Evening star., 1949-08-02
Proqress-the Wronq WAY

Progress-the Wrong Way
Delay in reaching an agreement be-
tween the Interior Department and the
District Recreation Board, under which
the latter would operate all public recrea-
tion facilities in the District, is best ex-
planned by brief review of recent events.
Secretary Krug closed the Anacostia
pool on June %. Ugly incidents precipi-
tated by organized young demonstrators,
attempting to put into practice the Inte-
rior Departments theoretical policy of
nonsegregated operation Of the pool,
caused Mr.. Krug to act.
On the heels of his closing order he
called the Commissioners and Chairman
Harry Wender of the Recreation Board
into conference on July l. He made it
plain the Interior Department was anxious
TO turn over all District recreation to the
board and that the board would establish
Its own administrative policies with
out further interference from the Interior
Department. This was the arrangement
contemplated in the 1912 law creating the
Recreation Board.
In return, the Recreation Board was
requested to make some changes in its by
laws. References to segregated operation
would be removed. A policy statement to
the effect that every possible and realistic
effort" would be made by the board to re-
move racial segregation, Gin such sequence
and at such rate of progression as may be
consistent with the public interest would
be inserted in the bylaws.
After some difficulty in the board, these
changes were approved unanimously and
were accepted as satisfactory by Mr.. Krug.
But In the meantime the Interior Depart
ment ran out on its own set of conditions.
It reversed itself. Apparently it is taking
the position that only on the promise of
continued non-segregation in some, If not
all, Of the pools will the department re-
lease It's recreation facilities to the local
board. %
That is the way the business stands now,
which Is just about where it began. What
happened was that Mr.. Krug got scared.
He got scared the first time when he saw
where the Interior Departments bull-in-a-
ehina-shop handling of delicate issue was
leading him and his fellow politicians. He
got scared again when, after he had solved
the problem of mixed swimming by closing
the swimming pool, the pressure groups got
busy accused him of repudiating the
Presidents civil rights program and made
him eat his words to the Recreation Board.
The Interior Department has indicated
its belief that If the Recreation Board oper-
ates the pools on segregated basis, after
the Interior Department had announced
they would be segregated, backward
step will have been taken in race relation
ships. The argument is not realistic. The
swimming pools have never been operated
on q non-segregated basis. The first at
tempt to operate them that way has closed
the Anacostia pool, in the hottest summer
In over q decade, and the Mckinley pool
has changed from white to colored, with so
large reduction in attendance that the
pool is operated at a loss that mounts
every day. That may be progress. But
1t does not seem to be progress in the
right direction.
Unless the Interior Department is willing
to leave to local board the right to make
Its own policies in recreation, the board
would be foolish to assume administrative
responsibility. 1t is patiently absurd for
sprawling department of the Federal
Government to get itself involved in
neighborhood rules and regulations on
recreation. But that is what the Interior
Department politicians insisted on doing
and in the process are revealing them
selves to be not merely inept but disin-
senuous as we'll.
The sometimes delicate problems of race
relationships in Washington are going to
be solved, in the long run, by men of
wisdom and understanding in both races,
drawn together by good will and mutual
trust. The Interior Departments bunglers
are more of a hindrance than a help.