St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-03-04
Civil Rights
FiIibuster On
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Dirksen of Illinois, the voluble, old
fashioned orator of the Senate
leader of the Republican minority
in the Senate supposedly has a
firm agreement with Johnson to
try to shut off debate in the Sem
ate after every Senator who wants
to speak at length has done so.
This may be accomplished if two
thirds of the senators vote to limit
debate.
A chief figure on the Republican
side in carrying on the civil rights
program is articulate Jacob Javits
of New York who has aggreSively
contended that passage Of a civil
rights measure in this session
will benefit both the Us. domes-
tbs scene and its international pres
tige.
Senator Paul H Douglas, Illinois
Democrat is one Of the leaders in
the current battle.
The opposing side is being quar-
terbacked by veteran Georgia solon
Richard Russell and the usual
group Of southern senators like
Eastland. Stennis. Talmage.
A news report says even Sem
ator Estes Kefauver the 1856
Vice-Presidential candidate has
Joined with the Dixie bloc Kefau-
YER has tough reelection cam
paign coming up in Tennessee
where his opponents are playing
up his announcements on civil
rights Of the past three years,
some Of which sounded unusually
liberal for a southerner.
As the daily press and radio has
already reported pro-CiTl rights
Senators must now sleep in their
offices or in the cloak-rooms in
the capitol in order to answer
quorum calls, a tactic which
southerners use to rest from their
filibuster.
Filibustering senators read all
through the day and night from
books, pamphlets and tracts.
The southerners hope to wear
the pro-civil rights forces TOWN
and the other side hopes to do the
same thing with the Dixie forces.
One big hope of the southern
bloc is that the country will get
tired Of the spectacle, and put
pressure on Senate leadership to
halt the battle by putting the civil
rights bills aside for later consider
alton.
Senator Russell and his cohorts
expect that if enough Senate bus
mess piles up there will be pres
sure to get Johnson and Dirksen
to call a halt on the civil rights
matters, by postponing action.
Heretofore the south's represen-
tatives have delayed the Senate
discussions on civil rights to the
end Of the session, when most
members Of Congress want to go
home in flight from the Washing
ton summer heat.
This year because Senator John
son kept a promise that he made at
the end of the 1859 session, the
civil rights measures were tackled
on an innoCuous Missouri school
district measure on Feb. Is by
johnson.
At that time nobody in the Sem
ate or in the country for that
matter expected Johnson to sud
denly become a civil rights cham
pion at this late date.
The NAACP has warned from
Washington that the public should
not become too optimistic about
what appears to be a sure victory
for a rights bill because there
are lots of tricks in the political
maneuvering which is going on
behind the scenes in Washington,
especially in senatorial cloak
rooms.
An attempt Is being made to
hurry House bill which is not as
stiff as the proposed senate meas
ures 50 that the weaker bill will
be submitted to the senate. The
House bill was bottled up fol-
months by a coalition Of southern
Democrats and northern Repub.
leans in a committee. Threat OF
a discharge petition and the new
threat that the senate would enact
a strong bill forced the bill out Of
committee.