Arizona sun., 1950-11-16
In The Nations
Capital
BY LOUIS LAUTIER
r the NNPA NewsService


for a change in political tactics by
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
if it hopes for bipartisan support
of it's legislative program.
Despite the fact that it is sup
posed to be non-partisan, the as
sociation gave what was tanta-
mount to an Endorsement of a
number of candidates seeking re-
election and distorted the facts in
the case of other candidates.
It also made no evaluation of the
capabilities Of the candidates who
were seeking to unseat incumbents
running for reelection.
In the main, the attitude of the
NAACP toward Congressional cam
didates closely paralelled that of
the Congress of Industrial Or
ganizations' Political Action Com
mittee.
The results of the election clear
ly indicate that the members of
the NAACP did not accept the
subtle suggestions of the associa-
ton as to how to vote in their
states.
There are two cases in point.
One is that of Senator Robert A.
Taft, Republican, of Ohio, and the
other is that of Senator Scott w.
Lucas, of Illinois, the Majority
Leader. Senator Taft scored a
resounding victory, piling UP a
plurality of 100000. Former Re-
preventative Everett M. Dirksen
knocked out Senator Lucas by an
impressive plurality.
In it's survey of the records OF
Senators in the 81st Congress, the
NAACP apparently hoped to damn
Taft by proving inconsistencies in
his record. But colored supporters
of Taft in Ohio took the NAACP's
compilation of the Senator's rec
ord to prove that it was good,
despite his opposition to a COM
pulsory fair employment practice
bill.
No evaluation was made OF
Joseph T. Ferguson, the Demo-
cratic candidate, whose nomina-
ton was dictated by the CIO-PAC,
the American Federation of Lab
or's League for Political Education
the United Mine Workers, and the
railroad brotherhoods.
On the other hand, the NAACP
marked Lucas record favorable"
on all civil rights issues.
Such a rating entirely overlooks
the inept and vacillating leadership
of Senator Lucas on civil rights
legislation. In the first session Of
the 81st Congress Lucas delayed
bringing UP the Hayden-Wherry
resolution to amend the Senate's
cloture rule until late in the session
and the success of a Southern fill
buster was virtually assured.
After he had promised to make
FEPC the second order of business
in the second session of the 8lst
Congress, he kept pushing it be-
hind other legislation until nearly
five months of the session were
gone.
Also overlooked in Lucas "fav-
orable" record was his failure to
muster more than nineteen votes
for cloture on his first motion to
take up FEPC and not more than
twenty-five votes for cloture on
his second motion.
There should be no mourning
over the defeat of Senator Millard
E. Tydings, Democrat, of Mary
land, except that it will move
Senator Richard B. Russell, Demo-
crat, of Georgia, a racialist of the
first water, to the Craftsmanship OF
the Senate Armed Services Com
mittee in the 82nd Congress.
The defeat of Senator Ebert D.
Thomas, of Utah, chairman of the
Senate, Labor and Public Welfare
Committee, makes more difficult
the repeal of the Taft-Hartley labor
law, which the NAACP has ad-
vocated. Senator James E. Murray,