Nation: A Dubious Deed

Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee Bill Miller campaigned through eleven states, 14 cities and towns, and 15 speeches last week, snapping constantly at the heels of and around Lyndon Johnson and hinting frequently at dark and untrustworthy goings-on.

In Denver, Miller cried that the Democrats “have given us Bobby Baker and Billie Sol Estes. And Lyndon Johnson had the colossal nerve at Atlantic City to go before the American people and say, ‘Let us continue.'” In Lincoln, Neb., he told an airport crowd about what might happen if Johnson wins the election: “I suppose we will have George Meany as head of the Small Business Administration and Bobby Baker as Secretary of the Treasury.” In Columbus, he struck out at possible Democratic dirty work at the polls: “Maybe we’re being optimistic, but we hope that when votes are cast in Chicago, they’ll be counted. And maybe we’re being too optimistic—but maybe they’ll be counted in Texas too.”

A New Clause. Before 4,000 delegates to the Texas Republican Convention in Austin, Miller waved a 1938 deed for 20 parcels of land outside Austin bought by Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson with no restrictions of any sort. The Johnsons still own much of the land —now a valuable tract on Lake Austin surrounded by prosperous-looking homes. But in 1945, said Miller, the Johnsons sold seven lots of that property, and at that time a new clause was inserted in the deed—prohibiting “any person or persons of African descent” from occupying the property except as domestic servants.

Said Miller about Johnson’s current championship of civil rights: “This shows the hypocrisy of Lyndon Johnson on this whole issue.” Miller charged that Johnson inserted the restrictive clause “either because he wanted to be certain that no Negro could ever own property adjacent to the lush and lovely land remaining in his possession, or because he did not want Negro neighbors, or because he was afraid of lowering his own property values.”

“A Matter of Record.” The White House responded with disdain, said the President couldn’t be expected to recall the contents of a deed 19 years old and that, anyway, he “is flatly opposed to any such restrictions—and this is a matter of record.” Actually, there was no doubt about the authenticity of the document displayed by Miller. But that should not have surprised anyone who has studied Johnson’s record and knows that his championship of civil rights is of relatively recent vintage. During his first ten years in Congress, he voted four times against doing away with the poll tax, a weapon long used to keep Southern Negroes from voting.