 It's time for the Lawn Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a presentation of the Lawn Jean Wettner Watch Company, maker of Lawn Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wettner, distinguished companion to the world-honored Lawn Jean. Good evening. This is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope? Larry LeCerre of the CBS Television News staff, and Earl Maisel, political reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Our distinguished guest for this evening is the Honorable Harrison A. Williams, Jr., Congressman-elect from New Jersey. Congressman-elect Williams, you're 33 years old, and I believe the first Democrat to be elected from your district in New Jersey, which is Union County. Can you tell us, do you have any advice for young men who are thinking about going into politics? Well, to the young people who are interested in public affairs and good government, and have a feeling for politics, I hope my election will encourage them to participate and seek office. What do you actually need to go into politics? Do you need a lot of money? No. No, you don't. Well, do you need the backing of a political boss? No, that's not essential either. Well, we've heard it said, Sarah, that the election of the Democrat in the 9th District of Wisconsin was due to dissatisfaction by the farmers up there over Secretary Benson's farm policies. But your area in Union County is suburban and industrial. How do you account for your victory there? Well, we had many factors operating. I don't believe there was any single issue, such as the issue, the farm issue out in Wisconsin. We had an issue with bossism in the county and the Republican party that had served to take the government away from the people in the selection of candidates. There had been a disregard for the thinking of the people. We had another local issue where I had followed the record of the former congressman and believed in it and told the people that I would try to do the same kind of job. We had many issues. I want to ask you about that. Your predecessor was congressman Clifford Case, a Republican, and he won an election to the 5th term last year by a majority of 55,000. And here you are, Democrat, win by 2,000. Do you think that quite a lot of that is because you ran on Mr. Case's record? I believe so, yes. As I say, people had grown to know Clifford Case and his record and they liked it and I believed in it too. Was it a Republican or a Democratic record you were running on? Well, I wouldn't put a label on it on the issues. As it turns out, on many votes Clifford Case was with the Democrats. Well, congressman elections, you were running on the record of a progressive Republican. Would you say you had been capitalizing on a split in the Republican Party between the so-called young Turks who supported Eisenhower at the convention and the old guard? Well, I don't know if you'd put it as capitalizing on it. That was the fact. I followed the principles and believed in the same principles as the predecessor who happened to be a Republican. And I found that people would know what I think more easily if I expressed it that way, which was the factual situation. Well, towards the end of the campaign, as I recall, the Republican National Committee and the congressman for Eisenhower and whatnot pretty well flooded the 6th district with their people and they had big bandwagons and barrage balloons saying a vote for Mr. Hetfield, your opponent was a vote for Eisenhower. Do you think that anybody voted for you because they were voting against Eisenhower? Or very many people did? Well, I don't believe that was the basic issue. I expressed the feeling that wherever possible I would support the president and believe on many issues that my party has supported the president. And I don't believe that this was a vote against Eisenhower, although there is a real disappointment with much of his program and a real disappointment, too, with the 10 months of the Republican Congress. And I believe they were voting to a great extent against the record of Congress. Well, Congressman Williams, Mr. Mazer, just said that the Republican National Committee had poured money and manpower into the campaign of your opponent. Did the Democratic National Committee do the same for you? No, we had neither manpower nor money from the National Committee. Did you try to get any? Yes, we talked to them and would have liked to have had some money. Why didn't they give it to you? Well, I don't believe they had a great deal of money in the first place, and the statistics showed that the race was not too favorable from our viewpoint. We in the district knew that there was a good possibility, but when you look at the cold figures in Washington, it didn't look too hopeful. Did you actually think you could win? Yes, I did. Well, if they considered it a lost hope in the National Committee, did you get any outside aid at all from the other progressives in the party? I had replies from all over the country. As a matter of fact, it wasn't much money in total, but it was encouraging to have support from as far west as Seattle. Support in what regard? Money. We had a budget of $3,000 and part of that came from all over the country. How much of it came from within the district or within the state? I would say about $2,500 was purely local. Congressman, you said that in your campaign that you would support enlightened Republicans as you call them on most of President Eisenhower's foreign policy. What specific elements in that foreign policy were you referring to that you would support? Well, first of all, I believe and feel that the President has a strong belief in the United Nations as a means to achieving a peaceful world. And if that is his policy, and I think it is, I agree that the United Nations is the first and foremost way of working towards a peaceful world. Well, may I ask on domestic policy, do you back Taft-Hartley Act? No. I, in my campaign, stated I'm in favor of repeal. I have read the amendments that has been suggested the President approved of at one time. I find myself in agreement with them. I believe in stating that I favor repeal. I want to, I would like to see the labor management relations act out of politics. I do know that there are many, many people that feel Taft-Hartley is anti-labor. And I do think that we can get a lot of good out of Taft-Hartley. We should get a lot of good, too, out of the Wagner Act. I do believe it should be a new act. Do you think that that was an element in your election since Union County is a highly industrialized area that you did support repeal of Taft-Hartley? Well, yes. I believe that a large number of working people favor repeal. How about taxes? What position did you take in the campaign and what position do you have now on the matter of the income tax, say, 10% reduction in January and so forth? Well, I believe that faced with the tremendous necessary spending for the defense program and the assistance to other nations all towards the end of creating a peaceful world, that is first. If we can have that and reduce taxes, yes. But I don't believe we should cut taxes before we secure this world against, or this nation and the world against the communist mentality. Well, I think the Secretary of Treasury said the other day that the cuts were going to come anyway, the ones that are in the all thing. Does that mean that you'll favor some new tax or sales tax or something like that to make up the difference? No, I don't believe that. I know I'm not in favor of a sales tax and I believe the administration, too, has changed its position from what it was about eight weeks ago on a sales tax. Representative Williams, in the recognition of the fact that a Democrat has won a victory in your district and also in Wisconsin, this seems to make Republican control of the House rather a borderline control. Can you tell us, do you think that the Brownells bringing up the case of the late Harry Dexter White had political significance at this time? Yes, I think so. In my district, the Republicans were running scared as the expression goes, and from what I read in the California race they were running scared. The timing of the Brownell statement, the forum and before which the charges were made, I believe indicate some real political motivation for the charges. You think it was a move of desperation? Yes, I believe that it was. Do you think it actually influenced the California elections which went in favor of the Republicans? Well, of course I can't say. I haven't become familiar with what was going on out in California. It seemed a little late to me to really have any effect. If it would have happened before your election, would it have influenced that? I doubt it. I believe the people in my district would have seen through the charges as rendered and in the manner they were rendered. Well, what is the actual balance in the House of Representatives now? After California, I believe it's 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats. There's one independent. Well, would you Democrats actually have wanted to win control of the House at this time, or would you prefer to let the President's party control both houses? Well, of course we couldn't. There weren't enough elections to control the House. Well, Representative Williams, may I ask you, as a last question, what do you think your own election as a progressive Democrat means to the entire significance of the progressive side of the Democratic Party now? Well, I feel that my election in one of the districts of New Jersey, together with the election of Bob Miner, is Governor, a young man of 45, very forward-looking, constructive, highly honest public official. He has established the younger forward-looking people as the leaders in New Jersey. And we have beaten any of the elements of bossism that might have existed in the party in our state. I believe this should be some encouragement to other states where the younger people are struggling to establish themselves as the leaders of the party in their respective states. Well, thank you very much, Congressman-Elect Williams. It's been a pleasure to have you here tonight. The opinions you've heard our speakers express tonight have been entirely their own. The editorial board for this edition of the Long Gene Chronoscope was Larry LeSerre of the CBS television news staff and Earl Maisot, political reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Our distinguished guest was the Honorable Harrison A. Williams Jr., Congressman-Elect from New Jersey. More than once, the tick of a watch has made history. Thus, at precisely 11 o'clock on the morning of November 11, 1918, the guns were deceased firing in World War I. In your own day-to-day affairs, as in mine, important events are arranged according to time. A dependable and trustworthy watch, such as Long Gene, is neither a mere convenience nor a sheer extravagance. To millions of busy people, a Long Gene watch is, in fact, a sensible necessity. In this, lies a suggestion for Christmas. 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