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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Oct. 12, 1962
JFK Forgets Breeding
President Kennedy has been bearing down hard in recent weeks on his "Elect More (Liberal) Democrats to Congress" theme, but he may be missing the boat in Kansas.
Out in western Kansas' vast First District, an administration faithful, Congressman J. Floyd Breeding, is fighting for his political life against an opponent who embodies almost everything that makes beleaguered New Frontiersmen cringe.
BREEDING. AN almost liberal Democrat who has backed the administration down the line on almost all domestic issues, is the kind of congressman the President wants more of. His opponent, Congressman Robert Dole, is the kind of conservative Republican the administration thinks it could very well do without.
Like most conservatives these days, Dole is against a lot of things: New Frontiersmen, higher taxes and the increasing power of the federal government—things like that.
But so far the administration has done nothing to help Breeding.
He's also for a few things: such as higher wheat prices for the farmer (to somehow be achieved by a voluntary wheat program) and some sort of naval blockade of Cuba.
ALL THINGS considered. Dole's conservative pitch figures to go over well in the big district which stretches over nearly the western two-thirds of the state.
In last August's primary election, Dole polled nearly twice the votes as did Breeding—which means that registered Republicans heavily outnumber registered Democrats in the district.
Then too, even the Democrats are conservative in Kansas.
BUT THE BIG district does have one built-in advantage for Breeding. It is brand new, created when Kansas had to reapportion itself after the 1960 census. At that time, the State Legislature simply combined Breeding's old Fifth District with Dole's Sixth.
BREEDING'S ADVANTAGE is that his old Fifth District is more heavily populated than Dole's old Sixth. In the 1960 election, for example, more than 30,000 more voters voted in the Fifth District than in the Sixth. A similar pattern resulted in the 1956 and 1958 elections.
So far the President has announced no plans to come to Kansas to give him a hand, but it now appears that he may send Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman into the fray.
But Breeding needs help to draw out the voters and make this numerical advantage work for him.
It is somewhat doubtful whether Freeman commands the respect and prestige necessary to lead Republicans across party lines to vote for Breeding.
HOWEVER, THE PRESIDENT'S personal magnetism, his speaking ability, and the prestige of his office just might provide a Sunday punch for the end of Breeding's campaign.
It would seem that Breeding, a loyal administration backer if there ever was one, deserves at least this much from his boss.
Dennis Farney
European's View
This is a European's point of view on America's problem of discrimination in connection with Meredith's enrollment. Many of us do not believe in an ideal democracy and we don't believe in any other ideal political system. There is no ideal system at all as long as the human element is involved.
To make the best of it, the choice of a system for a country should depend on the nation's maturity, just as the method of education should depend on the maturity of the person to be educated. One certainly needs a great deal of maturity to make a democratic system function, if not other values as well.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
I ONCE WAS TOLD that America claims to be the first functioning democracy in the world. I know that America also claims to be a Christian country. The Christian belief is surely a fine value to support democracy.
How is it possible now that a high official takes the right to stand for discrimination? How is it possible that any public or private institution still has discriminatory clauses? I try to see the problem fully, starting with the landlady who will not take a tenant who is a Negro (but does not mind having a Negress for cleaning and cooking) up to the President, who wants to eliminate discrimination completely but knows, because too many Negroes still lack maturity, it would create a problem for their white fellow citizens.
SEEING THE WHOLE affair from a more international point of view, it is certainly unfortunate and dangerous, considering the present political situation in the world, that there are still Americans who give striking examples in acting against democratic and Christian beliefs. This concerns the riots in Oxford, Miss., institutions with discriminatory clauses, and the landlady mentioned above. One could get the feeling that people enjoy living in a democratic and Christian country but are not inclined to take the drawbacks and hardships as well.
It is to be hoped that each American will try actively to solve this national problem — which is personal as well as political — in a democratic and Christian manner before greater problems come from outside. It might be too late one day.
Siegrun Heinecke
Gera, Germany,
graduate student
... Letters ...
In recent discussions with friends on this campus, two ideological terms have cropped up with astonishing regularity. These two terms, as the reader may have guessed, are "socialism" and "communism." And almost inevitably, as the conversation proceeds, I am asked this question: "Well, what's the wrong with socialism, anyhow?"
What's Wrong with Communism?
Editor:
I usually reply by reciting a long list of the failings which I believe to be inherent in socialism as a political and economic system. Invariably a lively discussion ensues, but it soon becomes apparent that my fellow-conversationist has something else on his mind. By this time — as is reasonable to expect — the ideologies of socialism and communism have become quite closely associated in his thinking, and sooner or later my friend gets around to the $64 question. "So," he demands, "just what's wrong with communism?"
the metaphor is valid. There exists a clearly recognizable type of collectivism among the birds and beasts: probably no reasonable student of natural history would deny this. In the animal world, we may agree, communism works admirably well.
WHAT'S WRONG with communism? Nothing . . . if you're an animal.
However, we are concerned here with the world of men. The communist system would have every man, the world over, "produce according to his ability and receive according to his needs." This has a deceptively simple ring to it — and it looks positively delightful on paper. But let's scrutinize this slogan — and the politico-economic system which it presages — a little more carefully. If such a system were indeed adopted in this country, what would happen to that intangible but价riceless quality of men which we call initiative? Where would then be the burning desire to excel which has produced a Goethe, an Einstein, and the other giants of Western culture? If a man's needs were automatically gratified by the State, what would happen to his self-respect? His dignity? His very honor? If he suddenly found himself prey to the dictates of an atheistic ideology, what would happen to his conscience? In short, would not all the attributes which ennoble a man and set him apart from the animals be stripped from him, one by one, under such
A PRICELESS aspect of our way of life is the spirit of adventure and individual achievement which it nurtures. Until recently, at least, the craving for "security" (which is the polar opposite of this spirit) has been regarded by Western man as cowardly and effeminate. If communism should ever triumph, the culture that has produced a Theodore Roosevelt and an Abraham Lincoln would be supplanted by the culture that has produced a Mao Tse-tung and a Joseph Stalin. "Security" — not adventure — would be the order of the day.
I pray God that day never comes. Mankind has required countless millennia to evolve from the beasts — God forbid that any ruthless conspiracy should ever force us into such a humiliating retrogression. But if it should, the sweet taste of such high-sounding phrases as "dialectical materialism" — which Marxist "intellectuals" savor so contentedly now — would turn to wormwood in their mouths. For they would be the first to fall prey to their own monumental folly.
a system? Of course they would. It would be inevitable.
Mission Hills senior
Richard Garnett
The Russian Government appears to think that Soviet decrees can change the laws of genetics; the Vatican apparently believes that ecclesiastical decrees could secure adequate nourishment for us all, even if there were only standing room on the planet. Such opinions, to my mind, represent a form of insane megalomania entirely alien to the scientific spirit. — Bertrand Russell
Short Ones
God is an idol, man's own image,
and human reverence is the fatuous
awe of the ape with the mirror.
—Philip Wylie
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We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence.—Bertrand Russell
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No one is such a liar as the indignant man. —Friedrich Nietzsche
The Unquotable Man
By Terry Murphy
The worries of those in places of authority have bogged down into a helpless mire that presents endless frustrations to those responsible for finding out their views, stands, opinions and treatises.
The problem is simple. Nobody wants to be held responsible for nothin', no how. "
TAKE THE EXAMPLE of explaining a simple policy. Let us suppose that a controversy has arisen from nothing more than misinformation or misunderstanding.
The interview goes something like this:
"Sir, on this matter of putty for the institution's windows."
"Now wait just a minute. Before we start I want you to understand that I don't have the final authoritative word on this matter. If you are willing to accept this, I can talk with you."
"BUT SIR, IT'S just window putty..."
"No buts about it. This has to be considered in the framework of possible ramifications."
"OK, sir, we'll consider this matter within the framework of possible ramifications. Returning to the issue, do you think the putty should be put in by the persons living at the place in question? Or should a skilled craftsman be called in to insure a complete and thorough job?"
"NOW THAT'S HARD to say. There are a lot of considerations which enter into a situation like this."
"I understand this sir; would you mind telling what exactly are the elements which must be taken into consideration?"
"See—I knew it would come to this. You're not willing to consider the grand picture—the situation as it is; like within the grand framework."
"Sorry, sir, didn't mean to let the framework business slip. But I have a problem: I need this information within eight hours—the boss, you know."
"WELL, ALL RIGHT, what seems to be the problem? This thing about putty in the windows seems to be self-evident—hardly a matter for this much confusion."
"My point exactly, sir. All I want to know is how the governing fathers stand on this matter."
"That is a moot question which cannot be answered flippantly, young man. One forthright statement of our policy when not considered within the framework of ramifications could lead to a sticky situation. Like they would have something they could use to pin me down."
"YES, SIR, I realize the putty situation is potentially sticky but we do need to know. The windows are falling out and the nip of fall is in the air. Quickly, sir, with a phrase, tell me who puts the window putty into its proper place . . . that is, within the framework?"
"I can see, young man, you don't take the proper tack in approaching serious matters. You refuse to consider the puttywork within its proper frame."
BOOK REVIEWS
McGUFFEY'S FIFTH ECLECTIC READER (1879 edition, Signet Classics, 75 cents)—the celebrated book for the first time in paperback. It is an exact duplicate, in typography and illustrations, of the 1879 edition. Henry Steele Commager has written an introduction. Of special interest is the continuing controversy over the reader, which was adopted last year by Twin Lakes, Wis., as part of the school curriculum. One school official said the adoption "ignored 50 years of progress in education."