European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 22, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 12 the stars and stripes William f. Buckley or. Saturday october 22, 1977 pm. Concorde go ahead is Welcome decision it is Welcome news that the concorde will be allowed to try out its run to new York City. If it had been otherwise resentment would have lingered and the French and the English would have gone to their Graves believing that the United states pleading ecological vanity euchre them out of an Opportunity to show off and vindicate the most advanced transport plane in the world. In the end As or. Ford s Wise transportation Secretary predicted there could be no substitute for the empirical test. There Are undoubtedly some of the most elaborate scientific instruments in the world that presume to Tell you whether the sound is just right or just wrong. The trouble with them As at another level they discovered at Lincoln Center is that they simply do not duplicate the human ear and the human Ner Vous system and nobody in Queens is going to know for sure just How objectionable if at All the concorde is until it begins to Fly in once or twice a Day. But it in t by any Means sealed. For one thing there Are the professionally civil disobedient the kind of people who can be brought to Church Only if presented with an Opportunity to stand up and make a scene against the Neutron bomb. There Are those who Are determined to Stop the traffic into Kennedy and interpose themselves against the courts. Most of these demonstrators Are As i say men and women in search of a cause. Others Are sincerely concerned Over the Prospect of a noise blight ruining or gravely influencing their lives. What will happen is that after a week or so of concorde flights the latter group will either be pacified or their premonitions will be confirmed by experience. In the latter event there will be a general outcry against the concorde and it will be doomed. If All we have left however after a couple of weeks Are the professional protesters led by a grandstanding governor Carey they will disappear like those who pledged to Stop the traffic on the Way to the world s fair in 1964. The Wisecrack in Europe during the last Winter is that the British French consortium could have wangled Pennisson to the land the concorde by the simple device of making a gift of one 1 concorde to Al Al. But Here is a perfectly simple Way to move against concorde and it very nearly happened a couple of months ago when nobody was looking. It was in the Senate where an amendment to a Revenue Bill was being considered. Senator Kennedy who appeared consecrated to the cause of preventing any other americans from enjoying any of the privileges he grew up with Short Only of renouncing those privileges himself moved to declare that first class air plane fares should not be deductible As business expend  there Are about 16 people in the United states both Rich and profligate enough to spend their own Money at the con Corde rate in order to save an extra three hours flying time this would reduce the demand for the concorde to Zero. It occurred to the Senate however that the proposed exclusion would operate equally to undermine All first class travel in column Sand comments the United states most of which is done As a business expense. Even some senators who Are highly populist in their Public rhetoric Rose to protest this. By a vote of Only two members the measure was Defeated and first class air travel continues to be Deduc Tible where authorized by a corporation. But for those who seek straws in the wind did you notice what the British intend to do reduce their flights to Washington pan pass As they inaugurate flights into new York. You see the British and the French want to Fly the concorde because they want to show it off even if is an economic dog. Every time they Fly the poor thing even if they were As crowded and uncomfortable As the ascetic senator Kennedy would desire it to be it would still lose Money. In recent years the French allowed the whole of their transatlantic passenger line to sink without a Trace in order to save a Little Money. A few years from now concorde flights will probably be rarities possibly they will not exist. Or the Only viable alternative to abandoning supersonic passenger flights the boys will go Back and dust off the Model we buried in a Luddite seizure of a few years ago and try to resurrect an efficient Model. It is not Likely then to be a Long ordeal for the people in the area of Kennedy Airport one Way or another. Washington Star Syndicate inc. James j. Kilpatrick a Guy named Al did the trick for big labor a couple of weeks ago conservatives on Capitol Hill were having a merry time. They had just dealt organized labor a series of setbacks on the minimum wage Bill in the House and they were about to break their arms patting one another on the Back. They can Stop the exercise now. Face it my Brothers we got clobbered. There is no Way to paper Over the defeat suffered by the business Community. By a vote of 236-187, the House has approved a labor Reform package that gives big labor its sweetest Victory in 42 years. The Bill sent to the White House approves a four step hike in the minimum wage that would produce an hourly minimum of $3.35 by 1981. As Leo Durocher once remarked in a different context it was foil Harbush for Durgi  credit ought to be Given where credit is due. This was a personal Triumph for Alex Ander Barkan the 69-year-old chief of the Al Cio s committee on political Educa Tion. He is a dickensian figure held in affectionate regard even by his right Wing toes. He turned up at a Capitol Hill recep Tion on the night of the labor Reform vote grinning like a Well fed Collie his homely Mug alight with honest jubilation. A newsman asked him How he brought it off. Well said Al it was organization a lot of organization plus a  nudge at the end. Three months ago Cope set up a labor Reform task Force in every congressional District where there appeared to be a Chance of influencing a vote. An $800,000 fund was raised through special assessments. Union representatives then began to put the pressure on members of the House. During the August recess while Mem Bers were mending fences at Home Union spokesmen made it a Point to pay a social Call. Toward the end of september when floor action was scheduled the $800,000 fund was tapped to bring nearly 500 local Union lobbyists to Washington. They systematically pounded the corridors of the three House office buildings pleading a Well informed Case for the Bill. Then came the Little bitty nudge. Bark an s boys politely Laid out the facts of Polit ical life to More than a Hundred members who had enjoyed big labor s support in the 1974 and 1976 elections. We just asked them to think about How they would like to get along without that support in 1978." no threats says Al. No reprisals. Nothing ugly. Just think it Over. Members thought it Over and Al romped Home with a margin of 80 to 100 votes on every critical amendment. By any objective yardstick it was a very Fine perform Ance. And it produced a very bad Bill. Not that the Senate has gone along with the House proposal big labor has been Able to recoup at the Cost of some heavy handed impositions on employers. The Senate will not take up the labor re form package until next year but its Sanc Tion of the minimum wage Bill offers no in. Cour gement to the business Community. The Senate rejected an attempt to provide a special sub minimum wage for teen agers and it added limitations to the House passed exemptions for certain Small businesses. Conservative spokesmen will have to fall Back and regroup. Businessmen staged their own Fine performance some months ago in being the common site picketing Bill. Right to work forces also have worked effectively to forestall any serious Effort for repeal of Section 14 b of Taft Hartley. But on the labor Reform package they face an Uphill struggle. They might consider a task Force in every state an $800,000 Spe Cial fund an organized Effort and some Well directed nudges. What business needs most of All is an envious word May be for Given is its own version of a Guy named Al. 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