The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 4

Opinion Page Founded January 14, JS37 hjJtat TV Ftll DAVIS U. MERWIN, Vkllhktd Ctntlnuouily Sinn JS46 WILLARD P. HORSMAN, cMMtMnr LORINGC. MERWIN, OAmfiki-fd HAROLD V. LISTON, zm CHARLES R.

IIILTY, Mupt Bloomlngton-Normal, Illinois, Monday, July 10, 1972 Presidential nominee truly property of voter, not party 77 response to your refusal to cancel your Pacific nuclear tests, the Polynesian nuciear ed on chedule off Marseilles! tests will proce of the United States. That man may be elected. That President Nixon now seems an odds-on favorite to be re-elected does not reduce the consequence of Democratic convention action. The ideal goal of the nominating process is to produce the candidates best qualified to hold office. Out of necessity, if a democratic principle is to be honored, the nominee must also be a person with a reasonable chance of being elected.

Obvious observations, perhaps. Yet the hue and cry of the partisan election process often obscures the fact that the president of the United States is the only federal official elected large." He must fill the role of the national advocate. He must, if this Denis Warner Will Britain let France nation is to advance, be at least one man who recognizes that the government is not the country. Beyond that, the president owes a responsibility which goes beyond fealty to the party that nominated him or the citizens who voted for him. Good presidents have met that kind of responsibility.

In this sense, it is comforting that men who become president have not found it expedient to attempt to cross every or dot every in the party's platform or, for that matter, conform to party ideology, real or mythical. President Nixon has not been free from the charge from members of his own party that he has abandoned some of the more conservative pledges of the platform and, instead, embraced some proposals first advocated by liberals. Even Democratic liberals. Presidents whom history has relegated to second and third rank have been, more often than not, the willing or unwilling victims of the most reactionary segments of their own party. Delegates in Miami Beach this week will be so inundated in the practical aspects of the nominating process that the nominee will first appear as the party's standard bearer rather than one of two men who will lead the nation.

One would expect, perhaps demand, that the nominee then begin speaking in terms of leading the nation rather than obtaining the party nomination. In the process, the nominee may abandon or modify earlier positions. Such shifts cannot be viewed entirely as political opportunism. New positions must be devised to attract a majority of all voters and, perhaps more important, more clearly define the man who may occupy the most powerful office on earth. THE ISSUE What's our stale in tht Democratic affair in Miami Beach? The Democratic National Convention opens today in Miami Beach.

Beyond that, one man's guess of what to expect is about as good as another's. The exercise of the new freedom in the party has produced a delegate list of amazing variety. Recourse to the federal courts has produced a unique factor in national presidential conventions. Vet, the ultimate result will be no different from conventions of the past. The Democrats will nominate a man to run for president Now to the There we were, fearful that Bobby Fischer would undo all of President Nixon's good works in Russia, when the American chess master apologized.

In writing, yet. The short-tempered American has made at least one point one which should be noted by TV news directors. Chess may be competitive, but it is not a sport. Fischer, however, appeared unaware of the ripples his money-grubbing would cause. An international incident.

All Russia, from the Kremlin on down, took the American's delaying tactics almost as hard as they did the Czechs' crazy idea that someone had opened a porthole to freedom in their country. The White House has denied that Henry Kissinger intervened with Fischer to get the written apology. But we wouldn't be surprised if the LONDON Prime Minister Edward Heath's promise that Britain would behave like the new boy, seen but not heard, when it goes into the European Economic Community (EEC) next year has not pleased those who were most anxious to have it in. "We haven't kept our toe in the door all these years just to have Britain sit quietly in the corner," said a European senior statesman. "We want action, not inaction." THE FEAR CONTINUES to plague the Dutch, the Belgians and the Germans that unless Britain is prepared to take a stand, the French will dominate the market.

They are convinced that the French will attempt to turn the community of 10 into a narrow, self-contained group that will erect insurmountable tariff and other barriers against the rest of the world. Part of the French motives may be explained, they believe, by the lingering GauIIist desire to move Europe as far as possible from the United States. And they conclude that any economic measures in this direction will have the most undesirable political consequences. THE STRENGTH of the American resolution to maintain an effective military presence in Europe is already board, men! rumor proved true. The Administration will go to any lengths to preserve the nuclear arms limitation agreement.

Pravda has not yet claimed that Fischer is in the pay of the CIA or that the chessboard is bugged, but it can take comfort from the fact that one engaged in such a cerebral occupation is not free of the capitalistic money lust which, of course, infects all Americans. Fischer, in passing, has not endeared himself to American chess experts, officials and the peripherally interested. He is a most peculiar sort of a person engaged in a most peculiar kind of occupation. He stretched things a bit when he extended his apology to the "millions of fans and the many friends I have in the United States." If Fischer's skill matches his gall, Spassky is done in. around for 20 years or more.

Purchase of the Gildner Building in downtown Bloomington a few years ago seemed to settle the issue. The policy of the county board and county highway department was, for years, to keep equipment ownership to a minimum, depending on contractual services and the use of township equipment, when required, on county roads. This policy also kept employment levels at a minimum. It would be interesting if the County Board would ask the Transportation Committee if this Bruce Biossat McGovern: 'Goldwater of left? Review county highway policy in doubt. Nothing, predictably, would hasten the American departure more quickly than a demonstration on the part of the community that it was bent on squeezing the United States out of Eur-pean trade.

And nothing, the Germans, the Belgians and the Dutch are convinced, can substitute for American military power. Britain's nuclear weapons and France's force de frappe are wasting assets that cannot be kept up to date however many Pacific tests France may conduct. By the end of 1975, the two countries' nuclear arsenals will be obsolete and they will lack the means, individually and collectively, to keep pace with the super powers. Among these broad strategic fears there are lesser concerns that are, nevertheless, likely to be vital to many other countries. Malaysia, for example, having been shocked recently by what it regarded as its expulsion from the Sterling area, has continuing fears about what will happen to its palm oil after Britain goes into Europe.

NEGOTIATIONS next year will take place between the European economic community and Malaysia, along with the other 37 developing countries which have been offered association or special trad rightwing backers, they were weary of moderate candidates. These they saw as "me-too" imitators of the Democrats. There was, of course, much opposition to Goldwater from the moderate or progressive wing of his party. The key figures were governors like Nelson Rockefeller of New York, William Scranton of Pennsylvania, George Rom-ney of Michigan, Mark Hatfield of Oregon. Just one trouble.

They could never get together, and no one of them could ever muster impressive support. They had glamor and high visibility, but it was misleading. It never translated into votes and delegates to stop Goldwater. MEANTIME, GOLDWATER, aided by cadres of dedicated young activists who put together a superb organization, piled up an enormous delegate lead in the non-primary states. His late-hour primary victory over Rockefeller in California really was his only good one, yet in the circumstances it was all he needed.

Set McGovern's effort beside all this. He, too, has those dedicated cadres, who in fact are more numerous and more skillful by far than those laboring for Goldwater in 1964. Beyond that parallel, however, differences begin to appear. Helped by a multiplicity of candidates who have divided the vote, McGovern has won 10 primaries against Goldwater's unimpressive handful. rule EEC? ing arrangements.

But again the from France are blowing in an uncomfortable direction. If the French have their way, the price these nations will be asked to pay for free access to the market Is preference to Europe against other industrialized nations and even the developing nations. If this occurs, Fiji may be able to sell its sugar in Europe only if it puts up tariff barriers to Australian manufactured goods. Repeated among the rest of the 37, this could only lead to a trade war and increase the tensions that already exist around the globe. "A TRADE WAR-or an aid war between powerful continents of nations would not be in anybody's interest," Arnold Smith, secretary-general of the Commonwealth Secretariat, arned in London early "Nor would such a scramble among the rich to carve out spheres of influence in the third world be in the real interests of the industrialized nations themselves especially if one thinks in terms that are more than commercial.

Surely Western European nations, too, have an interest in cooperationcommercial, strategic and political that is more than regional." His words fell on deaf ears on the other side of the Channel. Whether the British heard is still not clear. Together with the delegate harvests produced by the cadres in the non-primary states, McGovern's victories have put him near nomination. YET THE SUCCESSES cannot conceal some glaring gaps. Unlike Goldwater, McGovern has not won to his side large elements of his party's establishment.

Far from being ready to try something new, as were the Taft conservatives in 1964, the standard Democratic leaders for the most part are bitterly opposed to McGovern. While the moderates were saying in 1964 that Goldwater was a loser, his conservative backers were not convinced. Their counterparts in the Democratic center today loudly proclaim that McGovern is a loser "too radical," too thinly based for all his victories and his delegates. THE VOTES CAST in 1972 give their argument support. Generally speaking, the crowded Democratic presidential field that has helped McGovern get on top in some primaries has also assured that his voting percentage would be just a modest part of the whole.

And he has won some light-vote primaries almost by default. Again, though the Republicans have nothing comparable to labor's muscle and money for campaigning, it is not insignificant that the potent labor Democrats are not with McGovern in force. the first of this week in their car for Norfolk, where they will make teir home. 75 Years Ago July 10, 1897 A number of camping out parties left the city yesterday for various points along the Mackinaw. This is a promising indication of cooler weather, preceded by storms.

One party under the charge of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Knorr went to Wyatt's Ford. There were 15 in the crowd and the party of 10 drove to Faney and will camp on the high bluffs about a mile west of Slabtown. They will be gone a week and are equipped with every convenience and many of the luxuries.

100 Years Ago July 10, 1872 We met on the street today several farmers looking for harvest hands and offering $2 pervday. This is a fine chance for some of our barroom toilers to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. lost' battalion significant It's water over the dam, of course, but the purchase of land for a McLean County Highway Department shed without county board ratification is odd. And there is some chance that it is illegal. We've never heard of any authority vested in a board chairman to execute a deed for land purchase without board authority.

Mere appropriation of funds usually is not sufficient authorization for land purchase by an agent or committee of a public body. Proposals that the county buy Jand and build a highway department building have been kicking Evans and Novak Hanoi's WASHINGTON The melting away of a North Vietnamese regular army unit in combat near the demilitarized zone (DM2) separating North and South Vietnam has been scrutinized in high government circles here as an event of potentially major significance both militarily and politically. The unit, an antiaircraft artillery battalion, has been reduced in strength more than 40 per cent by casualties and desertion in recent weeks. The desertion has raised official eyebrows in Washington. Hard intelligence information shows that nearly one-fourth of the battalion, more than 50 men, has deserted since June 1.

UNTIL NOW, mass desertion has been If you're voting McGovern. and I'm voting Humphey, why are we going to the policy of low equipment investment and modest manpower still holds. Based on the evidence now on hand, there is no serious error in purchase of the land, except for method. One would hope that the site on Route 9 near the airport does not conflict with good zoning practice. The county should provide a good example in these things.

It also would be good practice to keep th.e six-acre tract well mowed. Roy J. Henderson, former board chairman and now chairman of the Transportation Committee, reported the land is now in weeds. have long pointed to the ferocity of the Communist soldier and the docility of the ARVN trooper as proof that Hanoi's, troops represent a real nation and Saigon's only a corrupt regime. But that dubious logic is demolished by the 1972 military campaign, where both sides have had their share of ignominious retreat and courageous advance.

The diminishing North Vietnamese reputation as the Prussians of Indochina is attested not only by confirmed intelligence but also by Hanoi's own words. Even before recent setbacks, the May edition of the North Vietnamese army magazine published some remarkably candid admissions of inadequacy by noncommissioned and junior commissioned officers, most of them lacking combat experience. These officers the magazine admits, "often revealed shortcomings in ability, knowledge and experience concerning leading, organizing and commanding the fight. Even cadres with combat experiences who were recently sent to the battlefeild as reinforcements have not easily adjusted to battlefield combat demands." THE ARTICLE frankly relates the tendency of North Vietnamese units to retreat and exhorts leaders to "prevent the desire to stop and relax." Furthermore, the magazine admits "there have been cases in which cadres WASHINGTON It means little to characterize the front-running Democrat; Sen. George McGovern, as the "Gold-water of the left." But a comparison of their campaign situations does offer some instructive insights.

In 1964, Sen. Barry Goldwater won the Republican presidential nomination because a substantial proportion of the GOP leadership wanted him. HIS SUPPORT INCLUDED a crucial party element, Taft-style conservatives who truly belonged in the center. Though these forces deplored what they saw as excesses of zeal among Goldwater's far did not closely adhere to combat guid ance ideologies and inflexibly applied unchanged combat methods" a reference to the suicidal frontal assaults against heavily fortified ARVN positions throughout the offensive. Besides second-rate leadership, the invading Communist troops have been hampered by deepening supply problems with Hanoi's own words again confirming intelligence data.

A June 10 broadcast by Hanoi-based Liberation Radio conceded that some artillery units encountered "an acute shortage of food and water." THE ARMY'S DAILY newspaper of June 15 revealed the difficulty in "shortcomings in transportation of. supplies from distant places" and added that procurement of food in front-line sectors is "still far below requirements." Were it not for President Nixon's blockade of the North and the massive U.S. air support in the South, the North Vietnamese invaders for all their new shortcomings might well have swept through South Vietnam. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Hanoi's well-armed regulars are now afflicted by the woes so long associated with the ARVN: desertion, breaking under fire, poor leadership. It is, of course, much too early to say, but that vanishing battalion may have been a signpost of real deterioration in the army of North Vietnam.

And that would be of profound importance in this endless war. How Time Flies a stranger to the ideologically committed legions of Hanoi, whereas the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) has been plagued for years by scandalously high desertion rates. But in the recent weeks of Hanoi's failing offensive, there are repeated instances of North Vietnamese troops on the northern front throwing down their arms and returning over the DMZ to go home a trend shown in exaggerated form by the vanishing antiaircraft artillery battalion. The rising desertion rate sets a pattern indicating the North Vietnamese army is not what it used to be. Apart from recent headlines telling of Communist troops turning and running under bombing attack, the last few weeks have seen something new and startling: North Vietnamese regulars running away from ARVN infantry attacks.

Add this decline to monumental supply problems now encountered by Hanoi and the possibility of a major Communist offensive this autumn becomes remote indeed. Moreover, the realization that the Communist regulars run from trouble and even desert (just as ARVN troops do) is a tonic for ARVN morale. Reliable U.S. advisers report crack ARVN units in the present Quang Tri counterof-fensive actually show a zest for engaging the enemy. THE IMPACT in Washington could be even more significant.

War critics here By Fern M. Downs Withers Library Staff 25 Years Ago July 10, 1947-Police Chief Grant Ri-denour of Normal Thursday was seeking the possessors of three articles turned in to the Normal police department this week. The loot, found about Normal streets, included an automobile tire, in good condition, a roll of building paper and one golf club a driver. 50 Years Ago July 10, 1922-The Sabina Social Club gave a miscellaneous shower on July 5 for Mrs. Elsie Dean Popejoy, a recent bride, at the home of Mrs.

Paul Murray. Besides the club members, the Bellflower High School girls, classmates of Miss Dean, were guests. The gifts, consisting of many 'beautiful pieces of silver, cut glass and linen, were placed in a gigantic firecracker which the bride "shot." Mr. and Mrs. Popejoy will leave.