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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1972)
Page 8 College Station, Texas Wednesday, January 26, 1972 THE BATTALION Martin asks for continuation of filing fees AUSTIN, Tex. (A>) _ Atty. Gen. Crawford Martin asked the U. S. Supreme Court Tuesday to let Texas continue a candidate filing fee system that a three- judge federal court in Dallas ruled unconstitutional Jan. 20. Martin asked the court to stay the Dallas order until the state can submit its formal appeal or until the Supreme Court rules OUR SPECIALTY 1/5 Carat Eye Clean Diamond For Senior Ring, $40 plus tax C. W. Varner & Sons Jewelers North Gate 846-5816 on an earlier Texas filing fee case. “The whole primary election process may be severely ham pered, if not utterly destroyed in certain instances, by the lack of availability of funds from filing fees,” Martin said in his motion. Filing fees paid by candidates are used to pay the costs of holding primary elections. Gov. Preston Smith said Mon day it was “entirely possible” he will call a special legislative ses sion to provide a new method of financing the primaries, set for May 6. Smith added he and his staff were “doing everything we can to work out alternatives” to the filing fee system. Martin told the Supreme Court special legislation might not be sufficient because state financ ing of primaries might require an amendment to the Texas con stitution. Since special sessions can not act on constitutional amend ments, it would be 1973 before such a measure could be sub mitted to the voters. Martin added that if the leg islature does appropriate funds for the primaries, it might also “be faced with the additional task of passing a tax bill to raise the required funds.” “Voting and the election pro cess is the very life blood of constitutional government in this state and of this nation — it should not be threatened, ham-* pered, disrupted or brought to a stop upon an issue as to how it is to be financed without af fording adequate time for un hurried decisions as to how to resolve the complicated issues entailed,” Martin said. The Dallas court issued its ruling in a suit filed by Rick Johnston, a Democratic primary candidate for justice of the peace in Dallas. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in November on the state’s appeal of a three-judge federal court decision that filing fees are unconstitutional because they placed a “wealth require ment” on candidates and the vot ers who support them. No decision has been returned in that case. The 1971 legislature passed a bill allowing candidates to run for office without paying a fil ing fee, provided they submitted a petition signed by persons rep resenting 10 per cent of the votes cast in their areas for a party’s gubernatorial nominee in 1970. That bill was intended for use this year if the Supreme Court failed to rule in the earlier case or upheld the lower court’s de cision. Free Lube Job With Oil Change & Filter Change (This Week) Walding’s Texaco Service Center Across From The New Engineering Bldg. — 846-9455 ERRORITE" ATVOU, * BOOKSTORE THE BASEMENT COFFEEHOUSE Presents Blues & Folk Singer MANCE LIPSCOMB Friday and Saturday Only—8 p. m. - Midnight In The Lower Level of the MSC Admission 75^ Single or $1.25 Couple Bentson asks court to block legislative redistricting plan WASHINGTON <A>> _ Sen. Lloyd Bentsen backed Texas of ficials Tuesday in asking Justice Lewis Powell Jr. to block a court- ordered redistricting plan for the state’s congressional delegation. Bentsen, a Democrat, said the plan approved Saturday by a three-judge panel in Dallas would “gravely and irreversably dis rupt the political structure of the state of Texas with respect to its representation in the Con gress.” The plan is to supplant one drawn up last year by the Texas legislature. The three judges, Joe Ingraham, William M. Tay lor Sr. and Robert M. Hill, de clared it in violation of the one- man, one-vote rule. The legislature’s plan would have placed 4.1 per cent more people in the largest congres sional district than in the small est. The Supreme Court has held that congressional districts must be equal in population and that even the smallest variance from equality is illegal if not justified. On Monday, Texas officials filed a motion in the Supreme Court for a stay. They asked Powell, who has jurisdiction over suits from Texas, to block the district court’s plan. Bentsen, through Yale law Prof. Charles L. Black Jr., sup ported the Texas officials as a “friend of the court.” He said BECAUSE YOU ASKED WE WILL OFFER THE AGGIE SPECIAL FOR ONE holiday health — MORE WEEK! r Only sp* $8 BRYAKI a month for 4 months TEMPLE For this week only — to the first 20 applicants, (open only to students, staff, faculty, & their families). ( 2 BLOCKS EAST OF VILLA MARIA ROAD ) 3008 E. 29th Call: 822-1529 Call Now — Only 20 Left! For Maggies & Aggie Wives: “One of the nicest things about being a woman is your figure.” HOURS FOR WOMEN: Mon., Wed., & Fri: 9 a. m.-9 p. m. Tues. & Thur: 9 a. m.-Noon For Aggies: “One of the nicest things about being a man is your physique.” HOURS FOR MEN: Tuesday & Thurs: Noon-9 p. m. Saturday: 6 a. m.-6 p. m. Hurry! — Be One Of The First 20 To Call Also ask about your FREE Tour (no obligation attached) FREE BABYSITTING Membership Transferable All Over the World ONLY 20 LEFT-CALL NOW the Dallas panel’s judgment “is wrong, not being warranted by the Constitution or by the pre cedents of this court.” The senator said the granting of a stay would produce some harm — “Mainly, the holding of an election under the legisla ture’s plan, with only several small variations from exact mathematical equality.” But, he added, this “is by sev eral orders of magnitude less than the multiple and gravely disruptive harms that would re sult from the utterly drastic de cree of the district court, em bodying as it does a very large number of major political judg ments antithetic to those made by the state’s elected representa tives.” Six Texas congressmen pitted against each other in the court- ordered redistricting plan are irritated with Texas Gov. Pres ton Smith for spurning their pleas to call the legislature into session to draft an alternate bill. In a statement Bentsen issued after meeting with some of the affected congressmen, he said he was upset with the federal dis trict court’s “activist role in such matters.” He said redistricting is a job for the legislature, the body elected by the people, and he noted that the court in its deci sion had stated that the Legisla-« ture had made a good-faith ef fort to redistrict. “The court can rightfully set up acceptable parameters for dis tricting but certainly adoption of such a changed plan was usurpa tion of legislative powers,” Bent sen said. SAIGON <2P) — President Nguyen Van Thieu said Wednes day he agreed to the secret allied peace proposal that calls for his resignation and a major switch in his position—new elections with Communist participation. Thieu had stated repeatedly that the Communists could not take part in South Vietnamese elections unless they first re nounced violent revolution and laid down their arms. But he made no reference to his traditional position in a broad cast speech to the nation Wednes day. His expressed willingness to permit the National Liberation Front — or Viet Cong — to take part in a new election was tan tamount to acceptance of a coa lition government including them. “All of the political parties in South Vietnam, including the so- called National Liberation Front, WITH THE WINTER CHILL upon us, some GOO passe sail aboard the Queen Elizabeth II Friday night as i the highlighted waters of the Hudson River on its warmer shores. Scene is looking west on New York’s I Street with New Jersey looming in the background. Wirephoto) Thieu says he agrees to allied peace proposals can participate in the election and present candidates,” Thieu said. Although the election plan calls for the president and his vice president, Tran Van Huong, to resign a month before the vote, Theiu did not rule himself out as a candidate. His removal from office ha:t been a major Communist demand in the Paris peace talks. Thieu spoke minutes after President Nixon completed his own detailed report on the eight-point plan Nixon said had been offered in secret to the North Vietnamese and thus far rejected. “The government of the Repub lic of Vietnam considers that the . . . proposals constitute a con crete and comprehensive solution, based on the principle of self- determination of the people, to settle the war in Vietnam and bring back a just and lasting peace to the area,” Thieu said. He added that his govern! was calling on “all the go«l ments and peoples of the wf to support this most 111 generous offer.” The South Vietnamese dent expressed the hope, Communists would agree plan “for a quick restorsi peace in South Vietnam." An election, which Thieu would be “free and democralsj would be held six months af| a peace agreement had M reached. The election woi organized under supervisi an independent group madeufl all South Vietnam’s political* i ties, including the NLF—thell Cong. FOR BEST RESULTS TRY BATTALION CLASSIFY Its cJMP/ IMS tloCs Texas A&M University 1971-72 Directory FIGHT] Aggies ing on. for the the sixt lor Satu zon for B • Student Listings • Student Senate •Civilian Student Council •University Calendar • Faculty-Staff Listings • Board of Directors •Corps of Cadets Commanders • Athletic Schedule • Campus Map AVAILABLE— Student Publications Office Exchange Store MSC Gift Shop University Book Store All Banks $1.50 attai Ml 2:30 I CLOSE] OPEf KfiMMHHM