Little Slam in Hearts

At the quiet little (pop. 1,379) town of Whitney, in the rolling hills of central Texas, U.S. Senator Lyndon Johnson last week made his first political speech since he was stricken with a heart attack last July. To the 1,510 Texans at a Democratic fund-raising dinner in the Whitney high school gymnasium, the most absorbing word from Johnson was his call for unity and loyalty among Texas Democrats, who switched to Dwight Eisenhower by the thousands in 1952. But another facet of the Senate majority leader's speech alerted politicians in Washington and all over the U.S. Serving notice to Democrats and Republicans that he intends to be the key man on Capitol Hill next year, Lyndon Johnson outlined a 13-point legislative program carefully worded to stay off the skyline. His 13 points: P: "A social security bill reducing the age limit for women and extending coverage to most self-employed groups.

P: "A tax revision to benefit the low-income groups--probably increasing exemptions.

P: "A health program to aid medical research and to include larger grants for hospital construction.

P: "A school construction program to meet the needs of our children.

P: "A public roads program.

P: "A farm program which will restore 90% of parity subsidies, extend the benefits to additional products, and possibly include a soil rental program.

P: "A natural gas bill which will preserve free enterprise and of course provide legitimate protection to consumers.

P: "A housing program designed for America's families who are yearning to build or rent dwellings they can afford.

P: "A water resources program.

P: "A program to relieve critical depressed areas on the basis of federal and state cooperation, including tax measures to encourage industry, additional public works, supplementary unemployment insurance and surplus food grants.

P: "Amendments to the immigration and naturalization laws to ensure that they are fair and just.

P: "A constitutional amendment eliminating the poll tax.

P: "Disaster insurance to protect our people from the ravages of nature." Democrat Johnson had designed his election-year program, he said, to show the voters that "ours is the party with a heart." His skillful formulation was welcomed by most of his fellow Democrats.

Minnesota's left-of-center U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey, however, labeled it "twelve hits and one strike-out." The strikeout: Johnson's proposal on natural gas. Texan Johnson and Democrats from other gas-producing states want natural gas to flow free of federal price controls, while Democrats of Minnesotan Humphrey's stripe want tight control from Washington to hold prices down. Majority Leader Johnson's point on gas might in 1956 lead to a congressional fight demonstrating that not all Democratic hearts are in the same place. As for the rest of the program, the Democratic congressional majorities had as good a chance to enact it next year as they have had in the recent past.

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