Delaware County Daily Times from Chester, Pennsylvania • Page 6

Delaware County 7 i v- V' McGovern 9 SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1972 Wh6 should 'help' consumer? -I- Does the corisumei'-protecticm nib've- ment need more government regulation or more consumer education? Mary Bennett 'Peterson, an economist and contributor to the Wall Street Journal, says well-meaning' people who promote government regulation often help bring about the exact opposite of their original intentions. Mrs. Peterson's new book, Regulated Consumer," according to reviewer Caspar W. Weinberger in the June issue of Fortune magazine, suggests that many of the government agencies set up to protect the consumer "harm" and "smother" him. Many get bogged down in red tape and time-consuming bureaucracy.

The Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, for example, often stops Bon appetit 1 competition and preserves the "status quo. The Federal Trade Commission protects the small dealer who is apt to charge the consumer higher-prices. The Commission, says Mrs; Peterson, is responsible for railroads continuing to sei've; areas' no longer "bad 1 example she is the difference between rates on airlines subject to federal regulations and those that are not. It reportedly costs.half as much to fly from San Francisco" to Los Angeles as the shorter trip from Washington to New York. The former crosses no state boundaries and is not federally regulated; the latter does and is.

"Consumer sovereignty," says Mrs. Peterson, is a better and more powerful force than government intervention. Women midi, men turned Corf am shoes, and buyers passed up the Edsel, all without any assist from the government. Mrs. Peterson would not end all government protection.

She endorses such "benign regulation" as laws to ensure en- forcenient of contracts, "reasonable" antitrust enforcement, standard weights and measures, a copyright and patent system, policing false advertising, etc. But she says consumer sovereignty, backed up by consumer education, may be "regulator" The. by smart enSure bet- ter and safer products. As Weinberger points out, these are days when everyone with a problem seems to think first of government and the public sector. It may be a good time to give some thought to the private sector for a change.

Mrs. Peterson's book could provide the necessary impetus. Here we go again A $9,600 pay hike? Here we go again! State legislators -are in for another pay increase, The Commonwealth Compensation Commission has recommended pay increases of up to $9,600 for the state's 253 legislators. This would boost a a a a compensation to as much as $25,200. Legislators now receive a $7.200 salary and $8,400 for expenses.

The commission has proposed salaries of $19,200 and expenses of $6,000. The commission is a comparatively new organization, having been formed last year J'or the purpose of recommending salary levels for top state officials. Its suggestions, become law 60 days after annbunced, unless the House and Senate agree to joint, resolution changing them. WHEN THE BILL was passed to create the commission, the legislators raised their expense allowances from $4,800 to $8.400: The reason for the formation of the commission is obvious the sole purpose of taking the onus of passing salary increases off the backs of the legislators. These legislators, many of whom do very -little in Harrisburg but create confusion, apparently don't have the guts to stand up counted on whether they think they deserve a raise or not.

INSTEAD, they pass the buck onto a "commission" which gives them the raises and then they can tell everyone they really don't need the money, didn't want it, all the while running to ttie bank tp deposit the checfc.f What tlie legislators are doing is lawful. But it certainly isn't playing fair with" taxpayers who put them in office and pay the bill. If they want the money, they should have the persona i fortitude to present arguments Tot the raise in public debate and then vote for it rather than hint behind the skirts of some nebulous commission. One result of appointing a commission to do this job is that an important issue is moved one step; further away- from the'scrutiny 6f public 'opinion. And we feel this'is wrong in a representative government.

Monessen The Valley Independent How much and why? Co. in a 11 Compensation' Commission has offered 'its aHo a i a neral Assembly--a healthy wage increase. It will exceed the wage ceiling.of 5.5'peV cent set by the President's Wage Board. We would suspect, but don't believe, the legislators may consider doing their patriotic duty and repect the commi'S- sion's wage hike. i i recommended salaries be increased to $19,200 from the current salary of $7,200.

The expense account is to be trimmed from the present figure of $8,400 to $6,000. Legislators will.be paid $25,200 annually. They now receive $15,600. Clip and save Environment hotline ll of the environment got you down? Next time you nbt'iee some some thing contributing to the pollution around you, 'write or call one of the 'following agencies and urgeri action. /r.ti^ir pollution--Citizens Council for Clean.Air, 311 S.

Juniper KI 5-1832. State Department of Environmental 277-3210. pollution--State Health Department, TR 6-0306. Pollution and contamination from pesticides-- State Depart- Environmental Resources, 277-3210. EHter and rubbish--local sanitation department, or if con- ceYtiing operation of a disposal site, State Health Department, TR 6-0306.

pollution--local police. V.rij Sediment ami erosion, drainage, sofls Information Soil I Coniservation 1671 N. Providence By Wage Board standards, it seems to us, the new salary should be $16,458 if both wages and expense account money are considered a multiplied by the 5.5 per cent formula. RECOMMENDATIONS of the Commonwealth Compensation Commission become law 60 days after they are made unless the General Assembly rejects them. The commission was created to provide the legislators with a buffer against direct criticism when pay hikes are suggested but it is doubtful that the general public will stand by when the legislators placidly, accept the commission's recommendations.

A fair suggestion which has surfaced a few times in the past is for the 203-membor House to trim its number to--maybe--100 members or so. That "savings" in salaries could be shared in part by the remaining members. But the legislature has successfully avoided i anything about that suggestion. EVERY WORKWOMAN and woman believes he or -she itf worth more money, whether that work is done frorn the inner sanctum of the; executive suite or on the assembly line. The legislators may be worth more money, which is saying more than we noted; in some other recent editorials.

The question" is and always will much? We the. taxpayer must be told-the reasoning of the commission for raising the legislative salaries no matter to what, level. New Castle News By TOM BRADEN WASHINGTON i reporter has apologized: for a statement made nearly a -year ago in which he summed, up the chances of e. McGovern as follows: "I do not think he can make it." The strengths, of McGovern, unforeseen by those whom McGovern has called "the wise men who vrite and read each other's syndicated are now manifest. But the McGovern campaign has revealed weaknesses, too.

These are most a identified in the only head-to- head contest of the primary season, namely the McGovern- Humphrey contest in California. McGOVERN'S own analyvis of that victory does not augur well for his future. His analysis was undertaken in an effort to determine why, with his own polls showing him 13 per cent ahead the week before the election, he fell to a 5 per cent win. The results of the analysis are as follows: First, he lost the vote, a fact which may be attributed to Hubert Humphrey's accusations that he was soft on Israel. SECOND his legions of young did not turn out to vote in the numbers anticipated.

McGovern's strategists put this down to the fact that on the day of election, universities and col- leges were closing and students were on the move. Nevertheless, those hard-core "number, ones" whom the indus-' trious Miles' Rubin i had counted on his computers as "sure" McGovern voters turned out to be not only not sure, but not there when the telephone rang. Third, there was trouble with the "$1,000 i a a McGovern's income-tax plan. Humphrey made it sound silly. McGovern could not explain it; it has since turned out to be unexplainable.

FOURTH, the McGovern' image changed sharply in the last weekend. A i publicized Field Poll showed him more than 20 per cent ahead. In the eyes of the he became no longer the scrapping underdog, but the Establishment champion, so far ahead that he could leave the state to go and meet Southern governors on the eve of the election. All of these weaknesses with the exception of the have a bearing on McGovern's future. The last is an exception because it 'is hard to imagine McGovern becoming Establishment figure in a with Richard Nixon.

Still, he must, if the, California analysis holds remain the, force for change the outsider, the challenger to a -system which the people do'not McGovern is now engaged in an attempt to win acceptance from the leaders of the Establishment in his own party. "Let George do it!" If his-California analysis is correct, he must bring them to him rather than the other way around. BUT TO REVIEW briefly the other weaknesses i California revealed: uMcGovern will probably lose the Jewish vote no matter how explains that because he wants to end the war in Vietnam does not mean he would not go to war for Israel. Since Franklin Roosevelt, American Jews have voted Democratic. This year, $1 billion in Nixon Administration aid to Israel is likely to cut deep.

New York will be doubtful. Will the young turn out? McGovern's forces plan an enormous registration drive, but the young will have to do more than register. What happened in California backs up the tradition that the-young do not vote in anywhere near the proportions of the middle aged and the old. FINALLY, tax plan must be revamped. Tax inequity is high on the list of the wrongs Americans believe they are suffering.

Statistics bear them out. But the McGovern-plan was a i drawn. Humphrey's onslaught was late, but the' California analysis revealed that it 1 hold, particularly in Los Angeles County where Humphrey spent money and his time. These were the weaknesses of the McGovern campaign as they are shown in his own California analysis. Richard Nixon will make the most of But he'd sacrifice a nation 1-7' 4' McGovern wouldn't hurt a fly By CROSBY S.

NOYES A I inference that must be drawn from Henry Kissinger's latest confab in Peking is' that a negotiated settlement of the Indochina war is not in the cards anytime soon. Although all the major powers Involved appear to want. a settlement, they are either unwilling or unable to exert the pressure on the leaders in Hanoi that would make a settlement possible. Tills in itself is a bitter i a i administration, but it is much of a surprise. There was hope that Hanoi would recognize the extreme gravity of its present strategic situation, the misgivings of its allies and the probability of President, Nixon's reelection next combination of these factors could have produced a serious negotiation" on ending the South Vietnam and unseat Richard Nixon next fall.

For a group of fanatically dedicated leaders, that is not a particularly p-r i i decision to make. The'y are willing to expend lives and substance without a qualm in a which they are convinced must prevail. in the military situation in South Vietnam to keep them regardless of cost. And if, as they devoutly hope, George McGovern is elected President of the United States in November, they will have it made. AND SO, apparently, the war will go on.

for a' while and the will be treated to a barrage of political rhetoric about howjt is all, their fault 1 No one in the liberal camp will- for a moment whisper a word of criticism against the leaders in Hanoi. IT MAY Many unexpected thing's can happen in the course of the next few months. For the time being, however, it seems that the Hanoi leadership is determined to go through with its ultimate gamble: That in the face of increasingly adverse odds, it will expend the last of its physical and human resources in an effort to achieve a decisive victory in cphtrafyT' i our support for'" "a dictatorship" in Saigon that will be condemned on all sides. And Americans will be implored in the name of "humanity" to let the leaders in Hanoi have their bloody way, GEORGE McGOVERN is reputed to be a good and kindly man who "wouldn't hurt a fly and it may be quite true. But what George McGovern is proposing in the way of a solution to the Vietnam war is neither good nor kindly.

For it is all very well for foolish and uninformed people to go around waving Viet Cong flags and babbling about "stopping the killing" in Vietnam. People who aspire to the presidency of the United States surely know that if the shooting stops in Vietnam on the terms that they propose, the killing will have just begun. You have talked a great deal, Senator, about the "corrupt military dictatorship" in Saigon. You undoubtedly will go on talkjng about it much more in the months to come. But don't kid yourself, Sen- atoiv and don't try to kid us.

It isn't a corrupt military dictator that you would dispose of if you make your way to the White House. It is 15 million men, women and children who have done nothing offend sensibilities who have fought for their freedom more bravely and tenaciously- than any, other people in the world today. This is the fact that cannot be evaded by talking about corrupt regimes that' have lost the support of their people. WHATEVER the people of South Vietnam don't support, it is the regime in Hanoi, and there are hundreds of thousands of corpses to to the fact. No government in the history of the world has been able to arm its citizenry to the extent that the South Vietnamese are.

armed in order to fight a war that they don't want to fight. Nguyen Van Thieu may have his faults and his enemies as a political leader, represents the aspirations of the Vietnamese people a lot better than you do. Senator. If the war is lost, he and a good many millions, of his countrymen stand to lose their' lives. What do you stand to lose in comparison, except, perhaps, an- election? CORRUPT dictator? You, as an American president, are proposing to turn over the South Vietnamese people to the most ruthless tyranny that exists on this planet.

You will deprive 15 million people of their means of defense not, God their advantage, but for your own. For unfathomable reason, you apparently believe that a majority of the Amwican people want and expect you to sacrifice a nation that we have fought seven years to preserve. It is a rare thing that ore man can talk so glibly about disposing of the lives' and destinies of 15 million people in another country to' get himself elected President of the United States. Especially while lallang about corrupt dictators. For world championship Bobby, Boris square off Sunday By RICHARD L.

WORS'NOP Championship chess is a contest that calls for prodigious amounts of physical as well as mental exertion. To determine how much energy is actually expended by a chess player in a tournament game, a bio-kinetic experiment was conducted at Temple University in 1970. Pulse, heartbeat and other siological measurements were taken on 12 volunteers during play. The surprising result: Chess is as physically taxing as a Letters welcome The Daily Times welcomes letters to the editor on matters of public interest. address and phone number must be given before letters can be considered for publication.

The letters should be written specifically and solely to the Daily Times. Open letters, carbons, photo copies, will be rejected. AM letters are subject to condensation. No letters can be returned. strenous session of boxing or football.

THUS, BOTH Bobby Fischer of the United States and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union are keeping their bodies in fighting trim as they prepare for their championship match in Reykjavik, Iceland, starting Sunday. The close-lipped Spassky has declined to reveal details of his training program, although it is known he likes to play tennis. Fischer's daily i includes morning calisthenics in front of his television set, followed by swimming, tennis'and bowling. BY THE SAME token, professional football players find that chess sharpens their mental agility on the field. Ron Johnson and Bob Tucker, both of the New York Giants, are engaged in a marathon match that has been in progress for several years.

But. Harold C. 'Schonberg argues in "Harper's" that chess brings greater rewards: "It is an affirmation of The game requires imagination and creativity ability to see, or sense, hidden to less refined minds." DESPITE the need for brawn as well as brain, chess is regarded at. best, by most Americans. The game is thought of as boring and strictly for the cerebral elite.

As a result, the United States ranks about as poorly in world chess circles as it does in international Ping Pong competition. The Soviet Union has around fouK million chess players, who compete in tournaments, the United States only about 25,000. STILL, the unofficial world champion of chess, in the mid- 19th century was Paul Mo.rphy of New Since organized competition began in the Russians have on' the title. Not only that, all challengers in- the final rounds have been Russians, too. Now, Fischer is given a slightly better than even chance of dethroning But skeptics point 'out that Spassky beaten Fischer -in all five "of their previous meetings.

THE TWO already have jousted over a site for their stiowdown match. Fischer. wahted Belgrade, while Spassky favored Reykjavik. A compromise' under which games would be played in both cities finally fell The entire' match, consisting of a maximum of 24 games, will lake place in the Icelandic cap- ital. As challenger, Fischer must amass 12y 2 points to win, while Spassky needs only 12 to defend his title.

Iceland may seem an odd choice for a championship sporting event of any kind. But as chess columnist Harry Golombek of "The Times" of London pointed out; "There is a long tradition of the popularity of chess in that country, going right back almost to the beginning of "the game in Europe." THE OLDEST European set of chessmen, now on display in --'the, British Museum, is believed to have been made in Iceland in the 12th century. Many other countries, including India, China and Spain, also have contributed to the lore of chess. The checkmate, signaling the end of. a 'game, comes from the, Persian, phrase, "shah mat." Appropriately enough; 1 1 means "the king is.

dead." County' Daily Pvhliihcd Dilly by 1 Chwttr, PJ, t-1i5t. RONALD A. it Hit ct mii ARTHUft Executlvt Btfltw Mirch, rttt.