Evening star., 1948-07-10
|Southerners Drawn
Into Open Debate on
Civil Rights Plank
Bitter Words Exchanged
At Meeting of Committee
Working on Platform
By }. A. o'Leory
stor Stoff Corrsspendsnt

PHILADELPHIA, July 10.-A
select group of five policy makers
went into a huddle here today
to draw up the first rough draft
of a Democratic platform with
the spectre of Southern opposi-
tion to President Truman's civil
rights program still hovering
over their heads.
Party leaders will bend every
effort to make the plank on racial
Justice as palatable as possible to
the South, but the task they face
was brought into bold relief by an
unexpected flareup in the closing
hour OF public hearings last night.
For three days, the Platform SUBJ
committee OF 10 members had pre-
served q semblance Of harmony by
the simple expedient OF letting ad-
vocates Of the Truman program tes-
tify without being questioned either
by the Northerners or Southerners
Late yesterday, however, Aubrey
Williams, a New Deal liberal from
Alabama, succeeded where all other
witnesses had failed in drawing
Southern members Of the committee
into open debate on the need for
Federal legislation to protect the
civil rights Of Negroes in the South
Bitter Words Exchanged.
Before Mr.. Williams left the stand
bitter words had been exchanged
and two Southerners on the COM
mittee had asserted the South's un-
willingness to embrace Federal con-
troll Of racial problems in their re-
gion. They were former Gov
Chauncey Sparks Of Alabama and
Charles e. Shepperd Of Florida.
Despite this last-minute furry OF
heated debate, however, the belief
is strong among observers here that
party managers will succeed In
drafting a civil rights plank in such
general terms as to dissuade most
Southerners from taking a walk
This goal may be achieved by fol-
lowing the outline Of the 1914 plank
What the electors from some OF
the Southern STATES will do in the
electoral college may remain a moot
question when the convention ends
next week.
The planks on labor legislation
and on Federal versus State control
Of coastal tidelands also may give
the Democratic platform builders
some difficulty, judging by develop.
ments at the final public hearing
yesterday.
Green and Ickes Testify.
William Green, president Of the
American Federation OF Labor
called on the Democrats to take Q
stand for repeal OF the Taft-Hartley
Act, which many Democrats in both
houses helped to pass over Presi.
dent Truman's veto.
Harold l.. Ickes, the hard hitting
former Secretary OF Interior, cans
forward to urge the Democrats tc
keep Federal Jurisdiction over oil
rich coastal tidelands, and use the
revenue thus obtained for public
education.
The Supreme Court recently de-
cided the Federal Government has
paramount rights to the tidelands
but the States are fighting for
bill in Congress to recognize State
control Of these submerged mineral
deposits and the Republicans two
weeks ago sided with the States
rights view Of the problem.
California and Texas have an
important stake in the tidelands
issue, and some political observers
here believe a Democratic plank
favoring Federal control would help
the Republicans in both Of those
States.
Lucas Wants Tidelands Plank.
On the other hand, Senator Lascas
of Illinois, a member OF the Plat
form Committee, indicated his be-
lief the Ickes proposal would give
the Democrats an issue that might
pick up more support in the country
as a whole than would be lost In
California and Texas. He had IN
mind the offer to use the revenue
the Federal Government would -Sst
1See PLATFORM, Page A-3J