POLITICAL NOTES: Harmony in Texas

Shortly before he left office last week, Texas Governor Allan Shivers answered a question that had intrigued Texans since Election Day: Would he appoint a Republican to the Senate seat of incoming Governor Price Daniel? To the Senate, Shivers, an Eisenhower Democrat, sent canny William Arvis Blakley, 58, a Dallas tycoon who is also an Eisenhower Democrat. When newsmen sought out the appointee with an obvious question, shy Billy Blakley handed them an unequivocal answer: he was a lifelong Democrat, would vote that way in any attempt to reorganize the Senate.

Blakley is a Texastronomically rich man (estimated worth: more than...