Evening star., 1960-03-16
RIGHTS

! RIGHTS
Continued From First Page
serve the right to a jury trial
for any election official cited
for contempt for failure to obey
a court order to register voters
certified by a Federal referee.
The other two amendments
proposed by the Virginia Sena-|
tor would give State election
officials the right to defend
themselves against charges of
racial discrimination.
More Changes
Action on the referee plan
amendment today would i'm
prove prospects of House pas
sage of its civil rights bill to-
morrow, although numerous
amendments are expected to be
offered.
The present provisions would
fix Federal penalties for OBJ
Struction Of court orders for
school desegregation and for
fleeing across State lines to
avoid prosecution or testimony
in bombing and arson cases.
Other provisions would re-
quire State election officials tol
preserve voting records for two
years and would assure school,
ing Of children of servicemen
in areas where public schools
close because Of desegregation
disputes.
Parliamentary Tiny
Besides throwing the House
into a parliamentary tizzy
yesterday by siding first with
Democratic and then with Re-
publican groups, Southern
members chalked up at least
one substantial gain.
The referee plan now before
the House provides that when
a Federal judge determines the
existence Of a pattern" of vot-
ing discrimination on the basis
Of race or color he would ap-
point special referees to handle
specific complaints. The ref
eree'S findings would be sub
ject to approval by the Judge. |
Things started crashing to
pieces without warning yester-
day at the very moment when
the administrations voting
referee proposal seemed safely
on the way to adoption.
Limit Rejected
The House had rejected, 138-
95, an attempt by Representa-
tive Meader, Republican of !
Michigan. to limit operations
OF the proposed referees and |
have Federal courts handle
voting rights complains mainly
on a case by case basis.
Representative KaStenmeier.
Democrat Of Wisconsin, iden-
titled with a Democratic Study
Group Of liberals from North
ern and Western States, then
offered an amendment en-
bodying the Federal enrolment
officer plan suggested by Sena-
tor Hennings, Democrat of
Missouri.
This plan would authorize
the President to appoint Fed !
eral officers to enroll qualified
citizens for registration and
voting where the Civil Rights
Commission found strong evi-
dence OF widespread depriva-
ton Of voting rights.
Southern members grasped
their opportunity when they
saw a surprisingly large num- |
Der Of other Democrats stand |
ing up for the enrolment off, |
Ger amendment. They huddled
with their leader, Rules Com /
mittee Chairman Smith, Dem
ocrat of Virginia, and threw
their votes behind that amend /
ment. 1t was tentatively
adopted, 152-128, as a substi- I
tute for the referee plan.
Then, with the Southerners
shifting their votes again, the
House defeated both the referee
plan and the enrolment plan,
l70-l43. These were standing
or teller counts. Individual
votes were not officially re-
corded as in roll calls.
Amendment ReOffered
Mr.. McCulloch Immediately
offered the referee plan amend
ment again, minus the section
permitting referees to accom-
pany complainants to voting
places.
Mr.. Smith raised a point of /
order that the proposal was
not germane. He contended it
was essentially the same as the
McCulloch amendment that
had just been beaten.
Representative Walter, Dem
ocrat of Pennsylvania. presid-
ing officer at the time, over
ruled Mr.. Smith. He held that
the new version was sufficiently
different to constitute a new
amendment proposal.
Representative Harris, Demo-
crat of Arkansas, then told his
colleagues that the new amend
ment as read aloud by the
House clerk still retained the
language allowing referees to
go to voting places. Mr.. Walter
agreed. Mr.. McCulloch ex-
planned that in the confusion
the clerk had picked up the
earlier version and read it by
mistake. |
While objections and points
of order were f1ying all over the