NEBRASKA: Diogenes on the Trail

Across the plains of Nebraska last week skimmed a little airplane labeled "Operation Honesty." Its passenger was Nebraska's Republican Governor Robert Crosby, and his pockets were bulging with lapel buttons and pledge cards also marked "Operation Honesty." Before the week was out, he had flown 1,284 miles to make nine speeches, and had collapsed with indigestion and fatigue. Bob Crosby was working on a fatiguing assignment: to collect taxes without adequate enforcement machinery.

Governor Crosby's tax problems began on Jan. 9, 1953, the day after he took office. That day the Nebraska...