National Reports
EUBANKS, WALTER R. STOREY, BICKNELL
National Reports Philadelphia Debates Charter Change By Walter R. Storey Philadelphia Pennsylvania's April 24 primary campaign has opened with ex-Mayor Joseph S. Clark Jr. calling U.S. Senator...
...But some important officials appointed by him have been touched by the scandals involving veterans' land sales and shaky insurance companies...
...Speaking recently of his stand then, Dilworth declared, "At that time, I was firmly convinced that unless some thought was given to persons interested in active politics serving in the City Government without having to give up political activity, the political organizations would bring such unrelenting pressure to bear that eventually there would be a breakthrough-and it might be a very dangerous breakthrough in the realm of Civil Service...
...Liberals have failed to think through this problem...
...Two of Philadelphia's three dailies, Americans for Democratic Action, many non-organization Republicans such as recent Mayoralty candidate Thatcher Longstreth, and two old-line GOP Councilmen want Civil Service for all City workers except heads of departments and their immediate assistants...
...Duff has replied by claiming his Democratic foe is "a sincere Socialist...
...As an incidental job, Hart may also be taking on the task of restoring confidence in the Shivers political magic, which has lost some of its efficacy during the past year as a result of scandals that have been turned up in his administration...
...Not only is Texas big geographically, but the temperature is usually around the 100-degree mark in the summer when the political races are made...
...2) allow 600 employes of five City elective offices to be exempt from Civil Service and the ban on political activities...
...Since his nomination, the latter has been relatively silent about the proposed Charter amendments...
...Texas Conservatives Move to Stem Liberal Tide By Bicknell Eubanks Dallas Observers here are so busy speculating about Governor Allan Shivers's future that they have overlooked what may prove to be the most significant development in Texas politics in recent years...
...Today, there are practically no lower- or middle-paying City posts with permanent status at the disposal of the supposedly victorious Democratic party...
...Weldon Hart's shift, therefore, seems to have been motivated by conservative concern over the enthusiastic activities of Texas liberals in lining up delegates for the Chicago Democratic convention this summer...
...Because Clark would not go along with his party when he was Mayor, he encountered the bitter opposition of 51 of the City's 52 ward leaders and that of Chairman William J. Green when he sought nomination for Senator...
...This struggle has several significant aspects...
...But they often sound as if they do exert such discipline when one of their number disagrees on an issue...
...In the spring of 1951, for example, he publicly backed President Truman's ouster of General Mac-Arthur, when he could have confined his utterances to local matters...
...They are being pushed by his successor, Mayor Richardson Dilworth, and would (1) permit City officeholders to run for offices other than the ones they hold, without first resigning...
...So the conservatives need his talents for two purposes: to stave off the liberal tide in the state Democratic party ranks, and to lay the ground for the "right kind" of delegation to Chicago...
...One basis of the long-entrenched GOP local machine was the huge amount of patronage it controlled...
...They realize that the Senator may enjoy the prestige which goes along with being in Washington...
...Both Clark and Duff have no opposition for their respective parties' nominations for Senator...
...Moreover, he served almost two years of the late Governor Beaufort Jester's unexpired term...
...The reform groups plan to raise $100,000 to fight these Charter changes...
...They know, too, that he has several years left of his present term and may be a bit reluctant to switch from a job which requires campaigning once in six years to one that would mean stumping Texas every two years...
...he advocated them three years ago ["Political Polka in Pennsylvania," NL, June 14, 1954...
...Dilworth hasn't suddenly reversed himself on the Charter amendments...
...Nevertheless, Daniel is the man the conservatives hope to see in Austin...
...Some of the discussion aroused by the controversy has centered on whether Civil Service, as now operated, is the best way to select personnel...
...Duff may make an issue out of Clark's stand on two proposed amendments to the City Charter, which are to be voted on April 24...
...They insist that this will demoralize municipal workers...
...Thus, some people here feel it is unfair to denounce the Mayor for his stand on one matter when he has taken a stand on so many problems without regard to political expediency...
...It was Dilworth, more than anyone else, who persuaded the state Democratic leaders to slate Clark...
...While Shivers gets most of the credit for swinging Texas to Eisenhower in 1952, it was the Hart public-relations talent which had a decisive part in prying the Lone Star State loose from its traditional Democratic vote for President...
...I think the overwhelming majority of committeemen are just as interested in doing a good job as any other citizen...
...This was widely interpreted as a sign that Shivers might seek a fourth term...
...Mayor Dilworth favors making about 2 per cent of all municipal positions available for party workers, thus openly breaking with his former allies...
...Senator James H. Duff "a reluctant liberal...
...This is particularly true since more and more Texas Democrats have been impressed by the "new" moderateness of Adlai Stevenson...
...They argue that two classes of employes will be created within one structure of government...
...Almost daily, the conservative press here runs stories telling how his one ambition is to be chief executive of his home state...
...Hart has a long association with Governor Shivers, dating back to when they were at the University of Texas together...
...The former are no longer certain, as they were a few months ago, that they will control the delegation...
...Why are the reform forces so opposed to these amendments...
...The Mayor also contends, "The assumption that anyone sufficiently interested in politics to become a committeeman is automatically a loafer and a bum is far from the truth...
...Lengthy tests requiring considerable literacy and intelligence are given at all levels of government...
...For indications are that the liberal wing of the state's Democratic party is on the verge of returning to its one-time dominant position...
...This is not an insignificant consideration...
...Two classes of employes within one government may be declared unconstitutional by the courts, wasting the money spent on the April 24 election and causing public confusion...
...They fear that any compromise on Civil Service and the ban on political activity for City employes will be only the beginning of an effort to return to the days when Philadelphia was "corrupt and contented...
...These two amendments have aroused as much bitter discussion as the 1951 referendum on the new City Charter, or the general election that year which swept the local Democrats into office...
...Perhaps the most important question to come out of this discussion, however, is whether a man is no longer a liberal if he disagrees with the majority of liberals on one issue...
...Are these the qualifications needed to select watchmen, janitors or even low-paid routine clerical workers...
...The crystal-ball gazing concerning Shivers was set off by the shift of Weldon Hart, a well-known publicist popular with local newsmen, from a $15,000-a-year state job to the Governor's personal staff...
...Actually, conservatives in the Lone Star State are frantically trying to push Senator Price Daniels into the Gubernatorial race...
...They have no hard-and-fast philosophy, and no program that members must carry out on pain of excommunication...
...There are members of both political parties on both sides of the controversy...
...Mayor Dilworth and the regular Democratic organization, backed silently by many Republican rank-and-file workers, want some patronage for committeemen...
...But he has already broken all state precedent by getting elected to a third term...
...The more practical political leaders are less sanguine...
...The Governor himself cannot be said to have been a part of these scandals, nor has anyone suggested it...
Vol. 39 • March 1956 • No. 11
