The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 12

wtisefeday, July 12, 1972 THOMAS OLIPHANT Farewell to the old days AtParis-liope or I The office cynic was a badly sha-' ken man after the opening night of 'the convention. He had sat himself down in front of his TV set, his bourbon and tally sheets on a table at his side. He was prepared, as is his wont while watching either the Democrats or Republicans in their quadrennial fandangos, to be outraged at duplici-ty or even the slightest suggestion of same. But he wasn't able to work up even a small rage. Normally, the chairmen of such gatherings, whoever they may be, can be depended upon to kindle his irascibility.

Yet here was the temporary I chairman, the completely unflappable Lawrence F. O'Brien, not only looking like but acting the part of a perfect gentleman. The chairman of a bit of a ruckus outside the hall, but they quieted down before even a shot was fired. And inside the halL there wasn't a single young delegate who stripped to his buff and pranced in the aisles, not one who rushed the platform to wrestle the gavel from the chairman. Our man perked up a bit at the prospect of a real flap over the unseating of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and his delegation from Illinois.

Now there's a cigar chomper of the old school! (and where, by the way, are all of the other roaring, sweating, back-slapping cigar chompers of the old days?) But even the Chicago boss didn't put up one of those fine old-fashioned, name-calling battles. He just figuratively 1 "Seems he also got carried away at the Chicago convention." a glorified town meeting not? WASHINGTON Well, here we go again. Tomorrow morning, the limousines will disgorge the of the four sides in the Vietnam "peace" talks in front of that awful-looking Paris hotel, and the process which began more than four years ago, incredible as that must seemj will resume. This time, we are told, there are grounds for some hope. Maybe there are, but consider for a moment how many times old jour-nalistic Vietnam hands have written that sentence over the last 50 months.

Information about what the latest alleged grounds are is of course, unavailable, but the essence of ther situation was described a few weeks ago by Dr. Henry A. Kissinger. At a White House press conference on June 24, the day after returning from his latest trip Peking, Kissinger said this about the then stalled negotiations, both public and secret: Our basic attitude has been that we are in favor of resuming, peace negotiations as soon as there is any prospect not certainty, but prospect of substantive talks in -which the points of view of botlv sides will be seriously discussed. It is not the fact of the negotiations matters; it is, the substance." A bit later, he added this tidbit: "We hope that the combination of further study of the President's 8th proposal, plus the failure of the offensive to succeed in achieving military solution for North Vietnam, will convince the leaders of the Democratic Republic to enter serious ne- -gotiations.

As soon as that point iJ reached, we will, of course, an-, nounce it." The announcement was made President Nixon at his televised news conference on June 29. Significantly, however, the Pres- -1 ident abandoned his chief foreign policy aide's rhetorical approach. Here's how he put it: "We have relumed to the negotiating table, or jvill return to it on the assumption that the North Vietr namese are prepared to negotiate in a constructive and serious way." To belabor the obvious just jk touch, Kissinger's "prospect" and Nixon's "assumption" are light years apart. The former suggests some knowledge of the other side's general intentions, while the latter is sim? ply a unilateral stance. The situation was further clouded last Saturday, when Kissinger was again produced for the White House press out in San Clemente, Calif.

The next day, as was obviously the purpose of his press conference, hopeful headlines were all over the nation's newspapers, but on even cursory examination the factual basis for them all but evaporates. Kissinger began his Vietnam'' comments by repeating the Administration's definition of "serious ne- gotiation," to wit, a "systematic dis- cussion by both sides of each other's positions with a view toward finding j-a solution that is satisfactory to everybody." He added that this will be the US approach. Then, he said "we believe that-this attitude has been fully conveyed to Hanoi (obviously by China and the Soviet Union above all) and we have some reason to believe that per- haps they will approach these negotiations in something like the same spirit and at least we have some reason to believe that maybe there will be a new approach." At the end of his news con- ference, someone finally asked Kis-. singer the key question, namely what the President's "assumption" is- based on. "As I pointed out," Kissinger re- plied, "there has been very intensive diplomatic activity.

It has led us to believe that one other effort was rei--. quired. I don't want to raise any expectations beyond that until we are in actual In other words, all these months of summitry, secret trips, has only "led us to believe" that negotia- tions are worth trying, perhaps just', one more time. If the talks go nowhere, Nixon-told the June 29 news then the US will "meet its commitments." In short, bombs away. Thomas Olifhant is a member of The Globe's Washington Bureau.

THOxMAS WINSHIP Convention MIAMI BEACH The Democratic National Convention seemed like a glorified town meeting in 1972 to new and seasoned convention-goers. The delegates are friendly, interested and a little awed by it all; ordinary and decent and pleasant. Like attenders of a town meeting, they have come here expecting to have their say in the way their land is run, not by deals and conniving and maneuvering, but by the plain old-fashioned system of registering their preference by vote. Actually, there were some pretty high jinx on the South Carolina challenge, but few people knew about it until they had read the papers. Scores of spectators talked of the great feeling they had being in the midst of this crowd great because it was so refreshing to feel proud of their country again.

Certainly the convention is not Utopia; certainly not exactly representative of all groups in the US. But thanks to the McGovern and O'Hara Democratic election reforms, this convention is the closest our elective system has come to it so far. And nobody in the galleries seemed angry at anybody out on the floor. The success of the women's rights movement is evident in their numbers on the delegate floor. It also is evident in the way they are treating picked up his hat and exited through the politely opened door to the reservation for the once-weres, the has-beens.

As a cynic, our man's eyes light up when he contemplates the havoc Mayor Daley can raise out in pivotal Illinois between now and November. But our man is a little soft, to tell the truth, not only on the Democrats, for now, anyway, but on Shirley MacLaine, too, that doll! And he sort of wishes the delegates had been cynical enough not to kiss off the Daley vote counters in Cook County, so innocently, for he well remembers how in 1960 they didn't finish counting the votes out there until the other guys finished counting the votes in Texas. Are those days he wonders, gone forever? Another time our man perked up was when the Wallace delegate from Florida dragged out his Roberts Rules of Order. Now, our man was sure, comes the hassle. But did it? Not by a jugful.

The Wallace delegate was even more reasonable than was Chairman O'Brien. Today it may be different. But on opening night, punctilios flowed like honey, and our man reluctantly turned off the set and went to bed, to dream, he trusted, of the old days. But did he? He did not. He was as confused as the confused youngest delegate, and he old enough to be the lad's grandfather.

He was sorry for his old friends, Hubert and Muriel Humphrey, and for Sen. Muskie, on whom he had lost a buck. He tossed a little as his subconscious weighed the possibilities of the new politics. To his surprise, he was not unhappy with the prospects. Just pleasantly confused.

the Boyne dead. Four others, including a 14-year old girl and 60-year old man, were wounded. And Sean MacStio-phain, once simply known as John Stevens, had ordered his Provisionals to resume hostilities on all fronts "with the utmost ferocity." Even before the resumption of open hostilities in Ulster, a dozen people had been executed during the truce. The total dead in the Six Counties is now 418 in three years. And this time, with traditional Orange Day demonstrations due to take place today, the Protestants have barricades and a militia of their own.

Much of the support for this senseless fratricide comes from Irish enclaves in Boston, as shown in a letter to The Globe dated May 31 from a local spokesman for the Irish Northern Aid Committee. "We are involved in supporting the activities of the Provisional IRA," he wrote. "We provide whatever funds we can, and the people on the other side who are carrying on the fight have to decide what has to be used and for what purposes." In six month $18,000 went to Belfast through the committee's New York headquarters, according to this spokesman. Meanwhile, a Federal grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas, is investigating an alleged traffic in arms to Ireland across the Texas-Mexican border. This money is not being used to buy flowers for funerals in Bally-murphy.

It is being used for bullets and bombs so that Irishmen of one faith can kill Irishmen of a different faith, regardless of age, sex or occupation. In the land of Queen Maeve, children are growing up to be guer-'rilla fighters. It is time that nostalgic Irish-Americans faced the facts and gave their support to the women of Derry who have called out for peace, instead of backing those who would willingly bathe all of Ulster in blood. these tmngs is not supposed io De so LAWRENCE O'BRIEN a big gavel all-fired reasonable, even agreeing that he may be wrong and putting his judgment not once but several times to a test vote by his peers, so to speak, on the floor. The cynic was confused, as confused as the youngest delegate, the 17-year-old Ken Hays of Chattanooga.

"I like the confusion best," the lad honestly confessed. "Most everybody doesn't seem to know what they're doing." Well, maybe he didn't. But Chairman O'Brien certainly did. And how does a kid who can't even vote until Nov. 2, ever get to be a delegate in the first place? at was something else that upset our cynic.

The young delegates. He was expecting them to be as drunk' and disorderly on hashish or whatever as the older delegates were on alcohol. Yet, thf wasn't a drunk in sight of any age or on anything. Oh, there was a brief moment when some of the younger guys kicked up Remembering The resumption of hostilities in Northern Ireland only 13 days after the declaration of a cease fire by the Provisional Wing of the IRA brings the threat of civil war to the six counties of Ulster on this day, reserved for commemorating the Battle of the Boyne. It was on that occasion, on July 12, 1690, that the Protestant troops of William of Orange routed the forces of England's last Roman Catholic king on a grassy riverbank some 80 miles south of Belfast.

And perhaps, with the defeat of James II, the seeds of today's heartbreaking conflict were sown. Now, with the airlifting of 1200 new British troops into Ulster, and with the truce broken on a day given over to Protestant celebrations by members of the Orange Order and its supporter, Ulster's best hope for peace in three years has been crushed. And such diverse Irish Catholics as William Cardinal Conway and Bernadette Devlin, MP, are deploring the fact. Less than a week ago, the American-published "Irish Echo" was hailing the cease fire as a victory for Ulster's Catholic minority and a step towards a settlement for all Ireland. In his "Dublin Report" John Kelly pointed out that "Stormont (Ulster's Protestant-dominated parliament) has been toppled, an essential step towards reunification.

And now peace has come about, not But, in the same piece, Kelly warned that "this latest truce will last only so long as the leaders of the IRA have pledged it will last (and) the resulting violence will be on a much greater scale than anything seen so far." On this new bloody Sunday it was the IRA 1000 strong, armed with sticks and iron pipes, trying to force, the settlement of 16 Catholic families in a Protestant housing project, that triggered action ly British troops using rubber bullets and tear gas. An hour later five people were LETTERS TO THE EDITOR each other in personal contacts on and off the convention floor. Women report that sisterhood is the feeling from the delegate chairwomen to the waiting lines in the crowded ladies rooms. A woman returned to her gallery seat exclaiming that if there are seven women crowded in front of four toilets, and one door opens, there isn't a rush to see who can get there first. The ladies say: "who's next?" The success of the minority efforts also are evident on the convention floor, and throughout Miami Beach, for that matter.

It shows up in small ways. People are courteous. Race simply is not a conscious issue in this convention family. It probably is due to the large number of blacks in the delegations, the large number of young and the fact that all seem united in fights over other issues such as women's rights. In front of the crowded eat and drink stands, people do not hassle each other, but deliberately try to see that each gets a fair chance to be served.

They do not nag the busy counter persons, either. This is especially evident to the hardened old-timers at these normally strong mob scenes. This feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood made convention-goers opening night wonder what in the May I offer one final thought. Mr. McGovern will probably get some money from Wall Street.

Though rightly considered a socially primitive precinct, it unquestionably includes a number of people who can see that the present lousy and worsening distribution of income is a potentially dangerous source of social tension. JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH Newfane, Vt. 'Stifle that yawn' In your editorial of Saturday, July 8 The chess match (yawn) is set you wondered if chess enthusiasts care about the world championship chess match between Spassky and Fischer. DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL J972 ZU4llH "Time, of course, will not permit me to mention all the candidates." world all those soldiers and policemen were doing outside the convention hall, standing shoulder to shoulder inside high fences, with helmet, plastic visor and white night stick at the ready. There was something ludicrous about watching these warriors ogling through the fence at the girl protesters with their lib-ated fronts.

Not exactly Chicago. The talk of the convention is that only 10 percent of the delegates are regular politicians. It was very noticeable. When Chairman Larry O'Brien asked the delegates to rise on an issue, they did. When he asked the delegates to "clear the aisles," they did so obligingly after the most gentle O'Brien persuasion.

One of the reasons for the docile responsiveness of the delegates Monday night is that reformers, by and large, are not what you call good drinkers. At any other Democratic convention, a reporter could find a quorum of the Massachusetts delegation at one of the beer parlors of the convention floor at almost any time of the night. Over this air of workman-like calm at the McGovern convention, floats Walter Cronkite behind his glass cage, looking like God in a set of "Green Pastures." Thomas Winship is editor of The Globe. As a director in one of the many mushrooming chess clubs in the area I can assure you that the chess community is looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime match with great excitement. You said that chess is genteel as ladies' tennis.

Chess can also be as explosive as boxing, as emotional as basketball, as fierce as football, as boring as baseball or fast as hockey! Now about Bobby Fischer let's not overlook his achievements: His sacrifices have resulted in rule changes which now make the match for the chess championship worldwide. His demands have produced better playing conditions and more money. From $1600 in 1969 to $3,000,000 in 1972. He has also put chess on the front page and on TV (Channel 2 will cover the match including instant replay). He has created a boom in chess, especially among the young people.

The top 10 chess players in the Waltham Chess Club include three who are under 15 years old. So stifle that yawn and visit your local chess club and share in the excitement. In Waltham the Chess Club' meets every Friday night (7-11) at the Waltham Library. And you can read Harold Dondis' wide awake chess columns (from the Sunday Globe) on our bulletin board. PAT ARENA Waltham McGovern and Wall Street A July 3 news story says that numerous Wall Street philanthropists, including one or two past supporters of President Nixon, will not contribute of their wealth this year to Senator McGovern.

They fear the adverse effects of his economics. With others, I am less alarmed than might be imagined. This reaction surely suggests that Mr. McGov-ern's rather specific proposals on tax loopholes, corporate taxation and its evasion and welfare reform are being taken seriously. This is in pleasant contrast with the much more enthusiastic and remunerative response to the homilies and pieties of past liberals on behalf of greater equality and a better break for the average man and the poor.

That enthusiasm unquestionably owed much to the belief that nothing would happen, at a correspondingly low cost. I am disturbed, however, by the tone of some of the comments in the report. It seems now to be doctrine south of Canal that what is good for the rich is good for the country. One wishes for more sophistication in the financial capital of the free world, if I may be allowed that slightly archaic expression. An earlier generation of Wall Streeters, the one which drank to the prompt and eternal damnation of F.D.R., certainly thought that it had' a divine right to its wealth, including, on occasion, its plunder.

But it did not seriously few sanctimonious eccentrics apart, that the undis turbed enjoyment of its riches was identical with the highest public good. That generation knew that there were some. things the. people simply would not believe. EDITORIAL POINTS Blood on a convention floor doesn't mean the end of the world, which has managed to survive a-couple of world wars.

i One doesn't have to be a pessimist to predict that things in Ireland can only get worse, and July-12 is the day the celebrate. The eclipse of the sun was a big event but not many went. Prima, donnas in politics don't sing, but they certainly can screech. 1.