USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume II > Part 37
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With the increased demands for higher education, other institutions developed and expanded. In the post-war years, junior colleges such as Hillyer and New Haven expanded into four-year institutions. Arnold Col- lege joined with an expanding Bridgeport University. Others, such as Mitchell and Quinnipiac colleges, began to assume a greater responsi- bility for the education of Connecticut youth. The most significant devel- opment, perhaps, was the combination of Hillyer College, the Hart Col- lege of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Ward School of Electronics to lay a basis for the University of Hartford. Under the leadership of Vincent B. Coffin, who assumed the position of Chancellor, the University quickly caught the imagination of the public. Contributions were solicited for a building program designed to locate all the colleges on a single campus. A beginning was made in assembling a faculty and in develop- ing an academic program in the Arts and Sciences which hopefully would compare to that already established in music and the fine arts.15
Mental Health
National attention focused on the condition of mental hospitals throughout the country and resulted in Connecticut, in 1953, in the establishment of a separate Department of Mental Health. During the war years, conscientious objectors who had been assigned to mental hos- pitals became convinced that "a public could be aroused from its torpor if confronted by the full facts in all their sordid details." One of the first experiments conducted as a result of their efforts was that at the Con- necticut State Mental Hospital in Middletown in 1944. There the hospital took newspaper reporters into its confidence. Then, as hospitals through-
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out the country opened their doors to the press, the need for improved care and facilities was brought so forcibly to the attention of the public and its officials that it was a major subject of consideration of the Council on State Governments in 1949; and in 1953 Governor Lodge, acting on the recommendation of Connecticut's Legislative Council, recommended the Department of Mental Health. The governing body was a council of ten, with a Commissioner as the executive authority. To him was assigned general supervision over the three state hospitals and the Connecticut Child Study and Treatment Center. The principle of citizens' control of the affairs of the state was extended by the establishment of a Citizens Advisory Committee on Welfare.16
Taxes and Politics
As the day of adjournment approached, the Governor appeared to become embroiled with members of his own Party on the issue of tax increases. The Democrats had given Lodge a tight budget in 1951; and, in 1953, when there were services which were badly needed and which necessarily would cause an increase in taxes, the Democrats were in the strategic position of being able to blame the Governor for any increase. There would not be another scheduled session of the legislature before the gubernatorial election. The Legislative Finance Committee recom- mended a $41,900,000 tax increase, which called for an increase in the sales tax from two to three per cent; an increase in the unincorporated business tax for two years from one to two dollars per thousand, for each thousand in excess of $50,000; and an increase in the corporation tax for a period of two years from three to 3.7 per cent. The last was less than the four per cent requested by the Governor and he immediately challenged the Committee. Whether or not it was a bona fide fight, it was perhaps good politics for the Governor to identify himself with the average tax payer and insist on higher rates for the corporation. What was labeled "as a knock down drag out fight" between the Governor and the Committee, bears all the characteristics of a sham battle, particularly when the Senate supported the compromise tax plan which called for a rate of 3.75 per cent on corporations. Caught in the midst of a tax dilemma the Governor would have wished to appear as the champion of
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the average man on the matter of taxes while building his case for re- election on the new services which were provided the citizens of the State.17
Republicans confidently believed that they had achieved such a pro- gram in 1953, and Lodge apparently had consolidated his strength with- in the party. In addition to the highway program, the improved welfare services, the creation of the Department of Mental Health, and the four dollar increase in state aid to education, there had been meaningful gains in the area of labor. The workmen's compensation benefits were in- creased to 40 dollars a week; and unemployment benefits, to 30 dollars a week. The authorization of bond issues of $12,000,000 for institutional expansion and the $1,250,000 for the University of Connecticut and the $500,000 for the teachers' colleges provided for additional needed facil- ities. The increase of the Superior Court judges from 20 to 25 and of those of the Courts of Common Pleas from 10 to 12 not only constituted a step toward relieving the courts, but also afforded an opportunity to strengthen the patronage ties within the party. Then, too, the party was riding the crest of the popularity of a Republican President and the end of the Korean War. The State was on the brink of a new period of prosperity as a result of the stimulus of more than three and one-fourth billion dollars in war contracts which the State Development Commis- sion reported had come into the state by December, 1952. In recognition of the services which they had rendered, veterans' benefits were extended to Korean veterans. Lodge's position seemed enhanced as a result of his capturing leadership of the Young Republicans which had been a strong- hold of the Brennan faction of the party.18
It was, nevertheless, not an unblemished record. It was charged that at times the lawmakers had irresponsibly refused to make some reforms for which Connecticut had a pressing need. Although there might have been political risks involved, the Courant no doubt would have placed in that category the failure to reorganize the State's educational struc- ture. There would seem to have been political advantage to be gained in accepting the proposal to extend aid to neglected and dependent chil- dren. The women of the state had mobilized in support of the bill and the Hartford Courant reversed its own stand and suggested the extraor- dinary procedure that the vote not only be by roll call, but that those
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voting against the proposal be asked to state their reasons. Nonetheless the proposal was shunted aside for more study, a favorite method of those who wish to block legislation. The reason given by Jerome Beatty, the Chairman of the Welfare Committee, was that the measure would have cost $3,200,000. John Dempsey charged that "the interests of the children were sold out to purchase votes for the Governor's high tax program." 19
The Party's own sense of respectability was shaken by allega- tions that persons high in the counsel of the Party were involved in attempts at shakedown and bribery which had accompanied the passage of the fireworks legislation in the previous session of the Assembly. It was found that a law passed in 1951, purportedly designed to make fire works safe for Connecticut residents, not only was notoriously ineffec- tive, but by outlawing all larger salutes except those of a specific dimen- sion gave a monopoly to one Connecticut manufacturer. When collusion was charged, a special investigating committee began to turn up evidence that was to implicate former members of the Assembly, but none who were then in a high position. The allegations then were declared "without foundation." 2º Appearances suffered further when, in the last days of the 1953 session, four bills turned up missing in the Senate, lost or stolen.
The Assembly was "at times rebellious." The Republican legislature had "thumbed its nose" at the leadership and had turned down the pro- posal to decrease the size of the House only to be embarrassed later when the Party's neatly contrived method of redistricting the Senate, from which so much had been expected politically, was declared unconstitu- tional on the grounds that it had not been accomplished at the session next after the year of the census of the United States. The Courant re- minded the law-makers that the Assembly would continue to turn in bad jobs until it was brought up to date. The decision to rewrite the consti- tution was slight balm for those who believed in a major alteration of the state's government. The Assembly, the Courant concluded, was not "destined to go down in history as one of the better ones." In evaluat- ing Lodge, himself, however the journal recognized that he still suffered from the aloofness he had practiced and that he might have profited by calling in the heads of his departments while the budget was being pre- pared, but the paper contended that except for the "soak the rich tax
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policy" that which "Lodge stood for makes sense and is good for Con- necticut." 21
The 1954 Campaign
The parties patched and realigned their forces in preparation for the 1954 campaign. Until the very eve of the election, this proceeded unspectacularly providing the voters with practically no issues upon which to make a decision. Despite the gains which Lodge might have made within the party, the Brennan-Zeller group was still to be reckoned with if the party were to hope for success in November. The bitter party struggle could not be settled by a proverbial "wave of the hand," but an accord was reached, after prolonged discussion, on the eve of the nomi- nating convention. Lodge headed the ticket. To Charles Jewett of the "new guard" went the nomination for Lieutenant Governor, and to Zeller of the "old" went that of Comptroller. The rest of the ticket was chosen with similar political discretion. In the nominee for Secretary of State, Mildred Allen, the gracious wife of the encumbent Lieutenant Governor, the Republican Party had chosen one who exerted a quieting influence on warring politicians. What had happened to Connecticut politics was dramatically revealed when the electorate was asked to choose between the "middle way" of the Republicans and the "middle of the road approach" of the Democratic candidate. The trend of political convic- tion during the preceding four years had unmistakably moved away from the post-war New Dealism of Chester Bowles. John Bailey sensed in the split of the Republican Party an opportunity for victory. He tapped for the Democratic nomination one who had "always been acceptable to the conservatives of the Republican Party and popular with the mem- bers of his own." This was Abraham Ribicoff, who, although he had lost, had revealed great vote-getting strength in the 1952 Senatorial campaign.
Ribicoff's election as Congressman from the First District in 1948 was his first in other than city elections, but he had learned his practical lessons of politics as a member of Connecticut's House of Representatives and as Judge of Hartford Police Court. Sincere in appearance, persuasive in speech, decisive in action, he possessed the rare ability to grasp an idea and simultaneously evolve the mechanisms for its achievement.
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Ribicoff's pattern of political success was to talk as a conservative and to vote as a liberal. This native of New Britain could meet with equal ease his former neighbors of Hartford Avenue or his future neighbors from Prospect Avenue in Hartford. He was, significantly, Bailey's friend. To a degree greater than was then realized, he sensed the climate of political opinion in Connecticut in the mid-twentieth century. He car- ried the campaign indefatigably to traditional Republican towns where he made more friends. Issues were almost non-existent during the cam- paign. Governor Lodge ran on his record, promised to ferret out sabo- tage, and was mildly defensive of the mental health program enacted in the last session of the Assembly. Ribicoff's proposals were no more imaginative. He suggested placing the Athletic Commission under the State Police Commission and the creation of a new Department of Com- merce to assist in attracting industry to the state. One of the longest and dreariest campaigns in history was drawing to a laborious end when there occurred an incident which aroused the electorate.22
The electorate was asked to decide if the "American Dream" were were still alive. Ribicoff told a group of Italian-Americans in Berlin that the election would show "whether any boy, regardless of race, creed, or color has the right to aspire to public office." John Bailey added, “If we elect Ribicoff it may well be that a Governor of Italian-American extraction will be elected in the next decade." Clarence Baldwin was mildly surprised to read that "the Democratic party had a monopoly on the people who believed in the American dream." It was on Thursday before election day that the "American dream" was made into a central issue when John McGuire, formerly Democratic State Chairman, announced on television his support for Lodge. McGuire had been de- feated by John Gartland in the contest for nomination for Congress from the third district, had contested the votes from New Haven, had taken the case to court, and had lost. It is entirely possible that Mc- Guire's announcement had been arranged well in advance and that it was intended to indicate merely lack of support for Ribicoff, but Mc- Guire went beyond the endorsement of the Republican candidate. He lashed out at Ribicoff for interjecting "the racial and religious issue in the campaign" and concluded by pleading with the voters not to permit Bailey and Ribicoff "to turn the American dream into a political night-
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mare." Ribicoff had his issue. The next night before a state-wide tele- vision audience, he played the role of the persecuted. "Ever since I was nominated for Governor," he said, "there have been ugly rumors and ugly whispers, things that would cut you to the quick. .. . It has been a vicious whispering campaign against the Democratic candidate." In a dramatic conclusion, he flourished the "American dream" again, and then asked the audience, "Is anything wrong with that statement? Isn't it America at its best?" The effect was electric. It was charged at the time that the calumny had been planted and staged. Later, a news- paper of a minority group characterized Ribicoff's campaign as "one of the crassest appeals to racial bigotry in the history of American politics." A reading of the press reports of that evening in Berlin, October 24, 1954, might lead one to conclude that the Democratic leaders protested too vigorously of the vicious attack. One could hardly believe that the Republican party would not have measured more accurately the impact of McGuire's attack. Whether McGuire made the attack on his own, or not, he could hardly have been of greater service to the Democratic party.23
The election results revealed the effectiveness of Ribicoff's campaign and of the defection within the Republican ranks. As the votes came in, it was clear that Lodge was being cut in the small towns. The Repub- lican ticket was running ahead, but not the Governor. Premature joy in Republican circles turned to gloom as the final returns gave Ribicoff a margin of 3,115. This was interpreted as a personal victory for him. The success illustrated anew the effectiveness of an appeal to prejudice in garnering votes. Ribicoff's election was all the more remarkable in that the Republicans elected every other candidate on the state ticket. John Bailey emerged from the election in a stronger position than ever. Jack Zaiman pointed out that the failure of John Golden to return a Demo- cratic majority in New Haven of no more than 7,000 weakened the position of the National Chairman while the 25,500 plurality in Hart- ford indicated Bailey's strength. A close working relation was anticipated between Bailey and Ribicoff in the forthcoming Assembly. As the Gov- ernor awaited its opening, he announced that he would get along with the Republican House.24
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NOTES -CHAPTER XXXVI
1. Journal of the House, Jan., 1951, p. 33 (Hartford, 1951); Hartford Courant, Feb. 18, May 13, June 1, 18, 1951.
2. "A Resume of the Council's Steel Activities," Newsletter of the New England Council, Jan. 1951, p. 26; Chester Bowles, "The Prospects for a Connecticut Steel Mill" (Hartford, 1950); Richard Austin Smith, "Bethlehem Steel and the Intruder," Fortune, March, 1953, pp. 194-97; "Mills for Connecticut," Newsweek, Jan. 22, 1951, p. 26; New York Times, Apr. 21, 27, 1951; New Britain Herald, Jan. 11, Mar. 7, 9, 12, Apr. 9, 20, 21, 28, May 2, 1951, Aug. 11, 1952; Hartford Courant, Feb. 6, June 7, 1951.
3. Journal of the House, Jan., 1951, p. 42; Public Acts, 1951, 9, 338; Hartford Courant, May 12, 13, June 1, 2, 5, 1951, May 8, 1953.
4. Ibid., May 4, 1951; Journal of the House, Jan., 1951, p. 33.
5. Ibid., p. 312; Hartford Courant, Feb. 2, June 1, 5, 7, 18, 1951.
6. Ibid., June 18, 1951, Nov. 7, 1954; Public Acts, 1951, pp. 5, 169, 341. Hartford Courant, Nov. 11, 18, 1951.
7.
8. Ibid., Nov. 18, 1951, May 21, 24, 25, 26, 28, 1952, Oct. 31, 1954.
9. Register and Manual, State of Connecticut, 1954, pp. 393-433; Hart- ford Courant, Feb. 18, 1941, Aug. 24, Sept. 6, 7, 1952.
10. H. W. Lochner & Co., "A Plan for the Solution of the Post Road Congestion Problem," v-vii, Chicago, 1952), pp. 1-3; Reports of the Highway Department, Digest of Connecticut Administrative Re- ports to the Governor, 1947-60; Public Acts, 1953, p. 545; Public Acts, 1957, p. 834; Hartford Courant, Nov. 11, 1951, May 22, 31, 1953).
11. Report of the Commission on State Government Organization, p. 27; "Higher Education in the Forty-Eight States," A Report of the Council of State Governments to the Governor's Conference, (Chicago, 1952), pp. 1-12; Report of the University of Connecticut, 1948, 5-7, Digests of Administrative Reports, 1947-48 (Hartford, 1948) ; Re- port of the Department of Education, 1951, Digests of Administrative Reports, 1950-51, p. 456.
12. Report of the University of Connecticut, Digest of Administrative Reports, 1947-48 (Hartford, 1948), pp. 486-516; Herbert E. Fowler, A Century of Teacher Education in Connecticut (New Britain, 1949) pp. 68-73, 79-99; Report of the Board of Finance and Control, (Hartford, 1933), p. 20; Hartford Courant, May 5, June 8, 10, 1939.
13. Reports of the Board and Commissioner of Education, 1947-60, Digest of Administrative Reports, 1947-60; Reports of the University of Connecticut, Digests of Administrative Reports, 1947-60.
14. Fowler, Century of Teacher Education, p. 94; Reports of the University of Connecticut, Digest of Administrative Reports, 1947-60; Reports of the Board and Commissioner of Education, Digest of Administra- tive Reports, 1947-60; Hartford Courant, May 14, 16, 20, 22, 26, 1953; Public Acts, 1955; Public Acts, 1959, p. 754.
15. Hartford Courant, March 26, May 19, June 2, 1953.
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16. Public Acts, 1953, 595, 664; Hartford Courant, May 6, 29, 1953; Nina Ridenour, Mental Health in the United States, A Fifty-Year History (Cambridge, Mass. 1961,) pp. 77, 104-10.
17. Hartford Courant, May 9, 19, 20, 23, 24, 29, 31, 1953; Public Acts, 1953, pp. 590, 651, 680.
18. Public Acts, 1952, pp. 40, 111, 336, 354, 488; Hartford Courant, May 12, 15, 20, 31, 1953.
19. Ibid., May 20, 25, 29, 1953.
20. Ibid., July 7, 14, 1951, June 30, 1952, Apr. 14, 1953, May 15, 1953; Hartford Times, July 6, 7, 1951, June 30, 1952, May 4, 1953.
21. Ibid., May 3, 20, 31, 1953; Public Acts, 1953, p. 23.
22. Hartford Courant, July 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, Oct. 22, 26, 28, 29, Nov. 3, 4, 6, 7, 1953.
23. Ibid., Oct. 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, Nov. 4, 1954; The Washington (D. C.) Afro-American quoted in the Middletown Press, March 12, 1962.
24. Hartford Courant, Nov. 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 1954.
Chapter XXXVII "The Middle of the Road"
T HE JOB of governing," Ribicoff asserted, ". .. has been placed on the shoulders of both political parties" by the decision of the people of the state on election day. Thus he indicated, in his first inaugural address, the policy which was to characterize his attitude toward the Republican party during his entire tenure of office. He reminded the assemblage that "divided elections do contain a man- date,-a mandate to cooperate ... to search for areas of common agree- ment, to share credit." He operated upon the assumption, he said "that neither Republicans nor Democrats have a monopoly on virtue or wis- dom." As the session developed and many issues remained unresolved the Courant was ready to write off the Governor's call for cooperation with the observation that there was no substitute for leadership. The Republicans, however, paid tribute to him for "not trying to force his views on the legislature ... for letting the legislature do its own work by itself." Inasmuch as ideologically the parties were not far apart, his tactics made Ribicoff an elusive political target and were well cal- culated to appeal to those who traveled "the middle of the road." 1
A Moderate Legislative Program
The meaning of moderation in public affairs was illustrated in the policies that were adopted concerning the assessment and collection of rates charged legally liable persons for those who were residents of the state's humane institutions. The question of institutional rates had been of some concern to the Legislative Council since 1948, but the idea persisted that those who could afford to pay for institutional care should do so. In response to public demands, the Council in 1954 studied
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the question and recommended the elimination from the charges of expenses for items, such as education and training, generally borne by the public, and the elimination of grandparents from those to be held legally liable. The actual amount that a liable person would pay was, as previously, to be determined by his financial ability. On the other hand, during his campaign and in his inaugural, Ribicoff had advocated "the removal of compulsory payments." In his recommended budget he provided for the $7,000,000 estimated to be required for the state to assume full responsibility. The Republicans countered with a proposal identified as the "Fair Care Bill," which included the essential features of the recommendations of the Council. When the bill reached the Senate, it was denounced as the "foul care bill" and was amended to fix the maximum charges at $18.75 per week. The amendment was ulti- mately accepted with the proviso that it should expire August 31, 1956.2
In granting aids and benefits to citizens and towns, the Assembly proceeded within the areas of agreement of the two Parties. Without controversy, the granting of bonuses to Korean veterans was extended and greater job security for public school teachers was provided. An increase of $180 in each of the years of the biennium was granted to state employees after the Republicans made a play for a greater increase. The Democrats went along with a $21 across the board increase in state aid to education in return for Republican agreement on the tax program. The maximum benefits for unemployment compensation was increased to $35 a week. The Democrats accepted the Republican proposal to end rent controls on March 31, 1956 and explained that their acceptance was to avoid an immediate end to these controls. Responsibility for the care of neglected and dependent children was transferred to the state. The administration of this program, which had been the responsibility of the counties for years, had become of particular concern to the wel- fare workers in the state.3 A proposal to transfer responsibility to the state had failed in 1953, it was said, because of the expense to the state. In 1955, however, the transfer was made with little discussion. The growth of Hartford as the center of the state's business was recog- nized in the establishment of the Hartford Bridge Authority and its authorization to construct and to operate five bridges in the Greater Hartford area. The proposal to establish a State Department of Com-
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merce, which was one of Ribicoff's campaign proposals, was given short shrift by the Assembly. In the opinion of the Hartford Courant, this was just as well, inasmuch as the state, it implied, had not erected a tax structure which would attract industry.+
Efforts were made by the Assembly to legislate moral standards for Connecticut society and to bring certain social practices into conformity with those in other states. As a result of an extended newspaper cam- paign, the display and distribution of comic books portraying crime, horror, and sex to any one under eighteen years of age was made pun- ishable by fine and imprisonment, thus tightening the existent censor- ship provision. In contrast, the prohibition against all gambling was relieved when games of chance were authorized when conducted by religious, charitable, or benevolent institutions. This raffles bill, as it was popularly known, had passed both houses in 1951, but an avalanche of criticism was heaped upon the lawmakers and Lodge was pressed to veto the bill. "The art of compromise can never be rightfully applied," the Courant editorialized, "when a moral principle is involved. . . . It would be unfortunate . . . if Governor Lodge should succumb to all the miggling little groups who have high pressured this bill along the road to passage." The bill was vetoed in 1951 and in 1953 the House killed a similar proposal. The vote of those who did not walk out crossed party lines in 1955 when the bill was finally passed. The legislators also considered the question of capital punishment, but were unwilling to follow the lead of other states in abolishing this punishment.5
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