3. We request the appointment of a citizens' commission to preserve the harmony of our community. The public officials of our city have earned the tribute of the Nation for their refusal to condone violence and their efforts to realize worthy race relations. We believe that in the future the need will be great for the support of calm, intelligent public opinion. Atlanta possesses business, civic, educational, legal, political, and religious leadership of the quality to afford this support. We therefore request that representatives of this leadership from the races involved be formed into a citizens' commission to advise and assist in maintaining harmony and good will among all our citizens. Every section of our State also possesses the same able leadership. We there fore believe that the appointment of a similar citizens' commission by the State administration would serve to preserve harmony among the citizens of Georgia. We call upon all citizens to unite with us in dedicating ourselves to the solution of our problems humbly, patiently, in a spirit of realism, and with God's help. Signed by: Ackerman, Stephen W.; Adams, Hugh; Aiken, Paul; Albert, Allen D., Jr.; Alexander, James J.; Allen, Charles; Allen, L. Clyde; Allen, Reuben T., Jr.; Alston, Wallace M.; Anderson, F. S., Jr.; Anderson, Thomas; Arnold, Ernest J.; Arwood, J. C. Baggott, J. L.; Ball, Raymond J.; Barnett, Albert E.; Barrett, W. H.; Bassett, Hunter J.; Beardslee, William A.; Beverly, Harry B.; Berman, Paul L.; Bell, Wade H., Jr.; Boggs, Wade H.; Bolton Jack G.; Booth, W. T.; Boozer, Jack; Bowen, Boone M.; Bowman, Keyes, Jr.; Bozeman, Jack R.; Branham, Lee; Brewer, E. D. C.; Broyles, Vernon S.; Brown, Robert E.; Brown, Walter E.; Buck, Raymond; Budd, W. Candler; Buice, Lester; Burns, Robert W.; Byrd, Ralph. Cahill, Edward A.; Calhoun, Murdock McK.; Callaway, Chaudoin, 3d; Campbell, E. H.; Campbell, Norton, Jr.; Cannon, William R.; Cargill, E. C.; Carpenter, Cecil W.; Carter, W. G.; Cartledge, Samuel A.; Case, Russell A.; Caudill, O. V.; Cawthon, William L.; Chafin, Harry V.; Chang, Kwai Sing; Cheek, Carl R.; Claiborne, Randolph R., Jr.; Clark, Boswell J.; Clary, G. E.; Clements, Lamar; Cobb, Sam T.; Cohen, Joseph I.; Cole, C. G., Jr.; Cole, William H.; Coleman, Edwin C.; Colhoun, E. Dudley, Jr.; Cook, Walter G.; Corder, L. W.; Cowart, Walter C.; Craig, Kenneth P.; Crowe, Walter Miller; Cuthbertson, Rufus. Davis, F. McConnell; Davis, Lewis C.; DeLozier, O. L., Jr.; Demere, Charles; deOvies, Raimundo; Derrick, C. K.; Dickson, Bonneau; Dimmock, Al; Donnell, Charles L.; Doom, James L.; Drinkard, Eugene T.; Driscoll, Edward A. Edwards, Charles E.; Ennis, P. C., Jr.; Epstein, Harry H.; Epting, Eugene L., Jr.: Esaias, John R. Feely, O. Floyd, Jr.; Feldman, Emanuel; Fifield, Harry A.; Fleming, James P.; Floyd. Arva; Floyd, Emmett O.; Floyd. W. R.; Ford, Austin; Ford, J. T.; Foster, John N.; Freeman, Cook W.; Fry, Thomas A., Jr.; Fuhrmann, Paul T.; Fulmer, C. Luther, Jr. Gailey, James H.; Garber, John A.; Garber, Paul Leslie; Gardner, E. Clinton; Gary, G. Robert; Gear, F. B.; Gibson, Arthur Vann; Grant, Monroe C.; Geren, William H.; Gerkin, Charles; Goe, W. Charles; Griggs, Joseph L.; Grier, Eugene M.; Grubb, Hugh M.; Guptill, Roger S.; Guthrie, F. C., Jr.; Gutzke, Manford George. Hagood, Thomas W.; Hardman, Alfred; Harper, Marvin; Harris, Albert G., Jr.; Harris, C. L.; Harris, D. D.; Hartzopoulos, Harry; Hawkins, Ralph B.; Hazelwood, W. James; Herdon, J. Emmett; Hite, B.: Hodges, Bob; Holmes, Thomas J.; Holt, Joseph W.; Hope, Montague H.; Howell, W. I., Jr.; Huckaby, Louie F.; Huie, Wade P.; Hyde, Herbert E. Jackson, Arthur; James, D. Trigg; Jefferson, Hugh M.; Johnson, J. T.; Johnson, James V., Jr.; Jones, Bevel; Jones, Henry H.; Jordan, C. Ray. Kellum, E. Owen, Jr.; Kilpatrick, Ebb G., Jr.; Kirkpatrick, Dow; Kline, C. Benton. Laird, Sam L.; Lance, John M.; Landiss, William; Lantz, J. Edward; Laughlin. John C.; Lawrence, J. B.; Lehman, J. Edward; Lee, Robert E.; Legerton, Fitzhugh M.; Libby, Robert M. G.; Lieberman, Alvin C.; Lightbourne, James; Lind. John Blix; Littell, Frank H.; Long, Nat G.; Lovin, Charles W. Mallard, Cyrus S., Jr.; Mallard, William; Manley, W. Clay; Manning, Norman P., Jr.; Martin, Marcus R.; May, James W.; McClain, Roy O.; McCullough, Gordon: McDill, Thomas H.; McElyea, Homer C.; McIlhany, B. A.; McKee, Hugh; McMains, Harrison; McNeil, James H.; Meadow, G. Merrill; Middlebrooks, C. L., Jr.; Mill, Robert W.; Miller, P. D.; Milligan, Max; Minor, Harold W., Jr.; Minter, P. M.; Mitcham, Harry; Mitchell, George T.; Moore, James M., Jr., Moore, Willard P.; Moorhead, Frank; Mossman, Sydney K.; Moulder, Wilton A.; Mounts, William C.; Murphy, W. Y. Newton, William E.; Niager, Roy; Nolting, Fred L. Obert, Leroy C.; Oglesby, Stuart R.; Oliver, Y. A.; Ozment, Robert. Patton, J. G., Jr.; Patty, John C.; Paulk, Earl F., Jr.; Pettway, Roy; Philips, J. Davison; Phillips, J. R.; Pierson, Marion; Prussner, Frederick C.; Pippin, George; Pritchard, Claude H.; Pugh, R. Quinn. Ray, Archie C.; Renz, Paul J.; Richards, Ellis H.; Richards, J. McDowell; Riddle, James H.; Riegel, Robert G.; Roberson, Jesse J.; Roberts, Joe A.; Robinson, William C.; Roebuck, Floyd E.; Rogers, Thomas; Roosa, William V.; Ross, Frank M.; Roper, Charles M.; Rothschild, Jacob M.; Rudisill, E. D.; Rumble, Lester; Runyon, Theodore, Jr. Sadler, John H.; Sanders, Walter E.; Sandifer, C. L.; Saussy, Hugh, Jr.; Scarborough, C. E.; Schroeder, Victor J.; Schwab, Charles F.; Scott, E. C.; Scott, H. Allen; Sells, James W.; Shands, O. Norman; Shelnutt, D. B.; Shelnutt, Fred G.; Sheppard, H. Augustus, Jr.; Sherman, Cecil; Sisson, Rembert; Smith, Clyde E.; Smith, George H.; Smith, Harvey; Smith, Herbert H., Jr.; Smith, Homer G.; Smith, Leon; Smith, W. Arnold; Smith, W. Ches, III; Smith, W. Thomas; Sneed, Wilson W.; Snyder, Lloyd H., Jr.; Sosebee, James W.; Speers, B. C., Jr.; Stender, William H.; Stephens, John C., Jr.; Stephens, Wesley; Stokes, Mack B.; Strange, Russell L.; Strickland, W. Earl; Stuart, James G.; Stucke, Clarence H.; Suhr, Karl F.; Sullins, Walter R., Jr.; Swilly, Monroe F., Jr. Tate, J. W.; Thompson, Cecil; Thompson, Claude H.; Thompson, Gordon; Thomson, J. G. S. S.; Tisdale, Harry; Trimble, H .B.; Turner, Herman L. Van Landingham, L. F.; Vaught, James B.; Verdery, E. A. Waldrop, Glen G.; Walthall, David B.; Wardlaw, Hubert G.; Warner, Jack, Jr.; Webb, W. Guy; Weber, Theodore R.; Welden, James; Wellman, Wendell; Werner, Leslie D.; West, George A.; Westermann, Ted D.; Whitfield, William J.; Wilbanks, Oliver C.; Williams, Allison; Williamson, Ralph L.; Williamson, Thom; Wilson, Eugene T.; Wise, Tilman Newton; Wohlgemuth, Paul F.; Womack, John Lee; Wood, Milton L., Jr.; Wood, Thomas M., III; Wootan, Harry P., Jr.; Wootan, Harry P., Sr.; Woodward, H. Travis; Worley, Paul; Wright, George R. Zinser, Henry A.; Swold, Harold D. EXHIBIT E TO STATEMENT OF SENATOR DOUGLAS [From the New Republic, Jan. 26, 1959] THE SEGREGATIONISTS GO NORTH By Helen Fuller The States of the Deep South are shifting their strategy of "massive resistance" from defense to attack. They will lose their leader, Virginia Governor Almond, on January 19 (Robert E. Lee's birthday) if the courts, as expected, on that day declare void the laws Virginia passed to evade the 1954 decision desegregating the public schools. But the six remaining Confederate States which have refused to take even one step toward compliance with the 1954 Court order are resolved not to go Virginia's way without much more of a struggle. There is plenty of fight left in the Eastlands, the Russells, the Talmadges, and the young fire-eating Governors of Alabama and Georgia. And they are now about to take the battle into enemy territory. A second battle of Gettysburg is about to begin, this one to be fought with the techniques of phychological warfare, aimed at the public outside the South, the Congress and conservative leaders in both major political parties. Object: to win sympathy for the segregationist view behind the enemy lines, support for curbing the powers of the Supreme Court by law, and agreement to nullify the new Reconstruction of 1954 as the Compromise of 1877 nullified Reconstruction before. The first task-making common cause with new allies outside their regionthe new Confederates approach with great zest, for most of them sincerely believe that down inside most people outside the South feel toward the Negro about the way southerners do. The trouble, they feel, is that the average person above the Mason-Dixon line doesn't understand how fair and kind-how separate but equal—the South is willing to be. The misunderstanding comes, they further believe, largely because of the "paper curtain" which the northern press has placed around the South; "all they print is the gory stories." "Lay your case before the American people," Senator Eastland recently assured the convention of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation in Jackson, “and you will be surprised to find how similar their opinions are to those of your own." And so the massive resisters have decided to tell the rest of America "just the honest story," "with no Bilbo business." This southern campaign to convert the North, East, and West will not be of the order of magnitude of a Billy Graham crusade, but it is well-organized and well-financed. Some States have already allocated public funds to propaganda bureaus which are pouring out pamphlets and “fact sheets" on the shortcomings of the Negro and the Supreme Court. Over the great seal of the State of Louisiana, the joint State legislative committee, headed by Senator W. M. Rainach, who speaks for the Louisiana White Citizens Councils in the legislature and is a leading candidate for Governor next year, has printed as a full-page advertisement in the New York Herald-Tribune a message addressed "To the People of New York City" on "The Position of the South on Race Relations." (See p. 11.) The committee subsequently "distributed several thousand tear sheets of the ad to key officials, publications, and organizations throughout the United States," Senator Rainach says, "and after running out of all the tear sheets except a handful, we reprinted the ad in mail sheet form and distributed several thousand of these sheets also." Senator Eastland is urging that the other defiant States go and do likewise. Citing the Herald-Tribune ad as an example of the wise use of public funds, Eastland told the Farm Bureau convention that "the southern people have got to lay their case before the Nation, and we must use our tax money to get the job done." There are leaders in all six bitter-end States who agree. Out of Alabama has come a new "Putnam Letter Committee," headed by James E. Simpson, leading Birmingham Dixiecrat and lawyer for some of the biggest of Alabama's "Big Mules." The committee's purpose is to publicize a beguiling "Dear Mr. President" letter, signed by Carleton Putnam, a northerner who has spent many years as an airlines executive in the South. The Putnam letter, has already been published as a large ad in the New York Times and is to be placed in newspapers all over the country. Arguing that the Court decision in the school case is personal opinion, not law, and that equal protection under law is not a right in the United States but a social privilege, the letter declares: "Neither the North, nor the court, has any holy mandate inherent in the trend of the times or the progress of liberalism to reform society in the South. In the matter of schools, rights to equal education are inseparably bound up with rights to freedom of association and, in the South at least, may require that both be considered simultaneously. (In using the word 'association' here. I mean the right to associate with whom you please, and the right not to associate with whom you please.)" The Putnam committee raises funds privately for its promotion. But Florida Legislator William H. Reedy shares Eastland's view that such projects are public business. He proposes a program of southern aid to Federal education on the southern view, to be supported by appropriations of $1 million per year from each State participating. "The South must sell its ideas the way Hollywood producers sell starlets," Reedy says. And the Conference of Southern Governors has invited him to its next meeting to discuss details. (Georgia's Senator Richard Russell is for educating the rest of the country to southern problems, too, but he would let those on the receiving end pay for the privilege. He promises us a bill this year to provide Federal aid to southern Negroes who wish to move to States with smaller Negro populations in order "to give each State an equal share of the race problem.") The funds the South is willing to invest in enlightenment of the North are supposed to yield dividends this very year in the form of aid toward passage of the Smith bill to curb the Supreme Court. First introduced in 1955, H.R. 3-which would repeal the longstanding doctrine of Federal preemption and place primary jurisdiction in the State courts unless specifically withheld by Congress-passed the House last year by a large majority of southern Democrats and conservative Republicans (241-155). In the end-of-session confusion the Senate defeated it by only one vote. Representative Howard Smith (Democrat, of Virginia) has reintroduced H.R. 3 in the new Congress and because of his position as chairman of the powerful Rules Committee should be able to push it it through the House again, even though the measure has lost supporters because of Republican casualties in the November election. For the same reason the new Senate should be more opposed to passage of H.R. 3 than the old, but the foes of the Court are also vastly more determined. The Smith bill of itself is an important southern objective, as a symbol of antagonism to the Court's leadership in forcing the segregation issue in the most direct way since Reconstruction days. But even should passage fail again, a close hard-fought decision would be worth the price of the propaganda effort required to produce it. A lengthy battle over the Court curbing measure in advance of consideration of new civil rights enforcement legislation-which southerners could easily manage with their command of traffic through their committee chairmanships-would contribute to their larger objective: preventing the Congress from adding the force of its approval to the position of the Court on desegregating public schools "with all deliberate speed." At all costs the massive resisters must prevent reenforcements from reaching the judiciary, which stands today as the lone leader in the new Reconstruction. The murmurs of encouragement to the courts which have risen faintly from the Department of Justice and the ill-calculated relief offered by the President in the Little Rock affair hardly qualify as major assists. Congress, in effect, has remained neutral. And it is imperative for those who defy the Court to keep it that way. Lyndon Johnson helped a lot by taming the new Senate a few hours after it walked into his cage, and so leaving the filibuster in good working condition. But a hard-fought, even if finally losing battle to punish the court for its recent conduct would offer invaluable opportunities to make sure that Congress does not suddenly decide to get behind the Supreme Court. In the midst of debate and back-stage maneuvers there is always room for wheeling and dealing. When the vote is close, trades can sometimes be made which change other close votes on other days. In such a situation the South's polished professionals would surprise everyone if they walked out of the cloakrooms without a stack of I O U's payable when Federal enforcement of school desegregation became the question before the House. If the States which shout "Never!" can prevent the 86th Congress from passing legislation supporting the Court, they will be free to attempt the next huge step in their plan for total escape from the toils of the new Reconstruction: Persuade the reformers to give up. Historically, this is not so farfetched as it sounds. The ephemeral historic importance "of such earlier landmarks as the fugitive slave law of 1850, the Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1875, the 14th amendment of 1867, or, for that matter, the Volstead Act of 1919-all of which were in some degree nullified by events or public sentiment-should remind us," Vann Woodward, the leading historian of the American Reconstruction period remarks. "*** how precarious are the fortunes of American statesmanship when it operates against the mass opposition of a significant section of the country.” "Reconstruction," Professor Woodward observes, affords the most extreme example in our history of an all-out effort by the majority to impose its will upon a recalcitrant and unwilling minority region. * * * In spite of the relative weakness and helplessness of the resistant South, in spite of the determined idealism of the northern reformers *** the fact is that the great experiment ended in disillusionment and default. The gains made on paper were never fully implemented in practice, or they were eroded away by compromise, concession and “interpretation." Apathy and indifference replaced the original idealism of the reformers. It was the will of the defeated, discredited and for a time, helpless South that prevailed in the end. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Helen Fuller, a southerner by birth and education, has just returned from a survey through the Southern States. This is the third of several interpretive reports. (The following material was submitted for the record by Will Maslow, general counsel, American Jewish Congress:) ASSAULT UPON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION A Study of the Southern Attack National Association for the AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS 15 EAST 84TH STREET NEW YORK 28, N. Y. |