Evening star., 1960-09-15

TEXAS
Broodcosts Stress
Religion, Red Issues

Continued From First Page
minister active in Dallas Demo-
cratic Party affairs, charged
Mr.. Collins is "the guiding
hand" in the anti Catholic
campaign that is evident here.
Mr.. Collins, in an interview,
fatly rejected all accusations
Of religious bias, for himself
and the organization he heads.
II have not the slightest bias
or prejudice" he said" We Gin
Texans for Nixon have played
no part in discussing the re-
hgious issue in any manner,
shape or form"
Denies Bias
The Nixon leader pointed out
that four Of the nine directors
Of his own company, Fidelity
Union Life Insurance. were
Catholics and noted that Ed A.
Maher, a leading Catholic lay
man, is on the advisory COM
rnittee of Texans for Nixon.
Z An aide of his also called at
tention to the form letter Tex
ans for Nixon headquarters
sends to everyone who refers
to Senator Kennedy's Catholic
faith in correspondence with
the offlce.
The form letter reads:
"Contrary to what you may
have read or heard, Texans for
Nixon have no intention Of in
jecting the religious issue in
this political campaign.
I'VE have no literature that
concerns religion and it will
not be mentioned in any
speeches by our workers.
This organization strongly
indorses Richard M. Nixon
because we feel he is the best
man, best for Texas and best
for. the Nation. 1t is as simple
as that.
"Just as Jack Kennedy. is
entitled to his religion, we are
entitled to back the candidate
we feel is the best qualified for
the job. We feel that this man
is Richard M. Nixon, and be-
cause of his qualifications, and
not his religion, we expect to
carry Texas for the Nixon
Lodge ticket by an overwhelm-
ing majority"
Despite this fiat assertion,
q perusal Of the scripts for
Mr.. Collins past broadcasts,
made available today by the
Texans for Nixon headquar-
ters, shows that the subject of
religion has crept in-some-
times subtly, sometimes not.
In Script No. 2, Mr.. Collins
said: These talks are not 60
ing to be partisan political
talks at all They are not
going to be religious talks.
We're not going to discuss re-
ligion on these programs.
He then proceeded to review
the chargegS made by former
President Truman and other
prominent Democrats that the
party convention had been
"rigged" to guarantee Senator
Kennedy'S nomination.
Then he said: Now, friends,
I said we were not going to
bring religion into these talks.
meant we are not going to
jump on any candidate be-
cause Of his religion. But let
me lay it right on the line:
When you take religion out. of
politics, when you take the
plain unvarnished religion of
the Bible, out of running a
business, or real estate deal,
or a political convention. then
you are taking out of it the
very foundation of everything
that is American"
Discusses Rigging"
He returned to the rigging"
question in Script No. 8. He
said Americans should be
grateful for all their freedoms
including complete and alb
solute religious freedom" then
added:
Nov if you agree with me in
the general statements I have
just made, is it possible for
you, or for me, to reconcile a
candidate like Jack Kennedy
for the presidency as being the
man that we had rather have
as President? Just stop for a
minute and consider how he
obtained the nominations at
Los Angeles. :"
Mr.. Collins explained his
views on the Kennedy nomina-
ton in Script No. 16, by way of
a quotation Of what he identi-
fled as newspaper editorial.
In that talk, he said: when
we are discussing the issues
in this campaign, we much pre-
fer to quote what other respon-
sihle persons or publications
have to say. and I want to quote
from an editorial in the Indi-
annapolis Star, as published in
the Dallas News on August 10.
From this editorial you will see
that the people in Indiana, as
well as the people in Texas,
feel about this Kennedy clan
very much like we do"
Mr.. Collins quoted the edi-
torial as follows, in part: why
don't (sic) Jack Kennedy be
frank enough to admit publicly
that his Catholic friends gave
him the nomination? The Big
Five States were for Kennedy.
Mayor Wagner, who led the
New York delegation, is a Cath
olic. Gov. Lawrence of Penn
sylvania is a Catholic. Gov.
Mike Disable of Ohio is a
Catholic Gov. Pat Brown of
California is a Catholic.
The delegations from these five
States led by Catholics put over
Kennedy's nomination. The