Evening star., 1948-03-07

rime of lynching. And recently, the
held continuously as the unfinished
business Of the Senate Its opponents
might have been worn down and Q
vote finally forced. So Underwood
and Harrison. wise in parliamentary
experience and having q thorough
knowledge of the Senate rules,
started their filibuster as soon as 1t
was proposed to bring the anti
lynching bill before the Senate. The
first order of business in the Sen
ate is the reading and acceptance
of the journal of the previous days
business. Believe 1t or not, the fili-
busterers were so resourceful, with
their motions and proposed amend
ments to the journal-all debate
able-that the journal never was
accepted until after the effort to
press the antilynching bill had been
abandoned by harassed Republi-
can majority of the upper house.
This antilynching bill was known
as H. r. IS, and passed the House
January Is, 1922, with q vote Of 2Sl
ayes" to 119 noes" members vot-
ing present" and "a members not
voting. 1t was an unlucky bill num-
Der in the Senate. For the measure
was reported favorably and placed
on the calendar September Al. It
was finally laid aside December 1.
Another effort to put an antilynch-
ing bill through the Senate took
place in 1885, but this, too. failed.
Senator Copeland, Democrat. Of
New York, one of the early Northern
Democrats to step out for this civil
rights" legislation, offered an anti
lynching bill as an amendment to
the wage-hour bill in 1887 But this
| motion the Senate rejected, 46
noes" to 80 ayes"
Agreement was obtained, how
ever, on August IL, 1887, to consider
the antilynching bill Immediately
after disposition of the agricultural
bill in the following session Of
Congress. In the end, however,
Senator Wagner of New York. q
sponsor of antilynching legislation,
withdrew his motion to consider the
measure on December 20, 1887.
Poll Tax Argument
In recent years, time and again
efforts have been made to get Sem
ate action on an antipoll tax bill.
This measure has had the support
of a vigorous committee outside Of
Congress entirely. 1t has been
argued that no potential voter
should be denied the right to cast
ballot because he had not paid .
poll tax. And, indeed, many Of the
States which in the past imposed
such tax have abandoned tin
the South as we'll as In other sec
tions of the country.
\ The House has several times pass
ed antipoll tax bills. They have
withered on the vine in the Senate.
One of these measures was laid be.
fore the Senate on November IS.
l942. For 10 days the debats-a fl
ibuster of the virulent kind-ran on.
Then a motion to invoke the cloture
rule was defeated Al to 81. In 1914
and again in 1916, attempts were
made to get vote on antipoll tax
bills in the Senate. They, too, failed.
! At the last session of Congress,
the House put through another anti
poll tax bill. This has been favor
ably reported by subcommittee Of
the Committee on Rules and Admin
istration, and undoubtedly sul re-
ceive a favorable report from the
full committee. An antilynching
bill also has received favorable com
mittee action in both Senate and
House. An FEPC bill by Senator
Ives, Republican. of New York 10
now on the Senate calendar.
Antilynch Bill Preferred
The Republican Policy Committee
of the Senate and then possibly the
whole Republican membership Of the
Senate-the Republican conference
so-called-will determine which Of
these measures Is to be given the
right of way, and when 1t Is to be
taken up. 1t has been generally
understood that the antilynching
bill will have the call, however, since
it Is considered to have the best
chance of passage.
With a presidential election COM
ing on and with the Democrats Of
the South in open rebellion against
the Truman administration because
of the Presidents sponsorship OF
these bills, these civil rights" pro-
posals have become a political foot
ball to a greater degree than ever
before. The Republicans plan to put
through one or more OF them with
out a doubt.
The revolt of Southern Democrats,
which at first was ridiculed on the
theory that the Southern States
would, in the end, have to take
President Truman whether they
liked him or not, has grown TO
alarming proportions-alarming for
Mr.. Truman and his Democratic
supporters.
The Truman program Is similar 10
list of measures put through Con-
gress after the Civil War and
passed over the vetees of Andrew
johnson. johnson was o Tennessee
Democrat, loyal to the Union, and
elected Vice President with Lincoln
in 1864. The Supreme Court Of the
United States, however, declared the
laws unconstitutional. Southern
leaders today are fearful that the
present Supreme Court. with a diff