Symphony Orchestra and other nonprofit cultural groups of the Nation's Capital. The National Symphony Orchestra is the only major symphony orchestra in the United States without a summer season. At the present time, the highly talented musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra must turn to other forms of employment to eke out a livelihood. Their resourcefulness in this regard is little short of amazing, though it does little to advance the cultural life of the Nation's Capital. Some of these musicians are summer salesmen, and summer guards carrying guns in Federal buildings including the Library of Congress. This situation persists year after year in the Nation's Capital without any sign that top officials of the Federal Government, who are sensitive to the cultural aspirations of people abroad in other nations, are aware of, or understand, its full implications in a world in which the United States in this cold war period has assumed leadership of the free world. New York City, with the solid backing of the city administration and the mayor, has its summer music programs and its free Shakespeare in Central Park. Other U.S. cities have summer programs in all of the arts, many of them free to the public or available at nominal sums. Philadelphia's Robin Hood Dell concerts are world famous, and the city of Philadelphia contributes $75,000 annually to make them possible. The St. Louis Municipal Opera, the Hollywood Bowl concerts, the Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., these and a hundred other famous summer music programs are in the mainstream of the tradition established by the free band concerts on the common or the courthouse square one of the oldest and most universal of American cultural institutions. You may rest assured, Mr. Secretary, that any step you may take to broaden, deepen, and to raise the educational and cultural, and artistic level of the fare offered at the Carter Barron Ampitheater will meet with powerful and respectable support from all sections of our country from people in all walks of life who are fed up with the tawdry, the cheap, and the spurious cultural values and fare which are so easily available to them and their children. They want something better, something nobler than the art factories of New York's Broadway, and Hollywood, and radio and television offer in such massive doses. They want something vital, alive, and close to the American dream and the American promise. The sweep of history has made the United States the leader of the free world, and we must compete with the Soviet union for the minds and the hearts of men everywhere in the world. The Nation's Capital must take its rightful place beside other capital cities of the world in cultural matters if we are successfully to carry forward our high mission. That the Department of the Interior, in its management of the Carter Barron Amphitheater, has not been able to accommodate the National Symphony Orchestra-or even the Washington Civic Opera Association-is nothing short of preposterous. It is high time that a study was made of how such groups could use this great cultural facility in view of the statements made repeatedly by national publications that the Nation's Capital is a "hick town" behind even such a provincial capital as Tiflis, U.S.S.R., in the fine arts. A second step which you could take would be to create immediately an advisory panel of civic, educational, cultural, and fine arts leaders to help to develop a challenging and significant cultural and artistic program at the Carter Barron Amphitheater which would rise to the level of some of the world-famous cultural festivals in this country and in Europe. The Pablo Casals festival in Puerto Rico should be an inspiration and a guide to you in developing a major cultural program for the Nation's Capital at the Carter Barron Amphitheater and in the other facilities controlled by the Department of the Interior. Sincerely yours, CARROLL D. KEARNS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C. Hon. STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary, Department of the Interior, DEAR MR. SECRETARY: It is always instructive to us "old hands" in the Congress to have replies shot from the hip at us by minor officials in Federal departments and agencies which hit the front pages of the newspapers whenever we write to the heads of those agencies; and even before we get an official answer. I wrote to you on June 1 pointing out, among other things, that Puerto Rico, in the Pablo Casals festival, had a much higher cultural content to that program than the Capital City of the richest Nation in the world had in the Carter Barron Amphitheater program run by the Department of the Interior. So far, I have had no reply to my letter. You are advised that my letter was hand-delivered to your office on May 31. This morning I have had a reply of a kind to my complaint that the Department of the Interior "has no place in its Carter Barron Amphitheater programs for the National Symphony Orchestra and other nonprofit cultural groups of the Nation's Capital. The National Symphony Orchestra is the only major symphony orchestra in the United States without a summer season." In a front-page article in the Washington Post of June 5, 1961, we find the following information: "We would love to have them there," T. Sutton Jett, Superintendent of the National Capital Parks charged with administration of the amphitheater said, referring to the National Symphony, "but we can't afford them." A study made by the Library of Congress in 1959 and inserted in the Congressional Record by both Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and Representative Harris B. McDowell, Jr., showed that the Nation's Capital spends annually on the arts the fantastic sum of $16,000. This is the lowest amount of any city in the United States except Hagerstown, Md., which spends $12,500 on the fine arts, according to the study. In the 86th Congress bills were introduced by Senator Humphrey, Senator Morse, Representative Harris B. McDowell, Jr., and Representative Frank Thompson, Jr., setting aside 1 mill, or one-thousandth of a dollar, out of local taxes for cultural programs. It was estimated at the time that this would raise $185,000 at a minimum for cultural programs. This year, Senator Clark, of Pennsylvania, Congressman Frank Thompson, Congressman Powell, of New York, Congressman Chelf, of Kentucky, and Congressman Celler, of New York, have introduced legislation providing a Federal-State grant-in-aid program to help the fine arts. I have cosponsored this legislation and I am happy to advise you that $100,000 would be provided annually for the District of Columbia art programs, including those at the Carter Barron Amphitheater. However, since the Department of the Interior has the largest cultural facility in the Nation's Capital in its charge it should have come to the Congress for the funds necessary to properly present the National Symphony Orchestra and other nonprofit cultural programs such as the Washington Civic Opera Co., the Children's Theater of Washington, the Washington Ballet Co., and other groups at the Carter Barron Amphitheater. The present appropriation of $16,000 for the fine arts won't be raised unless the Congress, which is in charge of the purse strings regarding local appropriations of the city of Washington, raises it. It won't raise it to anywhere near the sums spent on the arts by other cities until you, Mr. Secretary, and others, including the District of Columbia Recreation Department-which is charged by the Congress with carrying on cultural programs in the Nation's Capital together with the Department of the Interior-seriously get down to the business of developing the kind of cultural program which the Congress authorized in the Carter Barron Amphitheater Act, and the act establishing the District of Columbia Recreation Department. It was with this in mind, Mr. Secretary, that I suggested in my letter that a special advisory committee made up of educational, cultural, and fine arts experts and leaders should be set up to make a study of how the Carter Barron Amphitheater could be made a major cultural force. I said that the Department of the Interior's stewardship of the Carter Barron Amphitheater "as a cultural facility" over the years should be subjected to a critical and searching analysis, and no attempt to justify sins of omission or commission should be permitted. Nor should any bureaucratic "whitewash" be attempted. In view of the evident feeling at the Department of the Interior that the richest Nation in the world can't afford a worthy cultural program in the Carter Barron Amphitheater which was the gift of the people of this Nation to the Nation's Capital for such programs, the special advisory committee should undertake a study of how such programs are financed in other major cities of the United States and Europe. The Federal Government cannot continue any longer to occupy its present anomalous position which, by its control of the purse strings, denies to the people of Washington, D.C., the right to appropriate their own tax funds for the support of cultural activities, and by its control of the major summer cultural facility denies its use for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Ballet Co., the Washington Civic Opera, the Children's Theater, and other local cultural groups. You must know, Mr. Secretary, that the Watergate is no longer suitable for cultural programs due to the fact that at least one great 4-engine airplane flies immediately overhead every minute as the landing field at the National Airport is approached. The Federal Government shows not the slightest concern for this situation, and has consistently supported the airplanes over culture. Having made the Watergate unsuitable by the airflight landing patterns, it now says that it cannot afford to use the Carter Barron Amphitheater for major cultural programs. If this situation doesn't cry for a broad-based inquiry then nothing does. No doubt sick jokes and burlesque hall humor pays its way. This is the way with things in our society where educational and cultural programs are crowded out of the television programs by soap operas, westerns, and a myriad other items which are able to find wealthy sponsors, who can write their cost off as business expenses. As I said in my letter of June 1, which I hope you will soon find time to answer even though it might keep you from a hike up the canal in this beautiful weather, the American people want something better than is so easily available to them and their children in the Carter Barron Amphitheater and over the television stations. They want something vital, alive, and close to the American dream and the American promise. I wrote you, too, that "the sweep of history has made the United States the leader of the free world, and we must compete with the Soviet Union for the minds and the hearts of men everywhere in the world." The United States, and its National Capital "must take its place" beside other nations and other capital cities in support of cultural matters. That the Nation's Capital is behind, even such a provincial capital city as Tiflis, U.S.S.R. should and must be a matter of concern to you, Mr. Secretary, just as it is to me if only because of the cold war and the competition of the Soviet Union. I shall look forward to hearing from you personally on this matter, Mr. Secretary. I enclose herewith a copy of the Library of Congress study to which I have referred. Sincerely yours, Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, CARROLL D. KEARNS, Member of Congress. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DEAR SENATOR HUMPHREY: In Mr. Coombs' absence, I am replying to your letter of April 25 in which you ask for his views concerning Harold Weston's proposal for a national conference on the arts and government. We have studied the outline of the proposed conference as well as the suggestion as set forth in Mr. Weston's letter to Pierre Salinger that such a conference be held under White House auspices. We believe that a conference which would help to define and clarify the appropriate role of Government in the arts is very much to be desired and agree with you that Mr. Weston's particular suggestion has a great deal of merit. The conference itself appears to be well conceived. Its objective statement of the issues invites impartial consideration and the broad participation for it appears to include all interests concerned. Mr. Weston's proposal that the conference be sponsored by the White House is also fitting. That President and Mrs. Kennedy have already identified themselves so closely with the arts has had an exhilarating influence on American cultural life. Their association with such a conference would visibly confirm this personal interest and would symbolize at the highest level of the Government's recognition that this is a national problem in which it must carry a share of responsibility. You will be interested to know, I believe, that considerable attention has been given to the question of the Government's relationship to the arts by the Department's Advisory Committee on the Arts which is aware of and endorses Mr. Weston's efforts. DEAR MR. SALINGER: Thank you indeed for your letter of March 24. We shall be keenly interested in the decisions about the proposals you made for music and art prizes. In view of your professional interest in the arts and in government, your opinion would be of great value to our council about another matter. Due to the increase of public interest in the arts, the relationship of government, both State and Federal, to the arts is being widely debated. But there is little clarification about what that relationship should be in our country and opinions are widely divided. Last year our organization applied to seven major foundations for grants to enable a national conference to be held and the findings published. All of the foundations recognized the need for such a conference, but the required funds were not forthcoming. We are reluctantly giving up this proposal. The refreshing enthusiasm of President and Mrs. Kennedy for the arts and their conviction about the value of the arts raise hopes that a national conference on methods of cooperation between government and private initiative to forward the arts might be held under White House auspices. Such a White House Conference would give impetus to the creation of a bipartisan National Committee of the Arts suggested by Congressman Carroll D. Kearns. We do not know what assurances of organizational support or financial backing would be required before a White House Conference could be formally suggested. I am authorized to convey to you the deep interest of our council in this proposal. We shall be glad, if requested, to promote the idea, but we are not in a position to undertake any major responsibilities. The next meeting of our council is on April 27. It would be particularly appreciated if I might receive by that date some indication of your reactions to this letter. We fully realize that such a conference calls for a great deal of advance planning. Sincerely, HAROLD WESTON, Chairman. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE ARTS AND GOVERNMENT, NEW YORK, N.Y. ANNUAL REPORT, 1961 Due to delays in the organization of the standing committees of the 87th Congress, and in order to be able to include the numbers and sponsors of the major art bills that were anticipated, this report was not issued as usual in January. NEW FRONTIERS FOR GOVERNMENT AND THE ARTS The climate in Washington, in spite of snows, chill winds of a threatened recession, and storm clouds over Africa, has most noticeably improved for the arts. This change made an impact across the country on the day that President Kennedy invited a number of distinguished artists and scientists to attend his inauguration. A good augury had been the appointment of Gov. Abraham A. Ribicoff as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. If pending legislation is enacted, he will be in a key position in cultural matters for the new administration. Governor Ribicoff has a real interest in art, particularly painting and sculpture, and we have reason to believe that he will be quite sympathetic to constructive measures for the arts. A forward step was taken for the arts last week when President Kennedy appointed Mr. Philip H. Coombs Assistant Secre tary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs. This is a higher rank than the position of assistant to the Secretary held by his predecessor, and, since it is established by Executive order, no legislative confirmation is required. The choice of Mr. Edward R. Murrow as Director of the U.S. Information Agency is another development encouraging for the arts. The international cultural exchange program managed by ANTA for the Department of State has fortunately not been subject to any serious attempts to impose censorship by Congress. The USIA, which manages the visual arts portion of that program, has come under concerted attack for its liberal attitude, specifically in con、 nection with the paintings and sculpture sent to the Moscow Fair in 1959 but also several times previously. Mr. Murrow can be trusted to defend to the utmost any attempts to censor the arts in any unwarranted manner. Precedents must not be established for governmental censorship of the arts. We are very happy to be permitted to draw attention to the most recent evidence of the President's and Mrs. Kennedy's concern for the arts-specifically for legislation to promote the arts in America. This is due to the initiative of Congressman Carroll D. Kearns who recently wrote to Mrs. Kennedy about Federal legislation for the arts during the past 8 years, stressing that several major proposals had not been enacted. "If the fine arts are to advance in our country as they should," he wrote, "it is my firm conviction that a bipartisan national committee for the arts must be created to work for the passage of the legislative measures which have been introduced in this and previous Congresses." Mr. Kearns expressed confidence that if Mrs. Kennedy and former President Eisenhower were willing to serve as cohonorary chairmen "of this highly important national committee-it could be organized quickly and become firmly established, and the cultural, civic, and political leaders of the 50 States (including the Governors) would consider it an honor and privilege to serve with you." Mrs. Kennedy replied on February 8: "DEAR CONGRESSMAN KEARNS: Thank you for your letter of February 3 with its most stimulating contents. Both the President and I were interested in your exposition of the past and present status of Executive participation in cultural affairs. We are in complete agreement with you 'the unfinished cultural business' is most important. "I would like to study your letter in relation to current projects. I will be in touch with you at a future date on the whole subject. "Again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. "With very best wishes, "Sincerely, "JACQUELINE KENNEDY." The NCAG most heartily supports Mr. Kearns' admirable suggestion. As Howard Lindsay stated in our annual report, 1960: "The slowness of the Federal Government in recognizing the role of the arts in our national welfare is largely due to the failure of American artists and the public to impress upon Members of Congress their support for measures concerning the arts." The arts clearly need a powerful national committee to speak for them in a voice loud enough to be heard. ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 86TH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION Pathetically little was accomplished for the arts. Legislation to create a Federal Advisory Council on the Arts was not enacted before the Rules Committee did not permit the House to vote on it. The "Florence agreement" to reduce tariffs on educational, scientific, and cultural materials, which had been initialed by the United States in 1950, was ratified. However, this is an empty gesture until legislation is enacted to alter current tariff regulations which legislation was not even introduced. Our country's tardiness in joining the 33 nations participating in this cultural treaty seems inexcusable. (See below, H.R. 2537 in No. 6.) The so-called cabaret tax was reduced from 20 to 10 percent as the direct result of a most effective campaign initiated by the American Federation of Musicians. This achievement demonstrates the value of an organized campaign. Similar results can be accomplished if enough people care enough to take the time and trouble to express their views to Congress. LEGISLATION RELATING TO THE ARTS, 87TH CONGRESS For each new Congress all legislative proposals are given new numbers. These numbers are valid for both sessions of that Congress. Where identical |