“It was undeniable that I was arrested twice, spent two days in jail, was inconvenienced, and was recommended for separation (from the Air Force) merely because I wished to remain in a seat on a bus that I had paid for, a seat that the very Constitution of the United States guarantees me. It is evident, I hope, that one Federal law could have prevented the aforementioned occurrences and a thousand kindred ones. I hope they will be prevented in the future.”

Lt. Williams was such a clean cut, fine young man that even southern members of the committee grudgingly commended him.

This year, Senators Magnuson, Case of New Jersey, Ives, Butler, Humphrey, Lehman, and others have introduced bills to eliminate segregation in interstate travel. Similar bills have been introduced by Congressmen Heselton, Powell, Scott, Dawson and other members of the House. Senator Magnuson has promised that he will hold hearings on the Senate bills in February or March. Congressman Heselton is working for early consideration and prompt report on his bill and others.

The Anti-Jim Crow Travel Bills are S. 657, (Ives-Butler), S. 908 (Magnuson, Lehman, Douglas, Humphrey, Jackson, McNamara, Morse, Murray, Neely, Neuberger, and Pastore); H. R. 434 (Heselton), H.R. 691 (Powell), H.R. 2877 (Scott), H.R. 3252 (Heselton), and H.R. 3301 (Dollinger).

This proposed legislation is not placed at the beginning of this report because it is more important than any other bill. It is mentioned first out of respect for Lt. Williams. He called the Bureau a few weeks ago to indicate his willingness to testify if hearings were held. He was killed in the crash of a jet aircraft during the month of January while serving with the New Jersey National Guard.

Fair Employment Practice proposals (S. 899 in the Senate and H.R. 690 and others in the House) have been introduced and referred to the Labor Committees in the Senate and House.

In the Senate, the sole uncompromising opponent on the committee is chairman Lister Hill of Alabama. In the House, there are many anti-FEPC committee members and the chairman is Graham Barden (D.,N.C.). Neither Senator Hill nor Congressman Barden will voluntarily agree to hearings on FEPC Bills.

It is hoped that Senator Lehman, who is a member of the Labor Committee, will be made chairman of a subcommittee to hold hearings. This could be accomplished if his fellow committee members voted to override the chairman’s obstruction. In the House, Congressman Powell has said that he will seek appointment as chairman of a sub-committee to hold hearings on a bill, but, if he is defeated in this, will work actively for a discharge petition which requires 218 signatures.

We wish to call attention to the Omnibus Civil Rights Bills (S. 907, H.R. 389, and H.R. 627) which have been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Senator Harley Kilgore of West Virginia, and to the House Committee, headed by Representative Emanuel Celler of New York.

Because these bills make a broad attack on civil rights problems, Mr. J. Francis Polhaus, counsel in the Bureau, has prepared a memorandum explaining what would be accomplished by this proposal. Copies of his memorandum are available at the Bureau. Congressman Celler has promised to hold hearings in March. As yet, we have no commitment from Senator Kilgore on when he will hold hearings.

Other civil rights bills now before Congress include a proposal to establish a commission on civil rights, an anti-poll tax bill, and an anti-lynching bill.

On the reverse side of civil rights, Senator Holland of Florida is leading an effort to get S.J. Res. 29 passed by the Senate. This resolution is a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw the Poll Tax. We have registered our opposition to this measure.

Introduced in the Senate and the House, also, is a proposal to end the electoral college and establish a system of proportional allotment of popular votes. S.J. Res. 31 in the Senate was introduced by Senators Price Daniels of Texas, Hubert Humphrey, and others. This proposed amendment was defeated in the 82^nd Congress through the efforts of the NAACP. Unfortunately, at that time, very few liberal organizations supported us in this action because many persons, including President Truman, seemed to believe this amendment would be a useful advance in this country. We will continue our opposition, of course.

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The Bureau has sent to each member of Congress a statement outlining our objectives in the legislative field and asking for support.

The administrator was in Washington in connection with matters related to revision of the Senate Rules. It is presumed that he will discuss this subject in his report, and, for that reason, no mention of it is made in the Washington Bureau report.

Several bills to provide Federal aid for school construction are before Congress. The president has sent a message to Congress on this subject. The director appeared before the Senate Labor Committee to testify on S. 5 and other bills. In our testimony, it was recommended that:

This simple request has precipitated an attack by some of the supporters of Federal aid who say that inclusion of it will kill the bill.

One criticism worthy of note came from Mrs. Agnes Meyer, wife of the owner of the Washington Post and Times Herald. Mrs. Meyer told the director over the telephone that if inclusion of this provision resulted in the killing of the bill she would strongly criticize the NAACP and would “personally demolish” the director of the Bureau. She asked that her views be conveyed to the NAACP Board, which is why they are included in the report. The director is unable to say what Mrs. Meyer meant with reference to him but presumes that this will become clear if and when the demolition begins.

After several conferences with military officials and interested civilians, we have notified the Department of Defense that the proposed National Reserve plan will be discriminatory in many states because of Jim Crow policies in National Guard units. This legislation is before a House subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, headed by Representative Overton Brooks (D., La.). We have been advised that we shall be heard on it. Meanwhile, Carter L. Burgess, assistant secretary of Defense in Charge of Manpower and Personnel, has told us the following about the plan:

“Young men who are subject to military service, may volunteer for service, within quotas to be established under the proposed law, in either the Reserve of the Army, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard or in the National Guard of a state. In either case, these young men will be required to participate in a six months training program and assume a nine and one-half year military service obligation.

“The well known integration policy of the Department of Defense, will, of course, be fully applicable to the six months training program. Furthermore, no change is contemplated in the integration policy applicable to service in the Reserves of the military services. With respect to Reserve service with a state National Guard unit subsequent to the six months training period, the laws and policies of the state are applicable.”

We have underlined the reference to the National Guard in order that it may be properly emphasized in the mind of the reader.

Many newspapers have mentioned with approval the President’s issuance of a new executive order strengthening Fair Employment policies within the Federal Service. This order, which was ready during the spring of 1954 but not issued, was recommended to the White House by the Washington Bureau.

By one of the ironies that sometimes accompany events of this kind, the new order has halted action on several important cases being processed by Mr. Polhaus before the Federal Fair Employment Board. However, this difficulty will be overcome shortly, and, because of the increased statue [stature] given to the program, we possibly will obtain better results.

On the matter of employment discrimination in government, the Washington Bureau’s annual report contained the following case which concerned:

“A young woman who discovered a note in which her supervisor called her a darky and joked about how she got the ‘run-around’ when she complained about unfair employment practices. When she brought the note to the attention of her superiors, she was fired for having the personal property (i.e., the note) of another employee in her possession.”

This matter is now satisfactorily settled because of able handling by Mr. Polhaus. An excerpt from the letter of appreciation sent by the complainant reads as follows:

“Recently, in my behalf, contact had to be made with the Fair Employment Officer of the Army. This was done very ably by your representative, Mr. J. Francis Polhaus. I had been discharged from my Civil Service job due mainly to racial discrimination. Quietly, with determination and know-how, he was able to see me restored to duty on January 12, 1955.

Please accept the enclosed donation ($25.00) to help carry forward the program of a wonderful organization.”

President’s Committee on Government Contract

In the annual report, we also mentioned that the secretary and the director have consistently sought action by the President’s Committee on Government Contracts on the Capital Transit Company of Washington, D. C., as well as the Telephone Companies in Baltimore and Washington. These companies have a long record of denying employment to colored people who seek jobs as operators.

<It now appears that the Capital Transit problem will be resolved at last. The following is an excerpt from a letter sent to us by the Committee on Government Contracts. We made official inquiry because there had been extensive newspaper coverage of the agreement of >

It now appears that the Capital Transit problem will be resolved at last. We made official inquiry because there had been extensive newspaper coverage on the agreement of Capital Transit to hire colored operators, but we had no direct word from the committee about whether the case was closed. The following is an excerpt from a letter sent to us by the Committee on Government Contracts:

“This will acknowledge your letter of January 19 wherein you inquired as to the status of several complaints which your organization has filed with the Committee.

“Our Committee has not officially closed the Capital Transit Company matter, although the company has informed us that they have upgraded a number of qualified Negroes, to become platform operators. These men are currently undergoing a process of training and have not as yet become full-fledged operators. Our Committee intends to keep this situation under review for a period of time. When, in the opinion of the Committee, the matter has been satisfactorily resolved, we will, of course, inform you thereof.

“With reference to Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Washington, our special subcommittee is still negotiating with the company. We have made certain progress in this case but a great deal remains to be done and our Committee does not at present regard this matter as being satisfactorily resolved.

“The complaint against the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephony Company of Baltimore is currently being investigated by the agency having a contract with it and as yet we have not received the investigative report.”

The Director wishes to call the Board’s attention to the fact that much of the work on the Transit and Telephone Companies was and is handled by Mr. John Roosevelt, who is a member of the Committee on Contract Compliance.

During the month of January, the Director and Congressman Powell had a conference with Vice President Nixon to discuss ways of strengthening and speeding up the Committee’s work.

The National Association of Home Builders met in Chicago this month and repeated its “pledge” to build ten per cent of its total housing program for Negro occupancy. This, of course, is coupled with the proviso that “suitable sites” must be found. This Jim Crow quota arrangement has the approval of Albert Cole, administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, who said that it should be applauded by the whole country. It also appears that Joseph Ray, Head of HHFA’s racial relations service approves this policy.

We have again reminded the Attorney General that the problem of government policy in housing is one that urgently demands attention.

The carrier Midway of the U.S. Navy visited Capetown, South Africa, this month. Its captain and the U.S. Consul agreed to a South African requirement that colored personnel (Americans of Japanese, Filipino, and African ancestry) would be segregated ashore.

We urged the Navy not to visit Capetown and asked for a conference with the Secretary of Navy. He was ill but his Naval Aide said the matter would be handled by the Acting Secretary. We then asked for a conference with the Acting Secretary who was out but his office advised that a telegram would be sent to us. When the telegram did not come we traced it through the Navy Communication Center and found that it had been sent but with a notation that it be delayed until the following morning. By that time, of course, the Midway was in Capetown.

The Navy said it had to use Capetown for logistic reasons. However, our investigation revealed that the Navy was on a so-called good will visit.

We then asked the State Department to indicate what part it played in this matter because the Navy said diplomats had “arranged for the visit.”  We also pointed out that the visit was a violation of previous Navy policies. Scott McLeod, Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, has advised that he is investigating the matter.

A question on this was raised at the President’s press conference, but he declined to comment. Later, the Navy issued a statement saying that the visit helped to promote democracy. At least two representatives of the daily press willfully and knowingly wrote glowing stories about the success of the Midway’s visit.

At the request of Congressman Powell, the Library of Congress asked the Navy for a copy of the previous policy which would have barred the Midway’s visit. At first, the Navy said it had no record of any such policy. When the identifying numbers of the policy statements were cited, the Navy said that part of it (P.R. 300, Serial 3101) was a document that could not be released. This is an incredible blunder because the Washington Bureau has a copy of that policy statement which we will furnish to any interested person upon request.

Senators Lehman and Humphrey promptly joined us in protesting against the visit of the Midway to Capetown. Senator Case of New Jersey is also interested in the policy question we have raised. The most recent Navy statement was sent to Senator Humphrey. It enclosed a photostatic copy of a laudatory article of the Midway’s visit to South Africa. This article appeared in the New York Times. The Navy made no mention of an editorial in the Times condemning the Midway’s visit.

A number of the problems of our Mississippi members are being handled by the Bureau. These include:

Walter S. Strider and Shirley O’Neal, of FHA, in Mississippi, have publicly denied that loans were withheld because of civil rights activity. O’Neal, who is colored, denied that he asked whether the applicants were NAACP members.

The conference with FHA officials in Washington was not satisfactory. They were unable to produce a direct refutation of the charges made. The FHA officials said that to prove that loans had not been denied because of civil rights activities of applicants it would be necessary to reveal information on the credit status of the complainants. The officials insisted that they could not reveal this information without a signed authorization from the complainants. We are requesting this authorization and will seek another conference on the matter.

During the conference, the GHA officials stated that they had also received an inquiry from Senator Stennis (D., Miss.) on this complaint.

“Economic pressure on the owner (of the station) in the form of curtailing the advertisements and non-purchase of his wholesale goods, made it necessary that Mr. Evers be released (with) regrets of the owner himself.”

Mr. Evers stated that he did not wish to press action through FCC.

The Bureau referred to the Department of Justice the case of Mr. Charles Patrick, who was brutally beaten by two police officers of Birmingham, Alabama, because he had been involved in a dispute over a parking place with the wife of one of the officers. The dispute arose when the officer’s wife attempted to take the parking space that Mr. Patrick was backing into. She advised him that her husband was a policeman and would cause trouble for Mr. Patrick. Mr. Patrick left the scene and was later arrested and taken to jail, where he was beaten in his cell by the two officers, one of whom was the husband of the woman involved in the incident.

On September 7, 1955, Mr. Wilkins, Executive Secretary; Mr. Marshall, Special Counsel; the Director of the Washington Bureau; Mrs. Hurley, Southeastern Regional Secretary; and Mr. Evers, Field Secretary for the State of Mississippi, met with Warren Olney III, Assistant Attorney General, to discuss some of the problems of violence and denial of right to vote we now face in the South.

As a follow up on this conference, the Director has had meetings with the Attorney General and members of Congress in an attempt to work out a coordinated approach to the legislative side of this matter. The following are the results of these meetings:

1.         The Attorney General has studied bills which are now pending in the Congress and has prepared recommendations which the Director is advised incorporate some of the provisions in pending bills that deal with protection against violence and protection of the right to vote. The Department of Justice has promised that these recommendations will reach the Congress in February.

For the record, it should be noted that the Director of the Bureau has not seen the actual text of the Department’s proposals and cannot, therefore, say whether they are adequate or acceptable.

It is also noted, for the record, that the idea of a bi-partisan Commission to investigate civil rights violations appears to have gotten its main support from the White House. Congressman Frelinghuysen (R., N.J.) has introduced H.R. 8350, which is a bill to establish this type of commission. Needless to say, there will be many who will try to use the commission idea as an excuse for not acting on other bills.

Because hearings on Civil Rights Bills were held during the summer of 1955 by the House Judiciary Subcommittee No. 2, the bi-partisan group of Congressmen agreed that further hearings in the House are unnecessary and all effort should be concentrated on getting a bill or bills out of committee.

3.         The Director has met several times with Chairman Emanuel Celler of the House Judiciary Committee who is also a member of the group working for a bi-partisan approach to civil rights. The current legislative situation has also been discussed with Thomas J. Lane (D., Mass.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee, which is in charge of Civil Rights Bills. Mr. Lane has declined to give a specific commitment on when his subcommittee will act on the pending bills.

4.         The Director has talked with Senator Harley Kilgore, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Thomas Hennings, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, which handles civil rights legislation, and also with other members of the Senate on the question of whether hearings will be held promptly on Civil Rights Bills.

The Director has advised Senator Hennings that the Attorney General has stated that he is willing to appear at these hearings and testify in person. As yet, there is no commitment from the Senate Judiciary Committee or the subcommittee on a specific time of hearings.

Some members of the Senate have suggested that, when the Attorney General sends over his recommendations, it will be well to have these introduced as a bi-partisan bill. In view of the fact that no hearings have been held in the Senate, introduction of these recommendations as a new bill would not in itself cause any unnecessary delay, provided, of course, the recommendations are sent to Congress during the Month of February.

Passage of Anti-Violence Bill

The House has passed H.R. 5205, which is an NAACP supported bill to protect servicemen against violence. This bill was sponsored by Representative Celler of New York. Other sponsors of this bill in the House were Congressmen Boyle of Illinois and Powell of New York. Passage of the House Bill was arranged chiefly by Chairman Celler of the Judiciary Committee with the help of Mr. Lane, Chairman of subcommittee No. 2

The companion bill in the Senate is S. 1089. Senator Lehman of New York, chief sponsor of the Senate Bill, has been doing extensive and careful work through members of his staff to obtain Senate passage of this bill. It has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, but Chairman Hennings of that subcommittee has not officially reported it to the full committee.

Plans for Civil Rights Conference

Pursuant to the agreements of organizations cooperating in the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, there will be a nation wide meeting in Washington on March 4, 5, and 6. The Director has had the assignment of obtaining meeting places.

After a conference with the Secretary of Labor [James B. Mitchell], we have been granted use of the Interdepartmental Auditorium for Sunday evening, March 4, and all day Tuesday, March 6. The Auditorium is not available on March 5 during the day because of a meeting which the Department of Labor is holding.

Other facilities for the meeting are at the Willard Hotel where the Ballroom will be available for meetings all day Monday, March 5. We have a verbal commitment that the Metropolitan Baptist Church, 1225 “R” Street, N.W., will be available for a Sunday afternoon meeting on March 4.

The Bureau has reservations for approximately 150 hotel rooms during the conference. It is requested that anyone who desires a room should so indicate before February 20. The reason for this request is that three of the hotels, which are holding a small number of rooms, will not hold them beyond February 20 without specific commitments on occupancy.

The Director has submitted to the Secretary recommendations on composition of the delegations that come to Washington.

School Construction Bill

After a number of false reports on the prospect for immediate action, the School Construction Bill, H.R. 7535, is still stalled in the House Rules Committee. There was a rumor that the bill would be reported out with a closed rule which would prohibit amendments on the floor. There now seems to be no possibility that the bill will come out of committee with a closed rule. The Rules Committee is deliberately delaying action on the bill and, at the time this report is written, there is no certainty on when H.R. 7535 will be reported out.

The Director and Congressman Powell have cooperated in documenting the position of the Executive Branches of Government on the matter of giving Federal Funds to segregated schools. At this time, we have the Comptroller General, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on record saying that Federal funds for education will not be withheld from segregated schools unless there is a specific Court test on the issue.

On February 2, 1956, Congressman Powell called upon the President to state whether he had a legal opinion from the Attorney General that the Executive Branch had authority to withhold such funds. Mr. Powell also asked the President to state himself, or through the Attorney General, that funds made available by pending legislation would be withheld from states that defy the United States Supreme Court decision on the matter of school segregation.

At this time, President Eisenhower and former Governor Adlai Stevenson are both on record in opposition to the Powell Amendment. Former President Truman stated in Minneapolis that he supports the amendment.

Passage of H.R. 5649, re Applications for Writs of Habeas Corpus

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to restrict the use of Writs of Habeas Corpus. This is highly technical legislation that has the support of the Judicial Conference. We are continuing our opposition to the bill now that it is in the Senate. The Director has been advised by a key member of the Senate that U.S. Judge John Parker is exerting a considerable amount of pressure to get this bill passed.

Federal Communications Commission

In previous reports, the Bureau pointed out that we have complained to the Federal Communications Commission about a newspaper story which quoted Fred Beard of Station WJDX in Jackson, Mississippi, as boasting that he had cut off a program on civil rights. According to the story, Mr. Beard told a meeting of the White Citizens Council that when he cut off the program he put up a sign saying “sorry cable trouble.”

We now have a report from FCC on this matter in which Mr. Beard insists that he was misquoted in the newspaper and that he did not have a contract to carry the program in question. The license to operate the station expires on June 1. Any protests against continued operation of it by the present owners will be heard by FCC.

Post Office Department

The Post Office has denied that its station at Elloree, South Carolina, withdrew the use of a box from Mr. L. A. Blackman because of his civil rights activities. During the investigation, the Post Office Department said that it interviewed one of Mr. Blackman’s witnesses who denied any knowledge of the matter. It is the Bureau’s opinion that Mr. Blackman was denied the use of the box but, in view of the collapse of one of his witnesses and because of other technical details, it may be impossible to prove this.

Atomic Energy Commission

The Atomic Energy Commission has agreed to investigate complaints against its Savannah River Works in South Carolina. It is alleged that segregation has been introduced in organized recreation. Under AEC regulations, segregation is forbidden at the Savannah River Works.

Anti-Civil Rights Measures

S. 2844 (Thurmond, South Carolina) and H.R. 8160 (Riley, South Carolina) are identical bills which would deny tax exemption to any organization that engages in litigation to which it is not a party.

H.R. 8906 (Matthews, Florida) would withdraw jurisdiction from all Federal courts and agencies to hear cases involving the administration of State educational systems.

H.J. Res. 495 (Vinson, Georgia) proposes a Constitutional amendment giving the States “the right to manage their own internal affairs with respect to any matter not expressly forbidden by the Constitution.”

S.J. Res. 127 (Eastland, Georgia) proposes a Constitutional amendment prohibiting interference with “the power of any State to regulate health, morals, education, marriage, and good order in the State.”

From the above Senators, we must get at least five votes. No amount of breast-beating will mean anything unless it is coupled with the delivery of at least five votes and possibly more if Senator Bridges of New Hampshire and the new Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. William Proxmire, are to be taken into consideration. Here, again, the opportunity to work is at hand in most of the states because these Senators are now back home.

Brief Review

So many important people and events are linked with the civil rights fight that it is almost impossible to list them without running the risk of offending someone. An attempt will be made later to list those who deserve commendation in speeches, letters, and reports.

The Bureau monthly reports for 1957 contain the record on the civil rights fight in the first session of the 85^th Congress. No attempt is made to summarize them at this time.

The following are excerpts from the mimeographed annual reports of the bureau which will help to give some of the background on how the bill came before the Congress.

At the opening of the 84^th Congress nearly 100 civil rights bills were introduced. A subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held hearings on 51 of these bills in July. Following these hearings, the full Judiciary Committee, on July 28, reported out favorably a bill introduced by Representative Emanuel Celler (D., N.Y.) providing Federal protection for servicemen against abuse and violence by law enforcement officers and civilians. A Senate Judiciary subcommittee likewise approved a similar bill introduced by Senator Herbert Lehman (D., N.Y.). No further action was taken on any of these bills in either House during the year. (From 1955 Annual Report of the Washington Bureau).

During the 1956 campaign for the Presidency, many charges and promises were made on civil rights matters. One of the frequent charges made against the Republicans was that they did not send civil rights proposals to Congress until it was too late to act. A charge made against the Democrats was that their Party was dominated by southern committee chairmen in Congress.

The following are some of the highlights on civil rights legislation in 1956. These facts speak for themselves.

On September 7, 1955, Mr. Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary; Mr. Thurgood Marshall, Special Counsel; the Director of the Washington Bureau; Mrs. Ruby Hurley, Southeastern Regional Secretary; and Mr. Medgar Evers, Field Secretary for the State of Mississippi, met with Warren Olney, III, Assistant Attorney General, to discuss some of the problems of violence and denial of right to vote in the South.

At the conference it was agreed that, among other things, the Department of Justice had an obligation to tell the Congress where its existing powers needed strengthening in order to cope with crimes such as the Till case, the shooting of the Reverend George W. Lee, and the persistent program of denying colored people the right to vote.

As a follow up on this conference, the Director met with the Attorney General and members of Congress in an attempt to work out a coordinated approach to the legislative side of this matter. The Attorney General studied bills which were pending in the Congress and prepared recommendations.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans worked together for passage of the Justice Department proposals.

On March 21, subcommittee No. 2 of the House Judiciary Committee had reported out H.R. 259, an Anti-Lynching Bill, and H.R. 627, an Omnibus Civil Rights Bill introduced by Representative Emanuel Celler (D., N.Y.).

On March 28, the New York Times carried a page one story saying that a civil rights program would be sent to Congress by the Department of Justice on March 29. The Director firmly believes that the Times story was accurate at the time it was published, but the program did not reach Congress until April 9, 1956. When the Justice Department’s proposals reached the House, the Judiciary subcommittee substituted the Department’s language for the language of the Celler Bill, but retained Mr. Celler’s name as author and the number (H.R 627).

The bill was reported out of committee with a minority report signed by seven members on April 25, 1956. When it appeared that this legislation might be smothered in the House Rules Committee (which is headed by Representative Howard Smith (D., Va.), Representatives James Roosevelt (D., Calif.) and Charles Brownson (R., Ind.) initiated a bi-partisan drive to get 218 signatures for a discharge petition which would being [bring] the bill to the floor.

Meanwhile, in the House Rules Committee, Representative Richard Bolling (D., Mo.) made a motion to bring the bill out of that committee. His motion received bi-partisan support and after a few delaying actions by the southern bloc the Rules Committee sent the measure to the House floor where it passed 279 to 126, July 23, 1956.

It is significant that during the floor fight on this bill Representative Joseph Martin (R., Mass.), Minority Leader, made a strong and effective plea for Republicans to avoid joining southern Democrats in a coalition move to defeat the bill. One of the most truculent opponents of the bill was Representative T. James Tumulty (D., N.J.). Mr. Tumulty was defeated in November.

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In the Senate, many problems existed from the beginning of the 84^th Congress. These became worse in the Second Session which was held in 1956.

On February 23, the Director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau requested Senator Theodore Francis Green (D., R.I.), Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, to hold hearings on charges of misconduct by Senator Eastland. Senator Green refused to hold such hearings.

On February 27, Senator Harley Kilgore (D., W. Va.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, died. Senator Earl Clements of Kentucky (who was defeated in November) offered Eastland’s name as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee on March 2.

Senator Herbert Lehman (D., N.Y.) and Senator Wayne Morse (D., Ore.) were the only two Senators who took the floor against the Eastland nomination. Many others who were asked to oppose Eastland either declined to do so or had “out of town engagements.”

The Bureau furnished Senators Morse and Lehman with copies of a memorandum prepared by Mr. J. Francis Pohlhaus on Senator Eastland’s record. We also gave Senator Morse a photostatic copy of a speech made by Senator Eastland in which the Mississippian boasted that he had broken the law. These materials were used by the two opponents of Senator Eastland. Eastland did not answer these charges himself but relied on Senator John Stennis (D., Miss.) to speak for him.

On March 2, 1956, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional rights favorably reported S. 900, an Anti-Lynching Bill; S. 902, a Bill to Create Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice; S. 903, a Bill to Protect Voting Rights; and H.R. 5205, a Bill to Protect Servicemen Against Violence, which had passed the House by unanimous consent at a time when southern opponents of civil rights were not on the floor.

Members of the subcommittee were Senators Thomas C. Hennings (D.,Mo.), Joseph O’Mahoney (D.,Wyo.), and William Langer (R.,N.D.).

Although the subcommittee had approved similar legislation, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to have full committee hearings on the proposals sent in by the Justice Department. These hearings dragged on interminably.

Senators Douglas, Hennings, Ives, Langer, Lehman, Bender, and Morse made a heroic effort to get the Senate to take up the House passed Bill (H.R. 627), but they were unsuccessful.

The 1956 Republican platform included a pledge that the President’s legislative proposals (H.R. 627) which were submitted to the 84^th Congress, will be supported.

The Democratic platform contains a promise to effect rules changes in the opening days of the 85^th Congress. Therefore, it is important to call attention to the following excerpt from the Congressional Record, dated July 27, 1956.

“Mr. Case of New Jersey. I, therefore, ask both the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader as individuals, and as undoubted leaders in the next session of Congress, if they will give assurance that, whichever Party controls the Congress, they will use their best efforts to secure prompt and early consideration of that measure (H.R. 627).

“Mr. Knowland (Minority Leader). “I would hope that such a measure could be considered early in the next session of Congress, not in the second year of the 85^th Congress, but in the first year of the 85^th Congress, and that following hearings—and certainly everyone, either for or against the proposed legislation, is entitled to be heard—the bill could be reported to the Senate, perhaps by March 1 or April 1 at the latest.

“Then, if the bill had been reported to the Senate and had been cleared by the policy committee of the majority—if we should happen at that time to be the majority—I believe it would be incumbent upon me, as the leader, if I should hold that position at the time, to ask the Senate to consider the bill very early in the session, in order to avoid the parliamentary obstacle which otherwise, I am sure all Members of the Senate recognize, exists . . .

“If the Senator is assuming legislation along the lines which the President has recommended—perhaps not word for word, but along those general lines—I would hope very much that the Senate could successfully act upon it at the next session of Congress.

“Mr. Johnson of Texas (Majority Leader). What the Senate or any other legislative body does depends on what the majority of the Members of the committee which controls the proposed legislation wants done.

“All I can say to the Senator is that when the committee acts, if I am the majority leader, and if I have responsibility for scheduling any proposed legislation, I shall take prompt action to bring it to the attention of the group over which I preside, namely, the policy committee. In the event the policy committee feels that it is a bill which should be scheduled for action, it will be brought to the floor of the Senate.”

Speaking Engagements

The Director of the Washington Bureau filled speaking engagements in Washington, D. C., Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, and Boston, Massachusetts.

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An analysis of the Civil Rights Bill prepared by Mr. J. Francis Pohlhaus, Washington Bureau Counsel, appears on the next page.

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September 6, 1957

ANALYSIS OF H. R. 6127, AS PASSED BY CONGRESS

Prepared by

J. Francis Pohlhaus, Washington Bureau Counsel

PART I

This part establishes a six member, bi-partisan Commission on Civil Rights, to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Procedural rules are established for the operation of the Commission.

The Commission is authorized:

The Commission shall report to the President and Congress. Its final reports shall be submitted not later than two years from the date of passage of the Act. It shall cease to exist sixty days thereafter.

The Commission will have a full time staff director, appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.

It will not be allowed to accept volunteer or uncompensated labor.

The Commission will have the right to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses, but such subpoenas shall not require the witness to attend a hearing outside the state where the subpoena is served.

PART  II

This part provides for an additional Assistant Attorney General. Although not required by the bill, the Attorney General has promised to assign him a new Civil Rights Division.

PART  III

This repeals 42 U.S. C. 1993, which authorizes the use of military forces to enforce civil rights statutes.

Under other existing laws, however, the President has the power to use troops if necessary to enforce the laws. He is authorized to call on the U.S. Armed Forces or to Federalize the national guard if it is impractical to enforce the laws by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings (10 U.S.C. 332) or if the execution of the laws is so hindered as to deny Constitutional rights and State authorities fail or refuse to protect such rights (10 U.S.C. 333).

Under this part, individuals are granted the right to sue in equity or for damages where Congress has granted protection to civil rights, including voting rights.

This right is granted now under existing civil rights statutes in most cases. However, a few statutes guaranteeing civil rights either provide no remedy or provide only for damages. Under this part of the bill, there is provided a statutory basis for getting injunctions as well as damages in protecting these rights.

For instance, under 42 U.S.C. 1971, as amended by Part IV of this bill, a private citizen could get an injunction against individuals who intimidate, coerce or threaten him for the purpose of interfering with his right to vote in a Federal election.

Under 42 U.S.C. 1985, it appears that it will now be possible to get injunctions to prevent interference with court orders by outside persons, provided the court orders relate to a matter involving equal protection of the laws, such as school segregation. Also, it would seem that officials who are seeking to grant such rights could get protection in the performance of their duties.

As it now is written, 42 U.S.C. 1985 provides only for damages in these situations.

PART  IV

Under this part of the bill, the Attorney General is authorized to bring an action for preventive relief (injunction) to prevent: (1) the denial of the right to vote in any election because of race or color. (2) intimidation or coercion interfering with the right to vote in an election involving candidates for Federal office.

This action can be instituted without the necessity of exhausting State legal or administrative action.

This means that the Attorney General would not be required to go into State court or appeal through State administrative agencies but could apply directly to a Federal Court for the injunction.

Anyone charged with contempt under this part shall have counsel assigned by the court if he cannot secure counsel.

PART  V

This part regulates cases of criminal contempt arising under the provisions of the bill.

It limits the punishment in such cases, if the defendant is a natural person, to $1,000.00 fine or six months imprisonment.

It grants the judge the right, in his discretion, to order a jury trial.

If such a case is tried without a jury and a fine in excess of $300.00 or imprisonment in excess of forty-five days is imposed, the accused has a right to demand a new trial before a jury.

It is specifically provided that the civil contempt power of the courts shall not be affected by this bill. Accordingly the courts can force compliance to their decrees by fines or imprisonment without the limitations provided under criminal contempt and without a jury trial.

This part also amends Federal law relating to jury selection by repealing that section of existing law which makes ineligible for jury duty anyone ineligible under State law.