The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 10

THE SUN. BALTIMORE. FRIDAY MORNING. OCTOBER 25. 1968 PAGE A 10 ing tenure, but the compulsory exam, considered a drag on recruitment, would no longer be a Charter requirement.

The School Board should be free to establish its own screening procedures, so a vote for the deletion is called for. pwv. 'The hare and I WU0 -THE HORTOISEji Politics and People One way of abating it is to divert spending power from the population at large to Government spending programs. Already a Canadian statute provides for a 50-50 split of costs between Federal and provincial governments for a medicare program to be administered by the provinces. Only two provinces so far have set such a program in motion, but that leaves eight more which may start medicare at any time and approach Ottawa for the Federal half of the money.

In his budget message and speaking of course for Prime Minister Trudeau, Mr. Benson said he looked forward to these discussions. The new tax proposal helps explain his composure. Letters to the Editor THE SUN Published Even Weekday THE A. S.

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OCT. 25. 1968 Public Be Damned The company and union representatives agreed on a contract; the drivers met and approved it, and then the company, instead of putting the buses quickly into service, held back for a hurry-up meeting of the Metropolitan Transit Authority to consider its fare-raise proposal. A more callous disregard of public responsibility has not been visited upon Baltimore in recent, painful memory. The actions of the Baltimore Transit Company's management make the bus strike appear all too clearly to have been a strike from the outset against the public, with the company intent on forcing an immediate fare increase and perhaps beyond that, an eventual public take-over of the property.

If full service now is provided as scheduled, there remains the sour taste of an uncalled-for busless Thursday. Everyone yesterday morning looked more or less foolish: the Mayor, to have worked so hard for a labor-management agreement and still be without buses on the streets; the union, to have won a contract but not the buses for the drivers to drive, and the MTA, to have considered a fare increase at the point of a gun. But the victims all along have been Baltimore and its people and businesses. They suffered the long strike and then the final affront by the company. Even with the buses back in operation, the Baltimore public is likely long to remember just how shamefully it was treated.

For City Voters In the long row of questions across the top of the November 5 ballot Baltimore voters will be faced among other issues with three city Charter amendments, designated as Questions No. and L. They deserve some attention from the discerning voter. Question No. would clear a legal obstacle to a new city venture in acquiring and selling land to promote industrial and economic growth.

The goal must be considered a worthy one, but the program at this stage is too nebulous and requires a too speculative public investment to be approved at this time. The Sun recommends a vote against the Charter change. Question No. would enable the city to use money from the city's real property account to fix up some of the many vacant properties to which it has fallen heir through tax defaults and condemnation. The plan is to repair and sell city-owned properties for single-family occupancy and thereby create a revolving fund to repair other houses, which in turn would be sold to finance more repairs and so on.

The program which develops from the Charter change will have to be watched closely for operational flaws, but the purpose is sufficiently clear and manageable to warrant a vote jor the amendment. Question No. would eliminate an obsolete reference to "graded lists" in the city Charter which has made the Baltimore school system the only one in Maryland and one of the few in the nation to require teacher applicants to take a competitive examination. Beginning teachers would still have to meet in full the State requirements for cer Realm of Possibility The President's remarks on Viet-nem yesterday were cautionary yet at the same time, in a limited way, encouraging. Mr.

Johnson said there was as of the time he spoke no "breakthrough" toward a settlement, no basic change in the situation, and he added that he did not want to "lull anyone into a false sense of security," by which he presumably meant hope. But he said also that he was pleased with the lower number of American casualties in Vietnam ascribed by some to a sharp lowering of the level of combat and reported himself as feeling ever greater justification, as time goes by, for his decision last March to limit the bombing of North Vietnam to its southern panhandle. Guarded though these statements were, they surely do not indicate a belief on the President's part that movement toward a settlement is out of the realm of current possibility. Echoes of August Troops of the Warsaw Pact countries have been moving out of Czechoslovakia, though some tens of thousands of Russian soldiers will remain. A treaty formalizing Prague's capitulation to the Soviet Union's dictates has been signed.

Moscow has had its way. But its ugly success is neither final nor complete. Czechoslovaks are still leaving their country the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration will fly from 160 to 170 of them to the United States every week until the end of February. In Prague the Academy of Sciences is circulating a statement in which its members, historians, philosophers, economists and sociologists, answer Russia's official justification of its military occupation, pointing out that applied to the sphere of thought the Kremlin's thesis means "any opinion not entirely in conformity may be interpreted simply as being counter-revolutionary" and that "this is a dangerous logic, paralyzing the Communist party and Marxist theory." In France the Communist party leadership has again rejected the Russian case for intervention, saying "information we have received from our Soviet comrades has not invalidated our evaluation." And although Moscow has punished the public protest of five of its citizens, it is now noted that that 3 of the 42 members of the secretariat of the Union of Soviet Writers have declined to sign a declaration of support of the invasion. None of these things will alter the fact that Czechoslovakia's experiment in "democratic socialism" has been stamped out by the march of the Red Army.

They are evidence that the fissures opened in August in the facade of "unity and friendship" are far from having been papered over. Taxes in Canada The real Pierre Trudeau as distinct from the swinger on the election campaign trail in the spring began to show in earnest in the speech from the throne that opened the new Canadian Parliament September 12. Paragraph one of this formal statement of Government objectives ended as follows: "It is a simple fact of life that everything cannot be done at once." The realization in government that before good things can be divided up, they have to be produced, is always the beginning of wisdom and of responsibility. Hence in the budget which the new finance minister has just laid before the Canadian Parliament, new taxation has a conspicuous place. Ottawa already allocates 4 per cent of income tax to welfare programs.

Now a new "social development" tax is announced, at 2 per cent of income tax. It will yield, with other lesser innovations, some $884 million, said to be the largest tax increase in Canadian history. The new levies will bear on two problems mentioned by Finance Minister Benson in his budget address. One is rising spending commitments and the other is price inflation. Inflation is always a sign I By THOMAS O'NEILL Last Chance Washington.

Somewhat unexpectedly against the backdrop of their halting presidential campaign, the Democratic high command seriously believes the party holds a first class chance to keep control of the House of Representatives in the Congress to be elected next month. There are glints suggesting that Republicans are apprehensive of the same thing. It could be of prime importance should the election produce a three-way presidential stalemate that would put the choice of the next President up to the House. The rule of thumb is that the voting for Congress follows that for the top of the ticket, that as the White House goes so goes the House, and it is rarely fractured. Several factors might go to make an exception of November 5.

Over-all national polls, which are merely indicative of a trend, put Democrats on top for the House. Party strategists add a further calculation of their own. They figure that the severe shakeout of two years ago at the midterm congressional elections, when the GOP racked up 47 new seats, accounted for almost all vulnerable Democrats, leaving few weak spots even in a presidential election. Surveys suggest that commonly Democratic voters drawn this year to George Wallace will revert to type in regard to other offices. Beyond these considerations, the national leadership takes a bland view of every-man-for-himself campaigning on the part of congressional candidates.

The tactic has produced some unlikely situations. In California the State party structure tacitly sanctions a write-in presidential campaign for Senator McCarthy. It is accepted as the only avenue for bringing to the polls disgruntled McCarthyites who, once in the polling booth, will vote for Democratic candidates other than Hubert Humphrey, including House candidates. Since the Democrats have a Senate candidate with McCarthy-type appeal, the step has an aura of desperation. In much of the country Democratic congressional candidates make unabashed bids for the votes of Wallace backers.

There is the performance of Roman Pucinski, a member of Mayor Daley's tightly disciplined political apparatus running for a new term in a district with strong Wallace leanings. Mr. Pucinski, a ten-year House member with a yearning to make it twelve, was stung and almost unseated by white backlash at the last election. His activities since have constituted a singleminded campaign to insure that it doesn't happen again, as in his loud hostility to open housing legislation in Congress. His campaign has induced an admiring observation from George Wallace himself that Mr.

Pucinski was acting like a Mississippi congressman. Mr. Pucinski exulted that his seat was safe when his exasperated Republican challenger assailed him as a racist. In Maine, Democrat Peter Kyros Is indignantly denouncing as "absolutely false" a taunt from his Republican opponent that Mr. Kyros had been even more stalwart than Senator Muskie in Administration support.

Like many others, he is silent about the candidacy of Hubert Humphrey. It is a pattern that goes to the top. Mr. Humphrey never goes out of his way to bring up the name of President Johnson. Republicans need a gain of 31 seats to take over the House next January 3.

To that end they are putting on the most handsomely financed campaign ever, with a special fund topping a million dollars for assistance to Republicans challenging incumbent Democrats, as well as an even larger sum to hold present Republican seats. A measure of doubt about the chances of success appeared to enter into Richard Nixon's proposal for an inter-party concordat giving the election to the candidate with the highest popular vote in the event of an Electoral College deadlock that would throw the election into the House. Until then the Republican nominee had been vague on the topic. He avoided it when congressional sources suggested that it be incorporated in the party platform. Simple numerical majorities in the House for either party would fall short of assuring that party command in electing the President.

That would rest upon the finer point of the number of state delegations controlled, with 26 needed to elect. There would remain the question whether nominal Democrats elected in Wallace territory, Alabama for example, would consent to vota In the showdowa ftr Mr. Humphrey. It represent! a constitutional mess. Congress II In the Fifth district to continue a discussion of the Maryland congressional candidates begun on this page yesterday Representative Hervey G.

Machen, a Democrat, is seeking a third term against the opposition of Lawrence J. Hogan, a Republican and former FBI agent, who gave him a battle two years ago. The district is made up of Prince Georges and Charles counties. Mr. Machen has generally supported the Johnson Administration and has indorsed the nomination of Mr.

Humphrey at Chicago. Mr. Hogan is basing his campaign on his criticism of the Johnson Administration and on Mr. Machen's association with the Administration. Both candidates take a stern position on the law and order issue and on Vietnam.

Mr. Machen's record in Congress gives him the edge over Mr. Hogan, in our view, but the winner in this contest may well be determined by the size and nature of the presidential vote. The Sixth district is the old Western Maryland district Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties but it now slices into Howard and Baltimore counties, and to that extent figures in the Baltimore metropolitan area. This is the district now represented by Charles McC.

Ma-thias, who is the Republican nominee for the Senate. Two well-qualified members of the State Legislature J. Glenn Beall, Republican, and Goodloe E. Byron, Democrat are contesting for the seat. Mr.

Beall's father is a former senator and congressman; both of Mr. Byron's parents were members of Congress. No sharp or major campaign issues have been developed thus far; the two candidates show a wide area of agreement on basic policy matters and their political differences focus on the point that one is a Republican, supporting Mr. Nixon, and the other a Democrat, supporting Mr. Humphrey.

The outcome, as in the Fifth district, may be determined by the way the presidential vote goes. But in any case, voters in this district are fortunate in having two able men on the ballot. In the Seventh district Representative Samuel N. Friedel, a Democrat, is seeking his ninth term in Congress. His opponent is Arthur W.

Downs, a 29-year-old Republican who is employed by an engineering research firm. Mr. Friedel made a strong showing in winning the hard-fought primary, and has had relatively easy going since. Mr. Friedel is chairman of the House Administration Committee, which is a sort of housekeeping agency, and he has built his long career on a foundation of cheerful service for his constituents.

He is well-known and well-liked and, it can be surmised, benefited from his primary campaign experience. The Eighth district has its population core in Montgomery county but extends into Howard and Anne Arundel counties. It is represented by Gilbert Gude, a Republican who served in the Maryland Legislature before Jiis election to Congress two years ago, and who is seeking reelection. The Democratic candidate is Mrs. Margaret C.

Schweinhaut, a State senator and an experienced hand in Montgomery county politics. Mr. Gude is a business man who has taken a rather conservative but none the less forward-looking approach to public questions. Mrs. Schweinhaut has special authority in the fields of social problems, welfare and education.

Both candidates are capable but, in our vTew, Mr. Gude's record in Congress during the past two years gives him a valid claim for reelection, Off-street Parking Sir: Mrs. Kargon made a good point in her letter of October 23. It is heartening to hear from an alert citizen. Let me speak to her questions on the Off-Street Parking Loan, Question which Mr.

Bake-man's letter provoked. Charles Center is the example which will be followed in the facilities developed through this year's loan funds. The major funds will go toward two public garages in Inner Harbor Project multi-story structures below ground as conditions permit, screened for design at Charles Center standards. The balance of the funds is being allocated for key inner-city hospitals, also multi-story structures screened for design. Such minimal facilities are vital if these hospitals are to keep staff and are to continue serving the inner city.

The facilities scheduled for funding have been screened, in particular for conformity with the city's transportation system planning, by the City Planning Commission. With them we will not be taking one more step in the heedless expansion of parking in the city. We will be serving explicit needs at levels consistent with Baltimore's total development in transportation planning. Approval of Question will not damage efforts for urban transit. Approval of Question will promote planned management, the parking component of Baltimore's total transportation system.

John S. Grimes, Chairman, Citizens Committee for the Off-Street Parking Loan. Baltimore. 'Lack of Objectivity' Sir: I note from his letter in The Sun of October 12 that another Jesuit priest, the Rev. Nicholas J.

Carroll, S.J. of St. Gregory the Great R.C. Church, has offered his support of the Catonsville Nine. No matter how commendable his zeal, his letter evidences his lack of objectivity when he accuses the press of labeling all friends of peace "hippies, Yippies, and peace creeps." Then he goes on to label the devout as "loveless bigots dedicated to dying codes, and miraculously unscathed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ." He also mentions the "grubbiness of folk religion in this city" whatever that means.

He feels that the country may survive the next four years if the tribe of demonstrators increases. I have a feeling that, following the election, the tribe of dissenters will become less articulate. In the words of Dr. Faustus, in Goethe's monumental work, the embittered philosopher laments "I have, alas, Philosophy, Medicine, Jurisprudence too; and to my cost Theology, with ardent labor, studied through. And here I stand, with all my lore, poor fool, no wiser than before.

"Argumentum ad ig-norantiam (an argument founded on an adversary's ignorance of J. G. Bauernschmidt. Catonsville. Symphony-Sympathy Sir: If the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra situation is not straightened out soon, it might perhaps turn out to be'the Baltimore Sympathy Orchestra.

Harry M. Jackson. Baltimore. credibility gaps, fouled-up Government programs and vacillating foreign policy. Nixon and Agnew are presenting the opportunity to restore respect, responsibility and sanity to America and Americans.

The complexion of the news will change from despair and chaos to hope and progress starting next January. James H. O'Connor. Lutherville. Wallace as Racist Sir: It is a well known fact that Mr.

Wallace has been branded a racist by his opponents. If the charge is true, then who made this racist necessary to all who will vote the Wallace-LeMay ticket in November? Who made him necessary with their violent lawlessness on the streets? Who made him necessary with the rioting, looting and burning in Baltimore and across the nation? Who made him necessary with a blundering foreign policy in the Vietnam war? Who made him necessary to millions of voters the country over when civil rights was given the green light in Washington while the rights of the individual were ignored, i.e., the right to protection of life, and property? Crossing the stage of the Civic Center, reaching the podium and looking up at his hecklers, "You are the people folks are sick and tired of," said Gov. George C. Wallace, third party candidate racist, bigot and the man the people made necessary! William C. Ogle.

Catonsville. For Humphrey Sir: In that last hour of a presidential campaign when a welcome hush falls on the avalanche of words as the world awaits the verdict of the American people, it will be good for each voter to ask himself, "What have I done for my country?" The greatest value inherent in a group decision is not the wisdom of the group to formulate policy but rather faith in their ability to select the men who can. In a democracy this is the assumption that we must always accept in good grace as the will of the people. This process of self-determination is not perfect but it is nearer to perfect than any social system yet devised. Our real problem then is to pick out the best man from this avalanche of words because, while in the very nature of a two-party system there may not be "a dime's worth the difference" in the words, there is a vast difference in the character and capacity of these men to govern.

It is therefore vitally important that the American public be given every opportunity to judge, not just on a basis of what they say, but in every way that a personal comparison would provide by a television debate. Denied this opportunity of comparison, the public may be forced to get away from the avalanche of words by finding it's "dime's worth of difference" by looking at the record. It is here in this arena of performance that the record of one man has been so consistently good in the past that there is no heed to create a new Hubert Humphrey. J. Walter Wilkinson.

Pasadena. 'The Lesser Evil' Sir: In recent days, I've been criticized by many people for my intention not to vote for any presidential candidate in the coming election and even characterized as "traitorous." I'd appreciate the opportunity of answering this absurd charge. To those who say traitor, answer me this: Whose trust am I betraying? Is my vote mine or does "duty" or the "common-good" demand that I spend it in a hypocritical gesture of indorsing someone in whom I have no trust? On the contrary, the one who declines to vote because he finds all the candidates and their party platforms unacceptable is not "traitorous," he is the true patriot. It is the one who accepts and, with his vote, indorses the "lesser evil" who is the real culprit. He is the destroyer, the per-petuator of the non-thinking and unrest that is sweeping this land.

for one, will not follow that sanctimonious crowd and I will not vote for the "lesser evil" in November. Instead, I will cast one non-vote for the candidate who isn't there and for the dream that I hope won't vanish in some impromptu and compromising "deal." Joseph A. Maiorana. Pikesville. 'Men of High Principles Sir: It is now clear that men of goodwill who desire peace and who value integrity should vote for the Humphrey-Muskie ticket.

Those who clamor for a change and can stomach deceit, self-interest, hollow platitudes, military dictatorship, panderers to fear and prejudice, have two other choices. It is important to remember, however, that so-called "protest votes" merely help the latter. At this crisis in the world's history, we cannot afford tricky politicians and demagogic hate-mongers as heads of state. We need forthright, honorable men of high principles like Humphrey and Mus-kie. Grace Frank.

Baltimore. Nixon and Agnew Sir: The desperation of the news media at the possibility of losing their self-appointed role as controllers of thought for all Americans is evident in the all-out effort to disparage and belittle our Governor in his campaign for the vice presidency. A candidate for a major office speaking to the American people in a responsible, honest and understandable way does not meet the sophisticated, "tell 'em what they want to hear" criteria of the typical opportunistic politician. Because he criticizes those students who pursue the S.D.S. rather than an A.B.; or because he advocates enforcing the law rather than humor those who ignore it; and because he encourages responsible and knowledgeable chiefs to administer Government programs rather than have the Indians with the loudest war whoops determine the course of action, he is characterized as being unqualified for leadership.

The fear of the reporters and editorialists is well founded, since thev will have to become more creative in gathering and interpret: ing news that lacks the present oversupply of criminal activity, tification 'and serve a satisfactory of efforts to distribute and con-probationary period before obtain- sume more than is being produced..