"'Let us give the people of America a chance, a bigger
voice in deciding for themselves those questions that so
greatly affect their lives."
President Richard Nixon in his State of
the Union message on January 22.
"I am certain a Gallup poll would show that the great
majority of the people would want to pull out of Vietnam.
But a Gailup poll would also show that a great majority of
the people would want to pull three or more divisions out of
Europe. And it would also show that a great majority of the
people would cut our defense budget. Polls are not the
answer."
President Nixon to New York Times
reporter on March 10.
Okay, Great White Father, we give up - what is the
answer? Whip out your celebrated yellow pad and write it
like it is, baby. Quit heating around the bush and make it
crystal clear that the desires of the great majority of the
people are not particularly important when decisions are to
be made. The important consideration is the opinion of
advisers who have been isolated in the White House for two
years.
The advisers who suggested you watch a football game on
television while 250,000 citizens were outside your door
trying to tell you that something was rotten in Southeast
Asia.
The experts who advised you to invade a sovereign nation
and call it an "incursion".
The thinkers who have assured you that the strength of
the United States is determined by the number of foreigners
we can kill, count and throw on a statistical pile.
The intellectuals who contend that the way to enhance
this imtion's prestige is for the president of the most
powerful country on earth to appear on television and whine,
"we will not be humiliated."
The masterminds who induced you to take the muzzle
and leash off your Vice President and send him forth to
divide the people with demagogic appeals to prejudice and
fear, while at the same time you were suggesting that
Americans lower their voices.
Tell us the answer, Mr. President.
Tell us about the strategists who advised you to release a
convicted murder from the stockade to satisfy the screeched
demands of the simian followers of George Wallace and
Lester Maddox.
Enlighten us about the big thinkers who perfected
Vietnamization, that superb plan which is designed to change
"Onward Christian Soldiers" to "Onward Christian Pilots,
Helicopter Crewmen, and Protective Encirclement Troops,
Accompanied By The Looters And Rapers of Thieu And
Ky."
n how the word-manipulators have provided you
with statements that substitute success for failure, peace for
war, democracy for despotism, honor for infamy, salvation
for destruction, patriotism for corruption, leadership for
demagoguery, hope for despair, and excellence for
mediocrity.
Don't hold back, Big Daddy; let it all hang out.
Tell us what your kitchen-cabinet mentalities have
advised you to do now that it is no longer possible to play
one element of our society against another where your
conduct of the war in Vietnam is concerned.
By ROBERT C. CUMMINGS
With one exception, Gov. Dan
Evans' reorganization bills seem
to be dying on the vine in this
Legislature.
The exception is the measure
to establish a Department of
Transportation and give the
Governor control over the
highways program.
That measure has been passed
by the House with the help of 26
Democrats, and stands the best
chance it ever has had of passing
the Senate.
But most of his other
measures in this field haven't
moved. Those which have moved
still are a long way from final
passage.
Included are bills to establish
a Department of Justice, a
Department of Natural Resources
and Recreation, a Department of
Finance and Business Regulation,
a measure giving him authority to
reorganize agencies under his
jurisdiction by executive order,
and a bill to expand the
Department of Revenue.
The latter measure has
_ progressed farther than the others
and still has some chance of
passage.
Par For The Course
But if Governor Evans gets his
Department of Transportation he
will be more than content.
One reorganization bill at a
time was the most he could get
out of any legislative session until
the 1970 special, when he got
both his Department of Social
and tlealth Services and the
Department of Ecology.
The Department of
Transportation has been his top
priority reorganization bill in
every session. He will be happy to
settle for that in this session if he
can get it.
Taxes Never Die
All this talk about cutoff
dates for each house to consider
its own bills has given some of the
uninitiated a false sense of
security regarding tax bills.
The fact that none of the
various tax bills lying around
haven't moved doesn't mean a
thing.
Cutoff dates never apply to
y-
"Everything will turn out okay."
revenue measures, nor to
appropriation bills.
It is true that some bills are
being held up because sponsors
haven't been able yet to muster
enough votes to pass them.
These include the measures
boosting the taxes on liquor and
cigarettes, and the bill extending
the retail sales tax to gasoline
sales.
But there isn't any hurry to
pass the liquor and cigarette bills
until the size of the budget is
known.
The sales tax on gasoline isn't
popular, but it is tied to the "jobs
now" program, so when that
package is pieced together, it
probably will be enacted.
Another For the Ballot
Now that the proposed
constitutional amendment to
permit the state to lean its credit
to private industry has passed the
Senate, it appears another
amendment will be on the next
general election ballot.
Two already have been
certified, SJR 1, lowering the
constitutional ceiling on property
taxes, and SJR 5, removing the
constitutional ban on gambling.
The credit amendment, SJR
22, had its troubles in the Senate,
being voted down decisively on
the first attempt.
But after a vote for
reconsideration was won, and the
measure was held on the calendar
for nearly two weeks, the
Governor picked up a couple of
votes and the Democratic floor
found two more to assure the
necessary two-thirds majority.
The measure isn't expected to
have that much trouble in the
House.
Environmental Smog
Governor Evans'
governmental reorganization bills
aren't the only measures in
trouble.
Several of his environmental
bills appear to be lost in the smog
of smoke-filled legislative
committee rooms.
They haven't been suffocated
completely. They could be said to
be breathing, but
breath.
Included are
request measures
disclosure act,
protection act,
management, na
preservation and :'
control bill.
Some of these
moving, but
original
way to go. In fact,
hasn't passed at
could be in serious ~
There are so
every committee
that scores can't
in the shuffle.
the chances
diminishes
One of the
committee is a
request of the
Council, which
Governor's
Council.
Most of the
the legislation
an amateur
Jones, a phot~
housewife serving
in the "third house
The council, J
would consist of 20:
would be cha]
monumental task.
population
responsibility
different factors,
influencing
the state;
legislation
growth; the
economic conse~
The council
required to
area of populat
including
distribution based
Social values and
The council
serve without p'ay,
reimbursed for
would have
full-time staff,
employed within
office.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiil,
Founded I886 by Grant C. Angle.~;
Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wa. 98584
Published at Shelton, Mason County, Washir
weekly, except two issues during week of Than
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office,
Member of National Editorial
Member of Washington Newspaper Publishers'
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $5.00 per year in
in advance -- Outside Mason County
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
What's the answer when the great majority of the young,
the old, the middle-aged, the black, the white, the poor, the
rich, the intelligent, the dull, Republicans and Democrats,
want the United States to pull out of Vietnam?
Give this one some extra thought, Mr. President. Don't
accept your advisers' first suggestion - saturation bombing of
North America may not necessarily be the best answer.
J
There will be no charge for the following information. We
offer it, with our good wishes, to members of the John Birch
Society and other concerned citizens who have become bored
with their fight against sex education, sensitivity training,
driver education, recess, and other controversial school
matters.
A letter to the editor published in "Your Public
Schools," a publication of the State Department of Public
Instruction, broached a scandalous subject of which we had
hitherto been unaware.
"Dear Sirs," it began, "For a number of years I have been
concerned about the seemingly large number of students in
our schools who write with the left hand. It seems
unbelievable that in such a highly cultured land as ours, such
an off-step is allowed to continue.
"When I attended grade school in Finland 70 years ago,
there was not one student left-handed, and it is not allowed
there now. Naturally I was somewhat amazed when I found
so many left-hand writers here. But then what else can you
expect, when mothers cannot tell which is right hand. Maybe
we should establish a system whereby a child's right hand is
marked before he or she leaves hospital.
"By the way, could you possibly have a record of how
many left-handed students we have in our schools in this
state percentagewise. My estimate is 5 per cent.
"A citizen, Raymond."
Our estimate is closer to 6¼ per cent, and we hope some
group will take up the fight against southpaws before it
reaches a staggering 6% per cent.
BY SENATOR WALTER F. MONDALE
No right was more valued by the drafters of our
Constitution than the individual's right to be let
alone, the right to the privacy of his thoughts,
beliefs, opinions and emotions.
No right is more in danger today.
The invasion of privacy in the United States has
reached frightening proportions. Snooping, spying,
prying and the gathering of information in various
other ways has become - with the help of "bugs,"
wiretaps, computers and similarly sophisticated
equipment - a science widely practiced in both
government and private sectors. The scope of
activity covers everything from blatantly illegal
wiretapping to the subtle invasions of questionnaires
and census taking.
Despite legal safeguards against private
wiretapping and bugging, the level of eavesdropping
has increased. No one is immune from the invasion
and fear of it.
A recent survey by The Washington Post, for
instance, revealed that a quarter of the prominent
Washingtonians polled suspected or believed their
telephones had been tapped or their offices bugged.
Of the 193 Congressmen who replied, 58
expressed the belief, as did six of 28 Senators.
Thanks to the vigilance of newspapers and
journalists across the country, we constantly receive
warnings of the prevalence of both illegal and
questionable surveillance. It was the news media, for
example, which learned that Senator Adlai
Stevenson III had been watched by U. S. Army
intelligence agents, and that six Army agents were
present when I addressed a rally of Macalester
College students in October 1969.
I happen to feel that surveillance by the Army
of lawful, civilian political activity is
unconstitutional; but I would be happy to mail
them my speeches.
Wiretapping and personal surveillance represent
only two examples of more serious intrusions
citizens must suffer. But there also is a subtle
invasion about which little has been said - one that
poses a threat potentially as dangerous as illegal
eavesdropping.
This subtle invasion centers around the
proliferation of personal information and the ability
to retrieve and gather that information with the
electronic speech that computers provide.
Somewhere, somehow the intimate details of
our lives are spelled out - and, more often than not,
Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, April 15, 1971
these details have been computerized. The Senate
Administrative Practices Sub-committee has
estimated that our names appear in various
government files 2.8 billion times and our Social
Security number 1.5 billion times.
Add to this the personal information contained
on drivers' licenses, hunting licenses, credit ratings,
census forms, questionnaires and polls, medical
histories, psychiatric histories, police records in the
files of private detective agencies.., and it becomes•
clear that there is an over-abundance of information
about the people of this nation.
Most data, of course, is collected for legitimate
and socially beneficial purposes. Yet the fact
remains that it is being collected with little or no
protection for the individual citizen and insufficient
reflection on long-term consequences.
The threat to privacy comes neither from
information nor the computers ability to gather it
quickly and "construct" a man using data collected
from various sources. The threat comes, rather,
from men - from the motives of political
executives, from the ingenuity of managers and the
carelessness of technicians.
And that threat exists whether data is placed in
metal file drawers, storage drums or electronic
computers.
Just last month, three of the nation's largest
private detective agencies were fined $5,000 each by
the Manhattan Supreme Court for selling
confidential information from the police files to
credit firms.
Instances were unpertinent information has
been used to deny a man credit, or take his job, or
terminate his insurance, or even to blackmail him,
are all too common. There also are numerous cases
where men have shown a penchant for perverting
information with the assistance of dubious
questionnaires and computers.
One flagrant example concerns efforts by the
Defense Department to monitor the thoughts,
habits and personal lives of the people who work for
it.
According to the Senate Constitutional Rights
Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr.
(D-N.C.), the Defense Department used a
questionnaire to determine the politicalattitudes of
civil servants. Employees were "urged" to respond
to the questionnaire by personnel officers, who hold
a life-death power over their jobs, and the results
were put on computers.
The implications of this activity are both
obvious and frightening.
Another questionable activity involves a
computerized data bank the Army keeps on the
political activities of civilians. The existence of this
data bank has been established without doubt,
although its exact whereabouts have been unclear
since Fort Holabird in Maryland was closed down. It
raises serious constitutional questions.
Dozens of other federal agencies also maintain
computerized data banks, and they frequently
exchange information among themselves, as well as
with state and local governments.
The Internal Revenue Service, for example,
SELLS COMPUTERIZED TAPES to state and local
governments. Although many data banks serve
necessary purposes, they also pose potential threats
to privacy because they can be fed subjective,
unevaluated data.
The Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare reportedly used its computerized files to
maintain a blacklist of scientists. This Department
also supports "people study" data banks such as one
for the surveillance of migrant children.
The Secret Service has a computer on
professional gate crashers and people who write to
or make embarrassing comments about high
government officials. Its guidelines are loosely
drawn and, I'm afraid, more people qualify for
inclusion under them than should. Even U. S.
Senators, I guess, have made occasional remarks that
could be considered embarrassing to other high
government officials.
SOlutions to the computer problem are not easy
to come by. A legitimate need exists for data
collection, and yet we must protect the individual's
rights to privacy. Since it would be foolish to stop
all data collection, I suggest that we must build
dams to control the flow.
The federal government should take the lead in
this effort, providing guidelines to serve as models
for state and local governments and for privat~
industry.
We can start by enacting legislation written by
Senator Ervin to protect the rights of civilian
employees of the executive branch. Among other
things, his bill prohibits indiscriminate requirements
that employees submit to questioning about'their
religion, personal relationships or sexual attitudes
through interviews, psychological tests or
polygraphs.
This measure has passed the
significant margins, but was
House committees.
No one law can control the
society by computer technologY.
will be needed, perhaps even
regulatory agency to contr
communication - surveillance
has suggested this four-step
problem, and I agree:
First. Technical and
must be built into com
engineers, this is possible and the
should be encouraged to develop
Second. There must be
run the machines. In addition,
and personnel rules must
organizations, businesses and
computers.
Third. To assure due
controls over computer input
of the most basic threats posed
the exchange of information a a'
among companies, information
purpose should not be used for
tight conditions attached and
of the individual.
Fourth. Some system must
the individual a chance to
susceptible to derogatory
drawbacks of our highly
society is that a man's past is
should have a chance to expunge t
Fortunately, many people
industry itself recognize these
encouraging to know they are
thought to ways of building
into computers.
Whether government and
be wise enough to act quickly
But one thing is very clear:
of the new technology, unleSS
wisdom and the need for
banks, unless we resist attemptS1
and regulations that disregard
freedom and privacyy.., we
right to be let alone.
To give up this right
much. For I agree with Mr.
called it "the most
right most valued by
