Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-10-02
Little Rock Echoes

The letters 10 the editor
about the Little Rock affair
reveal q widespread misun-
derstanding Of the nature Of
the Federal Union. There IS
much loose talk about the
rights Of sovereign" States
and their alleged power TO
"nullify" Supreme Court de-
cisions.
The fact Is that the States
are not sovereign. The Fed
eral Government Is ultimately
supreme over State govern
ments. This Federal suprem-
acy is established by the
Constitution which states
that "thes Constitution. and
the laws Of the United States.
which shall be made in
pursuance thereof. and all
treaties made. or which shall
be made. under the authority
of the United States, shall be
the supreme law Of the
land :" cart. VI. cl. -.
In his second reply to
Hayne, Daniel Webster effec-
lively disposed Of the doc
trine of notification. "The
very chief end" he said. "the
main design. for which the
whole Constitution was
framed and adopted was TO
establish q government that
should not be obliged to act
through State agency. or de-
pend on State opinion and
State discretion. The
people have at no time, and
in no way. directly or indi-
rectly, authorized any State
legislature TO construe or in
terpret their high instrument
Of government: much less to
interfere by their own power
TO arrest its course and oper-
alton"
Edward Evans.
Amid all the absurdities
voiced in the present at
tempted process Of orderly
migration in Little Rock.
foremost among them Is the
likening Of the situation there
to the occupation Of Paris
by the Germans. the Gestapo
tactics in other European
cities, and the Russian inter-
vention in Budapest. It would 4.
be fatuous to deny that the
use Of Federal troops in Ar
kansas was the most desir-
able alternative, but their
employment was Of necessity
brought about because Of the
total disregard Of national
law and the incapability Of
the local policing action to
maintain order.
Since. to some. the use Of
Federal soldiers in Little
Rock was so reminiscent Of
enemy occupation Of foreign
cities during the World War.
! can absurdly stretch my
imagination and transpose
the atmosphere in Little Rock
TO other events: The closing
Of the Sues Canal to the
Western world. the earlier.
unconditional refusals Of the
Russians to admit anyone be-
hind the iron curtain. and
the isolation Of various mi
norities throughout the
world. We do indeed see In
these instances q rejection
OF peoples because Of selfish
or inconsiderate motives. My
far-fetched transposlng Illus
trates as much forethought
and intelligent reasoning as
the opinions Of the few who
see Little Rock as being occu-
pied by the Government. And
yet. Little Rock Is occupied"
by a hard core Of diehard
segregationists whose ambi-
tions never gave them the
initiative to darken the por-
tails Of Central High School.
or its many other educational
counterparts.
Nesbra II. Matthews.
II is a glaring fact that the
Supreme Court has violated
the Fourteenth Amendment,
which states in Section /. mo
State shall make or enforce
any law which shall abrldge
the privilege or immunities Of
citizens Of the United States"
The amendment does not say
rights" but privileges and
immunities." That means the
privilege" heretofore enjoyed
by white people and Negroes
alike. Of sending their chill
dren TO schools Of their own
race. the "immunities" Of not
being forced TO send their
children to integrated
schools.
II Negroes have the right
10 send their children TO
schools Of their own choos-
ing. the white people have
the privilege and immunity"
of not having Negro chill
dren going to white tchools.
Both Of them car1ot be