Document:LP News Number 21 (July-August 1974)
Dallas Convention Attended by 300
Well over 300 delegates and interested spectators attended the national Libertarian Party convention in sweltering Dallas, Texas, during June 12-16. The Texas LP sponsored the event which was only the second "official business" convention in the Party's short history. Despite early disputes over the Credentials Committee report, the convention was marked by a remarkably high degree of camaraderie and cooperation between the various factions of the libertarian movement.
An enlarged and improved platform was hammered out by the delegates during long sessions lasting well into night and, on one occasion, early morning. Debate on the platform was often prolonged and always serious but rarely did animosity rise to the surface. As with the founding convention of the Libertarian Party in 1972 delegates seems genuinely interested in each others' comments and argument as they unto the difficult task of applying libertarian principles to contemporary social problems.
Committees Meet
On Wednesday and Thursday, the three convention committees, Credentials, Constitution and Bylaws, and Platform, met to prepare their reports to the general sessions of the convention. The Platform Committee, chaired by California LP Chairman Ed Clark, attracted the most attention with over 100 people sitting in on the proceedings. The Platform Committee set the tone for the entire convention as its members worked around the clock developing planks that were acceptable to all elements of the Party.
Bill Westmiller chaired the Constitution and By-Laws Committee which recommended some major changes in the LP Constitution. Most of these recommendations were approved by the convention with relatively little debate once the Credentials report was accepted. The most significant amendment to the LP Constitution changes the business LP convention from even-numbered years to the fall of odd-numbered years. This was instituted primarily to allow for the nomination of Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates early enough for the LP to qualify for the ballot in those states where a later convention would have prevented us from doing so.
One offshoot of the new odd-year business convention is that this years' Party officers will have a one-year term rather than two-year term of office. The alternative of a three-year term was debated and narrowly defeated with many delegates option for the one-year term simply because it will provide a check by the Party on how the national officers are carrying out their responsibilities.
Business Meetings To Be On Odd Years
Other changes in the Constitution call for a doubling in the size of the National Executive Committee and an increase in the number of delegates to the regular convention to approximately 400. Also, alternate delegates to the conventions may number as many as the respective states choose.
Platform Debate
Numerous changes were made in the LP Platform (the LP is the only major political party to adopt a new platform every two years rather than once every four years). The debate on the taxation plank was the longest and most heated of the convention. The text of this plank was ultimately unanimously adopted and it reflects the spirit of cooperation among the delegates in Dallas: