The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1957-03-22

That's doing things the hard way.
"A man who sues his neighbor
over a property boundary line may
win his case in court, but he has
made an enemy in life.
"Any court decision that destroys
the good will of people who have
got to live and work together is
worthless.
81 mention this because in the
final ANALYSIS, after all the dust
has cleared, race relations are no
better than how you get along
with your neighbors down the
road or on the other side of town.
81 mention it for another rea-
son, too.
"Only a few weeks ago the
President sent to Congress sew
eral recommendations concerning
civil rights legislation.
"The actual bills that were in
troduced in Congress in behalf of
the Administration are complicat-
ed. Since l am not lawyer, l am
not going into any detailed dis
cussions of the legal technicalities
involved in the bills.
"But | do want to tell you that
l have studied the testimony given
to the committees holding hearings
on these bills.
"In all the arguments both pro
and con l have tried to determine
this: how would the civil rights
bills be carried out, how would
they work, what would be the prac-
teal effect.
81 think you ought to know
what the testimony shows and
shows very clearly.
eff the present civil rights bills
were enacted into law, they would,
above all else, legalize the taking
away from both Negroes and
whites alike some of the very basic
rights of all individuals.
"These bills, if enacted into law,
would, among other things, enable
the Attorney General to bypass
the right all of us, Negroes and
whites alike, have to trial by
jury-the right we and our fore
bearers have been building and
Strengthening for thousand
years. In circumventing the right
of trial by jury, they would fashion
and forge a tool of legal persecu-
ton and pave the way for legal
lynching of some of our most
cherished existing rights.
"They would also enable the At
torney General to deny individuals,
all of US alike, the right to face
and cross-examine accusers.
"They would also enable the At
torney General to circumvent the
right all individuals have, both
Negroes and whites, to Indictment
by a grand jury.
"These bills, if enacted into law,
would undermine the very founda-
tions on which our individual lib
critics are built. Regardless of the
intentions of the authors, the pres
ent civil rights bills would do the
opposite of what they are intend
ed to do.
"When we think about civil
rights, and such rights as trial by
jury, we should remember that
here in North Carolina we have a
rich history in upholding individ-
ual~ liberties.
"When this Nation was found
ed, the State of North Carolina,
one of the original Is colonies re-
fused to join the Union until the
Bill of Rights, the first 10 amend
ments to the Constitution, were
adopted.
"We have always been proud of
this fact because it is in the Bill
of Rights that we have the guar
antees of trial by jury-the right
to face an accuser in open court
and the right to Indictment by a
grand jury.
"These are just few of the
basic ingredients that are essential
to maintain free society.
"And they are ingredients that
when neglected or ignored will
bring real trouble to those who
would bypass them. One of the
biggest challenges democracy faces
today is the preservation of such
guarantees as those that rae weld
ed into the Bill of Rights of the
Constitution of the United States
"To upset these, would be invit-
ing certain destruction of free
government.
"We should give serious thought
| to these things and we should re-
member that there was no right to