The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-02-24
Byrd On A Limb
BY LESTER TANzRR

Washington The issue OF racial
inieeralion in Virginia s public
scliools qlla tion eat unified 4
diacordant Byrd machine few
Years ago IS now shaking tile Old
Dominica political ruling struc-
fure To lis foundations.
The problem Of how "a deal win
desegregauon has set one follower
Of Senator Harry Flood Byrd. who
heads the dominant Democratic or
sanitation. against another. Ii has
marred the facade IF unity between
the Senator himself and virginia s
Governor ] L,nd- az Almond. j.
And il has created at least the
strong suspicion III Virginia that
MI Almond il inteal on taking into
his own hands Tie safe political
power that MI Byrd has held 50
long.
on The one sida II the school -
we Are the hafd-cDee segrega-
tloniStS including the Senator; they
would have preferred closing down
the public schools ID any break Ii
the segregation barriers break
that came OF Monday With token
lntegration IL Arlington AMI Nor
folk Against them we're and sill
are ranged The more moderate
Vnginians. including the Governor.
who preferred limited integraton 10
no pubic schools 81 all
Harsh Words
Though segregaIi0nist al heart.
Governor Almond took the position
that both he and the state legisla-
ture were p0werless to resist fir
Their a beginning of intearation Mr..
Byrd has kept His Silence during
the final skirniShing that led up
to a crack IN the segregation walls.
But hiS friend saw bis sentiments
lie with those who wanted to block
migration at any price. and his
closest friends in the General AS
senlbly at Richmond lined LIP
a ain st the Almond adn!nistra-
tloH program.
The harsh words that pa ssed be
tween long time Byrd men in tie
General Assembly. the enmities
that have sprung up between form
er friends promise to grow more
heated IN the months ahead, when
the Assembly meets again in les
hurried circumstances this spring
to draft a long rance program to
hold race mixing to a minimum.
In self defense. those wise in the
ways Of Virginia politics figure MI.
Almond may be forced to uy to
take over the Byrd machine. or
at least carve out role a. leader
Of any new political grouping that
may be formed oft Of the current
situation Mr. Almond can do little
else. i'll reekoned. now that he's
split with the Byrd organization.
This Is the worst crisis in re-
cent Virginia history 7 sums up
former Virginia governor with
friends on both sides Of the cur
rent struggle.
The split nov widening in the
Byrd organization isn't something
freshly created. The breach caused
by the school Indignation issue re-
fleets A rift that has plagued the
Byrd organization oh and off for
years
That amorphous structure known
as the Byrd machine. OF organiza
ton it may be noted. Is not
political machine in the usual poll
lcal sense There no formal me
chamsm to speak Of Rather. ths
Byrd machine. since its founding
three decades ago. has been
loosely knit grorp Of men who
share Mr.. Byrd conservative phi
losophy of government.
What machinery does exist is
centered in the courthouse set
men put into local power by Mr..
Byrd and his lieutenants. in Viz
GINA, local judges have the power
TO appoint courthouse officials re-
sponsible for as much as TO per
cent Of local expenditures. But
rarely does Senator Byrd give di-
rect orders to his followers or hand
pick candidates for office. Rather.
he may exercise veto power OF act
as final arbiter in any tough dis
pute. But in Virginia. as in most
other states. growing INFLAMMATION
has brought with it a less con-
sentative point Of view on many
legislative matters. However. tn
Byrd machine absorbed most Of the
new moderates as long as they
hewed to the basic policy Of fiscal
soundness.