Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-28
BY ROBERT X. WALSH
star staff Writer

star Staff Writer
The war of adjectives In call
ing civil rights bills drastic or
soft. realistic or emotional
loaded or watere d-down has
greatly complicated the House
Judiciary Committees effort to
agree on any measure.
The labelling, perhaps un-
avoidable in the twists and turn
overs Of the situation, tends
to create superficial and some
times distorted images" Of
stands by the Kennedy admin
istration and by widely-con-
flicting factions in both Demo
cratic and Republican congres
Sional ranks.
1t overlooks the evolution In
legislative proposals and po-
Itical positions during the last
10 months. And it minimizes
the extremely intricate consti-
tutional and legal problems in
drafting any such legislation.
In his state-of-the- Union
message January Il, President
Kennedy cited "the need to
strengthen our Nation by pro-
tecting the basic rights of its
citizens" He singled out the
right to vote as being the
most precious and powerful
right in the world" and de-
clared it must not be denied to
any citizen on grounds Of race
or color.
Administration Criticized
On January 81 q score Of
House Republicans led by Rep
resentative McCulloch Of Ohio,
ranking minority member Of
the Judiciary Committee, criti
cized "the failure of the Ken
nedy administration to press
for comprehensive civil rights
legislation" They introduced a
bill to:
Make the Civil Rights Com
mission permanent and give it
additional power to investigate
vote fruads; establish q Com
mission for Equality of Oppor-
tunity in Employment; author
ize the Attorney General to file
Injunction suits in behalf Of q
citizen denied admission to a.
non-segregated public school;
give Federal technical assist
ance to States and COM
munities requesting aid in de-
segregating schools; and de-
clare a sixth-grade education
to be a presumption of literacy
qualification for voting in Fed
eral elections.
Kennedy Proposals
On February % President
Kennedy sent Congress q Spe-
cial message proposing legisla-
ton to:
Authorize appointment Of
temporary referees to deter
mine qualification for voting
when a suit was filed against
discrimination in any county
where fewer than Is per cent
of eligible Negro voters were
registered; make q sixth-grade
education presumption Of lit
eracy; set up a program Of
Federal technical and financial
assistance to aid sc hool dis
tricts in desegregation; and ex-
tend the Civil Rights Commits
sion four more years.
On May 8 an linn m b err
House Judiciary subcommittee
began hearings on those and
other civil rights legislative
proposals.
On June 3 several House
Republicans, including Rep
resentatives Matthias Of Mary
land and Lindsay of New York,
introduced bills supplementing
the January 81 G. o. P. meas
ure and providing:
That the Attorney General
as well as individuals could
take legal action against State
licensed businesses practicing
racial discrimination and that
the Attorney General could in
stitute legal proceedings against
officials who deprive persons
of their right to equal protec-
ton of the law because Of race,
creed, color or national origin.
"GrOwing Moral Crisis"
On June 10 President Ken
nedy, after a Nationwide ad-
dress asking the American peo-
pie for cooperation IN meeting
the growing moral crisis in
American race relations" sent
Congress another message with
additional legislative recon-
mendations.
Those proposals, written into
a House bill introduced princi-
pally by Judiciary Committee
Chairman Celler, Democrat Of
New York, dealt with voting
rights, injunctive relief against
discrimination In public accom-
modations and desegregation in
public education.
It also would e sta blish q
Community Relations Service
to mediate discrimination dis
puteS wherever possible, con
tinue the Civil Rights Commits
sion for four years and broaden
its scope, create a Commission
on Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity, and require non-diScri