National Reports
MANKIEWICZ, FRANK & ROMER, SAM & RYAN, STEPHEN P.
National Reports Atlanta: Joseph R. Fiszman. Boston: Courtney R. Sheldon. Chicago: Albert N. Votaw. Dallas: Bicknell Eubanks. Minneapolis: Sam Romer. New Orleans: Stephen Ryan. Richmond: Lawrence...
...Louisiana now has a slock law which outlaws the "open range" on all major roads in the state...
...Compared to the President's farm message last June, there was nothing in the campaign speech which even hinted that the Democratic farm program was "so obviously unsuited to the needs of our country," nor was there any reference to "the vast accumulation of surpluses in the hands of the Government...
...The measure's sponsors insist that it is foolproof...
...The Nixon forces, marshaled in California by Congressmen Pat Hillings and Joe Holt, undistinguished young representatives of the emerging know-nothing wing of the GOP, backed a former Nixon campaign finance manager for State Vice Chairman at last week's meeting of the State Republican Central Committee...
...At Fargo, North Dakota, he said: "I went to Kasson, Minnesota, and on behalf of Republican leaders and with the concurrence of the great men of the party I stated exactly what we meant to do, and the present 90-per-cent parity price in the farm program was sustained and supported completely...
...A measure to abolish cross-filing entirely was narrowly defeated, but a substitute was passed which reflected the pressure for reform even though it was craftily drafted by legislators anxious to preserve the gimmick that had kept them in office with a minimum of effort...
...With the closing of the Legislature's 1954 session on July 12, the political spotlight in Louisiana shifted to the July 27 Democratic primary...
...Though this battle has become open and notorious, the state's Republican newspapers are seeking to deny that any battle is being fought...
...Almost without exception, Democrats won the Democratic primary and Republicans won the GOP primary...
...After more than half a century of trying...
...One bill passed at Baton Rouge was deservedly acclaimed by almost all Louisiana citizens—and anyone who has ever driven a car on a Louisiana highway will surely join in the applause...
...There has been nothing luke-warm about the weather down here...
...it started repeating them less than a month after Eisenhower won the election...
...As a matter of fact, nowhere in this major pronouncement on farm policy did Ike even follow the official GOP platform by tying the full-parity concept to "the market place...
...The farm speech was made at Kasson, Minnesota on September 6, 1952...
...The effect of this new setup on the June 8 primaries rocked professional politicians on their heels...
...At Brookings, South Dakota, he said: "The Republican party is pledged to the sustaining of the 90-per-cent parity price support, and it is pledged even more than that to helping the farmer obtain his full parity, 100-per-cent parity, with the guarantee in the price supports of 90 per cent...
...Ellender jumped the party in 1952 to support Eisenhower, while Ellis campaigned vigorously for Stevenson...
...for the alert reporters, Eisenhower had made his stand at Kasson and anything later was repetition...
...As originally worded, the three measures would have applied to private and parochial as well as public schools, but as finally amended they affect only the latter...
...Whatever the personal feelings between the two California candidates for the Presidency, their followers are hitting each other with everything except lead pipes...
...No real rift is apparent, however, and the party's chances—enhanced by the Republican donnybrook—seem unusually bright...
...A fair share is not merely 90 per cent of parity—it is full parity...
...Since most incumbents were Republicans when this political rigor mortis set in, the system favored Republicans...
...He made it clear that the new farm goal not only did not extend to full parity but was skittish about the 90-per-cent kind...
...California voters, accustomed to seeing the incumbent win both primaries in 80 to 85 per cent of all races, were astounded...
...Meanwhile, the forces of Governor Goodwin Knight, who is anxious to hold whatever labor support he has, are in the middle...
...The second segregation bill is an enabling act to put the constitutional amendment's provisions into effect, and the third is an act authorizing school superintendents to assign children to schools in advance of the term...
...It was interpreted without dissent by the Republicans as a re-writing of the campaign platform in favor of high, fixed support...
...The voter, on the other hand, could only vote in the primary of the party with which he was registered...
...In addition, many Congressmen (of both parties) who used to win both primaries in June now face the unpleasant task of going before the voters in November, after Congress has adjourned and the electorate can assess their records...
...Thus, a little-known State Assemblyman would face the voters in his own party, as well as those of the opposition, at the top of the ballot, with nothing to indicate that he was a member of any party at all...
...Finally, Eisenhower made his position even more positive when he announced that he was rejecting pleas to postpone his farm program for another year...
...the Administration spokesman for the lower, flexible-support program, has accused the Farmers Union of "doctoring" the Eisenhower speech and calls the tape-recording "this libel on the President's words...
...Louis: William Wyant Jr...
...Indeed, the "political news" columns in this state's metropolitan papers are little more than house organs for the state Republican committees...
...The Minneapolis Star, which editorially supported both Eisenhower and flexible supports, bannered it across eight columns: "Eisenhower Calls for 100 Per Cent of Parity...
...The first of the three segregation bills is a constitutional amendment to be submitted to the voters in the November elections...
...The contest was purely an organizational one, and the question of issues or candidates was never raised...
...California's Political Tug of War By Frank Mankiewicz San Francisco Political observers in California are being treated to the bienniel spectacle of intra-party dogfights for control of the state's Republican and Democratic machinery...
...In this matter," he remarked, "I am completely unmoved by arguments as to what constitutes good or winning politics...
...In 1952, the voters adopted a constitutional change that virtually junked what has often been called "California's unique cross-filing system...
...On the Democratic side, the battle is fairly quiet and represents only a new phase of the continuing struggle between the "liberals" (generally labor and ADA-type Democrats) and the "conservatives" (generally the big contributors and the professionals...
...This summer, "the Golden Promise" promises to become a full-fledged campaign issue...
...Reaction and Heat Ride High in the Bayous By Stephen P. Ryan New Orleans The sanguine hopes of many Southerners who foresee the rise of a "New South" seem far from realization, if the Louisiana Legislature's behavior during its recently concluded biennial session is typical of this region's political thinking...
...One of the principal reasons for his tremendous personal popularity among middle-of-the-road voters is the widespread feeling that Ike is essentially a man above party and above politics...
...constitutional lawyers will only agree that it is foolish...
...The thermometer is the major topic of conversation in Louisiana right now...
...As the months passed, the Administration program became clearly one of "free market" agriculture, with price supports intended only for use in time of disaster...
...On the ballot, the names of all candidates appeared without party designation, but the incumbent's name appeared at the top of every party ballot...
...San Francisco: Frank Mankiewicz...
...Some Democrats assumed, therefore, that repeal of the system would automatically help Democrats, but the truth of the matter was that it would help non-incumbents generally...
...Candidate Eisenhower went on into the Dakotas, elaborating on the same theme...
...Senator George Aiken (R.-Vt...
...now face opposition in November...
...With New Orleans leading the pack in the Southern Association and Shreveport ahead in the Texas League, sports enthusiasts throughout the state have more to cheer about than usual...
...And, it being a Republican speech, there was the standard disparaging remark about "Government handouts...
...Other than that, there seemed little to choose between the two candidates, neither of whom stated his position on anything remotely controversial...
...For the first time in the memory of man, for instance, Republican incumbents for the lesser state offices (Secretary of State, Controller, etc...
...The new administration began reneging pretty early on "the Golden Promise...
...It still permitted anyone to file in any party primary and still kept the incumbent's name at the top of the ballot, but required the symbol "Rep...
...This sort of battle is new to Californians, but the victory of Knowland's candidate will probably give the Senator control of the state's delegation to the 1956 GOP national convention...
...This year, however, something other than an air of good-natured sportsmanship seems to prevail...
...Interest was largely centered on the race for United States Senator, a two-man battle between the incumbent, Allen Ellender, now rounding out 18 years in Washington, and Frank B. Ellis, a New Orleans attorney and member of the Democratic National Committee...
...In contrast to falling attendance elsewhere in minor-league territory, the stands are full...
...In common with most sections of the nation, the Deep South has been sweltering in one of the hottest summers on record...
...Louisiana's lawmakers passed a "right-to-work" bill which outlaws the closed and union shops, then went on to pass three measures designed to perpetuate segregation in the state's public schools...
...But even more significant than these later outbursts of clarity is the fact that the newspapermen on the Eisenhower train ignored them...
...Farmers Ask Eisenhower To Fulfil Golden Promise' By Sam Romer Minneapolis "I firmly believe that agriculture is entitled to a fair, full share of the national income...
...The Knowland forces, including many of those GOP regulars who stuck by Earl Warren when he was Governor, supported his opponent, who won...
...Richmond: Lawrence King...
...But now that some measure of party responsibility has been restored, the battle for party control has assumed new proportions...
...This is particularly true because the party organizations which emerge from this summer's skirmishing will control the makeup and loyalties of delegations to the 1956 national conventions...
...or "Dem...
...The Farmers Union, which is fighting the battle for fixed, high price supports, calls these two sentences "the Golden Promise...
...the only possible competition might be baseball...
...But there is no question that the two sentences stand as a fair representation of what Candidate Eisenhower was promising...
...These two sentences, tape-recorded from President Eisenhower's campaign speech on the farm issue, are being heard again and again over Midwestern radio programs, preceded by falling grain quotations and followed by reports of a downhill hog market...
...After a luke-warm campaign, Ellender won an easy victory...
...Actually, the two sentences were separated in the original speech by a few mild clauses about seeking ways "that minimize Government control and protect the farmers' independence...
...The President thus has pointed up a side-issue which may have even greater significance in 1956 than now...
...Now all first-class roads will be fenced, and the scrub cattle and razorback hogs will be confined to fields and swamps...
...As a result, incumbents were reelected with almost greater regularity than in the one-party South, and there was no need to pay any attention to party platforms or organization...
...Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Benson laid down the new line less than a month after the Inauguration...
...The reasons for this can be found by examining the real results of last month's primary election, conducted for the first time in 40 years under a system approaching party responsibility...
...On the Republican side, a titanic slugfest is going on between the supporters of Majority Leader Know-land and Vice President Nixon...
...to appear by each candidate's name...
...Previously, any candidate, for a nominal fee, could enter the primary election of any political party in addition to his own...
...It would be a major GOP catastrophe if people got the idea that their idol has feet of clay...
...Loss of life and property damage resulting from cattle and hogs roaming the state's highways had reached alarming proportions...
...It places public schools under the state's police powers and authorizes separate schools for whites and Negroes—not because of race but in order to promote health and the public safety...
Vol. 37 • August 1954 • No. 33
