The Delta Democrat-Times from Greenville, Mississippi • Page 4

There are more basic questions than who will win Is precisely a year until election day. And there no longer seems to be any way to hold back the Hood of speculation about the name that will be in tho headlines on the morning after the voters choose the next President of the United States. The human wish to foresee the is irrepressible, and the curiosity about the identity of our national leader follows the itinerant Washington journalist everywhere, from the serene, art-tilled corridors of the young governor's i in Sacramento to the bustle of a San Diego Press Club Lunch. Yet the very people who most eagerly play the guessing game are those who ought to know best what a mug's 'game it is. The more you understand politics, the clearer it must be that no one can tell how this contest will conclude.

Is President Ford likely to be the next President of the United States? Of coure he is. History shows that only twice in this century has an incumbent been defeated, and every poll shows Mr. Ford leading his rivals, both Republican and Democratic. But what does history say about the fate of appointive presidents who must lead minority parties without ever having been through a national campaign themselves? Nothing. WhaJ does common sense suggest about the nomination prospects of a president who discards the robes of national office at every opportunity a a criticizing the government, even though his opponent (Ronald Reagan) has spent 20 years perfecting the role of the private citizen fed up with government? suggests, at a minimum, that historical inevitablity may be hard-pressed in 1976.

Is Hubert Humphrey a cinch to be the Democratic nominee? Of course, he Is. It's at least a 75 percent sure bet, because history tells us that in three-fourths of the cases between 1936 and 1972, the major parties have nominated the candidates who led the polls on Jan. 1 of election year. Since Humphrey has just moved to the top'Of the Democratic polls ami still seems to be surging, his chances are assured. But history also shows that the opposition party, since 1940, has invariably nominated the man who won the key primary or set of primaries, and Humphrey says he has no intention of entering primaries.

editorials Tuesday's balloting will shape the future Whatever else can be said about the general election tomorrow, it has attracted a wide field of candidates for races up and down the line. We don't know for sure if the number of contested positions in Mississippi is a record this year, but we expect that it is. We do know that the voters have been given more distinct choices in more races a in any general election in our memory, and the a i a have not been hesitant in most cases about making their differences clear. If the turnout is low tomorrow, the blame will fall entirely on the electorate. In Washington County alone, there are vigorous contests in four of the five supervisors' districts, for the circuit clerk's office and for one of the state Senate posts.

The sheriff's race is contested, as are several i of the peace and constable elections. On the state level, only two Democratic nominees have a i i Republicans, independents and Democrats are battling it out for victory in nine races, from a a commissioner. It's an exciting election, and its outcome could determine the political shape of Mississippi for years to come. Significant Republican gains--and they will have to be more than token to have much meaning--could i a i a the end of Democratic Party dominance in state politics. A Democratic sweep, however, would be a shattering blow to Republican hopes.

This has been the best financed GOP compaign ever. Even more important, better Republican candidates have been offered than ever Equally interesting will bo the way the state's black voters use their ballots at every level. A break in their Democratic Party allegiance, particularly in the governor's race, could say more about the future of state politics 'than any other development. A black vote for Democratic Party candidates, particularly if it provides the margin of victory in major races, would also carry its own message to both parties. Despite the solid contests at many levels, the overall state turnout will probably beat least 100,000 votes shy of the 1971 and for an unpleasant a a a governor's race was Charles Evers, a black man with a state and national reputation as a civil rights leader, and William Waller, a white.

Evers' presence on the ballot, coupled with his vigorous campaign, brought out white and black voters in record numbers, and both groups voted almost totally along racial lines. Since there are three times as many white voters as black in Mississippi, the result was inevitable. Such racial polarization will not be a factor this year, which means a lower turnout. But the a i a contested elections should gviarantee a higher number of voters than the 500,000 or so who usually cast ballots in general elections. What they do at the polls on.

Tuesday will have an extraordinary impact on the future of Mississippi politics. only yesterday When two historic inevitabilities collide, what does one conclude? That the Democratic race is wide open. All this suggests is that political journalism focused on the task of trying -to guess next November's winner is futile. And so the question occurs--perhaps for the last time--is there something better we could be asking and speculating about? Well, a roomful of students at the University of California-Riverside seemed to think so. Participants In a seminar on the 1976 election, they responded with alacrity when a visiting reporter asked them what they'd like to know about the candidates seeking the presidency.

None of them asked for an early tipoft on who would win. What they wanted to know, in the reporter's hastily jotted summary, was this: "Where do these candidates come from? What motivates them to want to be President? What kind of records do they have? Were the governors and former governors good leaders of their states? Have the members and former members of Congress been effective legislators? How do tiny get along with others they have to work with? How do they treat their underlings? "Are they agressive or When they have to make a decision, do they pull in a big group of people and go with whatever seems to be the consensus, or do they go oft by themselves and meditate on what they should do? Do they have tempers? Do they havs any sense of humor? Are they realiy open to questioning, or do they just go into a debate or a press conference to defend their own views? Are they really like the people they try to be on TV? "And what do they think about the issues--about detente, about inflation, and unemployment? Do they think Americans may have to change their work habits or life styles to survive? And are they honest in expressing their views--or just clever?" The visiting reporter tells the students that Is a large order--but not an unreasonable one. And he returns to Washington to find that most useful busybody, John W. Gardner of Common Cause, is playing the same theme, arguing that the press and the public should require the candidates to adopt "a course of conduct that would provide the citizen with opportunity to know them in depth." A campaign, says Gardner, in unconscious echo of the Riverside students, should be an exercise in which citizens compel answers to their questions from those who aspire to lead them. It should not be a game in which campaign managers set the strategies and reporters try to guess the outcome.

Gardner is right and the students are right. And if we can play by their rules, for once, we may make this year less empty of meaning than most recent presidential campaign years have been. 5 Years Ago--1970 A burglary of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company at 162 North Street about 6:30 a.m. today netted about 510 contained in a cash box, Police Chief W. C.

Burnley Jr. said today. Someone apparently climbed over a fence at the rear of the building, broke a glass pane in a door, then reached inside and unlocked it, Burnley said. The cash box which had contained the money was found by Lt. H.

L. Cook of the Greenville Police Department about 8:10 a.m. today in the 200 block of Steele Lane, Burnley said. 15 Years Ago--1960 Two property owners on Bradford Drive in the Southland second addition appeared before the City Council yesterday to protest the licensing of a second beauty parlor in the. residential area.

W.B. Thompson and R.K. Wilson claimed residents in the area were still unhappy about the city's permission for the first beauty shop. Their main point was that the area was classified by covenant as A-residential for single family homes, excluding commercial property, but that the city had taken i in a B-residential. Page 4 nodding Carter, Publisher (1936-1972) Mrs.

Betty W. Carter, Publisher Sallle Anne Gresham, Managing Editor Monday, Nov. 3, 1975 Hoddlng Carter HI, Editor John Gibson, Central Manager Published afternoon) Monday through Friday and Sunday by the Times PutofishJng Company at Broadway, Member of United Press Internal I oral which li entitled exclusively to the use for repubUcallon of all of I he local printed newi paper os well as all UPl dlipatches. All newt and advertising content of the Dttto Oemocrat-Tfmes )s copyrighted ond reproduction or use Is prohibited, Entered as a second class matter at ihe Post CHIce, Greenville, under the Act March 6, 1179, AH carrleri, deoten and distributors are Independent eonlractors of the Delta Democrat-Times. Advance payment Is at Ihe subscriber's rlik.

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Rate byrequestoll zones: A AUTUMN EVENING- TWE MOON, THE FALLING LEAVES, THE TWI LIGHT, THE CITY SKYLJWE BEYOND THE RIVER THE BOMBS GOING OFF. It's too close to call The Mississippi gubernatorial election Tuesday is too close to call, according to the latest opinion survey, conducted, by this Newsletter and pollster Eugene Newsom of Little Rock, Ark. In a dramatic turn-around from late September, when our poll showed Finch with a three to two lead over Carmichael, the race has changed considerably. a i a the Republican nominee, has moved up in voter approval to make the race very close. Our subscribers are advised to watch the developments closely as the election could now go either way.

Here is the latest analysis of the current situation, compiled by this Newsletter and Eugene Newsom: The Mississippi governor's race looks considerably different in late October from the way it looked in late September. Carmichael is pushing very close to Finch in our last sampling Oct. 28, one week before election day. In late September we found that Mississippi voters were about three to two in favor 1 of Cliff Finch, the Democrat. In late October we found Finch edging Gil Carmichael, the Republican.

But the margin' was extremely narrow. Henry Kirksey is not a factor. To the question: "Here are the three candidates for governor of Mississippi Paul Plttman in the November general election. Which one of the three would you like to see win?" Carmichael 4G per cent Finch 49 per cent Kirksey 1 per cent Not sure 4 per cent This comes from a small sampling of 213 respondents across state who are registered and who snow every intention of voting. Carmichael is stronger than Finch in urban areas, (towns and cities above 2500), and among white voters.

Conversely, Finch is stronger in rural areas and among black voters. Adjusting for the fact that this sample was an estimated two per cent light on black voters and 10 per cent light on rural voters and it the election had been held Oct. 28, it would have come out approximately (allowing (or a very real possibility of sampling error): Carmichael 47 per cent Finch 52 per cent Kirksey 1 per cent But Carmichaul appeared to be moving forward in the last week of the campaign. In the lieutanant governor's race, Miss Evelyn slated to beat Bill Patrick two to one. It is always easy to speculate over voter shifts and why they occur.

In the case of this current campaign, we evaluated the Carmichael campaign as the best organized Mississippi campaign for governor in the history of the state. That, plus a very well-planned campaign of media exposure, personal a a a a canvassing, is apparently paying off for Camichael. His rise in our polls reflects this. In the case of Finch, he has had some difficulty in sustaining the momentum of his workingman's campaign through two hard-fought Democratic primaries and now the general election. The impact of the decision by the Finch campaign use extensive television time to rebut what Mr.

Finch has referred to as a "whispering campaign about my wife and family" is yet to be assessed. If our polling is correct, however, the race is now extremely close, and our subscribers should be alert to the ramifications of a possible upset by Carmichael. ESP and all that Herewith some commentary with regard to E.S.P. (for extrasensory perception), based on a recent TV program about Indians and soldiers on the western frontier in 1876, and names like Custer, Reno, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, and traders who dealt in illicit whiskey and repeating rifles in return for Indians' gold, and place-names like the Black Hills and the Little Big Horn, where General Custer made his "Last in a Shootout between a few troops of cavalry and something like ten thousand Souix Indians on the war-path. Well, we knew how the show was going to end, and Miss Mary wanted to see how things were going with the Waltons, so we bowed out, even while thinking about C.A.

(for "Duke" on the Wilmot Road, Duprel who is a native of Sturgis, South Dakota, that's quite near Fort Meade, which, for many years, was headquarters for the U.S. Calvary's Seventh Regiment, which had been the late General George Custer's outfit. Custer was chasing headlines, as well as fighting Indians, and could a had a campaign for the presidency in mind. But that's conjecture only. And now for Part 2 of the aforementioned E.S.P., in the shape of a a i i a greeting-card from our beloved friend Mrs.

C.A. Duprel, who is better-known to most of us as and to a chosen few of us as Cyrilla. Anyway Mrs. Duprel is just back from a visit with her mother, Mrs. John Ogurek, in Bellevue-, who recently turned ninety, with quite a celebration which included the latter's many friends and her other twin-daughter, Suzanne (Mrs.

Stormy) Smith, and yet another daughter, Miss Marcella Ogurek, now making their homes in Bellevue too. And it pleases us to note that Mrs. Ogurek yet remembers Old Stuff, and sent us her regards via Mrs. Duprel. Thank you, BC Consumer agency is dangerous WASHINGTON-People in this town who watch Congress expect the House of Representatives to begin debate on Nov.

5 and then quickly approve legislation to establish an "Agency for Consumer Protection." I have put the name in quotation marks, because that is where it deserves to he--along with such other politico-linguistic deceptions as the a a a i i a "Peoples' Republic" of China. What democracy? Which people? The analogy is, alas, too real. Only in the manner that the unelected government of China represents the abstract political theory rather than everyday democratic practice--can the proposed Agency for Consumer Protection be said to represent the "consumer." The function of the agency will be essentially bureaucratic and elitist: to speak out for the "consumer interest" by shaping Federal policy, by intervening in court, and by opposing actions of other agencies and a of a government. "Consumer interest" as i i i theorists? Consumer activists? Petty bureaucrats? Certainly not by Mr. and Mrs.

John Q. Public. Unfortunately, this is not the first such agency to take shape in Washington. Since the late 1960s, a a a i a Protection Agency, the a i Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the a Commission. Unlike the previous species of Federal agency set up to regulate a givui or segment of the economy, these are designed to a i a Kevin Phillips goal--typically with apathy (or even hostility) towards the larger interests of business, economic productivity and employment.

The new agencies' serve abstract causes like "equality," "consumerism," "safety," and "the environment." Although such issues do have substantial legitimacy, the new specialized agencies tend to attract zealots who pursue their single theme--noise, clean air or racial balance--and disregard competing economic considerations, fn so doing, they often ignore workingclass as well as business interests. As Vale Prof. a i a "Consumerism is largely a middle or higher income group movement, the product more of Princeton and the Harvard Law School than of hard times on the streets." The tide may be turning. Each legislative debate invariably turns up a new crop of horror stories and A January 1975 nationwide poll by New Jersey's Research Corp. found a mere 10 per cent support for a new consumer'agency, while 75 per cent favored Making existing agencies more effective.

Perhaps peopel are beginning to recognize the danger of creating instrumentalities to hogtie American business--neighborhood merchants and corporate giants alike--with social abstractions and naive goals. That a a i a consumerism to arose in the Great Society optimism of the 1960s, when it was assumed that the riches and productivity of U.S. industry would sustain any social burden or diversion needed for "the public interest." In today's changed economic i a a assumption is entirely unrealistic. Much of the issue of Congressional deregulation of business is ephemeral: airlines, truckers and many other industries need (and want) regulation. But this new class of agency is different and dangerous.

Two weeks ago, the House of Representatives voted some restraints on the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Maybe the House will also have enough sense to reject a "Consumer Protection Agency." If not, the President is expected to use his veto to good purpose. letters Ms. not appreciated To the editor: Today my name appeared in your newspaper in a small article about the theft ot my worthless television. The letters appeared before my name.

My title is Mrs. Since you may not have known, Miss or no title would have been fine. "MS" is the brainchild of a group who resent masculine authority. 1 heartily disapprove of this group. I appreciate masculine authority.

I have always made a point of choosing responsible authority whom I can respect and obey. I am proud of the authority of my husband. I am proud of the authority of my fatherer since he provided my first example of responsible authority. I refuse to accept anything promoted by rebellious groups. "MS" is best used as the abbreviation for Multiple Sclerosis and nothing more.

In case any more of my worthless possessions are stolen and you have to write about, please use a legitimate title tor me. Sincerely, Mrs. Robert McFarlane (Karen McFarlane) Dateline 1775 By United Press International ST. AUGUSTINE, Nov.3--The governor of East Florida invited by proclamation loyal subjects of the King who might seek asylum from the other colonies. He promised they cduld raise sugar, cotton and icdigo and cut wood upon "any part of his lands.".