The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-11-01
REPORTS DIFFER
 IN WIDE DEGREE
 ON LYNCHING BILL
Congress Must Provide Means for Ending This CoWardIy Crime, Majority Report
 Declares
By Associated Press

Washington, October Si.-Wideiy conflicting views on the anti-lynch- ing bill. now before Congress. were presented in the house today in ma jority and minority reports from the Judiciary committee.
 me biIl, introduced by Representa- tive Dyer, repuoncaa, slisso urs1, would undertake to wn.e out iynch- ings by neayy peaAl,es to be int- posed oil pelsOiis partielpas.ns aud o4ncers cn..rze ..h cIiOtufne tu.. peace. Iouh,,vs in nnicn p-rsvns are gut 10 deaen py laous stiso NYoulo be suDJect to neat4 ftHvs III .tpe 4euerit court.
 uung the demand m. Che piatrorm adopteu py the laat repupnean con ssntion to eno iynenins, the plea oi rresluent h@ruins an address to Congress to wipe out Lhls parDarie stalu and the appeal O. President " llson in lslS to eill1ens to help stop HaoD law, the majority repore, pre- pared by Mir. Dyer, deeldred that tnese and similar appeals nave gone lor nausnt ana iyneh4ngs eont4hae.
 Congress must protau1 tne ineaIls Tor enulns th4s OotsaroIy cfIrne, tnu report COntinueu. At IS in punisn- ant. those wno take parr ii It or Wno permit H.
 tnreasehs Future Peace
 "The prevalence III many states oI lhe spirit mnlDn tolerates iyhenlns, accompanied too oeuen With lnilaine4t cruelty, anu the lnaDIf1y or unNlll- ms sness oI the puelle aurQorltles to punlsh the persons euIibv et this crime, threatehs Very seriousiy tne future peopie oI the nations. Lynch ing bfots our name nation, lo4 We cannot eiafm to be civilized until cur IaMs are respected and enIorcea and our cillzens secured agalnst the n4ueous crueIues o1 whicn we are constantly lurnlshIng fresh exam ples."
 The report added that while It had oeen imAossibIe to get accurate he- ures aYailabie records showed 3,@44 persons mad been iyncnea Ill the iase Jo years, oi which z,o4z were negroes.
 Held bnconstatuttonnl
 Declaring the bl1I unconstltutional, the minority report. presented by Representative Summers, democrat 1eXas, contended it would tend to destroy the. sense of local responsl- bilty without adding to Joe protec- ton of the people.
 This bill, in the Judgment of the minority, IS without consttuuonal warrant, said the report. Tt is det- initely and directly antagonistic to thu philosophy of our system of gov ernment and within the limit o1 its effectiveness, 1t should be held con stltutional, would be destructive ol that system.
 If enacted and operative it would not add to the protection of person or general efficiency Of government nor strengthen the relationship be- tween the federal government and the state. On the contrary, this pro posed intervention of the federal gov ernment directed against local power. supplanting and supersedlng the sovereignty of the states. would tend to destroy that sense ot local respon- sibillty.
 "rhis bill, challenging as 1t does the relative governmental efficiency of the states and the integrity ot pur- pose of their governmental agencies placing the federal government, as II does, in the attitude of an arbitrary dictator assuming coercive power over the states, their officers and their citizens in matters of local po- lice control, would do incompatible harm to the spirit of mutual respect and trustful cooperation between the federal government and the states es- sential to the efficiency of govern ment."
 Mir. Dyer will ask for a rule to bring the bill up for consideration probably this week.