From Defiance to D

Standing proudly before the white pillars of Alabama's statehouse, the South's most luminous white hope vowed defiance of the tyrannical Federal Government and resolutely reaffirmed allegiance to states' rights. The band played Dixie; the crowd roared its approval.

That was in 1861, and the hero of the inauguration was Jefferson Davis. The ritual has changed not at all. If Lurleen Wallace, standing in the same spot as Davis and taking her gubernatorial oath on the same Bible, felt any sense of inadequacy about sounding the same shopworn theme--or even the slightest sense of deja vu--her inaugural address last week gave no hint of it whatsoever.

As predictably as Old Jeff himself--or, for that matter, Husband George, who spoke before her and left no doubt who would wield the power--Mrs. Wallace, third woman Governor in U.S. history,* attacked the Federal Government, equating Washington with Red China, Russia and Cuba. "And always," she said, "the results are the same, a transfer of power from the people to a rapidly expanding central government. That these deeds are done in the name of our federal constitution adds blasphemy to their performance."

Both Wallaces made clear that Lurleen's election will keep the state on the same tack as before and allow George to pursue his 1968 presidential ambitions--though, Lurleen suggested, there might be a slight change of style in Montgomery. "It will be an attitude," said Lurleen, "reflecting an inner feeling of a wife and a mother. I shall be inclined to examine programs of each of our departments from the standpoint of how they affect the family."

Different Road. By contrast with Lurleen and George, Democrat Robert McNair, taking the oath in South Carolina, another state with a history of bitter-end segregation and states'-rights resistance, was determined to follow the road to moderation. South Caro lina, said McNair, has "no time for obsession with either black power or white backlash. With the opportunities that are before us, this is not the time, and South Carolina is not the place, for those who are preoccupied with extremism or petty frustration."

Indeed, most of the Governors who have been inaugurated or made legislative addresses this month have urged that their states make reforms so that they can play a responsive, responsible role in the federal system. Joining the list of states in line for possible constitutional change last week were Pennsylvania, Texas and New Mexico.

On to Nome. In New Mexico, incoming Republican Governor David Cargo proposed a federal-type cabinet system to replace an anarchic maze of 214 separate boards, commissions and offices. Said he: "Our constitution has been patched and overhauled to the point where the original design is obscured and where present and future needs are obliterated."

In Texas, Democrat John Connally, after taking his third oath of office, echoed Old Colleague Lyndon Johnson's plea for legislative action to curb electronic eavesdropping. He made another proposal that L.B.J. would not be likely to approve: that Texas submit to the rest of the states a constitutional amendment requiring the Federal Government to return 5% of all federal in come taxes directly to the states. In Nevada, incoming Republican Governor Paul Laxalt proposed a "hold the line" budget.

The most ambitious of all gubernatorial pipedreams was put forward by Walter Hickel, Alaska's first Republican Governor (its second Governor since statehood), who envisioned a new railroad that would stretch 500 miles across the state's high plateau from Fairbanks to Nome. The line would connect with the 470-mile line, known affectionately as the "Moose Gooser," currently running from Seward to Fairbanks. And, said Hickel, it would open Alaska to development just as the transcontinental railroad opened the West in 1869. Who knows? If the detente with Russia flourishes, the line--if it is built --might some day be extended across the Bering Strait, connect the Western U.S. rail system with the Trans-Siberian Railway, and be known, of course, as the Vladivostok, Nome & Santa Fe.

* The other two: Miriam ("Ma") Ferguson of Texas and Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming, both inaugurated in 1925.

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