I
stif Sfr4tgan4 +
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
OEO
legal help program
faces attacks
k]
Al
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1973
The polities of resignation
WHILE IMPEACHMENT efforts progress
slowly in the House of Representa-
tives, there is increased discussion of an-
other solution to the present national
leadership crisis, Richard Nixon's resig-
nation as President.
Across the country political friends and
foes alike are calling on Mr. Nixon to
give up his office and let the task of lead-
ing the nation fall to cleaner and more
effective hands.
Even the conservative Detroit News,
staunch Nixon ally in the newspaper
world, has advocated the President's
resignation. It appears Republican stal-
warts have come to the conclusion that
Nixon is a liability, both to the nation
and to the GOP.
PROPONENTS of Nixon resignation
emphasize the paralysis of govern-
ment created by the Watergate scandal
and its countless ramifications. With
trust in President Nixon and hence the
American government at an all-time low,
relations with other nations are clouded
by uncertainty. It is also doubtful whe-
ther the administration is capable of pro-
viding leadership in domestic matters.
Mooreover, Nixon's resignation would
avoid tying up both the executive and
legislative branches of government in a
long agonizing battle over impeachment.
To those familiar with Nixon's long
quest. for the presidency and the arro-
gancy he has displayed regarding his
power as chief executive, the suggestion
that the President would step down from
office may seem ludicrous.
HOWEVER, IT IS entirely possible Nix-
on would not wish to remain as
President minus the power and prestige
he so obviously has enjoyed. Advice from
close aides and pressure from political
allies could indeed weaken the Presi-
dent's resolve to go down with his sink-
Ing ship.
While we would welcome Nixon's resig-
nation, the apparent political deal it
would involve raises some disturbing is-
sues. Many advocates of Nixon's resigna-
tion feel the President should step down
only after his nomination of Gerald Ford
for Vice President has been approved by
the Congress.
THE POLITICAL LOGIC of this idea is
hard to fathom. It places President
Nixon in the rather peculiar position of
a man who is generally considered to
have betrayed the public trust, is
forced to give up his office, but is first
allowed to name his successor.
For a short time several weeks ago, it
Editorial Staff
CHRISTOPHER PARKS and EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editors In Chief
DIANE LEVICK.......................Arts Editor
MARTIN PORTER \................ .... Sunday Editor
MARILYN RILEY...,....Associate Managing Editor
ZACHARY SCHILLER............. Editorial Director
ERIC SCHOCH..................Editorial Director
TONY SCHWARTZ.........Sunday Editor
CHARLES STEIN ......................... City Editor
TED STEIN .. ....................... Executive Editor
ROLFE TESSEM ..................... Managing Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Prakash Aswani, Gordon Atcheson,
Dan Biddle, Penny Blank. Dan Blugerman, Howard
Brick, Dave Burhenn, Bonnie Carnes, Charles Cole-
man, Mike Duweck, Ted Evanoff, Deborah Good,
William Heenan, Cindy Hill, Jack Krost, Jean Love-
Josephine Marcotty, Cheryl Pilate, Judy Ruskin,
Ann Rauma, Bob Seidenstein, Stephen Selbst, Jeff
Sorensen, Sue Otephenson, David Stoll, Rebecca
Warner
DAILY WEATHER BUREAU: William Marino and
Dennis Dismacnek (forecasters)
appeared the Ford nomination would be
delayed in Congress because of the drive
for Nixon's impeachment. Now, the re-
verse seems to be true, Congress is rush-
ing through the nomination to create the
preconditions for a Nixon resignation.
This apparent desire to replace Nixon
with a virtual carbon copy in Gerald Ford
reveals the hidden complexity of the
resignation issue. While a speedy end to
the Nixon presidency is a desirable goal,
resignation should not occur for reasons
of political expediency. Undoubtedly Nix-
on's resignation would be for the good of
the nation and perhaps the Republican
party, but these effects should constitute
the by-products and not the rationale of
resignation.
RICHARD NIXON should resign because
through a consistent policy of de-
ception, obstruction of justice and abuse
of power he has forfeited any right, either
moral or political, to lead the nation.
As a result of the Watergate scandal,
the American people and much of the
world has come to see the Nixon admin-
istration as the most corrupt in the na-
tion's history. The spectre of this cor-
ruotion cannot be erased through a politi-
cal deal that lets Gerald Ford enter the
White House through the back door.
Congress has three responsibilities in
dealing with the current crisis of the Ad-
ministration: to continue impeachment
efforts, to reject or delay of the Ford
nomination and most importantly to pro-
vide the nation with the open, effective
leadership it has lacked in the Nixon
years.
Nix Nichols
TODAY DETROIT voters will make a
. crucial decision about their future.
The mayoral race between State Sen.
Coleman "Young and former Police Com-
missioner John Nichols is much more
than a clash between opposite personali-
ties and campaign styles. It is a battle of
diametrically opposed philosophies.
Nichols ran an inefficient, corrupt De-
troit police department and promises to
do the same with the city administration.
His approach to government is a straight-
ahead, tough-guy program which offers
few solutions to the city's many prob-
lems. Nichols has made race a major is-
sue in the campaign, and has further di-
vided a dangerously polarized city in the
few brief monthe of the campaign.
COLEMAN YOUNG has for years been
a driving force in the state's Demo-
cratic Party. With his considerable ener-
gv and sound ideas, he has been a major
progressive force in the state.
Young has campaigned on issues, not
on fear. His assertion that the major
problems of Detroit are economic in na-
ture is, we believe, an accurate one.
Young has sound plans for the revitaliza-
tion of the city, and his record gives hope
that he will carry them out. Coleman
Young may not be able to save Detroit,
but at this hour he seems its only chance.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Chris Parks, Cheryl Pilate, Chip
Sinclair, Ted Stein, Becky Warner
Editorial Page: Nick Ferraro, Subrata
Ghoshroy, Zach Schiller, Chuck Wilbur
Arts Page: Angel Baby
Photo Technician: David Margolick
By TERRY ADAMS
THE DISCOVERY by academics and so-
cial planners in the 1960's that poverty
still existed in the United States has had
at least one important but unheralded by-
product - that in terms of crucial services
like medical and legal assistance, depriva-
tion extends a long way up the income
ladder. The purpose of these three arti-
cles is to discuss attempts that have so
far been nade to make legal services
available to the great majority of the
population that is not rich, alternatives
that are still available, and actions being
taken by the Congress right now that ser-
iously affect those alternatives.
This first part discusses the structure of
and attacks on the Office of Economic Op-
portunity's Legal Services Program for the
poor. The second will discuss the struggle
that began in Congress this past spring
and will reach a climax within a few weeks
over legal services for the poor. And the
third will discuss the options available
to working- and middle-class people.
OEO'S LEGAL services program w a s
really an afterthought of Lyndon John-
son's War on Poverty. With very little dis-
cussion, LBJ's landslide Congress accepted
Sargent Shriver's suggestion and added a
brief phrase to the Economic Opportunity
Act of 1965 authorizing such a program. No
additional legislation on the subject has
become law since then, and this v a s t
program (2,200 lawyers in 936 offices in all
50 states, serving about 2 million people
a year at a cost of $180 million) is govern-
ed by regulations issued by the director
of OEO.
From the beginning the program has con-
sisted of contracts between local (now re-
gional) OEO officers and local non-profit
private corporations; the local OEO offices
get the money from Washington, and the
local corporations hire a staff of attorneys
and others to provide legal services to the
poor in the particular geogrannical area of
the local OEO office. The local legal serv-
ices projects are allowed to take only non-
criminal cases that a private lawyer would
not take, and generally serve only people
with incomes below the federal poverty line
(now about $4,500 for a family of four}.
ELIGIBLE CLIENTS get the full range
:w s::::.'":JJ: : ::J ~::::::: ::::: . :}:.::w ::} : .,. : :-....Y:.":J:". . ..........:::L...J J..":}..:: J::::J:":"l J\4L {4 ..1 y'l
"Being sued frequently . . . is regarded as a very unpleasant
experience by many local politicians and bureaucrats, and they
have aggressively counterattacked by trying to kill or at least
maim the most vigorous local legal services projects."
.......":::::..::. ::a ::"}::::: ..:......................... ...'s L:":
of legal services any private attorney would
give - advice, negotiation, and litigation--
and there is no fee charged; in addition,
many project attorneys have acted as lob-
byists for groups of poor people such as
tenants' organizations and welfare rights
organizations. Despite the comparatively
low pay (averaging $10,000 to start com-
pared to $15,000 with a traditional law firm)
the project attorneys are not allowed any
outside practice of law.
As a practical matter, 70 Der cent of the
cases handled by project attorneys never
get to court - as in the case in private
practice, they are settled simply with ad-
ticians and bureaucrats, and they have
aggressively counter-attacked by trying to
kill or at least maim the most vigorous
local legal services projects.
THE MOST FAMOUS such attack was
that of California's Gov. Reagan on Cali-
fornia Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA)',
which had successfully prevented many of
Reagan's attempts to cut back on welfare
programs and to break the farmworker's
strike. This incident is instructive because
it set a pattern for the attacks made on
the whole legal services program during
the past year.
Step one of the attack is to find some-
vice or through negotiation. Of the cases
that are tried, three-fourths are won and
half settled before they actually go to trial.
Only one per cent of all the cases are ever
appealed to a higher court, but much of the
praise and damnation of the entire program
grows out of that tiny fraction of the
cases.
MANY OF THEM have gotten the label
"law reform" or "test" cases, since often
the purpose of them is to establish some
new rule of law that will change the con-
duct of government officials a n d
private economic interests in order to
benefit great numbers of poor people.
Typically the case is based on the claim
that government officials are violwing the
federal constitution or some federal statute.
A, lot of important cases have been won
(and a lot lost, but seldom are the poor
worse off as a result) and the procedural
rights of the poor in the areas of welfare,
housing, education, and protection against
creditors have substantially increased.
Being sued frequently, particulariv when
it means losing and having to change an es-
tablished policy, is regarded as a very
unpleasant experience by many local poli-
one with proper ideological credentials to
evaluate the program and recommend its
discontinuance; Reagan and all the other
governors have an initial veto power over
OEO projects in the state, but until recent-
ly the governor needed some strong evi-
dence backing up the veto to convince
OEO not to override it and fund the pro-
gram anyone.
REAGAN'S MAN for the attack on CRLA
was Lewis K. Uhler, a former official of
the state John Birch Society. In 1970, Uhler
reported back with a document of several
hundred pages charging CRLA with a
range of improper activities including em-
bezzlement, support of left-radical political
groups, and litigation against the state for
purposes of harassment. Reagan immed-
iately vetoed the CRLA funding, and the
project had to endure several crippling
months of partial funding while trying to
justify its actions and refute the Uhler
renort.
Eventually OEO appointed a committee of
three retired Supreme Court judges from
other states to make a decision on the
matter. Despite the incredible number and
'peace' in,
variety of the ,charges, the three judges
found them "completely without founda-
tion" and "irresponsible". They no, only
cleared CRLA of the charges but commend-
ed it as a model for other legal services
projects to follow.
WHILE A GREAT many of the Uhler
charges were complete fabrications and
the rest distortions of the facts, they didn't
die. They are yet today being repeated and
elaborated by Congressional opponents of
the legal services program, and were a
favorite topic of Spiro Agnew's attacks
The CRLA affair did have the effect of
warning supporters of the legal services
program in Congress and national OEO that
the program was politically quite vulner-
able in its present form, and they began to
propose legislation that would place OEO's
funding and supervisory powers in an in-
dependent National Legal Services Corpor-
ation.
At this point, 1971, neither the Nixon
administration nor the Congressional lib-
erals led by Senator Mondale (D-Minn.)
proposed making any changes in the way
the local projects were run; the only real
differences were whether the President
would have a free hand in appointing the
Corporation's Board of Directors or whe-
ther a majority of the seats would be de-
signated for representatives of professional,
poor people's, and project attorneys' groups.
THE MONDALE "designated seats" bill
won, and passed theCongress as part of an
omnibus OEO bill that the President vetoed
primarily because of his opposition to parts
of it. It seemed to most observers that a
slightly modified bill, standing on its own,
would get the President's approval.
That estimate did not forsee the radical
shift in the staff and tone of OEO that
took place after the 1972 elections, how-
ever. When the new administration bill came
to Congress in June, 1973, it began a whole
new ball game.
Terry Adams graduated from the law
school last year, and has worked as a volun-
teer for the Washtenaw County Legal Aid
Society.
SE Asia
.4
I
I
Corporations
By BARBARA HOWELL former Bank of Amerin
FOR THE first time in history, dent Rudolph A. Peterson
the First National Bank of Chi- timism about investmen:c
cago will hold its annual B o a r d tunities in the larger Pacifi
meeting in a foreign country. Plan- area. .
ned for Singapore in November, Speaking in 1968, hes
the meeting symbolizes *he grow- "There is no more vast o
ing interest of investors and in- area for resource developm
dustrialists in the mineral resourc- trade growth in the world
es and new markets of Southeast than this immense region, an
Asia. virtually our own front yard
With the ashes of the Vietnam Were we California busine
war still warm, the industrial na- to, play a more dynamic r
tions are rediscovering that in helping trade developmenti
terms of profit potential, peace al- Pacific Rim, we would have
so has its assets. At a recent con- hungry new markets for ou
ference in his island republic's ducts and vast new profit
Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore Prime tials for our firms."
Minister Lee Kuan Yew assured
450 Western and Japanese business DURING THE October Sing
and government leaders that conference, organized by the
"there are opportunities to be don Financial Times and
seized, for fortune awaits the en- "Business Opportunities in
terprising in this part of the Pacific Basin," Western bu
Pacific Basin." men waxed enthusiastic abo
Ratification of the Indochina profit potential in the area.
Peace Treaty and the establish- William H. Hurst, Vice-PR
ment of conservative governments of Bank of America's in*.erna
in many of the resource-rich coun- division, spoke enthusiast
tries of the Pacific Basin provide about the growth of U.S.
comforting assurances to Western with Southeast Asia. "We
and Japanese investors. The spec- become a Pacific-looking nal
tre of future expropriation of fore- trade . . . For the U.S. aln-
ign assets is at present a minor way trade with Asia jump
threat in such key countries as per cent in 1972 . .. Trade fi
Marcos' Philippines or Suharto's provide a firm foundation f
Indonesia. optimism with respect to t
velopment of Southeast As
INDEED, political stability s The most alluring asect
often mentioned as the biggest plus Tems luigarc
factor of rapid development in Southeast Asian region is it
Southeast Asia. Whereas only a supply of natural resurces
few years ago the region was be- supplies of needed mineral
set by political turmoil and mili- timber wealth just scratcn ti
conflict, now most of the face of the area's potential
tary colcnwms fte there were naturally disagrei
countries have governments firmly the grwere lee
in control and are seeking Western at the Singapore conference
investments. The Nixon-Chou talks. how these resources shouldt
and resulting opening un of rela-
tions with China seem to be uni- JOSE M. SORIANO, Phi
versally acclaimed. President of Southeast Asia's
There has been so much recent est mining company, Atlas
American enthusiasm about t h e solidated Mining and Develo
business prospects in the region Corporation, and chairman
that most industrialists now share Board of many other industr
find
Presi-
's op-
oppor-
c Rim
stated:
r rich
ent or
today
nd it is
A ...
ssmen
role in
in the
giant,
ar pro-
poten-
gapore
t Lon-
titled
the
siness-
out the
.esident
rationa]
ticall.'
trade
have
tion in
e, two-
ped 21
figures
or our
he de-
,sia.'
as the
ts vast
Oil,
Js and
he sur-
d. And
ements
as to
be ex-
l'ppime
s larg-
s Cci-
'pment
of the
ries in
. the Philippines, urged fewer gov-
ernmental 'restrictions on foreign
investments in mining and a more
liberal attitude toward the extrac-
tion of natural resources.
"I believe," he said, "that des-
pite its mineral wealth the region-
al mining industry court h a v e
grown more rapidly had govern-
ments taken a more realisti; atti-
tude in attracting as much risk
capital as required . . . If capital
is to be attracted for mining, gov-
ernments would do well to en-
courage as much as possible the
profitl ty of these desired in-
vestmemts."
In reg':rd to the ext-action of
minera,s, Mr. Soriano said 'Te
must i;) forget that in giing up
an irrepcce-ibie mine ~A de )sit,
great epportumries have b e c :i
spawned in return. nd rither
than dwe'l on the loss of irreplace-
able wvealth, let us n-j ioe sight
of the fact 'tat tremendis ocne-s
ficial .ftcti have been generated."
IT WAS THAT "econorn , ani-
ma" "Japan which invoked most
criticism and anxiety by the
Southeast Asian speakers. Tfe
necessity of assuring a steady flow
of natural resources i order to
continue Japan's present standard
of living and the need for unskilled
labor and more export markets
make the proximity of the resourc-
es-rich and populous Southeast As-
ian countries attractive to Japaci.
Trade in the region is expanding
rapidly, and by 1980 more than half
of its exports will go to Japan.
Overseas private inverment, still
in its infancy in Japan, has seen
a marked increase in the last three
years.
Prime Minister Lee d st.:ibuted
a graph to the conference which
showed how trade with Japan, the
U.S. and European Econo', Comn-
munity (EEC) have expanded.
"Southeast Asia's trade with the
EEC is like a D-C 3 taking off," he
said. "That with America like a
second-generation jet, and that
with Japan almost like a STOL
(short take-off and landing air-
craft which can climb almost ver-
tically)".
ALTHOUGH THESE Asian gov-
ernments welcome Japanese capi-
tal and technological expertise,
there is in the region a deep sent-
ed mistrust partly traceable to a
remembrance of the harsh Japan-
ese occupation during the Second
World War and an underlying fear
of another Japanese takeover -
military or, more likely, economic.
It was left to a British banker,
R.A.S. Lane, Managing Director of
The Chartered Bank, who chaired
the last day's meeting, to men-
tion social justice: "this cannot be
stressed too often, growth without
social justice makes for an empty
figure - growth with soe'al jus
tice is the right of any country.
Those who try to ignore this right
will, very properly, find that their
money and skill are not wanted."
Whether this concern for social
justice was shared by any of the
other delegates present at the con-
ference is uncertain. In the past,
economic growth in the Pacific
Basin has rarely provided m u c h
benefit for the people of the area.
A local critic in Singapore, reflect-
ing on the probability of massive
new investment inm Southeast Asia
by foreign powers stated: "If his-
tory is any teacher, we wl dis-
cover again that foeign capital
means only one thing: the rich will
get richer and the po )r will grow
poorer."
Barbara Howell is the Singapore
correspondent for American Re-
port. Copyright Pacific News Ser-
vice --1973.
Disappearing tapes:*Do they
really think we're so stupid?
vi
AKA r Mi
ODUT!
PPE, w'66 Vou
l AOAur'(01).
i
I
9-2.c~ I
cur!
SCUT1 LOPA7
"f OUR_?
II- .. .v u
12 -Ar7F111I Ar5
A rR!PI 1
By PETE HAMILL
I WANTED to write a piece today about Nicholas
Ferraro, who is running for district attorney of
Queens. I wanted to tell you about his fine record,
his eight years as an assistant DA and his hard work
in the State Senate since 1965.
But it's very hard to write with any hope or
confidence about electing a man of the law when
the national government in Washington is in a state
of criminal insurrection. We have worried for a
while now about the possibility of a coup d'etat in
Washington. Perhaps we will never recognize it when
it happens, because we expect to see tanks rolling
down Pennsylvania Avenue. In fact, the coup d'etat
might already have taken place.
WHAT ELSE are we to make of the Case of the
Missing Tapes? Last week Nixon's lawyers were tell-
ing us that all nine tapes would be turned over to
Judge Sirica. General Haig announced on TV as late
as Sunday that all nine tapes would be given to the
judge. Now we are told that there are only seven
tapes. The one phone call was taken on the only
unbugged phone in the White House and the tape
ran out during another crucial conversation.
I Mean, who the hell are they kidding? They have
had months to look at those tapes. When H. R. Halde-
man needed tapes to prepare his testimony before
the Ervin Committee they had no trouble finding
them. But now, at this late date, the Banana Pepub-
licans are telling us that the two key tapes, which
conceivably could show whether Richard Nixon is
guiltv or innocent don't exist? Do thev rea1v think
him. Those tdpes have probably joined all the other
evidence against Nixon that was fed into paper shred-
ders, or dumped into the Potomac or burned before
reading.
But what do we tell people like Nick Ferraro who
are running to become lawmen? How does he ever in-
dict anyone in Queens, as long as Nixon and his
people can flagrantly obstruct justice? How can he
ever ask a judge to sentence someone to the maxi-
mum, if evidence in a criminal conspiracy in Wash-
ington is witheld, tamepred with, or destroyed? The
answer is simple. He can't.
BECAUSE IT IS clear now what Nixon has done to
this country. He has destroyed the delicate balance
of its laws. That balance worked for almost 200
years, until Nixon and his crowd got their hands on
the instruments of power. They secretly bombed Cam-
bodia. They impounded funds that were legally au-
thorized by Congress.
They put burglars on the national payroll. They
defied the counts until "the fire storm" for impeach-
ment rose around them. They hired Archibald Cox
to investigate crimes and then fired him when he
actually began investigating those crimes and then,
in a move straight out of Kafka, Nixon, the prime
suspect in these crimes, hand picked another man
to investigate them.
Under Nixon it is impossible for any man of the
law to function. I think Nick Ferraro is a good man.
If I lived in Queens, I would vote for him. But as
long as Nixon is President, as long as his lieutenants
walk the streets while other people inhabit prisons,
7
MOTiVA1c41)2
W) REPCE~
SOC Au
. AC, o f
G
/".