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★ WASHINGTON COLUMN ★
Our Registration Laws—
Throwback to Oxcart Days
I By BRUCE BIOSSAT
Washington Correspondent
' Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WASHINGTON (NBA)
The United States has the most highly mobile population
In the world, but in many states the voting registration laws
would hardly be suitable if nobody ever moved at all.
About one-fifth of all Americans move every year, and a
fair proportion of that number shift from state to state. Yet,
in nearly three-quarters of the states a citizen has to live in
the state a year and often in his county for six months in
order to be eligible to vote.
Probably eight to 10 million Americans will be disenfran
chised in the 1968 elections by antiquated registration laws
and procedures.
The one saving grace is that there does seem to be a trend
away from these pointlessly crippling regulations. Some 20
states now have loosened their residence requirements for
voting just for president and vice president
Others are joining them. Constitutional amendments
adopted by the people last year authorize legislatures in
Georgia, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma to shorten materially
the. residence-time requirements for presidential and some
times other voting.
Some states which begin by easing presidential voting re
quirements soon spread the new rules to all statewide voting,
at least.
; Where the loosening occurs, generally it takes the form of
reducing residence requirements to 60 days or less, though
(New York sets the necessary span at three months.
Another growing feature of importance is more general
absentee balloting, to allow citizens who move out of a state
ito keep voting there until they have met the perhaps too
extended registration requirements of another state.
The Democrats, who outraged one of their most accom
plished professionals by abandoning the registration activity
of their national committee more than a year ago, have re
vived it under Billie Farnum, new deputy committee chair
man and former Michigan congressman.
Farnum reminded the national committee at its recent
Washington meeting that it is easier to get a hunting or fish
ing license than register to vote.
He observed that registration periods are usually too short,
that procedures are too cumbersome and inconvenient, that
some Americans consequently are disenfranchised merely
because they fall ill, take a business or vacation trip, or are
otherwise occupied at registration time.
No other free country, he noted, requires its citizens to
assume the obligation of getting registered in order to vote,
tioii er * anc * s ’ £ overnmen t performs the registration func-
The latter answer may not attract Americans. But obvi
ously, with more motion in the population than ever before,
the country quickly needs laws and rules making it easy,
simple and convenient to get registered and stay that way.
The top Democrat who was disturbed at his party’s laxity
believes that realistically the registration effort has to be
almost continuous. Granting the point, it ought also to be so
automatically manageable that the parties do not have to
spend large amounts of money and manpower to assure it.
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Changed Name
Istanbul, one of the oldest cit
ies in the world, was called Con
stantinople for more than 1,600
years but the Turkish govern
ment changed the name in 1929.
Ballet’s Origin
The ballet, derived from the
Italian word “ballare," which
means “to dance,” originated
in Italy during the latter part of
the 15th century.
Lyle Wilson
Crime Explosion
Jolts I. S. Court
By LYLE WILSON
United Press International
There is some evidence that
the Supreme Court is becoming
aware of a considerable public
dissatisfaction with the trend of
rulings during recent years. It
would be more precise to report
that there is some but not much
evidence of this awareness.
Chief Justice Warren and his
activist court majority are
being jostled by the facts of life
as they exist in the United
States in the second half of the
20th century. One of these facts
of modern life is the crime
explosion in this country.
The Justice Department re
ported this month that serious
crime increased by 11 per cent
in 1966 over 1965. This shocking
crime wave is not peculiar to
the great ghetto-ridden cities.
Crime was up 14 per cent in
‘towns of fewer than 10,000
inhabitants. Crime was up 13
per cent in the suburbs. A
shocking increase in serious
crime is the trend year after
year after year.
This alarming trend has a
background of vigorous Su
preme Court action to protect
the rights of the individual
criminal. Many citizens resent
what appears to them to be the
court’s inattention to the rights,
collectively, of the millions of
the law abiding persons among
whom the protected hoodlum
finds victims.
In a decision last week, the
court shifted its anxiety and
emphasis from the hoodlums to
the public at large. In upholding
an Illinois narcotics conviction,
the court ruled that the police
may act on secret tips without
revealing the source of their
information; that the police may
search the accused without a
warrant and that evidence so
obtained may be admitted in
court. This is a switch from the
trend of previous rulings which
had handicapped police in
acting on reports from under
world agents deemed to be
reliable sources of information.
This ruling came at a time of
Senate subcommittee hearings
looking toward congressional
action to assert the right of the
public to protection against
criminals, regardless of the
court.
Witnesses firmly testified to
their belief that Supreme Court
rulings handicapping the police
were a major cause of the grim
crime record in the United
States. Unhappy citizens are
pressing their congressmen to
EMPIRIN
COMPOUND
i°°’ s 89c
check the court. Congress
unquestionably will be com
pelled to act unless the court
restrains itself, as it seemed tc
be doing last week in the case
of the Illinois dope peddler.
There is a rising public
resentment against the court’s
arbitrary ruling requiring both
Houses of state legislatures to
be apportioned precisely on the
basis of population. The court
cannot reverse itself on this
one. But 32 of the required 34
states have petitioned Congress
to summon a constitutional
convention to propose an
amendment reversing the court.
Proposals by such a conven
tion would require ratification
by three quarters of the states.
Perhaps that could not be
achieved. But the mere fact of
the petitions to Congress is
absolute evidence of a resent
ment against the court running
wide and deep among the
citizens.
Congressional liberals who
applauded the court’s apportion
ment rule are uneasy. Sen.
William Proxmire, D-Wis., is
seeking to sweep the whole
question under the rug. He
argues that the petitions are
invalid. A year ago former Sen.
Paul H. Douglas, D-111., was
arguing that the Congress could
and should ignore the absolute
constitutional injunction that a
constitutional convention must
be called when two thirds of the
states petition Congress for
such action. Such performances
as these are what lead
stumbling politicians into a
constitutional crisis.
QUICK QUIZ
Q—Why has the statue
Venus de Milo no arms?
A—lt is generally believed
by art authorities that the
arms were broken off before
the statue was discovered,
after having been buried for
a great period of time.
Q—Who was the first U.S.
president elected by the
House of Representatives?
A—-Thomas Jefferson, 1800.
Q—Who was the original
"Doubting Thomas”?
A—The apostle Thomas.
Q—Who was the first presi
dent born an Amertcan
citizen?
A—Martin Van Buren, bom
in 1782.
(Newspaper Enterpriit Association)
Monday, April 3, 1967 Griffin Daily News
★ WASHINGTON COLUMN ★
Viet Chief to Be Assembly
Puppet under Constitution
By RAY CROMLEY
Washington Correspondent
Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
WASHINGTON (NEA)
The people of South Vietnam have so long been ruled by
strong men that they have overreacted and made a serious
mistake in writing their new constitution.
They may have made their prime minister so weak and
their National Assembly so strong that effective government
may be difficult to achieve in wartime and in postwar recon
struction.
This weakness of the prime minister could lead to discour
agement and impatience. This, in turn, could lead to a take
over, or to ignoring of the constitution in practice.
The reaction against a strong prime minister is under
standable. Throughout their history, the South Vietnamese
have been ruled by dictators. First there was the long succes
sion of Chinese overlords. Then the French, with absolute
powers, systematically eradicated local government. Presi
dent Diem was followed by a series of military juntas.
The constitution provides for absolute supremacy of the
National Assembly in making laws. There is no presidential
veto.
The president can, within time limits, suggest amendments
to laws passed by the legislature. But a mere absolute major
ity can override the president’s suggestions.
The prime minister can be removed by the National As
sembly, but he cannot dissolve it for new national elections
even when he is removed by a vote of no confidence.
That is, the legislators serve, as in the United States, for
fixed terms. But the prime minister and his cabinet, as in
Britain, serve at the pleasure of the assembly. However, nor
mally a two-thirds vote of the assembly is required to oust
the prime minister. (Under some conditions, a three-fourths
vote is required.)
The assembly can remove individual members of the prime
minister’s cabinet they do not like.
It has other strong powers. Its members choose the Su
preme Court judges, who serve six-year terms, not life terms
as do justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. These relatively
short terms will tend to make the Vietnamese Supreme
Court judges susceptible to pressures from the assembly.
Assembly members have strong protection against any
government action. As has been mentioned previously, they
cannot be prosecuted, pursued, arrested or brought to court
for any statement or vote in the assembly.
They can’t even be detained or prosecuted during their en
tire term of office for any other, law violation—even a “fla
grant violation of the law” if the house concerned so decides.
This ban applies whether the assembly is in session or not.
By the constitution, 10 of the 11 members of any special
court convened to impeach the president, vice president,
prime minister, ministers, secretaries of state or Supreme
Court justices shall be members of the National Assembly.
And the. assembly alone has the power to amend the con
stitution.
WRONG COURSE
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) —At
the first meeting of an evening
course in architecture, the
instructor asked each student to
outline his knowledge of the
subject.
The first one to speak, Miss
Kay Sato, began in Halting
Japanese. She then found out
the class in Japanese conversa
tion was next door.
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5
Squeeze Put On
Cotton Warehouse
By WILLIAM AUCOIN
United Pi*ss International
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (UPI) —
The cotton warehouse owner,
an inconspicuous but important
middleman between the farmer
and the textile mill, claims he’s
being forced out of business and
he’s blaming the federal gov
ernment.
This small businessman and
his counterparts own 1,200 cot
ton storage plants throughout
the cotton belt. The warehouses
are usuall found next to cot
ton fields and therefore are un
seen by the large masses of
population.
These warehouses sprang up
with the cotton industry and
now represent an investment of
SSOO million and provide em
ployment for 12,500 persons.
The National Cotton Compress
and Cotton Warehouse Associa
tion, which represents the ware
housemen, issued an urgent ap
peal last week for a “doomed”
industry.
John H. Todd, executive vice
president, said the cotton ware
house industry faces extinction
“as it now exists as a free en
terprise operation... unless it
is allowed a reasonable price
for its services, including those
provided for government-con
trolled and government-owned
cotton.”
The industry, he said, has
plummeted into a “critical fi
nancial situation....since the fed
eral government became so
deeply involved in cotton.”
This is the problem:
The Commodity Credit Corpo
ration (CCC), a federal agency,
is the largest purchaser of cot
ton warehouse services. It is es-
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timated the CCC now controls
directly or indirectly 11,616,000
bales.
The warehouseman attempts
to get his share of the $43 mil
lion the CCC spends to store
this cotton. But he is allowed
to charge only whte the CCC
stipulates or the warehouse
man’s published tariff rate,
whichever is lower.
To make matters worse, the
individual warehouseman some
times reduces his storage rates
to attract more CCC cotton.
This hurts his fellow ware
housemen.
And the CCC, in an at
tempt to reduce governmental
expenditures, goes after the
already low CCC rate.
There are three alternatives.
The warehouseman wou 1 d
charge the farmer and other
private sources a larger month
ly price. This, the report said,
would force more cotton in
to the CCC loan program.
The second alternative is not
really a choice. The warehouse
man can meet short-term costs,
but resign himiself to the loss of
his fixed investment.
The third alternative, and the
one apparently backed by the
warehouse association, is that
the CCC should return to its
earlier policy of industry-wide
storage rates.
This, the Memphis state re
port said, would give the ware
house business the stability it
needs.
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