Evening star., 1937-04-25
TREND in LEGISLATION
TROUBLES SOUTHERNERS
Fear Loss of States Rights Which May
Lead to Federal Regulation
of Elections.


be court which would okay any as
sertion Of Federal power that the
President might make.
In this condition the Southern
Democrats wonder if the Supreme
Court would still save them from an
anti-lynching law. The Southern
Democrats, in the language Of Rep
resentative Miller Of Arkansas, turn
longing eyes and aching hearts to the
Gibraltar of American liberty, the
Supreme Court. ." Sometimes I
thank God for the Supreme Court. 4"
The imminence Of the anti-lynching
bill may do more to awaken Southern
Democrats to the value Of an inde-
pendent Supreme Court, and to the
danger Of Mr.. Roosevelt's proposal for
changing the court, than all the
speeches and writings Of opponents OF
the Presidents proposal.
A New Kind Of Politics.
The anti-lynching measure that has
passed the House is in effect the
collection Of bill for services rem
dered. The bill was contracted by
Democratic National Chairman Far
ley last November, when he asked
Northern Negroes to vote for Presi-
dent Roosevelt, and they complied
But while Mr.. Farley and the North
ern Democrats contracted the bill, it
is the Southern Democrats who are
called on to pay-in the form of q
surrender Of a deeply cherished prin-
ciple and tradition.
The present anti-lynching bill is q
new kind Of politics, or at least poll
tics with new lineup. In the past
anti-lynching bills have come from
Republicans, for the reason that Re-
publicans were the recognized friends
of the Negro, and Republicans were
the beneficiaries Of Negro voting,
wherever Negroes were permitted to
vote in numbers, which was only in
the North.
Always in the past opposition to
nti-lynching bills has come from
Democrats; not only Southern Demo-
Gratis but all Democrats, for in the
past Northern Democrats have as a
rule stood with their Southern
brothers on this point.
With the Republican party as the
traditional friend of the Negro, and
the Negro expressing his gratitude by
his vote, Republican leaders followed
a policy of trying to promote the
rights of the Negro in the South. Re-
publicans not only proposed anti
lynching bills but also, years ago,
force bills, bills designed to compel
the South to permit the Negro to
vote.
AL this came to an end in the cleo
ton OF 1896. Democratic National
Chairman Farley and his aides wooed
the Negro vote. That vote had be-
come extremely important in many
Northern States. 1t had become de-
cisive, in close elections, in several
Northern cities, New York, Philadel-
phia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincin-
natl, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit,
and st. Louis. Mr.. Farley and the
Northern Democratic leaders wooed
this Negro vote by appointments to
office, by putting Negroes on relief
rolls in large numbers, and by prom
ising the Negroes that they should
hold public offices in proportion to
their numbers. Mr.. Farley wooed the
Negro vote and got it. Every poll
tician and observer agrees that nine
tenths of the Negro vote last Novem-
Der went to Mr.. Roosevelt.
So now 1t is the Northern Demo-
Gratis who are under obligation to
the Negroes. Not the Southern Demo-
crats-only the Northern ones. To
partially pay this obligation, it is
now the Northern Democrats who in
troduce and push through the House
an anti-lynching bill The political
nature of the measure was frankly
recognized. A Southern Democrat,
Mr.. Rankin, of Mississippi. taunted
his Northern associates, saying the
bill was intended "to make Harlem
safe for Tammany" Practically all
the Northern Democrats voted for it.
In this. the Northern Democrats are
joined by most Though decidedly not
alb OF the Republicans. The new
lineup consists Of the Northern
Democrats and the Republicans IA
voring the anti-lynching bill-with
only the Southern Democrats resist
ing it, and the Southern Democrats
alone are not enough. The bill passed,
PIT to 49,
The South May Pay More.
The anti-lynching measure is only
a part of the account which is to
be presented to the South for pay
ment as result of Mr.. Farley's lin
ing up the Northern Negro vote for
Mr.. Roosevelt. The ultimate reward
which Northern Negro leaders, and
some white leaders of Negroes, want
from Mr.. Farley and the Democratic
national organization, is the une-
stricted voting of Negroes in the
South. At present., in most of the
Southern States, Negroes hardly vote
at all. In Alabama, the official bal
lot used last November bore, at the
head of the Democratic column, the
legend: white Supremacy" In the
country, as whole, the New Deal
party in last Novembers election was
less donkey than a zebra. In the
South it was pure white; in the
North, black and white.
1t is only a matter of time until
attempt will be made to use the
power of Congress to compel the
Democrats in the South to permit
Negro voting in that section. One
suggestion is that Congress should
pass national legislation barring from
participation in Presidential elections
any party which in any State vio-
lates the Fourteenth Amendment;
that is, denies to Negroes the right
to vote. At present the States are
protected in local control of their
local elections by the Constitution and
the Supreme Court. But the South
ern Democrats have become uneasy
about whether the Constitution and
the Supreme Court will continue to
protect them.
Copyright, 1871