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University Daily Kansan
Monday, Nov. 2, 1964
For Better or Worse
In addition to voting on county, state and national officials next Tuesday, Kansas voters will be asked to accept or reject two proposed amendments to the state constitution.
The two proposals have received the two-thirds majority vote in both state houses of Legislature, which is necessary before submission to the voters.
BUT THESE TWO proposed amendments, chosen from an assortment of approximately 50 as the ones to be placed before the voters in this general election, are in danger of not receiving the required favorable majority, simply because the voting public is not sufficiently informed about the proposals and their consequent effects.
And unfortunately, the rewording of the particular sections of the constitution as advocated by the proposals probably will be more a source of confusion than enlightenment to many voters.
For example, the second proposed amendment, the one most deserving of passage, is designed to repeal the two consecutive term or four-year limit on the tenure of sheriffs.
BUT NOWHERE IN the proposal, as it will be printed on the ballot, is the word "sheriff" mentioned. The proposed amendment to Section 2 of Article 4 rambles on about commissioners, officials and county treasurer, but the only office affected, that of the county sheriff, is not mentioned.
Actually, the designers of the proposal are not engaged in a scheming plot to "pull the wool over the voters' eyes." It is simply a matter of deleting two words from the section as it now stands.
The proposal would strike the words "sheriff or" from the sentence which now states that the county sheriff or treasurer shall not be elected to more than two consecutive terms. Thus, only the county treasurer, of all elected officers, would still be restricted in tenure. The present restriction on sheriffs and treasurers dates back to the Wyandotte Convention of 1859.
THE PROS AND CONS of the proposal are too numerous to elaborate on in this explanation, but some of the reasons it deserves passage are:
- A longer term of office will afford the sheriff more training and experience, thus giving the county a qualified veteran in the office.
It may encourage more young men to enter the law enforcement profession, and retain their jobs as long as the voters feel the duties are being effectively discharged.
- Sheriffs who are handling their jobs well and are desired by the voters will not be forced to step aside after four years.
THE FIRST PROPOSED amendment would have two effects. It would exempt from taxation household goods and personal effects not used for the production of income, and would at the same time delete the $200 constitutional family exemption from any personal property tax imposed.
Again the consequences of the proposal are partly hidden. Section 1 of Article 11, "personal property to the amount of at least two hundred dollars for each family shall be exempted from taxation," shall be replaced by the words, "all household goods and personal effects not used for the production of income, shall be exempted from taxation" if the amendment passes.
The $200 family exemption will not be mentioned in the amendment, and thus will be abolished. But the head of the household will not be required to pay a tax on such things as his furniture, clothes and jewelry.
There is a question of what constitutes household goods and personal effects. The attorney general of the state said automobiles probably still would be taxed if the amendment were approved, but that it would take a decision of the Kansas Supreme Court after the proposal becomes law.
SUPPORTERS OF THE amendment say:
- The household goods tax is obsolete, and there is a trend among states to eliminate household furniture and appliances as tax sources.
- Assessors conduct a "guessing game," and the expense of the assessors and the collection of the tax at least approximates the revenue collected.
- The present tax is unfair, since it penalizes the honest taxpayer and rewards the person who undervalues or does not declare all his personal property for tax purposes.
The chief argument against the amendment is the elimination of the $200 exemption, which is not mentioned on the ballot. People who had not been paying taxes because their personal property, including an automobile, was assessed at less than $200, would now be required to pay on some of it.
It is up to the voter to decide which way he is going to vote on these two proposals, but it is likewise his duty to be sufficiently informed about them to make an intelligent decision.
Conservative vs. Liberal
(The following article is one of a series dealing with states and the nation, but it will not be run along with the articles on campaign issues until the election.)
Things are confusing enough in the presidential race with President Johnson calling Goldwater a "trigger-happy warmonger" and Sen. Barry Goldwater lashing back by calling Johnson a "dictator of despotic power," but someone else has to pitch the terms "conservative" and "liberal" in with the others and mess everything up even more.
Well. Uh. Perhaps the best description would be one heard on the hill in class. The CONSERVATIVE is committed to discriminating defense of social order against change and reform. He knows change is rule of life but insists it be sure-footed and is respectful of the past.
He is pessimistic of reform, has a natural preference for stability over change, continuity over experiment, and for the past over the future.
The LIBERAL has an attitude of those who are reasonably satisfied with their way of life yet believe they can improve upon it substantially without betraying its class. He prefers change over stability, experiment over continuity, future over the past.
SEN. GOLDWATER is readily recognized as the conservative
in the race. His book, "Conscience of a Conservative," his stand on civil rights and his cry of decentralizing the federal government label him. As Look magazine said, "The cause of conservatism . . . is now in Goldwater's hands for better or worse."
The other tag naturally gets pinned on President Johnson because of his civil rights program, his war on poverty and his action on the income tax reduction.
GOLDWATER really looks more like a radical nut, fringing
into all sorts of issues. Johnson appears to be both reformer and conservative. So, what do we have?
Boiled down, the presidential race still remains as Goldwater vs. Johnson. The conservative vs. liberal claim is thrown out the window. The voter is back to just the men. The real issue Nov. 3 is whether the voter should mark the little square beside the name of Barry Goldwater or Lyndon B. Johnson, not whether to vote conservative or liberal.
Don Black
Dailij Hänsan
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"Oh, Boy! If The Russians Change Policy If The U.S. Government
Changes Hands ___”
The People Say...
The Kansas University Student Peace Union hereby challenges anyone who disagrees with its ideas and actions to a public debate in the Kansas Union at a mutually agreeable time. Any individual or group that would like to accept this challenge is invited to do publicly in the U.D.K. letters department or to write to K.U.S.P.U., Box 403, Lawrence.
Editor:
Kansas University Student Peace Union
The Communist Party is known to support those who help to advance communism. Consequently the Communist Party has urged the election of Lyndon Johnson.
EDITOR:
The Communist Party is known to oppose those who they believe will halt the spread of communism. Consequently the Communist Party has called for the defeat of Barry Goldwater.
I made these facts known in a reply to a statement printed in the University Daily Kansan on October 27 in which some people claimed Barry Goldwater did not understand communism.
The facts clearly indicate that
Barry Goldwater does understand communism and perhaps more importantly that the Communist Party realizes Barry Goldwater understands communism and how best to defend against its spread.
Prior to my statement being printed by the University Daily Kansan on October 27, I advised Vice Chancellor Surface as to the content of my statement and further that I was not questioning the loyalty of Piekalkiewicz and Laird but that I was questioning their political judgment of Barry Goldwater.
When I use facts to disprove Piekalkiewicz's generalizations about Barry Goldwater, he cries unfair fight. When I use facts to disprove his generalizations, he suggests I am calling him a communist or a communist dupe. When I use facts, he attempts to equate Goldwater to Malinovsky and himself to General Eisenhower.
May I now point out that General Eisenhower understands the threat of communism and he is supporting and voting for Barry Goldwater.
Morris Kav
3rd Dist. Chairman
3rd Dist. Charlton Citizens for Goldwater - Miller
Thirteen Votes to Cast
The states of Maryland and Delaware have a total of 13 electoral votes—not much compared to the number needed to elect a candidate to the office of President of the United States, but a peculiar kind of political scuffle is going on in the two states.
Political observers are giving both states to President Johnson mainly because the leading Republicans in those two states refuse to support Sen. Barry Goldwater.
In Maryland, political observers say they believe Johnson will hold a commanding lead over Goldwater—mainly because the state's leading Republican, Baltimore Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin, has refused to endorse Goldwater.
THE STATE HAS A HIGH Democratic registration lead which shows up in the House of Representatives, where six Democrats were lined up against one Republican last term. But both senators were Republican.
Incumbent Republican Sen. J. Glenn Beall, 70, will seek his third term this Nov. 3.
This year Beall faces 36-year-old Joseph D. Tydings, son of the late Sen. Millard Tydings (D-Md., 1927-54) and former U.S. attorney for Maryland.
Delaware is "leaning Democratic," observers say, although Republican Sen. John J. Williams, 60, who blew the whistle on the Bobby Baker case— among other scandals—is almost sure to gain his fourth senate term.
WILLIAMS IS facing Democratic Gov. Elbert N. Carvel, 54, who is ineligible to succeed himself under Delaware's two-term limitation for governor.
Williams' record for lone-wolf investigation apparently will override his conservative voting record.
Carvel is being careful with his campaign — steering away from any criticism of Williams' corruption-fighting activities.
- Tom Hough