The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-03-02
US HAS MOVED FAR IN CIVIL
Liberties VIEWS IN so YEARS

4u0suA uus~ -
Washington (LPA)-The obliga-
tion of the federal government to
protect and foster our civil liber-
ties, to narrow the "gap between
our preachments and our prac-
tices," has enormous implications
that haven't yet been generally
understood, US Solicitor General
, Philip Perlman told the Third An
nual Conference on Civil Liberties
here.
Contrast the change in a half
century, Perlman said, between
, President Taft's view that racial
bigotry and prejudice should not
be combatted by the federal gov
ernment and President Truman's
civil rights message in 1949 when
he said:
eve shall not i. i. finally achieve
the ideals for which this nation
was founded so long as any Amer
ican suffers discrimination as re-
suit of his race, or religion, or
; color, or the land of origin of his
; forefathers. The Federal gov
;, ernment has a clear duty to see
i; that constitutional guarantees of
individual liberties and Of equal
! protection under the laws are not
, denied or abridged anywhere in our
:. Union"
i As a measure of the progress
| that has been made, Perlman listed
score Of messages, court actions,
and pieces of legislation, among
, them:
THE appointment in December
1916 of President Truman's Com
mittee on Civil Rights, which re-
ported in October 1947 that there
is "prevasive gap between our
aims and what we actually do"
, and that this was creating kind
of moral dry rot which eats away
at the emotional and rational bases
: of democratic beliefs" 1t gave
Truman concrete program Of inn
mediate and long-term steps to
bridge the gap.
2-Spelling out the Committees
!, ideas, President Truman transmit
ed to Congress on Feb. 2, 1913 a
message calling for a federal com
mission on civil rights, joint Con-
gressional committee on civil
; rights division in the Justice Dept.
He asked Congress to strengthen
I, civil rights statutes, pass an anti
lynching bill, an FEPC bill and an
! anti-poll tax bill, and to prohibit
; ; discrimination and jim Grow in
interstate transportation, and en-
act a model local civil rights law
for Washington, ID. C.
3-Four bills which would carry
out this program were immediate
{ ly introduced by Sen. j. Howard
McGrath CD, RD, who has since
been made attorney of the US
Perlman predicted that "the con
test over them is approaching a
Climax" and that doubtless they
will become law, though perhaps
we shall have to wait until the elec-
tion in November of this year"
Eight states have established
Fair Employment Practice com
missions. Many states, including
Indiana, which Perman pointed
out once was virtually run by the
Klan, have abolished segregation
in public schools.
5-"The Supreme Court has in
recent years increasingly enlarged
the scope of it's guardianship of
the Bill of Rights" Perlman said,
citing a half-dozen important de-
cisions. "The Intervention of the
Justice Dept in the racial restric-
tive covenants cases." he observed
was the first instance in which the
government had intervened in a
case to which it was not party
and in which its sole purpose was
the vindication Of rights guarantc-
ed by the 9th and l4th amend
ments." Since then, the Justice
Dept has intervened in several
cases before the Court involving
civil liberties, and next month will
appear to oppose an Interstate
Commerce Commission ruling that
separate dining facilities on rail
road trains are equal" treatment.
In another test of the Separate,
but equal" idea, the Department
has supported before the highest
court the plea Of Negro students
TO study at the Universities Of
Texas and Oklahoma in the same
classes with white students.
G--"We try to practice what we
preach" Perlman said, citing five