Evening star., 1962-04-27
Erwin Brands
Literacy Bill
ILLEGAL, Excess
By ]. A. OLEARY
Star Staff Writer

1
North Carolina, called the ad-
minlstration's literacy bill for
voters unconstitutional and un-
necessary today as the Senate
entered the third day of debate
on the measure.
In a speech prepared for
Senate delivery, Senator Erwin
attacked the constitutionality
Of the bill on the ground that
the power to fix qualifications
of voters is vested in the States.
He argued the bill is not nec-
essary because the Federal
Government already has six
laws under which it can pre-
vent discrimination in voting
places.
The bill is designed to pre-
vent use of literacy examina-
tons as a device for discrimi-
mating against Negroes. The
bill provides that no State may
turn down a voter on the basis
of a performance test if he or
she has completed the sixth
grade.
Disputes Robert Kennedy
Senator Erwin, who conduct
ed the hearings on the literacy
bill in Senate subcommittee,
also took issue with the con-
tention of Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy that the bill
does not fix the qualifications
of voters and is constitutional
because it merely establishes a
standard for determining the
reasonableness of State literacy
tests.
The Attorney General argued
at the hearings that a State
could still fix the third grade
or the eighth grade Of school,
ing as a standard for determin-
ing literacy as long as it applied
the test equally to all voters.
But if a State attempted to
give a voter a literacy exami-
nation, then it would have to
accept anyone who had COM
pleted the sixth grade.
Challenging the Attorney
Generals argument, Senator
Erwin said the Supreme Court
has held that Congress has no
power to perscribe standards
for the reasonableness of legis-
lation which the States have
the constitutional power to en-
act.
Javits Defends Bill
Although all Of the formal
speeches thus far have been
by Southern opponents of the
bill, one Northern liberal, Sem
ator Javits, Republican of New
York, joined in briefly yester-
day to defend the measure.
Senator Javfts cited the re-
port of the Civil Rights Com
mission, which said there was
reasonable grounds to believe
that Negroes have been dis
eliminated against in seeking
to vote in about 100 Southern
counties.
The New York Republican
said, II am a little tired Of be-
ing told that we who support
this legislation are only look
ling for votes"
Referring to the Southern
opponents, he added, What
are they looking for?"
In another development to-
day liberals found they may
not get a chance to offer their
broader civil rights program
dealing with segregation in
schools, housing and employ
ment as amendments to the
literacy bill.
The stumbling block is the
probability that leaders will be
forced to invoke the two-thirds
clotur erule to end the debate,
land the rules provide that if
cloture is invoked all amend
ments must be germane to the
original subject. This probably
would rule out all except
amendments related to voting
rights.
Senator Erwin said the advo-
Gates of the literacy bill admit
it is aimed at five or six South
ern States, but he said it would
apply to all so States If it is
passed. This would mean. he
said, substituting a Federal lit
eracy standard for the lteracy
tests established by 81 States,
and would bar 20 other States
from establishing their own lit
eracy tests.
The North Carolinian also
argued that substituting the
sixth-grade standard for exist
ing tests would make it possible
for refractory State election
officials to delay or frustrate"