Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 16

NIQUIRER ano NEWS elegate challenge: A serious issue MSCH1GAM B-2 Seventy-second Year July 9, 1972 'Money can buy most anything Except loyalty Or happiness." Wicker -George its convention and to determine who votes on the issues that come before it." There is, Califano insisted, "no higher exercise" of the first amendment right to freedom of assembly, and in restricting that exercise the District of Columbia court of appeals' decision in the California case "goes further into the political arena than any prior decision that we've been able to find in our research." Therefore, he said, the national committee's appeal to the Supreme Court was "more compelling and more important in terms of fundamental rights than cases for which the court has been convened, the most recent being the Pentagon Papers." Simply stated, Califano's principle is The Democratic National Committee is going into the Supreme Court to fight a lower court decision on the California challenge, but also to support the lower court's Illinois decision. This policy might appear to be what lawyers describe as "ridiculous on its face." Because if the California decision stands, the committee will be relieved of its greatest headache but if the Illinois decision stands, the whole Democratic party may well be relieved of Chicago and Illinois in next fall's election. There is nevertheless a consistent principle behind the Democratic Committee's stand, and to hear Joe Califano tell it, that principle ranks at least with the case of the Pentagon Papers in constitutional importance, Califano, the Given by the Enquirer and News for Significant Community Service committee counsel and the former foreman of Lyndon Johnson's White House staff and cabinet, described the principle in a news conference first of the convention season. It was, he said, "the right of the Democratic party to associate freely in convention and to determine who goes to 'In our opinion' The Illinois challenge that "courts do not belong in the political process" because the political conventions are the proper judges of their own members and procedures. That view explains why the Democratic National Committee can oppose the appeals court's reinstatement of Sen.

George McGovern's California delegates, but support the refusal of the court to reinstate Mayor Daley's delegation. In both cases, the committee is supporting decisions of the convention credentials committee. McGovern supporters are not likely to take such a lofty constitutional view; and the action of the national committee in appealing the reinstatement of the 153 McGovern delegates, principled as it may be to Califano, is likely to look to them like one more effort to "stop McGovern" at any cost. And it now seems clear that the ultimate California-Illinois decisions will determine whether McGovern can, in fact, be stopped. Ironically, if the national committee should prevail in the Supreme Court, its headaches would really begin.

As only one example, Califano, National Chairman Larry O'Brien and others would have to decide whether all the original 271 California delegates, or none of them, or just the 118 left to McGovern by the credentials committee, could vote on the California challenge. But that would be a simple judgment to make compared to the next deciding who could vote on the inevitable appeal from the first decision. These rulings alone could shatter any hope of a unified convention, or of an effective campaign against President Nixon. Even more ironically, the national committee's opposition to the reinstatement of Daley's delegation is a high price to pay for the principle involved. And while the two decisions of the appeals court may look like a double victory for the McGovernites yielding them a total of about 194 delegates the victory could be pyrrhic indeed.

To grasp the problem, try to imagine any Democratic candidate winning the presidency without sizeable majorities New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago; in 1960, for instance, John F. Kennedy's margin in Philadelphia was bigger than by which he carried Pennsylvania. But this year, Democratic Mayor Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia has openly proclaimed himself for Nixon; in New York, the doubts of Jewish voters about McGovern's stand on Israel could be lethal to the big majority he needs in the city; and in Detroit, the busing issue is at its hottest and could cost him much of the Democratic support usually to be expected. If the alienation of Daley should also reduce the Democratic potential in Chicago, McGovern would be substantially handicapped in four major states, even before the race began. But can he abandon the reform guidelines he has so strongly espoused, in order to help reinstate a plainly illegal Daley delegation and save his prospects in Illinois? Would the reform-minded McGovern delegates support him if he did? Nothing in Califano's principle leave it to the party provides the WU VQN'T WANT TO! The challenge to 151 California delegates supporting Sen.

George McGovern has been scrutinized closely in recent days. And justifiably so, for McGovern's nomination may hang in the balance. But not quite enough scrutiny has been given the challenge to 59 Illinois delegates led by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, although coverage of the legal battle over their seating has been extensive. At first glance, it would seem that the challengers, led by Chicago Alderman William Singer and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, better meet the Democratic party's criteria for a representative delegation than do the Daley delegates. This, however, is primarily because few have looked closely enough at the composition of the two groups or the election returns from the Illinois primary.

True, about half the challengers are women, about a third are black, and many of them are young people. But does the delegation truly represent the sentiments of Chicago voters? This, after all, is the most important question and the aim of the Democratic party's reforms. Upon close examination, the Daley delegation doesn't look so terribly unrepresentative. There are only 12 blacks among the group and few Latin -Americans, but the majority of Chicago's Democratic voters are not black or Chicano. They are white and they are members of well-defined ethnic groups, the views of which are unrepresented on the challengers' slate.

Moreover, there is the matter of who Chicagoans voted for in the Illinois primary. The challengers claim that Daley had his machine at work so that they did not have a chance. But even if every precinct captain in Chicago had remained at home on primary day, the challengers would have lost by tremendous margins. So what we really have in the Illinois challenge, no matter how many committees or courts uphold it, is a steal nearly as blatant as that of the California delegates from McGovern. In the California case the challengers used political muscle.

In that of Illinois, the challengers won on a technicality in the rules. The second is no more justified than the first Fischer's first moves YOU PPEFETZ, WE HAVE SOME PELfGHTFUL THREE MAN OUTFOSm HOME, ALAeKA UPEKNAVtK, GREENLAND anp arujeeE slanJ in the antarct(C aide McGovern adapts JFK BMMff to chess while living grandly on a state subsidy. Then there is the matter of ego. Fischer's frequent tantrums, his own denials notwithstanding, are as much a part of the game as the first move of pawn or knight. Chess on the world-championship level is a contest of minds in which some purely psychological advantage can provide the margin of victory.

Indeed, Fischer himself has said that he has won a match when he knows his opponent's ego has been crushed. Although Fischer's idiosyncrasies and mental stratagems are to most a nuisance, they will quickly fade into the background Tuesday, when the match begins. If, that is, it is not delayed again. And the ire so many feel for Fischer will accomplish little but to provide some solace to those of us whose own games will not be studied centuries hence. Most everyone is down on Bobby Fischer these days.

Chess buffs around the world are impatient with the 29-year-old U.S. grand master for his imperious behavior in demanding more cash before playing the Soviets' Boris Spassky for the world championship. And somehow Fischer's attitude runs counter to the American "for-the-love-of-the-game" philosophy of participation in sports. But there is something to be said on Fischer's side, if not in excuse then at least in explanation. First, the matter of money.

Chess is the way Fischer makes his living, and a player of his stature can't find a paying game every day. He insists, therefore, that the rewards he does receive be commensurate with his considerable genius. And he argues that an American must have such rewards to compete with the likes of Spassky, who can devote full time capital gains, and little or no taxes on income derived from real estate and depletion shelters, and tax-free interest. The Tobin proposals can be tailored in many ways, as the Yale professor himself pointed out in his original 1968 essay. For example, it seems sensible to provide higher credits for adults than children, and to limit the total provided any one family.

Tobin, for all his reputation as an ivory tower theorist, recognizes that the system may have to be introduced gradually, to meet both ideological and fiscal objections. But he sees income re-distribution as an absolutely indispensible goal. Wrote Tobin in "Agenda for the "When asked to make sacrifices for the defense of their nation, the American people have always responded. Perhaps some day a national administration will muster the courage to ask the American people to tax themselves for social justice and domestic tranquil-; ity. The time is short." lished by the Brookings Institution.

He proposed that every man, woman and child in the country receive $750 annually from the federal government, and be obligated to pay taxes of one-third of all other income (Excluding the $750). The $750 would be a credit against the tax. Except for the change to $1,000 for the credit, the McGovern proposal is essentially identical to the Tobin plan of 1968. The burden for shifting income to the poor and non-poor "would fall mainly on higher-income taxpayers, and among them, mainly on taxpayers with income not now taxable." This latter point has escaped public attention: Very high income families whose money comes largely or exclusively from salary would also benefit from the Tobin-McGovern proposals, because the current marginal tax rates on regular or unsheltered income are high, typically around 50 per cent, compared with Tobin's flat 33 per cent rate. The program would really hit those who have been paying lower rates on of Kennedy's invitation to Tobin to join the CEA.

At first, Tobin demurred. "Senator," he told Kennedy on the phone, "you don't want me in the council. I'm an ivory tower economist." Kennedy sold Tobin with his rejoinder: "That's the best kind. I'm an ivory tower president." Tobin stayed only until mid-1962, then resumed his academic career at Yale, but not until he had a hand in reshaping the influence of the executive department on the Federal Reserve System and perhaps more important pushing for genuine international monetary reform against the banker-oriented Treasury Department, under Douglas Dillon, stubborn as in all administrations. Tobin has the knack of seeing large economic issues well ahead of the pack.

Tobin's long-time commitment to a dramatic war on poverty, now the centerpiece of McGovern's economic program, was spelled out in 1968 in an article called "Raising the Incomes of the Poor," in "Agenda for the Nation," pub By HOBART ROW EN Gannett News Service Special If George McGovern gets the Democratic nomination for the presidency this week in Miami Beach, you will hear a lot about Yale economics Prof. James Tobin, the principal author of the senator's controversial income redistribution plan. Tobin is one of the intellectual giants of the American economic profession. He was a member of the first Council of Economic Advisers of the Kennedy administration, but never got the attention and fame that enveloped the chairman, Walter W. Heller.

That was because Heller was the front, man, trying to sell the public Kennedy's new economic ideas. But many of them were originated by the brilliant, soft-spoken, and shy Yale professor. Heller told me at that time "Tobin set a high moral tone. His adherence to principle was undeviating, even when it wasn't expedient." In a book published in 1964 Free I related the story The reader's vieiv McGovern's ultimatum heard that disgusting little ultimatum. What that means, of course, is that we traditional Democrats must unify behind their candidate and his beliefs.

If we don't, we face the consequences in November. Some bargain. We get the same type of bargain from North Vietnam. This threat may just work at Miami. But, Dear George, a good many honest Democrats are going to remember your ultimatum in November.

Michael Miller Editor, Enquirer and News: One of George McGoverns' top campaign strategists, Rick Stearns, has revealed to the press that McGovern may very well bolt the Democratic Party if he is denied the nomination for President in Miami. From here, he would start an independent party in hopes of punishing the Democratic nominee. I hope all the Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace and Ed Muskie people One bet remains when others fail WeOpen window even for Action Line. It is not unusual for an investigation to span several states, several months and dozens of letters. One of the longest undertakings involved finding out for a grandmother that her daughter's children, who had been put out for adoption years earlier, were indeed in good homes and good, hands.

But don't tell Ned, the next time you' see him, about the problem you have not" been able to solve. He has too many-problems to handle them on an im-. promptu basis. You will have to write4; Action Line in care of this paper or tele--phone 965-1243 between 4 and 8 p.m. It is a bet that remains when all oth--ers fail.

If blocks, and this is probably our biggest single asset in solving problems. "A major consideration is to be as fair as we are persistent. We don't start with the viewpoint that either side is wrong only that there is a problem we would like to get settled." By and large, Action Line emerges as the champion of the consumer, the avenue through which the little guy can get a reply from a corporation president if Action Line has to go that far. As a general rule, the big guy, whether it is a corporation or a smaller merchant, readily cooperates with Action Line. "After all," says Boies, "we deal only with the sticky problems that get into the way of customer relations.

Most companies are glad to find out about these problems and get them removed, once they understand the situation." But not in every case. Occasionally the target of a complaint will demand that outsiders keep out even to the point of threatening to take action against Action Line. This does not, however, deter Action Line from championing any legitimate grievance. Solutions, when found, are published in the Action Line column, and not communicated directly to the person who originated the matter. "We simply don't have the facilities to correspond with 40 to 50 persons a day, much less individually discuss and analyze each problem that comes to us," says Boies.

"We communicate with readers only through the column itself." Getting action can be a long process, By WATSON SIMS Managing Editor Do you have a question to which there seems no answer or a problem which defies solution? If all others have failed, don't despair: there may still be help at Action Line. Action Line is a problem-solving, question-answering service of the Enquirer and News. Over the past five years it has received approximately 8,000 problems and solved perhaps 1,000. Enough problems of former service men were solved, for example, for Gen. George A.

Custer Post 54 of The American Legion last week to award Action Line a citation "In recognition and sincere appreciation for outstanding service What sort of problems does Action Line solve? It persuaded a Washington bureaucrat to search Navy files for the record of a veteran who had been paralyzed by a stroke and was unable to speak or write. The information thus obtained qualified the veteran for government hospitalization. It channeled a flurry of consumer complaints to persuade the city finance director that water bills had been in error and should be re-computed. An elusive mortgage company was tracked through three states, eventually located In the South, and a discharge of obligation obtained for mortgage holders. A hand snow plow was located for handicapped children at a local school; extra-small static grounding shoes were found for a tiny operating room nurse; and more missing pension checks, hospi- talization benefits and magazine subscriptions were found than can easily be counted.

The Action Line Director at the Enquirer and News is Ned Boies, an easy going Battle Creek newsman who also finds time to write columns about his city's people and places. Ned has directed Action Line for the past 18 months, assisted by a typist-stenographer. Day in and day out, 40 to 50 communications flow into his office, about half of them by mail and half by recorded telephone calls. Ned screens the communications with several aspects in mind: Has the author made a genuine effort to solve his own problem or answer his own question? Action Line is not simply an errand boy; it is a court of last, rather than first, resort. If a complaint is involved, do the reasons appear legitimate? Only when promises have not been kept or when reasonable expectations have been denied does Action Line go into action.

"Many problems are simply the result of misunderstandings," says Boies. "The supplier has not understood what the consumer has said or vice versa. Action Line cuts through communications Potomac fever Some sources say that the Navy plans to send its trained porpoises to Florida for further research. Hopefully; the political conventions won't insult their intelligence. The U.S.

Commerce Department reports that Americans consumed domestic and imported candy at the rate of 19.8 pounds a person in 1971. You. wonder do they use Crest or are they so old they don't have to tell their parents -if they have cavities? McGovern's long-time opposition to the war apparently doesn't impress" many Jewish voters they think he op-posed the wrong war. CLOSE SUPPORT.