Friday, April 20. 1962 University Daily Kansan
Page 21
A Special Kind of Southern Politician
By Arthur C. Miller
There are 100 senators in Washington, D.C., representing 50 states. And there are 100 senators in Washington representing 100 individuals.
Although some people like to set these men into neat stereotyped blocks—such as liberal Democrats conservative Republicans, or southern conservative Democrats—these classifications are not realistic.
EVIDENCE OF HOW unrealistic senatorial stereotyping can be is found by examining the record of a 67-year-old senator from Alabama. This senior senator has been a member of either the House of Representatives or the Senate since 1923, and he is presently eighth in Senate seniority. He has been described by one Washington newsman, William S. White, as "truly liberal a man as sits in our national councils, and for decades he has been performing liberally for the millions who need public help, while more frenetic 'liberals' have been parading purposes that never reached performance."
This Alabaman was elected to Congress in 1923 to fill the term of the Hon. John R. Tyson. In subsequent years between 1925 and 1939 he was renominated and re-elected to Congress without opposition. He was elected in 1938 to fill the unexpired term of Hugo Black in the Senate. He has been re-elected ever since. He is Joseph Lister Hill.
Coming from Alabama, Senator Hill is truly from the Deep South. But he is from the Deep South in geography alone. His work in promoting public welfare, especially public health, has earned him the title of "Medicine Man from Alabama." And his work in this area has earned him more recognition than any other single contribution.
IN 1959, for example, he was awarded the Albert Lasker Award. This award is given to individuals and groups for outstanding contributions in research related to diseases which are main causes of death and disability, and for distinguished service in the field of public health administration.
Yet it is not surprising that Sen. Hill has great concern for public health and welfare, for his father was a doctor and he is named after Senator Dr. Joseph Lister.
This spare, tall, gray-faced Alabaman is acclaimed as having done more for the public's health than any American in history.
He is credited with responsibility for the Hospital and Health Construction Act, hundreds of millions of dollars for research, funds for
training and education programs about health, and with helping to emphasize preventive medicine. Many other contributions too numerous to list have resulted from his efforts.
Sen. Hill is chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, a fact which further demonstrates his concern for the nation's health. But he is not an agent of the American Medical Association.
AS MR. WHITE puts it, "He makes welfare innovations — even those which may look awfully like 'socialized medicine'—politically respectable and, far more important, politically viable."
When Sen. Hill received the Albert Lasker Award, the selection committee wrote, "The name of Lister Hill . . . will shine brightly on the pages of history because of his pre-eminence in and his tireless dedication to the fostering of medical, dental, and biological research and to the expansion of our nation's hospital and health research facilities."
Sen. Hill was born Dec. 29, 1894 in Montgomery, Ala. His father was Dr. Luther L. and his mother Lilly (Lyons). He married Henrietta Fontaine McCormick and has two children, Henrietta Fontaine and Luther
He studied at Starke University School and graduated in 1911. He received his B.A. in 1914 from the University of Alabama, and his LLB. from Columbia in 1916.
IT IS OF INTEREST that although Sen. Hill's voting record is rather liberal, he remains a part of the unofficial but very real Southern Caucus. In fact, when he is called on to do so, he will bear his share of Senate filibuster responsibilities.
To generalize by saying that Sen. Hill's voting record would indicate that he is liberal on nearly every issue except civil rights is not enough. Some examples help clarify this issue.
On 14 test votes concerning a larger role for the federal government, Sen. Hill voted affirmatively on 12 of them. This is 86 per cent in favor of a larger federal role, and is one of the highest votes with the exception of such men as John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey who both had 100 per cent totals. This test vote was taken during the 86th Congress.
Examined on another basis, agreement and disagreement with the conservative coalition. Sen. Hill's voting would appear to be much more conservative. In the 86th Congress, for example, he voted with the coalition 50 per cent of the time and
Old Khyber Pass Still A Dangerous Area
AT THE KHYBER PASS. Pakistan — (UPI) — The road from ancient Peshawar makes its last hairpin turn between towering, jagged peaks and then descends to a gradually widening valley. A sign in English proclaims that this is the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
This is the Khyber Pass of Kipling and of conquerors, Alexander the Great, Darius of Persia, the Aryans and the Huns. And it is the grave of hundreds of British soldiers who fought to defend an outpost of empire before Pakistan independence.
It is the home of fierce, copper-toned Pathan tribesmen who exacted tribute even from conquerors and who today pay scant heed to any law but the tribal.
It is the meeting place of caravans, of east and west and a link in silk route explored by Marco Polo.
To the north lies Russia and to the south Iran.
AT THE END of the tortuous road past ancient fortresses, through narrow gorges beneath lonely outposts perched atop the peaks lies the Pakistan border station.
Scarcely a quarter-mile away, across a line set off by white markers, are the soldiers of Afghanistan.
This is the Durand Line established by the British to mark the end of the Northwest Territory. It cuts directly through the tribal areas which lie both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
To cross it without authorization is to invite an unfriendly bullet. The border is closed now and the caravans no longer pass.
AFGHANISTAN contests the Durand Line and demands the tribesmen be allowed to vote whether they would choose union with either country or have an independent nation of their own.
against it 40 per cent. (The other 10 per cent probably was not recorded because he did not vote on those issues.)
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sending agents across the line in an attempt to stir the tribesmen to revolt.
Occasionally tensions mount, and then shots are fired across the border.
THE SOVIET UNION supports the Afghan stand, and so these wild mountains become another arena of the cold war.
Guarding the pass are the Ghurka rifles recruited from among tribesmen in these very hills.
Here men carry weapons as naturally as they breathe and the Ghurkas carry on a tradition won in battles of the past.
Some units are entitled to wear the Stuart tartan as a memento of the days when the British were the last of the outside rulers.
But in these mountains it is not all reminders of the past nor of cold war tensions. Eighteen miles northwest of Peshawar a huge dam has arisen. It generates 240,000 kilowatts of electricity and ultimately will help irrigate a thirsty land.
STUDIED FROM STILL a third angle, Sen. Hill's voting record would appear to be liberal once again. On 10 major issues in the 86th Congress he voted exactly the same as Senators Kennedy and Humphrey on all
but three of them. Two of those issues involved civil rights. The third vote concerned medical care for the aged plan.
On the agreement side, he voted in favor of over-riding the President's veto (Eisenhower) on the proposed depressed area legislation. He favored a pav hike for federal emplovers. Sen. Kennedy's minimum wage bill, federal aid to education, and the repeal of dividend credits.
Perhaps it would be best, then, not to place Sen. Hill in this or that political camp. Perhaps it would be best to describe him in the words of a Washington columnist who said, "Hill is a rare, walking compendium of practical and intuitive skills of a special kind of politician."
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