◆ SpookStack

’ Since the days when James Weldon ‘Johnson began his fight on lynching in 1922, anti-lynching bills have been passed by the House and killed by filibuster in the Senate. The original measure was directed simply against officials who participated in Iynchings. The new bill, introduced in the House by Republican Representative Clifford Case of New Jersey, and in the Senate by Wayne Morse and Robert F. Wag- ner, is directed against the lynchets. It derives its broader powers from Article 55 of the UN Charter and from the historic inability of the states to take" action. This inability is con- firmed by the President’s committee. The Case bill makes participation in a lynching a federal crime punishable by heavy prison terms and fines. There is hope that within a few weeks it will get to the floor of the House atid be passed. It faces a filibuster in the Senate, where there are more. than enough votes for cloture if the Re- publicans and Northern Democrats are. ‘firm. The Administration, doubtful of a the constitutionality ‘of the Case bill, may put in its own measure. There is real danger that Senator Taft, tradi- tionally opposed to federal sanctions against individuals, may swirig the Re- publicans behind the weak bill of Senator Hawkes of New Jersey, which simply strengthens the existing crimi- nal code. . Among all nalions, America, Por- tugal and Peru still have a poll tax. It was imposed in the South at the turn of this century to. keep the Populists from voting. In the 1946 election, 33 percent of the voting population voted in the no-poll-tax states. Eight percent voted in four Southern states in which the poll tax had been repealed. ‘The percentages in the seven poll-tax states were Alabama, six; Arkansas, eight; Mississippi, two; South Carolina, one; Tennessee, seven; Texas, five; Vir- ginia, eight. The anti-poll-tax bill is short and simple. It prohibits the collection of any tax as a prefequisite to voting in ptimary or general election for federal officials. This is the fifth such bill. The first died in a House committee; the second, third and fourth passed the House and wete killed by filibuster in the Senate. On the fifth bill; passed in the House last July, the Senate Re- publicans have promised “early ac- tion.” A filibuster is due, and the two- thirds vote for cloture should be easily _ won, The alliance with Southern con- servatives is no longer as valuable to. Republicans as in the days when they were struggling to stop the New Deal’s reforms for the North. Passage of the anti-lynching and anti-poll-tax bills by the first Republican Congress since 1932 will make a strong record for 1948, —The FEPC hits hardest of all-at-segre- gation in the South. Unlike legislation against lynching and the poll tax, it attacks powerful interests in the North, including most corporations and some trade unions. oo In wartime, the Fair Employment Practice Committee served as a clear- ing house for complaints, and offered mediation. In spite of having no en- forcement powers -and no recourse to the courts, it worked satisfactorily, and in June, 1946, died when Congress refused to renew its appropriation. But four states—New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut established state FEPC’s. Based on the New York State law, Senator Ives’s bill prohibits job dis- crimination by employers or unions. The commission it creates is directed to use conciliation first, then to issue orders to desist, enforceable by the courts. The Senate Labor Committee has approved the bill despite Taft's opposition. But in both Senate and House, opposition to any action in this session is strong. In the absence of pressute, the FEPC will be tabled this year. Twenty of our states compel seg- regation in some form. Segregation on railroads was compulsory in 14 states and authorized in two states. The Su- pteme Court ruled that the enforce- ment of these laws was unconstitu- tional in cases affecting interstate com- merce. Some state officials continue to enforce the laws. In all cases railroads 15 and bus lines are free to segrepate pas- sengers on their own initiative. “Congress,” reported the President's committee, “has complete power under the Constitution to forbid all forms of segregation in interstate commerce. ‘We believe it should make prompt use of it.” The President has recommended action. One bill is already before a committee of the House. The Southern farmers ate threatening a fight, There is time during this session to complete hearings and pass the bill. The Re- publicans are not committed to action. A policeman beats up or kills ‘a Negro suspect; a man is threatened with-violence-if~he dares to vote; a sharecropper and his family are held. in peonage; each year, for every Negro lynched, a hundred others have been in peril of their lives, Seven men in the Civil Rights Section of the De- partment of Justice are responsible for action on behalf of the US. They must work mainly with two post-Civil War statutes of the US Criminal Code which protect Americans from interference with their civil rights. And, as the eight-percent vote in 1946 in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and North Carolina showed, protec- tion of the right to vote goes far be- yond abolishing the poll tax. It in- cludes guarantees that voting will be held in public. places, free of intimida- tion and subterfuges such as literacy tests. The President’s committee called: for the strengthening of the machinery for protecting civil rights and for the en- actment of new statutes specifically directed against police brutality, peon- age and any interference by public officers or private persons with the tight to vote in federal primaries and elections. Measutes in line with these - recommendations have been proposed and can be passed during this session. So, in four short months, 1948 can be made a great year for civil-rights legislation. And “the achievement of full civil rights in law,” as the Presi- dent’s committee says, “may do as much to end prejudice as the end of prejudice may do to achieve full civil rights.”” MICHAEL STRAIGHT