The Omaha guide., 1942-03-21
S~0utherners
Support Anti.Poi ak Bill

L. IA piss
for the protection of the federal
constitution, S othat democracy
may not become a .ouchstcue for
hypocrites," was mace before 4
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee
Thursday, March 18th, by a group
of ~Southerners testifying in sup
port of a bill by Senator Pepper,
Democrat of Florida which would
outlaw payment of state poll tex
es as a prerequisite ID voting fer
federal office holders.
SiIliman Evans. editor Of the
Nashville Tennessean, charged tpat
1.-THE poll tax permits minority
rule" and cheating" O. honest
voters in eight Southern States
and that in actual operation i
pr ices self-selected ~stffrasc-
re etstified that pcl taxes haG
enabled Ed Crump OF Memphis to
bui:s. UP o political machine IT, If
has no peer in the country" and
that this machine controls o-a
or about $4,000 of Tennessee
400, 900 voters He said that Z
man "cant expect to defeat a
Crump-supported candidate who
goes into a race with about 20 per
cent Of the votes in his pocket"
The assistant editor of the Tenn
essean, Jennings Perry, stated that
the republican form of govern
ment has been destroyed in all the
poll tax states Tennessee right
now has 100000 more men regis
tered for military service-and in
it-(aIl Of poll tax age) than she
has voters" Mr.. Perry said, add
ing that in Tennessee about 40G.-
900 Of the 100000 citizens act
ually elect state and national Of
ficia1s.
Miss Lucy Randolph Mason, So
uthern Pacific Relations Counsel
Of the CLIO testified that the poll
tax represented a deliberate denial
Of representation to the poor, a
denial creating wrongs and in
justices Of many types" She
stated that the tax was an injus-
tice to wage earners and destroy
ed their civil rights, because they
do not elect local sheriffs as well
as state and national officials.
Elected representatives forget
the people who do not share in
their elections" she said.
Appearing on behalf of the So
uthern Electoral Reform League,
the outstanding Southerno organ
ization fighting the poll tax, and
its affiliate, the Virginia Electoral
Reform League, Moss Plunkett az
David George, both of Virginia.
gave factual evidence of the way
in which political machines per-
petuate themselves through the
purchase of blocks of poll tax
receipts, and told Of the organ.z-
ed Southern movement for the a.
polishing of the poll tax represent
ed by the Reform League.
Mr.. Plunkett told the subcom-
mittee that an official report of
a subcommittee of the Virginia
legislature, appointed to make a
study of election reforms, made
q report strongly favoring aboi-
ishment Of the poll tax, which had
been suppressed by the body that
had instructed it to make its study
T~estifying concerning the pur-
chase Of poll tax receipts by or
CARNATIONS or groups, Mr.. George
claimed that authoritative public
statements have been made by pub
lie officials in Virginia that the
practice of such "block" payment
Of poll taxes is common in the
state, He testified that an offic-
ial audit of the treasures of 100
counties of Virginia had shown
shortages in a majority. This IS
due, he explained, to the practice
of the treasurer marking as PAID.
blocks of poll tax receipts purch-
ased before payment was actually.
made and then failing to collec-.
Frank Nc Callister Of Atlanta
Georgia. Southern secretary of the
Workers Defense League. incild-
ed two main points in his testi-
mony. He stated that Southern
states now requiring the poll tag
as a prerequisite to voting are VOL
-ating the terms of their readmls-
sion to the union after the war
since that act Of Congress raai-
hitting them provided that their
| constitutions never be so amended