zA /t .F PCB~~ iM The move to impeach: A priorities crisis By DAVID SANDWEISS THE QUESTION facing us is no Slonger whether the President should be impeached. The relevant issues have been subject to in- tense debate throughout the fac- tories, bars, campuses and Con- gress of America. This campus has demonstrated, albeit reservedly, its support for the impeachment movement. It is impeachment as a movemnent, how- ever, that confronts us with addi- tional questions which, when pon- dered carefully, would heap each of us to determine exa tly what it is that we're aiminig for as well as the means most effective for the attainment of that aim. The National Campaign to Im- peach the President sponsored a convention in Chicago for all iocal impeachment campaigns. While there was much discussJo'i concern- ing tactics and strategy, ideol- ogy behind impeachment was ar- gued most strongly. The national impeachment slogan of "Impeach Nixon" was ultimately agreed upon (a profound achievement) over oth- ers due to its greater appeal to the general populace of America. The second highest vote-ge'ter was "Im- peach Nixon - New and Free Elec- tions" which would have repre- 3ented an immeaseli significant deviation from the former. As a six word summadon of the entire impeachment ideology, it w o u l d have served the purpise not only >f expressing that Ford in fact does not have a better idea, but also of negating th2 1972 Presiden- :ial election - a testimonial to :he world that Ni ion is an Amer- ican mistake. The propostion of iew elections is highly attractive, 5ut it may, in nl practicality, be asking too much rti the non-ex- :re'mist masses of the nation to Support it. Being a n t i -Constitu- jonal, to merely consider the no- tion of new elections before No- vember of 1976 would propagate another proverbial Constitutional Crisis. BEWARE OF THE Constitutional Crisis! When faced with indict- ment for numerous corruptive acti- vities, 'our eloquent 'and articulte preacher of law and order, Spiro r. Agnew, immediately declared a Constitutional crisis whereupon his resignation and plea of "nolo con- tendre" became recognized as acts f nobility and generosity. When White House tapes and documents were subpoenaed, Nixon, realizing :hat he had a public opinion hot potato on his hands, didn't hesitate .o proclaim that a Constitutional -risis had arisen prior to "surrend- ering" one incoherent and one non- -xistent tape. That this miracle- working defense mechanism is available to President and Vice- Presidents is apalling. If naught -Ise, we must recognize that the 'onstitution is inadequate in deal- ng with governmental miscnief. Nixon makes repeated assertions :hat he win't resign. Suppose the secret sealed evidence procured )y the Watergate grand jury impli- ,ates Nixon in crimes he has ail along denied? Suppose a key wit- iess, granted immunity by the special prosecutor, testifies that Nixon has known all about every- thing right from the start? Faced with certain impeachment and like- ly conviction, could he not then re- ict accordingly by declaring a Constitutional crisis, working out a deal with the Justice Depart- mnent, and then resigning for the sake of the nation? Considering that the Agnew case, one of mo- mentous -symbolism, has receded into oblivion, Nixon's resignation would be disastrous. He must not be allowe to escape so easily. The Constitutional crisis as an emer- gency exit for guilty government officials must be sealed closed. WHAT, THEN, TO DO? To urge and pray for Nixon's resignation is not the answer. Allowing the de- cadence and treachery of the Nix- on administration to be forgotten would be tragic. To urge Vice-Pre- sident Ford to invoke the "Mutiny Clause" of the 25th amendment would be to urge a fantasy. The only means available for dealing with the prevailing degenerate character of our government short of full scale, mass revolution, is impeachment. Impeachment in this case would not be limited to put- ting the President on trial It is not merely a sign of the tines, or some other facile assessment that people make to justify it,. It is not simply a judicial exercise - the impeachment of Richard Nixon is an entire political movement. It is as yet an unwritten chapter in the Greening of America, a neces. sary element of the subdued, non- violent transformation in wh;ch we are all partaking: In showing our support for impeachment, we can make it an immensely powerful tool not only for correcting govern- mental evil but also for shaping our future into something mote suit- able to all of us. David Sandweiss is ,a member of the Ann Arbor Committee to Im- peach Nixon. THE MILWAUKEE joURN4AL i'ublisht,8HRO S yndicate, 19741 Don't expect any miracles.' ~4eSfr$+n Dit Eighty-Four Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 News Phone: 764-0552 FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1974 Embargo lifted, but... MONDAY'S LIFTING of the Arab oil embargo has precipitated the rise of many economic indicators within the United States this week. Gulf Oil Co. announced reduction in the prices of heating and residual fuels oils, kerosene and jet fuel; Richard Ger- stenberg, chairman of General Motors said the lifting influenced the cancella- tion of the scheduled layoffs of 27,000 workers; and New Jersey Governor Byrne said he is considering lifting the odd- even gas distribution arrangement in his state for a test period in the month of April. Now is the time for the U. S., by far the biggest user of petroleum products, to weigh the necessity of continuing the business as usual consumption level reached before the beginning of the shortage. It is as crucial now as during the height of the embargo to cut back our use of non-essential fossil fuels. We have seen how political, and thus non-predict- able, actions unrelated to the actual pro- cessing of petroleum can result in widely TODAY'S STAFF: News: Dan Biddle, Wendy Chapin. Mike Duweck, Mary Long, Timothy Schick, Sue Stephenson, Becky Warner Editorial Page: Brian Colgan, Paul Has- kins, Marnie Heyn Arth Page: Ken Fink, Sara Rimer, Doug Zernow Photo Technician: Ken Fink varying price fluctuations and limitations on supply. AT THE UNIVERSITY, the Energy Con- servation Task Force has been work- ing since September to cut back the un- necessary use of steam and electricity. They have been effective thus far, as can be seen in the Plant Department's announcement of projected savings of five percent of the electricity and ten per cent of the steam over that used last year. The dorms have tallied a savings of a a hundred thousand kilowatt hours, or roughly $17,000, according to Claude Orr, Assistant Director of Housing. But he was quick to add that one of the most fertile areas for energy savings is the in- dividual student rooms. Orr's comment points up the neces- sary focus of future energy savings ef- forts at the University and elsewhere. The institutions of the University and all other organizations can form com- mittees and conduct studies to locate and eliminate energy-wasting practices. But until individuals are willing to examine their lifestyles and consume less non- essential energy, we will continue down the road toward self-cannibalization. THE DAILY ENCOURAGES the ECTF to continue its efforts and calls on all students and members of the community to examine the environmental implica- tions of their personal lifestyles. --MARNIE HEYN The Worst House of the Week.Award This is the third winner in the "Worst House of the Week" contest. The final, grand prize winner will be announced next Friday. Anyone wishing to make nominations for this contest should call the Daily (764-0552) or submit their entry to Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor. By MARTY WEGBRIET THIS WEEK'S WORST house of the week involves a combina- tion of forces acting in restraint of good housing at rents people can afford to pay. The actors are many; their motives simple. Only rent control can alter thi story, which, as you shall soon see, could happen to just anyone. "A", whose identity must be protected for fear of retaliation, rented an apartment from a landlord prominently associated with Profiteers for Bad Housing (a/ka Citizens for Good Housing). You will recall that this group claims that rent control would drain their profits. Given the very meagre levels of maintenance they presently put into apartments, they may very well be right. The only way they could make money would be to perform main- tenance to get their allowed 50 per cent return. ($1 worth of main- tenance equals 50 cents worth of profit.) Examine, if you will, this week's case. "A's" PROBLEMS began when the landlord refused to return a $100 security deposit. He alleged that "A" had failed to sweep the back stairs once a week as required (a lease condition vaguely reminiscent of Army boot camp), and that the operation of "A's" water-pik had blown the entire wiring in the house, necessitating costly electrical repairs (for which "A" was billed despite the impossibility of the water-pik being at fault). Under rent control, of course, the landlord would have an incentive (greed) to hire someone to sweep the stairs and to keep the electrical wiring in good condition. Presently, he has every incentive (profit) to skimp on repairs. "A's" PROBLEMS continued in the attempt to get the secur- ity deposit back. After contacting the tenants union and calling the landlord half a dozen times asking for the $100 and getting a lawyer to write the landlord asking for either another estimate of the security deposit deduction or a discussion with the Univer- sity mediation service, "A" still had no satisfaction. "A" then went to small claims court and a trial date was set for March. But the landlord refused to accept a court summons sent through registered mail, postponing the trial. (What would happen if a tenant refused a summons for an eviction proceeding?) Another trial date has been set for May. So far, "A" has spent $30 in trying to recover $100. With luck, "A" may break even. Under rent control, this nonsense would not occur. Currently, landlords have every incentive to rip-off tenants by unjustly re- taining their security deposits for repairs that are either unneces- sary or never performed. Given the transiency of the rental popu- lation, they generally get away with it. Rent control stops this abuse by disallowing unreasonable retentions of security deposits in the calculation of next year's rent. In other words, if the land- lord kept any portion of your security deposit, he would have to justifv that if he wanted a rent increase the next year, and that in itself would make him think twice. Oh yes, we almost forgot the conclusion. Proving once again that Ann Arbor's rental housing presently only runs from bad to worse, "A's" current apartment not only haspaint chips flak- ing off of the dining room ceiling and a hole in the kitchen ceiling loosely "patched" with plywood, but also a hole in the bathroom wall. Let's hope that "A's" landlord does not retain the security deposit for flushing the toilet too often thus shaking off more pieces of plaster and expanding the hole. Do you really believe that landlords can not do more mainte- nance and make money under rent control? Vote yes, April 1st. Marty Wegbriet is a member of the HRP Housing Committee and a drafter of the Rent Control Ordinance. Brighter days in Britain By CLIFFORD BROWN THE STATE of affairs has great- ly improved in the United Kingdom even if not in America. While Nixon is still in office here, an election has ousted the United Kingdom's chief executive and the country seems all the better for it. The United Kingdom of G r e a t Britain and Northern Ireland (in- formally called Great Britain) is in a state of restlessness. The elec- tion that was held two we ks ago put the Labor party back in power in the person of now Prime Min- ister Harold Wilson. Wilson formed a minority government wit'x-ut the aid of a clear majority in the House of Commons. Immediately after the election former Prime minister Heath refused to resign claiming that since neith 3r party had a clear majority in the Com- mons he and his Conservave par- ty had not been defeated in the election. When his attempt to forin a Conservative andLiterl roai tion failed he wais forced to resign. Somewhat embarrassed that he had lost the election that the had so confidently called hoping to get more support for his pFcies )n a number of major issues, one of them being the coal miner's strike. The new Prime Minister immed- iately resolved the coal miner's strike with a single stroke. A new $230 million contract was ratified by the coal miners, and a large majority of them were back at work in no time. IN THE SHORT span of two weeks since the election, P r m e minister Wilson has solved one of the country's major problems. Wil- son, in settling the strike, gave the coal miners all that they had ask- ed for from former Prime Min- ister Edward Heath, w o haughtily refused the miner's requejt. It can possibly be said that Heath's fail- ure to give the co.l miner's their due resulted in his deteat dt the hands of the Labor parr,-% Even though the new p r i m e minister has solved one of the major problems he fac d there are still others to come. Wilson still has to cope with all types of infla- tion. Part of the setti.:ment with the coal miners was that the gov- ernment would subsidize b a s i c foods and freeze rents. Wilson alsc faces the question of wha, to do about freezing prices. Even if forc- ed to do so by the risi ig tide of inflation, it is unlike'y that this move would meet much opposition in the House of Common,;. Taxes may have to be raised but Wil- son said that he would first raise which led to distrust by many of his former supporters, but ne man, aged to stay in office until 1970 when the Conservatives of Edward Heath defeated him. As leader of the opposition, Wilson was very critical of Heath and hii Conserva- tives and finally he was able to force a general election which has now put him,ih thq position he is now in, Prime Minister. AS FRESH BLOOD tikes office in the United Kingdom, there are Harold Wilson Edward Heath taxes for those big businessmen who have cashed in on the energy crisis and other sectors of the economy where prices have far outstripped wages. WILSON, WHO was born in 1916, first became head of the Labor party in 1963. But his real career began when he graduated from Oxford in 1936 with honors. After graduating he went on to teach economics at his school until World War II. In 1945, Wilson was elected for his first time to the House of Commons, after gprving as presi- dent of the board of trade, a post he held until 1951. Af'er being elected to Parliament as the head of the Labor party in 1964, and again in 1966, Wilson was forced to devalue the pound, a move things that we Americans must consider. If we now had the elec- tion system where a vota of no con- fidence could force an election for president, maybe now the economy would not be in such a state of sad affairs. Perhaps Nixon would be gone and there would be no energy crisis. A system where a government can be brought down if the people have no confidence in it must come to this country. Now we have only to hope that Con- gress does not pull it's usual act of copping out. Let's hope that in the future there will be no situa- tion where a president who has rocked the faith of the American people and who has made a mock- ery of the word justic, can stay, in office because there is no ef- fective means for removing him. i Letters- to The Daily Ellsberg on the State of the Realm By BRIAN COLGAN DANIEL ELLSBERG returned to his native Detroit Wednesday and launched an attack on the increasing power of the Presidency and President Nixon's abuse of that power. Ellsberg expressed hope that the im- peachment process will move forward. Though afflicted with laryngitis Ellsberg spoke, quite authoritatively on the sub- ject, his knowledge comparable with that of Senator George McGovern's. "There is no question of a lack of evi- dence," Ellsberg asserted, "We've had a series of statements by the President himself which constitutes more than enough evidence on which to present charges to the Senate . . . I wouldn't want to see the process of investigation, of revelation, ended with a resignation. The President has admitted .(acts which amount to) criminal obstruction of jus- tice." > In reference to the indictments return- ed against many former Nixon associates he noted that "indictment is not only not proof of guilt, it is not evidence of guilt. Obviously these people deserve a fair trial . . . In fact the grand jury seems to believe they deserve several fair trials." ELLSBERG AGREES with Senator greatest concern, he stated that "We're' paying a price for all this drift towards executive usurpation", brought about at least in part by "unquestioning, con- scienceless obedience to Presidential or- ders." "The system of separate, co-equal branches of government was designed to protect a people from executive tyran- ny," he said, going on to define the present executive branch as an "elected monarchy." Ellsberg claimed Nixon's wish to keep many documents and other materials privileged, i.e. secret, even if not to "save his own hide" is meant to pre- serve the present executive monarchy. A MAJOR FACTOR in the evolution of the elected monarchy as Ellsberg sees it is the control of information: execu- tive secrecy. He says the executive branch must be weakened of its ability to control information esp. through the use of classifications such as "top sec- ret." Ellsbergs believes this trend towards repression of information has increased dramatically since World War If when it was necessary to preserve the confi- dentiality of many military secrets. He cited findings from committee hearings in congress last year that put the num- mine himself how much information the public, the , Congress, the courts shall have, is to place him beyond the reach of legal accountability, above the law". Ellsberg repeatedly called for more accountability on the part of public of- ficials, saying, "When we have the likes of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Nixon in the same room with a nuclear button I believe we need much more account- ability . . ." Ellsberg sees a definite correlation between the U. S. policy in Vietnam and the Watergate affair. "It really was inevitable that sooner or later our methods of colonial ad- ministration and colonial warfare would be brought home." Maintaining that he would rather go to jail than again work at the Defense Department, Ellsberg said he acted as he did in releasing the Pentagon Papers out of the belief that the "truth can set us free." Ellsberg recaps his position with a rhe- torical question: "Jefferson and Wash- ington came to feel that monarchy was not best for this country 200 years ago. What would they say today?" McGee To The Daily: ON MARCH 20 The Daily print- ed on its editorial page a political attack against Colleen McGee, Democratic council can Jidate from the First Ward. The main conten- tion of this attack was that Col- leen was attempting to avoid tak- ing clear positions of the issues, particularly on rent control, city planning and public safety. This charge is totally unfounded and un- true. The only support for The Daily's thesis that Colleentis trying to hide her position on the rent cantrol amendmentnis one article printed on March 18 in the Ann Arbor News. This is a weak reed for The Daily the rest its argunent upon. Mention should have been made that nowhere in the article is a direct quote given from Colleen declaring that she would vote against the amendment. The fact is such a quote does not exist. Colleen McGee has been publicly consistent on the issue as rent con- trol. Not only has she clearly stat- ed her position at Northside School and to the Ann Arbor News, s h e has also stated it in le ilets which have been distributed door-to-door. She has stated it in discussions with individual voters and on Cable TV during the debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters. THIS IS certainly not the course of action that would be taken by someone who was attempting to cover up her position on the r e n t control amendment. To the con- which Mr. Krost has doae on Col- leen's campaign. I hbase taken steps to have delivered to Mr. Krost a copy of every leaflet Col- leen has distributed to the voters of the First Ward. If he sits down to read these with an impartial eye, I am sure he will agree with me that Colleen, alone among the three candidates in the First Ward, has stated clearly nd pre ;ely the priorities she will set for this city nd the methods she will support to attain them. COLLEEN McGee is not confus- ed as to what her stands on the is- sues really are. Neither are the voters of the First Ward confus- ed. I hope this letter will dispel the confusion which se-ms to pre- vail in The Daily building. If Mr. Krost or any other member of The Daily staff remains confused as to Colleen's position, I invite them to contact Colleen personal- ly. They may askhher anyques- tion they wish. She will answer them - directly and clearly. That's her way. -Lee C. Fawcett Campaign Co-ordinator Colleen McGee Council Campaign March 20 Editor's note: The following is Mr. Krost's reply. The best defense is an offense, goes an old political adage, and this is apparently the tactic adopted by Mr. Fawcett, the campaign co-or- dinatofo' r TDemoicratic First WardJ charges that the editorial was po- litically motivated - he labels the editorial a "political attack" by The Daily on McGee's campaign. In fact, the editorial dealt not with politics but with the non- partisan issue of proper campaign tactics. I, and I'm sure all my jour- nalistic colleagues at The Daily, are prepared to take any politician from any political party to task, who does not make his or her po- sition on campaign issues clear. And on the disputed specific uweek reeds" in my editorial cited by Fawcett: The fact is that the Ann Arbor News sticks to its interpretation of what transpired at the inter- tiew held there March 12. 1 con- tacted the News for a second time yesterday and city government re- ported Glen Harris repeated his po- sition that McGee "came out against this particular HRP propo- sition (rent control).." Regardless of how many times f roan now on McGee blitzes the cam bus with pamphlets purport- ing that shie is a friend of rent con- trol, I still feel it was improper to say one position in one context and another at a later time. -JACK KROST Letters to The Doily should it"