The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-09-08
Southern Conservatives in Congress
". D. workmon

oOu VxRNx III OOxkONx
The carefully cultivated pre-
tense that Southern Congressman
form conservative" bloc in
the House and Senate is being
exposed as one of the great po-
iucal hoaxes of the Goth Century.
Only when legislation touches
on such regionally sensitive
matters as civil rights and race
relations do the Southern men,
berS Of Congress band together.
On virtually all other issues,
their collective views are no
more conservative than those of
Congressman from any other
part of the nation = and fire.
quently they are less so.
Thr remarkable feature of the
situation has been the ability OF
many Southerners in Congress
to keep their constituencies per-
Suaded that they nv the Congress-
men = are conservatives. Rela-
lively few voters take the trouble
to read the Congressional Record
or to maintain their own records
Of how congressman vote. Con-
sequently, quite a few Dixie
solons manage to play both ends
against the middle-masquerad-
ing as conservatives at home to
gain votes, and maneuvering as
liberals in Congress to curry ia
vor with the Democratic leader
ship.
During the eight years of the
Eisenhower administration, this
special breed of Southern lib
eraliSm was either concealed or
forgiven, because it frequently
was manifested as Democratic
opposition to Republican pro-
pOSalS.
Now, with the Kennedy spend
ing spree gaining momentum un-
der Democratic banners, the
wraps are off. Southern liberals
are being unmasked for what
they are. Their constituents are
being given the opportunity to
see clearly whether community
attitudes are being adequately
reflected in Congress.
There still is the argument that
party loyalty demands support of
party programs, but such talk
carries diminishing weight with
citizens who are becoming more
concerned with performance
than with party labels. And it is
patiently true that liberal Demo-
Gratis can be replaced with con-
sentative Democrats, thus avoid
ing the upheaval which still
would be necessary in much of
the South to bring a Republican
to office.
Southern voters would do well
this year and next to watch and
weigh the votes of their repre-
sentatives and senator's. Each
voter necessarily must make his
own appraisal, but already there
is available one index. for what
it is worth, for evaluating the
voting record of members of
Congress. Last year Americans
for Constitutional Action com
piled a massive analysis of the
voting records of Congressman.
Granting that there is always
room for disputing the standards
set up by AGA for measuring
conservatism, the index never
theleSS reveals some rather start
ling information in terms of rela
tive ratings.
For example, take the ratings
on the omnibus standard: FOR
safeguarding the God-given dig
nifty Of the individual, and pro
noting sound economic growth.
through Strengthening Constitu-
tional government: AGAINST
collective morality, and a So
cialized economy through GEN.
tralzing power.
With that as a yardstick. seven
Of q Southern Democratic sena-
tors were rated more liberal
than the least liberal Republican.
They were Fulbright of Arkan-
sas. Hill and Sparkman of Ala
bama, Gore and Kefauver of
tennessee, and johnson and Var
borough of Texas. If Republican
Sen. Jacob Javits be used as a
reference point. all seven Of