The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 18

THE BURLINGTON FREE PRESS 'ame IN OUR OPINION The Nixon Doctrine: Assumptions and Attitudes A A FEBRUARY 21, 1970 Mr. Nixon's reappraisal, therefore, relies primarily on the hope that he can also persuade the Soviet Union to reappraise its expansionist policies and join him in an era of Great Power withdrawal and negotiation. On this point Mr. Nixon was frank and cautious. efforts of the Nixon Administration to' redefine the new political and military situation in the world, and for the candor and patience with which the President has defined his strategy of limited withdrawal.

The allies seem more confident than the United States, however, that the conflict between the Soviet Union and China plus the U.S. nuclear defense of Europe will preserve the peace of Europe in the 70 s. i i i i i I i i i i i i N.Y. Times News Service LONDON President Nixon's maxi-statement on American foreign policy is a little like the brilliant maxicoats one sees swinging along the sidewalks of London these days: It is long, it covers a lot of territory, and it conceals the most interesting parts. The most interesting part of the Nixon doctrine of "partnership" and "negotiation" for peace is what the other partners and the Soviet Union are prepared to do about it as the United States reduces its overseas commitments.

The doctrine rests on the valid conviction that the United States has been carrying too much of the burden of maintaining world peace, and on the assumption that the allies will increase their commitments and responsibilities as the United States cuts back. In this sense, it is a worldwide application of the concept of Vietnamization of the war in Southeast Asia non-Communist Europe and Asia, like Saigon, will take over as Washington pulls back. But while this is a fair and even inevitable proposition 25 years after the last World War, there is not the slightest evidence that the allies in Europe intend to spend more and sacrifice more to take up the slack. WITH THE EXCEPTION of Israel in the Middle East, which will spend $1.2 billion or 25 per cent of its gross national product on defense this year; and the possible exception of West Germany in Europe, which may respond to Mr. Nixon's appeals for more burden-sharing, there isn't a country in this part of the world that can be counted on to substitute for the limited American withdrawal.

In fact, well-informed officials and diplomats here in London concede that even if Mr. Nixon were forced by the Congress to follow Senator Mike Mansfield's advice and start a substantial withdrawal of American troops from Europe, the European allies would not vote for the funds to replace them with their own troops. The reasons for this attitude are perfectly plain. The European allies seem convinced that the American commitment to defend Europe against Soviet aggression is sufficient to deter the Soviets from attacking Western Europe. And even if they are wrong in this assumption, they do not believe that raising more European divisions would impress Moscow or increase their security.

There is much praise here for the WHILE CERTAIN successes have been registered tin East-West negotiations i he told the Congress, "our over-all relationship with the USSR, remains far from satisfactory. To the detriment of the cause of peace, the Soviet leadership has failed to exert a helpful influence on the North Vietnamese "In the Middle East talks, too. we have not seen on the Soviet side that practical and constructive flexibility which is necessary for a successful outcome We see evidence moreover, that the Soviet Union seeks a position in the area which would make Great Power rivalry' more likely." These are the really critical questions about the Nixon doctrine, not alone whether it is a clear and fair proposal by the President, but whether it will be accepted by the allies and by the Soviet Union, on whose cooperation the doctrine of safe withdrawal rests. Other Issues WWVWVl 3 THE VERMONT PEOPLE'S FORUM 1 of Vermont ran his own kind of campaign, answering questions from political audiences. In his book the Senator recalled that the late Roy Patrick of Burlington, one of his strongest backers, said that Flanders' victory would be a miracle.

"Here is a candidate." commented Patrick, "who never says a word against an opponent and who will give an answer in public to any question asked him." But the miracle happened. He won by 6,000 votes to join his former opponent. Senator Aiken, in the upper house of Congress. Together they gave Vermont some of the best representation of all the states in that august body. IN THE SENATE, few pieces of legislation carried his name.

One however, was an act which helped vitalize the nation's hardwood industry. His advice, based on experience, proved to be invaluable in the Banking and Currency Committee and other committees on which he served. The entire nation learned about Senator Flanders in 1954 when he moved to censure the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, founder of the cult of "McCarthyism," because of his fierce and often misguided campaign against people he charged were Communists. Flanders strolled into the meeting of the Senate subcommittee investigating Communists in government.

In full view of a nationwide TV audience he notified McCarthy he was going to recommend his censure by the Senate because of his irrational behavior as a Senator and because had diverted attention from Communist successes abroad to small details of Communist activity at home. Senator McCarthy remarked sarcastically, "Someone with a butterfly net should go after Flanders." But Senator McCarthy was censured and faded into obscurity before his death. Although Senator Flanders' life and his home in Washington were threatened and he was the target of vicious abuse by mail and phone, he never held ill against McCarthy. said he moved against the Wisconsin Senator "to save his country." COLUMNS COULD BE written about remarkable man. His activities encompassed inventive and mechanical genius, scholarship, administrative ability.

He had a delightful sense of humor and absent-mindedness because of the intensity of his concentration on the problems of the day made him the target of many humorous stories. His life-time love affair with his wife, the former Helen Hartness. never waned. Above all. Senator Flanders was a conscientious citizen of the country he cherished.

He believed in the moral law and this belief was reflected throughout his 89 years of life. Vermont has lost a great man. Freedom Sen. Flanders IF ANY VERMONTER could be described as a "complete citizen" that man was Ralph E. Flanders of Springfield who died Thursday at 89 after a long and useful life.

Until he stepped down from the U.S. Senate in 1959. after serving Vermont and his country for 12 years, the Senator enjoyed the respect and often the affection of leaders in national and international affairs. But most of all he was loved by those closest to him in his own family and by his fellow citizens in Springfield. Ralph Flanders practiced what he preached.

He believed that the law of love was unbreakable in all personal relationships, whether individually, socially or as between nations. He wrote in his book. "Senator From Vermont." that if the law of love is obeyed it "brings order and satisfaction. If disobeyed the result is turmoil and chaos." Senator Flanders was a native Vermonter, born in Barnet in 1880. Usually a modest and conservative man emotionally, he cast restraint aside when he talked about the quality of Vermont and Vermonters.

He regarded his home state as the closest one to get to paradise on earth. His formal education was scanty, yet his accomplishments in the fields of science, industry, business and statesmanship won him 16 honorary college degrees, some from universities abroad. SENATOR FLANDERS WAS an old fashioned liberal. Most people who knew him well called him an enlightened conservative. In Springfield, while he was president of Jones and Lamson Machine a leading manufacturer of machine tools, he welcomed the United Electrical Workers Union into the plant, the first industry in that community to be unionized.

All of the major industries in Springfield now bargain with unions. In testimony before the Senate Banking and Currency Committee in 1945 he stressed his belief that the "right to a job" should meet with universal acceptance if it were expressed as follows: "The man or woman out of work has the right to expect that all responsible elements of society and particularly the government will use all appropriate and effective means to assist his own best efforts in finding productive and profitable work." This today is the policy and philosophy of state employment security agencies. In politics. Senator Flanders admitted he lost by 6.000 votes to U.S. Senator then governor George D.

Aiken in 1940 because he placed his fate in the hands of politicians and let them call the shots. In his second try for the Senate in 1946 against his long time friend. U.S. Circuit Judge Sterry Waterman. How To Lose TO i 1 i 4, he he He this his EASILY RUINS South Burlington Taxes and THEY ARE LESS confident about the Middle East, for as the President told the Congress, not only Israel and the Arab states are in conflict, but the Great Powers have interests in the Middle East that are greater than their control over the warring states.

Nevertheless, even in that part of the world, there is no real "partnership" or "accommodation" and the conflict, with all its dangers and miscalculations, is left to the United States and the Soviet Union. Accordingly, while the Nixon doctrine of limited withdrawal, partnership, and more equal sharing of the military burdens is popular in the United States, the underlying assumption of greater efforts by the allies is not popular in this part of the world and not even accepted by the large majority of the allied governments. An Interesting Response Since my recent letter-to-the-editor which you entitled "Can Vermont Survive?" I have received a number of gems in my daily mail. They have come from as far as Lebanon. N.H., and Albany.

N.Y. So the Free Press gets around. Some of the comments are interesting. Here are a few: "I understand we have to wait until after something has happened, and then decide to put a stop to it. Why do we always have to waif" "Let's all chip in half a year's wages.

We'll hand this over to the developers as their profit. Then maybe they'll go back where they came from." "I understand the Army Corps of Engineers is composed mainly of civilians. Maybe somebody ought to investigate them. Whose axe are they grinding?" "What's the matter with those Army Engineers, anyway? Their mothers must have ail been beavers." To all who wrote to me: Thanks, muchly. But I'd far rather you wrote to the Free Press, and to your representatives in Montpelier.

Then you're saying it where it really counts. RONALD ROOD Lincoln. Vt. Abuse of 'Free Speech' Having read the letter of Gordon F. Lewis to The People's Forum.

Feb. 13, 1 could not help but to be disturbed at the hypocrisy in portions of his correspondence. To be sure, he may be right about UVM financing, but he seems to have a lot to leam about free speech. Merely because one person seems to have put forth some sort of a threat, real or imagined, to his constitutionally guaranteed free speech, he is awfully quick to yell "Foul Play," and yet in the same breath, he speaks of the in his words "Highly Praiseworthy" Moratorium Demonstrations. Evidently, he lacks the intelligence to realize or perhaps, to admit that these very Moratorium Demonstrations could be said to constitute a great threat to the free speech of an entire nation of freedom-loving people, the South Vietnamese.

For. if Mr. Lewis and his fellow campus rebels ever had their way, communism, either by coalition or outright takeover, would soon stifle all such freedoms from South Vietnam. Apparently, most student radicals seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the free South Vietnamese and the Communist North Vietnamese. Well, I can tell Mr.

Lewis that in 20 months' military service in Vietnam, I was able to see the distinction very clearly. Few, if any, student dissidents have seen, as I did, blood flowing from the heads of innocent South Vietnamese civilians, injured in terrorist bombings aimed at Fly Your Flags Sunday! Washington's Birthday ARBlTRARy POWER MOST ESTABLISHED ON THE Opinions on S. Burlington School Costs Once again the South Burlington School Board has proposed a tremendous increase in the school tax rate. If one tries to speak against such an increase, it is as though one is speaking against "Motherhood." The School Board, as well as a close knit group of teachers, desirous of a pay raise and-or other benefits, oppose any reductions. They make statements such as, "We will not settle for less than the best for our children," or "The classes are overcrowded," or "We will lose some of our best teachers if we don't keep pace with the surrounding communities." Regardless of the validity or the non-validity of what they say; they DO attend the Town Meeting, they do form a solid "bloc," and they do get what they want.

It appears that the proposed tax increase of 30 cents for the town is nominal and justified. However, last year the new space for the town officials proposed by Mr. D'Acuti and the Selectmen appeared to be more than justified, but it failed to receive support of those at the Town Meeting. They thought it would be "nice to have, but not a necessity." One year later we see that the space was necessary. Further, to compensate for this I understand that the town may have to renovate an old school for necessary space to operate.

I am for education I am for progress. However, I also believe in establishing priorities to accomplish these aims. I now feel, that if a majority of the voters in South Burlington, not just teachers, attend the town meeting in South Burlington, analyze the budget as presently proposed, balance the need against the cost, eliminate luxuries and reinstate the rule of the majority. Only then can we be sure that we are going to have a viable community. If the silent majority do not speak this year, then we must suffer the consequences.

In this case, strangulation by taxation. EDWARD A. BRASS South Burlington, Vt. 'D Something About Voters of South Burlington you are disturbed about the increase in taxes as suggested at the Budget Hearings Monday evening. Well why don't you DO something about it! And don't think you can't.

Attend the evening Town Meeting on Monday, March 2, at the High School gymnasium at 7:30. You will have a chance to vote on any motions to reduce (be budget that may be introduced. You may even introduce one yourself. You will be allowed to question the necessity of any increases over la.1 year's budgets. You have received the copy of the Selectmen's and School Board's budgets.

Study them, come to the Town Meeting; vote then to suit yourself, not the person next to you. You alone are the master of your fate. CHARLOTTE C. MARSH South Burlington, Vt. School Budget Questioned I nave tome views on "Education a-la-mode" South Burlington style.

Last Monday night, South Burlington taxpayer! were treated to a peek at what our Town and School Department expected in terms of money to run our metropolis next year. I am happy to see at long last, an effort to bring our Town Budget somewhere near reasonable and equitable level with the times. Our town employes have served long and well under trying circumstances while receiving minimum salaries and benefits. Turning to the School Department Budget, we get quite another view. The requested tax increase for school operation is $1.29.

As usual, a big share of this tax increase is due to a sizable raise in teachers, principals and guidance salaries. OF LlBERTy ABUSED The following questions are something the taxpayer should think about: Why are new teachers budgeted in at levels of $8,000 and above? Why not at the $6,400 level on the Salary Index? The "Index" is a word meaning "Educator's Money Tree," which blooms yearly. Why do we need a guidance counselor in our elementary school system'' In the 1969 Annual Town Report, we note studies on studies of most everything. In Hugh Marvin's School Board Report he listed eight studies. Kindergarten was one of the studies, and it received immediate attention.

Its inclusion in the projected school budget was swift, but the issue is at best questionable when related to the desires of the townspeople who attended Town Meeting last year. Another study was on money available to the School Department each year based on holding the tax rate. What happened to this one? Next was a study on extending the school year. This one, as in the past, maintains an icy silence we are now treading on sacred ground- scratch this inhumane possibility. Another question why does the South Burlington Teachers Association always fight for a raise in the base salary each year? One would assume a $500 raise in the salary base would raise teachers salary $500.

Not so. at all'! Apply this $500 to the "Index" and get the shock of the year. To me this proposed School Budget suggests that taxpayers are so awed and brainwashed by our School Department that they will pay and ask no questions. I am one taxpayer who pays, but I do not intend to be silent. I will suggest this to my fellow taxpayers, however: Unless all eligible voters go to Town Meeting, Monday, March 2, at 7 30 and vote to return this School Budget to the School Department for drastic cuts based on a system of priorities, we will once again march to the sacrificial altar of the School Department and turn out our pockets, so they can be assured no money remains! Our choice is simple.

Stand Up or Pay Up! JACK NAYLOR South Burlington, Vt. How About a Dump Sticker? Since taxation is a way of life and a fee must be charged for cars at the Burlington dump, I would suggest a car sticker on the idea we have for our local beach for Burlington residents only. (Suggested amount, $1 per year). Is the yield of $34.75 per week from this added taxation going to pay the salary of the additional man in the little shack who tears off the stub? Gain or loss? GEORGE F. GRIFFIN Burlington, Vt.

'Sesame Street' Appreciated I would like to add my support to that of Mrs. Abel and Mrs. Dubuque in the continuance of "Sesame Street." It would be a shame to discontinue the best children's program on television. My son, 3W, thoroughly enjoys "Sesame Street." This program has helped him learn to recite and write letters of the alphabet plus his numbers. So please let's keep Vermont ETV on the air! NADINE FROEBEL Essex Junction, Vt.

Comments on a Eulogy It was my privilege to serve in the Vermont House in 1935, and work with Senator Alfred Heininger on the Old Age Assistance law. Mr. Crane's eulogy to Alfred Harris Heininger deserved better company than "Referendum Silliness," and to put the two in the same column thowed ettremely poor taste. JASON CARTER Lowell, Vt. Americans.

Few of these students have attended Sunday Church Services at the National Cathedral, on John F. Kennedy Square, in Saigon, to see each Mass so overcrowded with South Vietnamese, that it is always Standing Room Only, almost as if these people realized that they might not have this cherished freedom indefinitely. Few. if any, student militants have visited, as I did, any of the orphanages around Saigon and seen the pitiful little children, hardly old enough to read, kneeling with rosaries in hand, praying for peace and freedom in their country. Therefore.

I would advise Mr. Lewis and his fellow campus dissidents that when they talk about free speech, they should bear in mind that it is not a freedom restricted only to Americans I. myself, have seen that it also means a great deal to the people of South Vietnam, for they. too. have pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their Sacred Honor ROLAND C.

LABOUNTY Winooski. Vt. Against Lower Drinking Age As a driver and as a taxpayer. I am opposed to lowering the drinking age. The young people get their beer whether or not they drive to New York or Canada for it, so that is not a consideration.

If the age is lowered, we'll not only have more drunks on the streets and highways but the roadside litter will become worse Have you ever noticed what slobs automotive beer drinkers are1 Along with their disgusting behavior goes a total disregard and a lack of desire to maintain a beautiful countryside. Of course, this applies to many young people where just shake containers and pizza plates are concerned. If you doubt me. then wander along East Avenue most any evening when there's no snow on the ground to cover the mess and get an eyeful! Lowering the age will also make alcohol more accessible to 16 and 17-year-olds as many associate with older teen-agers. I also feel that DWI charges should carry stiffer penalties.

If, in addition to the fine -especially on the first offense the offender had to walk five miles of streets or highways picking up the roadside litter, a few inebriates might be encouraged to remain sober! LESLAE PHELPS Burlington. Vt Lower Drinking Age Favored Why should we lower the drinking age to 18-year-olds, you may ask? Why are the youth in Vermont so anxious to see it lowered? First, I agree with everyone who says that the highway fatalities would be lowered. The number of miles to be traveled would be less to attain the destination, usually New York. Second, Vermont would be offering its youth much more than it is at the present time. More facilities similar to those in New York could be established.

As a result, more revenue would be gained both for these facilities and Vermont. Also, the youth of Vermont would find these facilities more easily accessible since they would be located in Vermont. In order to answer the last question, one must consider the attitude of our youth towards lowering the drinking age. The youth in Vermont do want to drink, but they, more importantly, desire to have a good time. This cannot be stressed too strongly.

Our youth, as well as our adults, want to meet people and become more aware of the world around them. As it is now, both adults and youth of Vermont are downgrading the state for lack of anything to do here in the way of dancing, etc. If this bill passes, Vermont will be providing a more open-minded environment by bringing its people together. Ml WRRAINE HEBERT LICENTIOUSNESS GEORGE WASHINGTON 1 v.v.