Who ReallyWants
A New Constitution?
By DAVID TARR
THERE IS, at times, a strange normally cannot agree on the tion does not need some sort of
affinity between o p p o s i n g time of day. revision. But the chances of a
forces. Take, for instance, poli- For many years now students favorable vote Tuesday are, to say
tics - Michigan politics to be of government have been lament- the least, slim; there is little ac-
exact. ing the sorry condition of Michi- tive campaigning for the issue,
gan's constitution, a document and almost no one seriously be-
One of the strangest mixtures written, they say, for an era when lieves it will pass.
of political and special interest the horse and buggy could still The reasons for the issue being
groups in many years has result- outdistance the automobile. quietly ignored in the election
ed this fall from the proposed call- campaign are simple, but they
ing of a convention to revise THIS TUESDAY Michigan vot- involve a curious mixture of po-
Michigan's 50-year-old contitu- ers will have the opportunity litical partisans.
tion. The issue has drawn togeth- to decide if the constitution will
er groups and individuals that be revised. A proposal to call a AGREEMENT there is on the
constitutional convention to re- need for a new constitution.
Darid Tarr, nag sine di/or vise or amend the state's basic Agreement there is not on how to
of The Michi gas Daily, exaninn document will be on the ballot. achieve this.
the rule poli/ical and presure If the vote is yes, a convention The problem centers partly on
grops hae plald in / ieisue will be called to rework the con- the method of selecting delegates
over rea sina ihi an's con- stitution which will then be sub- to a constitutional convention
tt ti~rmitted to the voters for approval, were one to be approved by the
It is almost impossible to find voters. It also focuses partly on
anybody who claims the constitu the desire of rural interest groups
-..Ito keep the strong position they
now hold in the state government
vis-a-vis urban interests groups.
As a result, uging a no vote
next Tuesday are such un-likely
partners in crime as the Demo-
cratic Party, the Michigan Farm
Bureau, the AFL-CIO, and the
Michigan Townships Association.
sEqually unenthusiastic about a
constitutional convention is a sec-
tion of the Republican Party, com-
posed largely of state senators,
that fought vigorously but unsuc-
cessfully at the state GOP con-
vention to defeat a resolution put-
ting their party on record as urg-
ing a yes vote on the issue.
Lined up with the Republican
Party, which has seen few of
its candidates campaign strongly
f. . 5f or the convention, are the Michi-
gan Municipal League, the Michi-
gan Congress of Parent-Teachers,;
the United Church Women of
Michigan, the Michigan Federa-
Soffell tion of Business and Professional
Women's Clubs, the American As-
and Bush sociation of University Women,
the Michigan Junior Chamber of
clothing and Commerce, the Michigan Educa-
tion Association and the League
F furnishings of Women Voters of Michigan,
r'. are planned THE OTHER side of the spec-
trum - the groups opposing
especially the calling of a convention - has
a more interesting tale to tell,
for men in the however.
As one observer put it, certain
University Democrats are fond of telling par-
tisan audiences how their party
world, has been "dragging the Republi-
can Party, kicking and scream-
who are ing, into the 20th Century."
Now these Republicans are;
aiming high, quietly smiling back at the Demo-j
crats for being left in the dust of,
and governmental reforms wondering
how the opposition will explain its
to whom a objections to constitutional im-
provement.
commanding For the Democrats, it's all very
simple. The present constitution
appearance requires that any convention
called to write a substitute must
STATE CAPITOL-Michigan's 50-year-old constitution may be
rewritten if voters approve this Tuesday the calling of a constitu-
tional convention. The capitol building includes executive and
legislative offices.
be composed of three delegates sheets with these two groups are
chosen from each of the state's the Michigan Farm Bureau and
senatorial districts. the Michigan Townships Associa-
The Democrats claim that the tion, neither having been noted in
Senate districts have been gerry- the past for cooperation with
mandered so that most of them Democrats or labor.
are predominately rural in char- Both the Farm Bureau and the
acter. As a result conservative and Townships Association have urged
rural interests would dominate a a no vote on the issue next Tues-
convention, thereby b l c k i n g day
many if not all the reforms more The Bureau, which has a mem-
liberal individuals and urban in- bership of 71,454 farm families
terest groups think are needed, and has been a powerful voice in
If the delegates were elected on shaping state government policies
a partisan basis, the Democrats since its formation in 1919, says
charge, the Republicans, who now it believes gradual amendment is
have a 23-11 majority in the a "more intelligent way of deal-
Senate, would completely dom- ing with constitutional change
mate the convention. than to submit to the voters an
TT SHOULD be added that Demo- entirely new document."
TI HUDb dddta eo The Bureau saId its opposition
crats said they favored the idea TheaBunenuisandits oppositin
of a constitutional convention, but to a conventio will be a contin-
could not "in good conscience" uing thing.
advise a yes vote. The AFL-CIO
passed a resolution last February BUT THE more basic objections
saying it favors the constitutional of the Bureau can be found in
convention "if and only if the statements it made when asked if
delegates are selected on the basis "minority rights" in the constitu-
of equality so that each citizen's tion might be endangered by re-
vote counts the same in selecting vision.
delegates." "Obviously, the elements of se-
So far, so good: the Democrats curity and the safeguards em-
and the AFL-CIO long have been bodied in our present constitution
bedfellows. But also under the See POLITICS, page 9
is an ally.
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