The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-10-02

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 What appeared then, or what appears now on the records of the organization, do not know.
 Unsolicited Card
 T have never considered and do not now consider the unsolicited card given to me shortly after my nomination to the senate as mem- Der of any kind in the Ku Klux Klan. I have never used 1t. I did not even keep 1t.
 Before becoming a senator dropped the klan. have had noth- ing whatever to do with it since that time. I abandoned it. com- pletely discontinued any association with the organization. have never resumed 1t and never expect to do do So"
 Black said he had joined the klan about Is years ago. He resigned before he entered the senate for the first time, Il years ago. As proof that he has no sympathy with klan prejudices against Catholics, Jews, and negroes, he cited his rec ord of liberalism in the senate. Tinted At ExpOsers
 He had started his brief speech with an attack-indirectly put against persons he deemed respon- sible for the expose of his klan af- filiation.
 During his European vacation | euaS,, 1,,Ioiob loa rat,,rV,a ad IUadpacdou Justice Black said there had been "a planned and concerted cam paign" which lis calculated to create racial and religious hatred" If con- tinued, he said, it would cause in calcuable harm to national life. He continued:
 ITO contribute my part in avert ing such a catastrophe in this land dedicated to tolerance and freedom, break with precedents of the past to talk with you tonight"
 That was the spirit of his speech. It was not an explanation and much less an apology. His apparent desire was to make statement of fact from a man who was and would remain a justice of the supreme court. At the end, he said: Discussion Closed
 When this statement is ended my discussion of the question is closed
 Constitutional authorities agreed that there was no possibility of suc- cessful impeachment proceedings against Black. They said that past utilization with the Ku Klux Klan was not grounds for impeachment.
 In Boise, Idaho, Senator William E. Borah said that he hoped the entire matter would be dropped.
 Justice Black stated the matter of his relationship with the klan as I understood it to be when l spoke on the subject in the senate. l un- derstood then he had been a mem- Der but had dropped his afiliation about Il years ago.
 Will Take Seat Monday
 "He will take his seat as mem- Der of the United States supreme court on Monday. Nothing is to be gained by @ continuation of the dis cussion. hope the subject of the klan will be dropped"
 Borah said he had voted against Blacks confirmation not because he knew of the past klan aft1liation, but because he believed no vacancy on the court existed.
 Reaction from the senators who led the fight against President RooSevelt'S supreme court enlarge ment program, was varied. Senator Edward R. Burke, D., Nebraska, who, as a member of the judiciary com mittee, raised the question of klan affiliation while the senate was con- sidering Blacks appointment, said that 1t would have been better had he, not given any speech at all. There was a time when he should have answered questions (before the appointment was confirmed) but that was long past"
 O'Mahoney Satisfied Senator Joseph c. OMahoney, D., Wyoming, another leader in the court bill fight, said in Los Angeles that he considered Blacks speech "a frank and satisfactory statement which ought to be and which ) think will be accepted by the coun- try"
 At his home in Weston, w. Va, Senator Rush. D. Holt, D., said: What can be saidP He pleads guilty"
 Here. Representative Sol Bloom. D.. New York, predicted that the controversy would continue.
 "An associate justice of the su- preme court testified as witness and then closed the discussion" Bloom said.
 "I looked up in the dictionary the word discussion end 1t means two-party debate. After hearing Blacks speech, l am just as much in a fog as ever. It seems to me that the higher the position the more the holder should come out in the open. We have not heard the last of it.
 Colleagues Listened
 Presumably, all of Blacks eight colleagues on the high bench list ened to his speech. Arriving from Europe in New York yesterday, Jus tices James c. McReynolds intimat- ed that he intended to listen. A United Press reporter called at the home of Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes last night. The chief justice wouldn't SC ehiIn, but from the reception hall he heard Blacks voice coming from the family radio.
 Black took only Il minutes of the half hour the radio chains had al- lotted him. He sat in the living room of the home of his friend, Claude E. Hamilton, Jr, general counsel for the reconstruction fi- nance corporation. The Hamiltons were with him, as was Mrs. Black and few close friends.
 First, Black stated his belief in the Constitution and especially in the bill of rights.
 Bill Of Rights
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