St. Paul recorder., 1963-06-06
US. Dolly Press
On BiFminohom

lice Commissioner Eugene (BulD
Connor and his Merry Men, oper-
ating largely on the principle that
possession Of the Department ar
senal Is nine-tenths of the law. 1t
is true enough that policing may
be the first function of the state,
but there is a rather ugly name
for forms of government where
policing is also the last function
Of the state: They are called "po-
lice states" - Arkansas Gazette,
Little Rock.
"One thing the mass marches
and falling in Birmingham showed
was that the yearning for equal
opportunity was not solely a no
ton of "uppity" northern Ne
groes." - Christian Science MOni-
tor.
Bombs and race rioting in
Birmingham are the result of fu-
tile efforts to hold back change.
A mere handful of extremists has
torn down the patient work Of the
city's moderates. - Press Scimi-
tar, Memphis.
These hoodlums obviously were
encouraged when the city's police
authorities opposed even the mild
concessions worked out by a bus
mess group and Negro leaders"
I'VE cannot, in fact, imagine
any President allowing a state,
its officials or any group Of its
citizens to engage in or encourage
violence, notification of federal
law or wholesale disregard for fed
eral civil rights. The President
is sworn to uphold the Constitu-
ton and the law of the land. Such
enforcement does not always mean
waiting for court actions and
orders, waiting for requests from
Governors, or waiting for violence.
st. Louis POST DISPATCH.
Events are running hard
against men like Commissioner
Connor, who has come to personify
the policy Of heavy-handed en-
forcement of rigid segregation.
Now that they have been proved
a minority in their own city, Mr..
Connor and his friends are resort
ing to invective. Under the cir
cumstances, phrases like "gutless
traitors" and the calls for boycott,
are tantamount to incitement. -
Washington POST.
Certainly, the pictures and
news stories that have come out Of
Birmingham have been enough to
sicken the strongest stomach: a
policeman kneehng on a woman's
neck; a minister being sent to the
hospital for fire hose injuries;
hordes Of school children being
urged into the fray, then arrested
enmasse; dogs being set on demon
strators.
''The scenes have appalled, Amer
leans and the world. They should
not have happened. The truce
should have been worked out be-
forehand." - Philadelphia EVEN
ING BULLETIN.
Birmingham Is still a threat Of
serious trouble. 1t Is still a cruci-
BILE. It is still a shame to our ma
ton. In the end the Negroes must
win there. They must win because
their cause Is right, because 1t Is
in step with American law and
American sense Of decency. The
need Is to win without violence
Milwaukee JOURNAL.
The urgent need In Birmingham
now is to restore communication
between the leaders Of both races.
And communication cannot be a
one-way street. There must be on
both sides a bona fide desire to
meet and engotiate. The Birming-
ham Negroes have the right to
keep pressing for their rights. But
they should give the new munich
pal government an opportunity to
make good its pledges, once the
courts have clearly established its
authority" - Winston Salem IN.
o. JOURNAL
The trouble at Birmingham Is
not without precedent. We have
experienced Little Rock, New
Orleans, Mississippi - there has
been precedent. From this expert
ence no wisdom has accrued.
1T is too late for the fixing Of
blame. What should burn now in
the conscience of this nation Is the
sight Of children marching from
a house Of worship to jail to ped-
ton for the rights guaranteed
them by the Constitution and the
highest court in the land" - Chi
cago sUN-TDES.
mo American schooled in re-
spect for human dignity can read
without shame of the barbarities
committed by Alabama police auth
critics against Negro and white
demonstrators for civil rights. The
use Of police dogs and high-pres-
sure fire hose to subdue school
children in Birmingham is a ma
tional disgrace. The herding Of
hundreds Of teen-agers and many
not yet in their teens into jails."-
NY. TIMES.