Happy Talk

Just a bit like South Pacific's Bloody Mary, President Eisenhower seems to have been concerned largely with "talking about things he'd like to do" to meet the nation's crucial education problem. For the President has succeeded only in setting other people talking about a problem which had become pressing several years before his election. Not that this talk has been without its uses. The White House Conference on Education did serve to stir the interest of either apathetie or conservative segments of the populace. Certain previously reactionary groups as a result of the conference have suddenly taken an interest in organizing local action to alleviate the critical overcrowding of their schools.

Despite all the Eisenhower administration's talk and study, however, no legislation, and not even a comprehensive program materialized. Even Eisenhower admits that the latest imaginative addition to federal aid to education was made six years ago, though the intervening years were fraught with war babies. The reasons for the President's failure in this respect are not completely clear. The President blames the Democrats, who, he maintains, voted against his bill 215 to 9. He fails to point out that a majority of Democrats afterward voted for a similar bill, which the Republicans managed to kill through their shenanigans over the Powell amendment. Thinking to make political capital by supporting the enforcement of integration through restriction of federal aid, the Republicans voted for the Powell amendment. Then using the amendment as their excuse, they proceeded to quash the bill.

Republican responsibility for the Powell amendment fiasco seems fairly definite--ninety-six Republicans in the House voted for the Powell amendment and against the bill. Whether, as the Democrats claim, Eisenhower might have prevented this devious behavior is open to question. It is possible that Ike's inaction on the question was based on his principle of "quiet leadership," although on other issues he has exerted himself conspicuously. One factor in this particular disintegration of White House leadership was the President's somewhat disabling post-operation convalescene at the time. Whatever the cause, by allowing Republican legislators to play political shuttlecock with a vital problem, Ike has let the seed of his prestige fall on stony ground.

Even had the President secured passage of his education bill, it would have been inadequate. The Eisenhower administration concerned itself only with school construction, whereas the program proposed by Stevenson in his latest New America report asks in addition for aid for teachers' salaries, government scholarships for higher education, increased foreign student exchange, and the encouragement of adult education.

The fact that Stevenson does not have to convince a large wing of his party of America's educational needs helps to explain his much bolder and more comprehensive plan of action. Although there are some Democrats who oppose increased federal aid for education, the majority need no urging to see the danger of the situation, particularly in states without industry and consequently without much tax income. Even considering the strong support of his party on this issue, however, Stevenson's program reveals a more imaginative and comprehensive approach then has yet appeared in an Eisenhower proposal on education. In one report he has informed the people far more of their need than Eisenhower has in four years of happy talk and dog paddling. And the remedies which the Governor prescribes for the nation's educational ills are indisputable--all are absolute necessities for a nation which hopes to lead the world and still maintain its democratic processes. In view of the international responsibilities and a concurrent sophistication which have lately been thrust upon us, these programs are imperative, even at the cost of as yet uncalculated billions. The additional government expenditure proposed by the Governor is not likely to make the more conservative taxpayers happy. But as an investment it is certainly as likely to pay off as the 60 billions currently being spent on defense. If Stevenson does not talk happy talk on the school issue, he does talk about things that he, and more important, his party are very likely to do.