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Monday, November 17, 1947
The Civil Rights Report
(By Jack Foster)
THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE on civil rights
has done the American people a signal service. Its
thoughtful report, just submitted, deserves earnest con-i
sideration.
The committee focused most of its attention on “the'
badside of the record”—on our failures to live up to our
professed ideals of freedom and equality—and proper
ly so.
Certainly it is true that what the report terms grea' j
progress has been made. Nowhere else in the world
have so many people, of so many races, creeds and na- j
tional origins, been brought together in so brief a period j
as in our American melting pot. And howhere else have !
so many ever enjoyed the blessings of liberty.
But it is not enough to say that lynchings have dwin
dled to a few each year; that only six states still retain i
the poll tax; that many inequalities in the administra
tion of justice have been corrected; that police brutali
ties have lessened.
Freedom and equality will not be secure for any of us j
until they are secure for all of us.
It is good to have that truth emphasized, offic ally, by j
a committee appoitned by the President.
It is good that America does not fear to stand before i
the world, at this time, acknowledging the imperfections j
of our democracy and earnestly seeking to set them
right.
The committee believes that the federal governme~
must take the lead in safeguarding the civil rights of all
Americans.
Conceding that “it many be impossible to overcome
prejudice by law,” the committee asserts, however, that
“many of the evil discriminatory practices . . . can be
brought to an end by proper governmental controls.”
And it submits a number of proposals for legislation,
which will be topics for much discussion.
Governmental controls, to be effective in a free na
tion, must have public acceptance and support. They
can have these only to the extent that the people under
stand that the practices at which the controls are aimed
are evil. So we are glad that the committee puts equal
stress on overcoming prejudice and intolerance by edu
cation.
The educational process is slow. But it is responsible
for a great deal of the progress so far made toward pro
tection of civil rights. It would be a tragic mistake to
neglect education and place too much reliance on the
passage of laws.
• •
Preparing For The Main Event
(By Palmer Hoyt)
BOTH THE CIO and the American Federation of La
bor are preparing what they describe as all-out battles
to defeat in 1948 those Congressmen who voted to over
ride the President’s veto of the Taft-Hartley bill and
those Senators who voted the same way and must stand
for re-election in 1948.
That means there are 331 Congressmen and twenty
eight Senators on labor’s purge list by virtue of their
votes on the Taft-Hartley bill alone, although others
may be added, we suppose, because of their votes on
other measures which labor supported or opposed.
That’s quite a large order for even the 16 million
members of organized labor to fill.
The nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly of Wash
ington, D. C., has discovered that 213 of the 331 Con
gressmen who voted for the Taft-Hartley act were elec
ted in 1946 by 60 per cent or more of the votes in their
respective districts and, therefore, are considered by
MAN WITH A DEADLINE
sSa,
\
professional politicians to be fairly safe for re-election
hey run, provided there is no general landslide or
unusual situation to upset normal voting.
Of the remaining 118 Congressmen, about half are
from districts where labor votes are not numerous
enough to be the determining factor except in a very
close election.
Of the twenty-eight Senators on the purge list, only
nine are from states in which labor is politically import
ant. The Quarterly’s conclusion is that labor has a rea
sonable chance to defeat only about one-fifth of the
Congressmen it considers as energies and only a handful
of Seantors.
Labor leaders, of course, do not need anyone to tell
them what the chances are for defeating any consider
able number of the members of Congress who voted for
the Taft-Hartley bill. It seems reasonable to assume,
therefore, that their 1948 election campaign will be
based not so much on the expectation of electing friends
and defeating “enemies,” as on the policy of keeping the
rank and file of labor “sold” on the idea that the Taft
Hartley law is a “slave labor” measure.
Meanwhile, certain business leaders, including James
H. McGraw, Jr., president of the McGraw-Hill Publish
ing company, are urging employers to educate workers
cn what the Taft-Hartley act really contains, on* the
theory that the rank and file of labor would be for the
b.ll if they knew what is in it.
An ideological war seems to be shaping up aimed at
capturing the minds of labor union members, and the
Congressional campaign, instead of being the main
event, may be merely a side engagement.
THAT’S THAT By bruce gustin
Former Assistant Secretary 01
War Louis A. Johnson told a Sen- ,
ate committee that as early as 1938
he and the late President Roose
velt knew “war was coming and
we could not stay out of it.” But j
that isn’t what Mr. Roosevelt told
the American people. A lot o!
fathers and mothers never will
forget his Boston speech on the j
eve of the 1940 election when he
assured them “your boys are not
going to be sent into foreign wars.”
Some good should come out of
the House un-American activities
committee#s investigation of Com
munist activities in the moving
picture industry. When John How
ard Lawson, screen writer, was
asked whether he is or ever has
been a Communist, he refused to
answer. The sub-committee con
ducting the prob voted a contempt
citation against him. That set the
stage for a judicial determination
of a vital question. Does a Con
gressional committee have consti
tutional authority to ask and com
pel American citizens to tell whe
wiey . .«• > .• i vr .1 iv«) hw.'.
Communists?
At first thought, it might seem
to be an invasion of civil rights to
hale Americans before a Congres
sional committee and insist th it
they tell whether they are or eve
have been Communists. Poisonous
to Americanism as Communism is.
it is not yet classed as a crime in
this country. The Communist
party still is allowed a place on
the ballot. Whether Congress can
constitutionally outlaw Commun
•ism in the United States is yet to
be determined.
Any American, when asked
about participation in any crime,
has a constitutional right to refuse
to answer on the grounds that he
might incriminate himself. But
, right does not apply in an inquiry
into Communist activities because
(there is no law against being a
Communist. The Congression a 1
; theory is that the investigating
powers of Congress are so broad
a Congressional committee can ask
and require an answer to any
question which does not connect a
witness with a crime, no rra't^r
hiS answer exposes him to public
hatred and scorn.
Why any American citizen who
is not and never has been a Com
munist should hesitate to so testify
is puzzling. Being free of any
Communist taint is something to
be proud of, not ashamed of. Vio
lent overthrow of our constitution
al system of government is one of
„ne aims of Communists. They
should be exposed so the Ameri
can people can know who th.-v
enemies are.
Communist yar'y policy every
where is made in Moscow. Any
doubt, which may h .ve ex sled,
hat Reds in ell other countries are
considered a part u:' the Rus.dan
Communist organization was re
.jved recently. At a conference
in Poland, Communists from nine
European countries announced
creation of a new Communist In
ternational “Information Bureau.”
Then General Zhdanov, one of
he ringleaders at this conference
and member of the Russian polit
buro, called*upon Communists and
heir symphatizers everywhere 1o
ioin the Soviet government in a 4
fight to wreck the Marshall plan
for European rehabilitation.
Zhdanov’s “appeal” to Com
munists everywhere to support the
Russian fight against the Marshall
plan was in reality an order. Pub
lication of his statement in the
Communist newspaper P r a v d a
made it official. Russian papers
operate under Soviet dictatorship.
When Pravda speaks it says what
the Russian government decrees it
shall say. And the same men who
constitute the Soviet government
rule the Communist International.
That the first allegiance of Com
munists in the United States is to
Soviet Russia, instead of to their
own country, was made plain
early in World War II. When the
conflict started, they denounced it
as an “imperialist” war and bitter
ly opposed American aid to Bri
tain, France and Poland. Russia
then was an ally of Germany. But
when Hitler broke with Stalin and
the Nazis invaded Russia. th,en
American Communists changed
their tune and acclaimed the Al
lied cause a “holy crusade” against
Fascism.
William C. Bullit, former U. S.
ambassadar to Russia and China,
has had a brainstorm. He has pro
posed, in an article in Life maga
zine, that the United States launch
a three-year 1,350-million-dollar
program of aid to the Chinese gov
ernment to prevent Russia from
taking over China. Of all foreign
“rat holes” into which American
billions could be poured without
accomplishing anything, China is
1 the worst. Trying to put that coun
! try back on its feet economically
and politically is as hopeless a task
i as can be undertaken.
Suggestions made by Governor
| Hunt of Wyoming to the North
western Teachers association that
public schools get back to the
"fundamentals” of education are
just as applicable to the home as
! to the schools. He thinks children
! should be taught to write legibly,
I appreciate the value of money, any
j to be courteous and polite. Teach- .
ing writing is primarily the job of
the schools. But parents have an
equal or greater responsibility for
teaching courtesy and an apprecia
tion of the value of money.
A new slant on the boxcar short
age is fciven by vice president Barr
of the Illinois Central road. He
says the greatest single cause is
the five-day week. It is easy to see
how leaving cars loaded and
standing over the week end can
be a big factor in this situation.
The car supply is so short that any
delay in unloading freight natur
ally intensifies the shortage.