April Fool

On the eve of April Fools' Day. Arkansas' Governor Orval E. Faubus announced that he would not run for reelection. But last week, just three hours before the filing deadline for the July 31 Democratic primary. Faubus smilingly said that he had changed his mind and would try for a fifth term.

Faubus claimed that his ulcers--the main reason for quitting the race--had calmed down during the past month. But there was a more important reason for his readiness to return to the dyspepsia of politics. When his powerful organization failed to come up with a strong candidate for Governor. Faubus decided that he could not sit back and see a bitter political enemy take over the state.

Faubus' major opponent is Little Rock Attorney Sidney McMath. 49, who was Governor from 1949-53. A former Faubus ally, McMath split with the Governor by criticizing his extremist tactics in opposing school integration in Little Rock in 1957-58. Besides McMath, Faubus will have to contend with five other candidates in the July primary, including another friend turned foe: Segregationist Dale Alford, 46, who was elected to Congress in 1958 in the stormy aftermath of the Little Rock crisis. Plainly, segregation is going to be a primary issue. This is unfortunate, since 48 Negroes now attend three Little Rock high schools, and there has been no trouble since Orval stirred up the fuss in the first place.

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