St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1946-12-13

United States in the Williams case,
which Section 1929 provides, among
other things, that any person par
ticipating in any party primary,
whether Democratic, Republican, or
Socialist, must first agree to sup
port the candidate declared as the
nominee Of the party in such
primary in the general election to
be held in November; and, second,
no person under this law is per-
mitted TO vote in a primary unless
he has been in accord with such
party in the primary Of which he
offers to vote for the past two
years.
Says Negroes All Republicans
at has been the general under
standing for Sc years in Mississippi
that the Negro race has almost
without exception been affiliated
throughout all time with the Re-
publican party, and the Negroes
who have qualified and registered
to vote during the last Sc years
have consistently voted the Re-
finished his prepared statement.
did you tell an audience that
Clare BOothe Luce (retiring Re
publican representative from Con-
necticut) was the greatest niger
lover in the North except for Old
Lady Eleanor Roosevelt ?" he
asked.
Grinning crookedly, Bilbo re-
tOrted: 81 sure did; it's true, you
know"
Asked if he had advised horse
whipping certain colored persons,
he squirmed: mo, what | advo-
Gated was ridin' 'em out of town
on a rail-" and it wasn't true, he
added, that he had proposed
"atomically bombing and extermi-
mating the Negro Progressive
Voters League"
THE Man" conceded that he lad
urged the whites to "see the mig
gers the night before election" IL
any Of them indicated an intention
to vote in the Democratic primary.
But he insisted that he meant vocal,
not physical violence.
Blaming all the trouble on "out-
side meddlers like the CLIO, PAC,
Walter Winchell, Drew Pearson, the
National Association for the Ad-
vancement of ColOred People, and
the Civil Rights Committee" Bilbo
lisped:
Sidney Hillman didn't give a
damn about the Negro or his fam
lily down here when he sent in
money. He was just after political
control. That kind Of organizer
oughta be rode out Of town on a
rail-and tar-and-feathered, too"
He admitted that he advised
every red-blooded man in Missis-
sippi" to resort to any means-but
he said he specified illegal means"
TO keep colored people from the
polls last July.
Insisting that colored people
could qualify to vote in the Demo
cratic primary, Bilbo said there
were two whole wings" of the
Republican party from which they
could choose.
One faction is the "so-called
Black and Tans," headed by Perry
Howard, national Republican com
mitteeman, and the other the Lilly
whites" headed by George l.. Shell
don. former Governor of Nebraska,
who has lived in Jackson for many
years.
Other witnesses had testified
that the cleavage between the two
wings is the major reason why the
Republican party has not been able
to put up candidates this year. The
BLACK and Tans" are officially
recognized by the Republican Ma
tional Committee.
Sheldon, who testified in support
Of Bilbo, was asked II a Republican
victory in l94S would mean that
the BLACK and Tans" would have
control Of appointments in Mis-
sissippi.
"Only God and those who will he
in power at that time can determine
that" said Sheldon.
After Bilbo completed his tes-
timony, Forrest Jackson, his cOun-
sci, called several white political
leaders, most Of whom said they
were political opponents Of the
Senator. They all testified that Bill
DO had not melted any violence or
denial of civil rights, and that his
views on the white primary" for
the Democrats Of Mississippi agreed
with theirs.
George Butler, a Jackson attor-
ney and former president Of the
Mississippi Bar Association, who is
a member Of the State Democratic
Executive Committee, held that
Negroes do have a legal right to
vote in the Democratic primary.
Butler, under questioning, dis
nlnnnA AhnA Ahn GAnAn 49, -.