ture of this town's revolutionary
street-cleaning system is its conspic-
uous absence. If anybody out there
ever actually sees a street-cleaner,
take a picture of it. If you're sober
when you take it, have it developed.
Playi,,ng m-usic
IN ADDITION TO the bad emotional
taste that Gerald Ford's "clem-
ency" deal left in my mouth, enough
serious ethical and legal questions
about his "earned re-entry" program
remain unanswered to create sus-
picions about his intentions and the
amnesty proposal's efficacy.
To my knowledge, never before has
,a U. S. president offered conditional
amnesty after hostilities have ceas-
ed, The closest parallel is Abraham
Lincoln's offer to secessionist troops
during, not after, the Civil War.
On one hand, Ford's position makes
sense, sort of, because the American
government continues to finance the
war in Indochina that drove so many
to resist induction and so many oth-
ers to desert the military. But, if
this is the correct reading of his cere-
brations, why not offer to pardon
insurgent Vietnamese if they will lay
down their arms?
On the other hand, his whole out-
line is screwy. If Ford indeed wanted
to let bygones slide, as he intimated
in his proclamation, would it not
have been more reasonable to grant
a blanket pardon (there is a presi-
It would be fruitless to simply sug-
gest that the city remove the signs.
However, a more candid relationship
with its citizenry would no doubt be
well-received.
The city certainly knows that it is
downright impossible to keep those
signs straight night after night.
The driving masses, for their part,
are keenly aware of the bloating ef-
fect the parking game has on city
coffers.
Each night the violation machine
makes its kill. That is inevitable.
There is a way, nonetheless, to gorge
the treasury without as much popu-
lar pain. Under the new, revised
parking meter plan:
0 STREET - CLEANING S I G N S
would restrict parking only one
or two nights a month, or however
often the street is actually cleaned.
" On the other nights, the "Ann
Arbor Metropolitan Parking Viola-
tions Lottery" would go into effect.
Each night, a preset number of ve-
hicles would be randomly chosen as
"losers" and plastered with tickets.
The Losers Quota would be scientif-
ically designed to maintain the park-
ing bureau's present nightly take,
adjusted to cost-of-living, naturally.
Outrageous, you gasp? Of course,
we retort - but certainly no more
outrageous or- demeaning than the
"one-two-three, jump!" system now
plaguing us.
Besides, just think how exciting it
will be to choose the Lottery Com-
mission members.
-PAUL HASKINS
al street signs
by a given date, instead of hanging
an ambiguous penance over the
heads of men who make a pretty
good argument that they have com-
mitted no crime? Or does one have
to stand behind the presidential seal
and intone "I am not a crook" three
times before mercy enters into the
picture?
FVER SINCE MEN began resisting
the draft, questions of involun-
tary servitude and compulsory mili-
tary service, especially in times
when Congress has declared no war,
were raised by those who felt that
the Selective Service Act violated the
Bill of Rights. With our present "may-
be you'll get off with two years" set-
up, discussion of that question will
be shelved until the next "police ac-
tion" rolls around; and then it will
be too late.
Also, the process by which military
resisters become eligible for "clem-
ency" smells sort of fishy when com-
pared with the Fifth Amendment.
What Ford has done is to establish
a judicial system outside the frame-
work of the Constitution.
TN ANY CASE, our new president acts
Predatory justice and White
By LIA PAYNE
THIS LAND we live on is In-
dian land. Land we have
immorally and often illegally,
even in accordance with our
own European laws, stolen. Not
only have we stolen it, but we
are poisoning it and mutilating
it - and the Indian, the original
inhabitant of this land, is pois-
oned and mutilated at the same
time.
The American Native People
have never received justice un-
der our immigrants system. We
attempt to take everything from
them, not only their land and
their means of economic self-
sufficiency - but their relig-
ion, their language, their cul-
ture, their human dignity - the
very core of any people's life.
We attempt to leave them naked
and empty in the starkness of
modern America's waste-land,
where all vital values are for-
gotten. These vital values are
inherent in, and cannot be sep-
arated from the Indian way of
existence. W have not conquer-
ed them yet, and our desire to
is a sickness, as much as cover-
ing up the live earth with arti-
ficial rock, or the obsession to
toy with nuclear explosives, is
a sickness. We need the Ind-
ians and what they have to of-
fer us in learning about the val-
ue of life itself.
THE AMERICAN Natives will
fight the sickness in our sys-
tem to the end. They have seen
what we have already done to
their country, in the span of a
few hundreds years. Only a
short time ago, this, was an
entire continent of untouched
beauty.
Their way had never been to
be loud and aggressive. It has
been much more "live and let
live," in total harmony. But
we force them to be loud. They
have found that otherwise their
voices go unheard.
They never chose to be ruled
by our law and way of life,
and it does not work for them.
Yet the Indian is still compelled
to try to find justice under this
law and this system. And for
the people who everyone would
rather annihilatet- or at least
forget about this is like try-
ing to find a needle in a hay-
stack.
Sarah Bad Heart Bull is one
Indian person in -the thick of
the struggle of Indians striving
for their native rights in their
own land. She is the 44 year
old mother of 6 surviving child-
ren. Two of Sarah's children,
young Indian men, were mur-
dered at different times by
white men. In-January of 1973.
Wesley, 20, was stabbed to
death by a white businessman
named Darly Schmitz. D a r y I
Schmitz was charged by t h e
state with only second-degree
manslaughter, before certain
alleged eye-witnesses to the
killing had even been question-
ed.
ON FEBRUARY 6, 1973, 200
Indians, very angry, but unarm-
ed, went to Custer, South Da-
kota to meet with the state's
attorney, Hobart Gates, to pro-
test the lack of investigation in-
to Wesley's murder, the len-
ient charge given this white
murderer, and to demand jus-
tice. Sarah Bad Heart Bull was
among these 200 people, as well
as two of her friends - Ro-
bert High Eagle and Kenneth
Dahl.
The peaceful demonstrators at
Custer were met on the Court-
house steps by police in full riot
gear. Sarah attempted to climb
the Courthouse steps in order
to go into the Courthouse where
the meeting between the state's
attorney and A.I.M. leaders was
being held. She was forcefully
beaten back by the police. In
the melee that followed, a gas
station and a bulk oil plant were
damaged by fire, and the sin-
gle story frame chamber of com-
merce was burned to the
ground. Several abandoned po-
lice cars were also trashed.
Twenty-two people have b e e n
charged with assorted crimes
stemming from the incident.
Last summer, the murderer of
Wesley Bad Heart Bull, was
acquited of his charge by an
all white jury.
ON JUNE 20th of this year,
Sarah, Bob High Eagle, and
Ken Dahl were found guilty, by
an all-white jury, of riot where
arson was committed.
During the sentencing of the
three, the defense was- given
opportunity to present evidence
in favor of mercy and mitiga-
tion. Regina Brave Dixon, also
a mother and Custer defendent,
gave testimony explaining her
motive for going to Custer: "I
went to Custer as a mother be-
cause I did not want the same
thing to happen to my sons that
happened to Wesley Bad Heart
Bull. I don't want my daughter
to grow up and have that hap-
pen to one of her children. It
was time that Indian people
stood up and protested the dual
system of justice that we've
had to accept in the past."
The court, shortly later sen-
tenced Sarah to one to five
years in prison, and Bob and
Ken to five to seven years. The
court denied any bond pending
appeal, and was upheld by the
state supreme court. There was
merica
a defense motion for a months
stay of execution for Sarah so
that she might make custody ar-
rangements fcir her surviving
children. This motion was de-
nied. The defense then request-
ed a week's stay or sentence.
This was also denied. The judge
was then informed that Sarah's
children were waiting outside in
her car. Finally he granted her
24 hours to find a new home
for her children.
Sarah Bad Heart Bull, in a
mother's grief, feeling the fu-
tility of being an Indian trying
to live today, went to Custer
to ask for justice over her son's
death. Tired of seeing her child-
ren murdered one after another
by white hate and cruelty, she
was angry. For destruction of
property and lack of respect
for our white "superiority",
Sarah is now separated from
her remaining children as she
is locked in jail:
The murderer of her child was
acquitted for his crime, and
now goes free.
Where is justice for the Ind-
ian People? Where is our hu-
manity, to allow such happen-
ings to occur and go uncheck-
ed?
Letters to The Daily
*l/
clericals
To the Editor:
WE WISH to protest the ob-
viously biased reporting of the
Michigan Daily on September
17, 1974.
AFSCME does not represent
clericals at all of the universi-
ties in Michigan. Even by their
own admission, they represent
clerical employees at only 4
colleges - not all of them.
The Daily implied that the
UAW is male dominated. Per-
haps you haven't observed that
the campaign on campus has
been directed, organized and run
by clericals: read women. AFS-
CME's campaign has been run
by union hacks like Jerry Gor-
don and Bob Johnson while the
clericals on their staff run the
errands and distribute the leaf-
lets like good little secretaries
should.
THE DAILY also implies that
the UAW hasn't bothered to or-
ganize the clericals at Ford or
GM. What you fail to mention
is that when the UAW wins a
new contract for their Chrysler
clericals, Ford and GM automat-
cally pass on the benefits to
their own clericals to keep them
from organizing. Thus the Ford
and GM clericals benefit from
the strength of the UAW without
called upon the UAW for assist-
ance - not AFSCME. If AFS-
CME's expertise is so advanc-
ed, why do public employees
call upon the UAW for help?
The Daily also implies that a
group of clericals broke off from
the Concerned Clericals for Ac-
tion after we decided, by a
democratic secret ballot vote to
support the UAW. That "group"
of clericals who decided to work
for AFSCME consisted of a to-
tal of two.
You also stated that both the
Letters to The Daily rhould
be mailed to the Editorial
Director or delivered to
Mary Rafferty in the Student
Publications business office
in the Michigan Daily build-
ing. Letters should be typed,
double-spaced and normally
should not exceed 250 words.
The EditorialhDirectors re-
serve the right to edit all
letters submitted.
UAW and AFSCME submitted
cards and were both certified.
The cards AFSCME submitted
were not accepted because they
did not have the necessary
thirty percent. Read: we a r e
the Petitioner, AFSCME is the
Intervenor. AFSCME tried later
to certify another set of cards
with a new petition. Our first
petition was held to be valid
and theirs was not accepted.
Read: we are the Petitioner,
they are Intervenors.
We have worked hard and
long on this campaign to dis-
seminate a clear, concise set of
issues and facts. We wish the
Daily would do likewise.
-Dan Byrne, Rackham
Jane Gould, SAB
Gail Klein, Law School
Deborah Moorehead,
Social Work
Dawn Chalker
Linda Pedell
Pamela O'Conner, ICLE
Sept. 17, 1974
Tia Payne works for the Wounded Knee Legal De-
fense/Offense Committee in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Pardon pie on
Ford back burner
By STEVE ROSS
SINCE PRESIDENT FORD pardoned citizen Nixon last
week, the White House has been deluged with pardon
requests from every prison in the country.
"We're getting at least one thousand letters a day,"
moaned one overworked secretary from behind a mountain =
of letters. The White House staff has been working night and
day to plow through the letters. President Ford has only
seen a few letters, the ones which seem to have the best
chance of pardoning, and the worst, to entertain the President
during odd moments of spare time. "I just hope he doesn't
get them mixed up," sighed one staff member; she added,
"If he looked through all of them it would take him the
rest of his term. The problem is most people might not be
able to tellthe difference."
So the staff has to screen the letters. "The President
was considering hiring more staff people, but felt it would be
inflationary," grunted a staff member as he wheeled in
another batch of mail.
'rO MEET THE crunching demand, the President decided
to have his staff send each prisoner a form letter. The
staff was aided in this effort by a member of the U of M's
Admissions Department, who comnosed the basic form of
the letters. First, after a letter is opened, a staff member
reaches into a thick pile of acknowledgement letters. They
read:
Dear
I have received your letter requesting a pardon. I
have received many similar requests and it will take }:
time to review them all. Please be patient. I will con-
sider your case as soon as possible.
Sincerelv:
Gerald R. Ford
There are similar letters for the denial and granting of
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), Rm 353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol