n J7 0 ,i
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A 4-member State Depart
ment team Was in Lincoln
last week to explain the Ken
nedy administration's foreign
policy aims.
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inc Leant, ucaucu uv KJ .
Alexis Johnson, deputy under
secretary or state, appeared
at a press conference Wednes
day evening, and Thursday
spoke to a selected group of
Nebraskans during a morn
ing discussion session and a
noon luncheon. Summer stu
dents at the University heard
from the team at an after
noon convocation.
Other member of the brief
ing team were: Daniel Mont
enegro, director of the depart
ment's office of public serv
ices; Raymond Barett, mem
ber of the Off'ce of Eastern
and South African affairs;
and Chester Merrow, special
adviser to the Department on
community relations.
Summer Nebraskan report
ers scheduled special inter
views with the four members
of the team. During the in
terviews, the reporters asked
the men questions relating to
their specialized fields in the
Department of State.
U. Alexis Johnson
Johnson, who as U.S.
SEATO Council representa
tive, has had experience sit
ting across the negotiatoin ta
ble from the Communist Chi
nese, stated:
"None can deny that Com
munist China is a formidable
and dark shadow. However,
at the risk of over-simplification,
let me say that it no
longer appears as formidable
or even as black as it did a
few years ago.
He explained that when he
returned to Southeast Asia in
1958, Communist China had
just announced its "Great
Leap Forward." He men
tioned that fear went through
that area that Communist
China would accomplish the
Professors Comment
The large number of Afri
can students in this country
could have an important bear
ing on future relations be
tween the United States and
Africa, according to F. W.
Houn, associate professor of
political science.
Houn, who specializes in the
field of international relations
agreed with Raymond J. Bar
rett of the U.S. State Depart
ment on the importance of
the impressions which the stu
dents, many of whom are
expected to become future
leaders of their countries, re
ceive while studying here.
In commenting on Barrett's
prediction of an attempted
economic boycott against the
Union of South Africa, Houn
pointed out that "if the trade
volume between this country
and South Africa is substant
ial enough, difficulties will be
encountered from business in
terests who would oppose such
a boycott."
Pressures against England
in regard to a boycott might
not be as strong today as they
would have been prior to
South A f r i c a's withdrawal
from the British Common
wealth in 1961, Houn said. He
added that economic ties
could possibly cause the Eng
lish to abstain from any Unit
ed Nations vote on a boycott.
Houn agreed with Barrett
that the principle of aid to
Africa is a eood one. "We
can't be alone in this world,
he said.
irniTORS NOTE: The Mlowlnc
lory l another f thm woduei
for the llnlvfrllty' dfpth report
ing flam in the School o J ou nul
lum. Followlnf IlBeolB' iwroTl ol
the roU time nwyor Bropoeal. hint
Jemen, enior In the Schnol of Jour
nallim, trie to And Ml who )'
the deehiloBi In elcht Nebrmkn elUee.
The eltiee etndle were rhwien rl
marily beeamw tlwr renreeenled
dillerent forme "T wemment.
r modifications within on form.
Thli atonr li brlns reprinted beeauen
we felt that manr Nebraaka'a ao
rlil stndlea teaebera mlfbt be inter
ested In the fliMUncn whleh resnlted
from estensle rewareh f Nebraska
eltr (erernments.
By LINDA JENSEN
Who makes the decisions
in Nebraska city govern
ments? Is it the Chamber of Com
merce? Is it the newspaper?
Is it a political party?
Is it the voter? The may
or? The city council?
As Lincoln voters ap
proved, in November, the
change to a full-time may
or, it seemed appropriate
In the wake of election-time
chargers and counter-charges
to find out, if possible,
who really makes the de
cisions in Nebraska cities.
Seven cities, besides Lin
coln, were chosen for ex
amination because of their
geographic locations and
their types of city govern
ment. A political science
probe was applied to the
opinions of leading citizens
in Columbus, Grand Island,
Hastings, Lincoln, Nebras
ka City, North Platte, Oma
ha nnd Scottsbluff.
I- H-L l !
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miracles of economic con
struction that it set as
its
goal, and thus, by examj
iple
and influence alone, over
whelm those seeking to pur
sure the free way.
However, according to
Johnson, Communist China
did not accomplish those mir
acles. Per canita food nroduc
tion has been falling in main
land China, as compared een
erally with its rise in the free
countries of Asia. Johnson
further explained that indus'
trial production lagged rath
er than "leapine forward"
and the rates compare very
uniavoraory witn tne larger
free countries such as Japan,
and India, and even with some
of the smaller countries.
Johnson also commented
that "the picture of the two
stalwart eiants the Soviet
Union and Communist China
marching shoulder to shoul
der to conquer all that lay
before them also has been
fading fast. Not that both of
them are not still Commu
nist, but they no longer pre
sent that picture of shoulder-
to-shoulder unity in carrying
out their objectives. Their
auarrels have broken into the
open and are indeed deep.
He added that an soviet
economic, and apparent
most, if not all. military as
sistance to China has been
stopped.
Raymond Barrett
The real objective of this
country's foreign policy in
Africia is to help the people
obtain the educational train
ing which they so badly need,
according to Raymond J. Bar
rett.
Barrett said that there are
over 5,000 Atncan students
attending American colleges
and universities. The schools
themselves, church groups,
and foundation have a large
Dart in bnneing the students
to the United States.
Now the aid program is ad
ministered determines its
success, Houn said. He added
that not being an expert on
Africa specifically, he was
not prepared to comment on
the effectiveness of the pro
gram. Nebraskans became more
conscious of their direct rela
tionship to foreign affairs by
attending the sessions con
ducted by the U.S. State De
partment briefing team, ac
cording to Dr. James C. Ol
son, chairman of the history
department.
Although Nebraskans tradi
tionally are looked upon as
isolationists, an awareness of
their direct involvement in
foreign affairs has been grow
ing throughout the state, Dr.
Olson observed.
"Nebraskans, particularly
through the University, have
many opportunities to inform
themsleves. More people
should take advantage of
those opportunities," Dr. Ol
son said.
Constant study and expos
ure to the problems of for
eign affairs increase aware
ness. "There's no substitute
for education," he said.
"We need to devote more
attention to foreign languages
and histories of countries oth
er than the United States. The
University has taken the lead
ership in this area. The ex
change program with El Co
legio de Mexico is an im
portant step," Dr. Olson con
cluded
While none of them rep
resei.td a majority, some
of the contradictory, start
ling answers were:
"The Chamber ,! Com
merce tells our mayor and
council what to do."
"Nobody tells our mayor
and council want to do."
"Our mayor and council
read the newspapers before
they decide."
"Our mayor and council
do just the opposite of what
the newspapers tell them to
do."
Those were minority opin
ions, however. If it was
possible to find any one
majority opinion, it was that
the voters make the deci
sions through their elected
mayors and council mem
bers. But, there are decisions
and there are decisions.
The major divisions, how
ever, are legislative and
administrative de
cisions. Legislative deci
sions establish policy and
make law. Administrative
decisions govern the com
munity under the law. The
Rev. Ward Conklin, one of
the leaders questioned in
Scottsbluff, divides the de
cisions into "what to do di
rectives" (legislative) and
"how to do directives" (ad
ministrative). At the state and national
level of government it is
eluded. 1 I
"Most of them go home
with reasonably good impres
sions of this country," Bar
rett said. The Africians are
fairly mature about U.S. race
problems, he added, but often
repeat to us our own phrase,
hv the nrnlf snri for the
i i i - -
people," as a reminder of our
difficulties.
Barrett, who has been with
the Foreign Service since
1949, said that our aid pro
gram, administered by the
Aeencv for International De
velopment. Drovides African
universities with scholarships.
ine oig prooiem is snortage
of money for cost of tuition,
since the eovernments do not
have funds to furnish free
schooling.
In Africia, a tremendous
amount of histnrv that took
the West 100 to 150 years to
pass tnrougn, nas oeen tele
scoped into less than ten
vears. Barrett said. This
could have been extremely
dangerous had not the major
ity of countries chosen to
back peaceful progress. He
pointed out.
"If Africa was denied to
us. even if not controlled bv
the Communists, great prob
lems would be posed tor tne
free world," Barrett said.
During- the Cuban crisis, he
added, no African leaders
lined up with Russia. Many
sided witn the u.s. and wouid
not permit Soviet planes to
fly over their territory. In
some cases, this prevented
the Russians from flying mis
siles directly to Cuba, Bar
rett added
if
1-jiv f
... I
6
not too difficult to under
stand who makes which
kind of decision. Legisla
tive bodies make law, and
elected executives, such as
governors and presidents,
administer them.
At the county level there
is sometimes confusion be
cause the county board
members or commissioners
seem to be a legislative
body. However, they are
primarily administrat
ive since they make no law.
They must operate under
the law already established
by the state legislature.
But at the city level it is
not nearly so simple. Here,
the "whoJto-do" and the
"how-to-do" duties seem to
merge. And here it be
comes a popular pastime to
theorize that anyone from
the city hall janitor to the
richest man in town really
makes the decisions.
And while this may be a
good cold-weather sport,
students of govern
ment quickly emphasized the
importance of local govern
ment. They explain that
there the citizen is closest
to his government. If he
breaks a speed law, he is
arrested by a city police
man he sees every day. If
he gets stuck In the mud in
front of liis house, it may
t..j-.. k io Summer Nebraskan " Page One
Barrett warned that oaHbig
gest chance for losing Africa
to the Communists stems fr
the racial problems in U
southern African countries.
He predicts that the African
nations will push for an arms
embargo through the United
Nations this fall, aimed at th
Union of South Africa.
To date, the U.S. has op
posed economic boycotts of
South Africa, Barrett said,
but the other African coun
tries are now asking us, "All
right, you oppose apartheid.
What are you going w
about it?"
Peaceful d e m o n s t r a
Knnc imvA been tried, but
don't always work, Barrett
said. He pointed out that this
country's position is compli-
cated oy American uuoiuo
there and trade with aoum
Africa.
Rarrptt aid that the Afri
cans or trvinp to help them
selves in setting up new ed
ucational facilities, un June
28, the new University of East
Africa will be formally dedi
cated. Uganda, Kenya, ana
Tanganyika have joined to
gether to torm tne new
school, and each of the three
countries will have a campus,-
Barrett said.
The U.S. consulates and em
bassies in these countries at
tempt to get Africans, wno
are apparently going to be fu
ture leaders, to come to this
country for education, Bar-
. . .1 1 J 4.1. U
rett said, ne aaaea umi u
is "hard for many Africans
tn understand our federal sys
tem of government because
'4
be because the city councu
has not decided to pave.
"Local government," Dr.
A. B. Winter, University of
Nebraska political scien
tist, explains, "reconciles
political, social, and eco
nomic conflicts in the local
arena in much the same
way as state legislatures
and the national Congress
reconcile conflicts on the
state and national levels."
The kind of government
you have in your town may
help " decide who arrests
you when you drive too fast
or whether your street is
paved. Of the eight cities
involved in this survey, six
of them have mayor-council
systems. However, in
these cities Columbus,
Grand Island, Hastings,
Lincoln, North Platte, and
Omaha there is consider
able difference in who
makes what decision. (Since
the research for this story
was done, Grand Island vot
ers have approved a city
manager government.)
Government Differences
For example, Omaha and
Lincoln (after May, 1963)
are the only towns with
full-time mayors. And only
in Columbus are the city
officials elected on a party
basis.
In the , remaining two
cities, Scottsbluff has a
mayor and council plus a
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BRIEFING TEAM-Barrett (from left), Merrow,
they haven't had any exper
ience witn sucn a tning.
Chester Merrow
Americans are interested in
foreign relations but they
should be "more interested
to get the true picture of for
eign policy," said Chest
er Merrow.
Merrow feels the Depart
ment is doing its best to in
form the American people of
foreign policy. However, more
should be done, he said.
Other Methods
Besides the briefing team
the Deapartment uses back
ground meetings for he press
in Washington, speakers and
regional conferences in order
to instruct the public on our
foreign policy. The briefing
team cets "closest to the
fit
city manager, and Nebras
ka City has the commission
system under which three
officials conduct the city's
business.
With that background,
let's see who makes the de
cisions. .
To dc it, let's talk in each
community to the mayor,
the superintendent of
schools, an officer of the
Chamber of Commerce, a
representative of-the cler
gy, the police chief, and the
city attorney.
Let's see if we can really
find out who is boss in
these Nebraska cities.
First: Who," at least on
the surface, is empowered
to make the decisions?
City Councils
Generally, the city coun
cils make the decisions in
Nebraska city governments.
In the case of Nebraska
City, the commissioners do
it.
All of the 41 people inter
viewed said that the mayor
council combinations have
the final say in city affairs.
However, seven of them
gave some decision-making
credit to the mayor because
he is supposed to be better
acquainted with the execu
tive affairs of the city.
The mayor, in all of the
towns under consideration,
(continued on page Z)
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uoipjnnnts In the civil rights paraae sei uui un mc .
grass roots," Merrow said.
News media could do much
better in explaining the "rea
son why" of foreign policy,
Merrow said. "The full facts
ought to be reported," he
said. "Impressions can be
misleading."
Daniel Montenegro
"There is a growing realiza
tion of interdependence
among the peoples of Far
Eastern countries," stated
Daniel Montenegro.
A specialist on Europe and
the Pacific Area, he feels the
time may well come when a
mutual aid pact among free
Asian people will be formed
similar in philosophy and
aims to those of NATO mem
ber countries.
5 ft
'J x i:
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llilt W ml ISSS
reedom
Staged in
Over two hundred civil
rights demonstrators, mostly
white, gathered in front of
the Historical Society on the
University Campus at 2:00
Friday afternoon and after
hearing a prayer by Kev.
Everett Reynolds in the
memory of NAACr olliciai
Medgar Evers marched sol
emnly down 14th street to the
State Capitol.
Thev were met at the Cap
itol bv Omaha Senator Ed
ward Danner, who standing
beneath the statue of "The
Great Emancipator" Abra
ham Lincoln for whom tne
city was named, gave a pre
pared talk on civil rights ef
forts here in Nebraska.
Senator Danner's talk cen
tered on economic equality
and the two recently Kuieu
legislative proposals LB347,
Fair Employment Law and
LB596 the Fair Housing Law.
Senator Danner raised such
icsiiPR as the "heritage of
freedom" and just what-is
"the American Way of Lite?"
"Freedom without equality is
an illusion." said Senator Dan
ner, and the "dignity of the
individual person is at stake
in this struggle for freedom
with law.
Senator Danner described
numerous incidences of dis
crimination against the negro
Johnson and Montenegro.
"With political maturation
and the growing threat of
Chinese communism, Free
Asia is increasingly aware of
the nearness of the Chinese
war machine being assemb
led. The old picture of an
agrarian, un-coordinated Chi
na is fast disappearing," he
explained.
Montenegro, who served in
the mid-1950's as American
consul in New Caldeonia,
says, "Much must still be a
matter of conjecture, but
alarms have sounded all ov
er the sprawling Far East,
helped in large part by Chi
na's assault on India, to warn
'uncommitted' countiresin the
area that a concert of deter
mination of common dangers
and mutual aid is advisable."
March
Lincoln
in employment opportunities
and -housing opportunities by
the "unwritten law" of prej
udice, bringing up such
points as "how can we
raise our children to become
good citizens if we are denied
the means by which to ac
complish this end?"
An estimated three hundred
persons followed the march
ers and stood attentively with
the demonstrators as Senator
Danner poke. The demonstra
tion proceeded without inci
dent; however, as the Lin
coln City Police cleared the
way and watched over the
group.
The demonstration, accord
ing to Jerry Behringer, one
nf the leaders, was a com
munity inspired one with the
NAACP cancelling a previous
ly scheduled aemonsxrauon
for Sunday and joining his
group on Friday.
Manv of the students inter
viewed were friends of peo-
s 1 - J . M
pie wno mey oeuevea naa
been discriminaetd against
and were taking part to
protest for them. The greater
majority of the marchers
were students although there
were teachers, businessmen
and a few children included
in the group.
