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PAGE 6 —Dec. I, 1954 — SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Georgia MACON, Ga. OTH pro and anti-segregation forces in Georgia are marking time on measures and counter-meas ures until the Supreme Court of the United States gives some hint of its ideas on the method and time to be allowed for integration in implement ing instructions. The situation quieted somewhat with few public statements from of ficials on either side of the issue with in a few days after the election of Nov. 2, in which a constitutional amendment paving the way for the state to set up segregated private schools was ratified by the people. The amendment received 210,488 “for” votes and 181.148 “against” votes. It won approval in 129 of Geor gia’s 159 counties. Generally, heavily- populated areas and Negro citizens voted against the amendment. Gov. Herman Talmadge said it was the most difficult political fight in Geor gia since 1946. Gov. Talmadge, Gov.-elect Marvin Griffin and Atty. Gen. Eugene Cook were leaders in the campaign for the amendment. Opposition leaders were State Superintendent of Schools M. D. Collins, the Georgia Education Commission and a Citizens’ Save Our Schools committee. TALMADGE COMMENT Commenting on the ratification, Gov. Talmadge said: Despite efforts of the opposition to cre ate a different issue, the people of Geor gia have ratified an amendment to give the General Assembly of Georgia and the governor power to preserve segregation in our schools. 1 hope it will never become necessary to use the amendment, but this should put the Supreme Court of the United States and the people of this nation on notice that the people of Georgia are deter mined to preserve segregation. Gov.-elect Griffin said he would like to set at rest the fears of the people about the amendment. “No action will be taken under this amendment except through careful study by my administration, the Georgia Commission for Education, and finally, through debate and con sideration by the people’s duly elect- NEW ORLEANS, La. As late returns finally trickled in from every one of Louisiana’s 64 parishes (counties), voters from this Deep South state were almost five to one in favor of maintaining segrega tion in the public schools. Complete returns from the Nov. 2 election, compiled some two weeks after the actual balloting, show that: 217,992 persons voted for an amendment to continue segregation. 46,929 persons voted against the amendment. Specifically, the amendment would allow the state to use its police power under the constitution in maintain ing segregation in the public schools “to promote public health, morals, better education, peace and good order.” It also authorizes the legislature to enact laws on all matters “regarding the terms and qualifications for ad mission to the public schools,” and provides that future amendments to the public school provisions of the constitution could be voted on at spe cial elections instead of waiting for the biennial general elections. Thus the amendment is the very heart of Louisiana’s battle to main tain segregation. RAINACH’S COMMENT The overwhelming victory brought this comment from State Sen. W. M. Rainach of Summerfield, who heads up a joint legislative committee to study segregation-integration trends: This election certainly shows what the people of Louisiana want and I think they’re going to get it. Rainach also announced that a sub committee of his group is going to make a study to determine what it would cost to equalize white and Negro school facilities in the state. ed representatives in the General Assembly,” he said, adding that he had the utmost faith in the integrity and sincerity of the members of the General Assembly. Griffin said he hoped the U.S. Su preme Court would not force Georgia and Georgians to invoke sovereign powers to prevent the establishment of mixed schools in the state. However, If this court is so unrealistic as to attempt to enforce this unthinkable evil upon us, I serve notice now that we shall resist it with all the resources at our disposal and we shall never submit to the proposition of mixing the races in the classrooms of our schools. Let those who were sincerely concerned relative to some of the fancied objections raised to the school segregation amend ment put their minds at ease. It has one purpose and one purpose only. That is to protect the children of Georgia and pre serve our institutions of free segregated schools. Negro Attorney Austin T. Walden of Atlanta, a native Georgian and state counsel for the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Col ored People, said the amendment is unconstitutional and not worth the paper it is written on. Discussing the contention of pro-amendment forces that the Supreme Court might close the schools of Georgia in an attempt to enforce integration, he said the Supreme Court does not have such power. “It does have the power to hold to accountability officials,” he said, “but if the schools are closed, it will be by the state, not by the Supreme Court.” Walden said an exhaustive studv was being made of the case in which about 100 Negro students are seeking admission to Atlanta’s white schools in the light of amendment approval. The suit, originally filed under the argument that the schools were sep arate but not equal and later amend ed to argue against segregation per se, has been pending for some time. Wal den is attornev for the plaintiffs. The NAACP lawyer says it is diffi cult to say how long it will be before Georgia schools are integrated since it is impossible to know how many delaying plans will be tried and what length of time will be taken to ex- He added that school facilities are already equal in some parishes, but that the survey would also attempt to determine the cost of bringing some substandard white schools up to the desired level. Rainach said the study would probably take “several years,” and that the subcommittee plans to re quest the assistance of various state departments concerned with educa tion and local school boards in mak ing the study. The youthful Louisiana state sena tor said the sub-group would also have other purposes besides the study, but declined to name them. “The members of the committee believe in giving colored persons every educational opportunity they are capable of taking advantage of,” he said. Balloting on the segregation amendment was reasonably heavy, in the face of what was generally a light vote. In dominantly Democratic Louisiana, general elections are usually a formality. In the Nov. 2 election, the state’s voters also considered 30 other pro posed constitutional amendments. Only seven were voted down, with 24 adopted. The vote on the segregation amendment, Number 16 as listed on the voting machines, was the highest of the 31—a total of 264.921. The average total vote on the other amendments was 185,000. A breakdown of voting throughout the state shows that the proposal was favored in every parish. It had been expected that in urban centers large numbers of Negro voters might have some effect. But while New Orleans delivered 16,467 votes against the measures, 54,728 persons voted for it—or a haust each. “The Supreme Court in structions will give us a hint as to our next moves,” he said. SEES LITTLE VIOLENCE Integration of the races in Georgia schools will bring a minimum of vio lence, in Walden’s opinion. “And none at all if some politicians and other people did not deliberately accen tuate it,” he said. “The prediction was made that bloodshed would occur when Negroes went to universities in the South,” Walden said, “but there have now been between 2,000 and 3,000 Ne groes to go through universities in the South without a single incident, and with a large degree of cordial ity evident.” Walden says politicians keep racial prejudices inflamed for political ad vantage and believes that when it ceases to be politically advantageous the issue will be dropped. He added: The white youth and Negro youth of the South could solve our problems if these elders didn’t insist on perpetuating traditions which should have been dead long ago ... I have always had great faith in the liberality and broadminded ness of the students of the South ... if I hadn’t expected segregation to be out lawed. I wouldn’t have planted myself down here. The staff of the Georgia Education Commission, empowered by the legis lature to seek to maintain segregated schools, began work on proposed leg islation to strengthen segregation fol lowing ratification of the controver sial amendment in the general elec tion. Durwood Pye, secretary of the commission, said these would include proposed acts on assignment of pu pils, establishment of school district lines, authority of local trustees and boards of education and power of lo cal boards to contract for education of pupils in adjoining school districts. These recommendations were made bv the commission prior to the elec tion. Pye and Atty. Gen. Cook both ex pressed optimism over Georgia’s chances of maintaining segregation permanently now that the amend ment is a part of the Georgia Con stitution. The attorney general predicted the U.S. Supreme Court “can never strike down” the new amendment and said, “Even if the court should strike down some of the implementation measures the General Assembly might enact ratio of better than three to one. In upstate Louisiana, where there is the heaviest concentration of Ne gro families, the ratio was even higher. This was particularly true in the parishes that border on the Arkansas and Mississippi lines. Here are a few of those parishes, with the Negro population percent ages in brackets: Claiborne (51.7)—8.286 to 80. DeSoto (56.6)—1.488 to 136. Tensas (64.8)—540 to 52. W. Feliciana (71.2)—405 to 33. Concordia (59.3)—1.072 to 111. Madison (66.2)—947 to 88. All six are dominantly rural with the heaviest concentrations of Ne groes. Tensas is one of two Louisiana parishes in which there are no reg istered Negro voters. The constitutional amendment was oposed by the NAACP Bureau of Governmental Research, an inde pendent research agency in New Orleans; the Catholic Church, through its semi-official voice, Cath olic Action South; the Independent Women’s Organization in New Or leans, and both the New Orleans and Baton Rouge Unitarian churches. In addition, it was opposed by small groups of citizens throughout the state. In New Orleans, the city’s 28-man legislative delegation refused to en dorse the measure — although they did not go on record as opposing it. Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison, who heads up the Crescent City Democratic Association which put him in power, also refused to take a stand on the measure. In printed listings of the CCDA endorsements for constitutional amendments, the segregation amendment carried only the word “optional” as opposed to the words “for” and “against” which ap peared next to the others. This stand of Mayor Morrison has given rise to political speculation throughout the state. Morrison, ac cording to political observers, is toy- . . . it would be a simple matter for the legislature to enact other meas ures from time to time that would accomplish the objectives of the amendment.” Pye said, “In view of the fact that we now have the amendment, it may be years before any of our public school systems are closed down.” Gov.-elect Griffin said he would not ask the legislature to act on pri vate school plans until the schools are actually closed because of inte gration. Pye said the proposed leg islation blue-printing the private school system would be prepared but not presented to the legislature at this time. NEWSPAPER REACTION The daily newspapers of Georgia, roughly 4-to-l in opposition to the amendment, generally called for cau tion and restraint in putting the amendment in force in editorial com ment following the election. “Our next governor asked for pas sage of the amendment on the grounds that it would give the state government the ‘tools’ with which to work in its effort to keep our schools segregated,” said the Augusta Chron icle. “Let it then remain in the tool box until, and if, an emergency arises.” The Macon News advised: “It will take resourceful leadership and bold statesmanship to perfect the plan to the point where it will allay the fears and doubs of many Georgians. This is to be the real test of the incoming Griffin administration: whether a le gally watertight plan can be fash ioned from the powers to the General Assembly by Amendment No. 4 which will truly maintain segregation, pro tect the rights of the people and re main out of the legal reach of the federal government.” “Never before have the people voted so great a concentration of power in the State Capitol,” said the Atlanta Constitution. “The solemn fact is that the future of education in Georgia no longer belongs to the edu cators or the people. The future of education in Georgia now is the re sponsibility of Gov. Herman Tal madge and of Gov.-elect Marvin Griffin. Into their keeping Georgians have entrusted the futures of their children.” The Atlanta Journal commented: “. . . obviously the issue concerning ing with the idea of running for gov ernor of Louisiana in 1956. If tradition is any guide, Morri son’s candidacy would be handi capped by the fact that he is both a Catholic and a resident of New Or leans—despite the fact he was bom in New Roads, La., a small town near Baton Rouge. Not since the imme diate Reconstruction Days has Lou isiana elected a New Orleans Cath olic as governor. According to reports through the state, if Morrison announces he will run, his opponents will first call for him to take a firm stand on the seg regation issue. An announced candidate is former Gov. Earl K. Long, brother of the late Huey P. Long, senator, governor and political boss of Louisiana until his assassination. Earl Long has taken a firm stand against integration, as have the three other announced can didates — James McLemore, Rufus Fontenot and Lt. Gov. C. E. “Cap” Barham. Morrison, they reason, is sure to draw heavy support from the state’s Negro bloc because of the young mayor’s work in New Orleans, par ticularly in bringing up to standard the city’s Negro school system. But any endorsement of an integration policy by a gubernatorial candidate could very well be the kiss of death, observers feel. Meanwhile, the state has heard the first statement by a public school leader against integration. Dr. Clar ence Scheps, president of the Or leans parish school board and comp troller of Tulane University, has an nounced his belief that “rapid inte gration will result in chaos.” However, Dr. Scheps emphasized that his views on segregation were his own and not those of the Orleans school board. He said that “very definitely an unequal situation” exists between white and Negro schools in the par ish’s public school system. “I’d be Louisiana the schools has not been settled . . . the people of Georgia look to Gov. Talmadge and Gov.-elect Griffin to ‘protect the children of Georgia and preserve the institution of free, segre gated schools.’ ” In the opinion of the Macon Tele graph, “. . . Georgians did not give the Griffin administration any over whelming mandate to abolish their public schools. Today is a time for sober reflection, not merely by those who conscientiously opposed this amendment but equally by those who sponsored it.” “What happens in the future de pends upon the Supreme Court, largely,” said the Columbus Ledger. “The responsibility for education in the future in Georgia rests largely on the new administration and its leg islature.” A Negro newspaper, the Atlanta Daily World, said Negroes “oDposed the measure in a ratio vote of approx imately 15 votes against it to every one for it” and concluded: “It is ap parent by deduction that the maiority for this amendment was provided by the white voters.” SCHOOL BILL PREPARED Only one of the proposed bills de signed to strengthen segregation laws has been released to the press by the attorney general’s office and it is sub ject to changes by the Georgia Edu cation Commission before being sub mitted to the legislature. It provides for the assignment of pupils in school districts bv the dis trict superintendent on the basis of the official’s opinion as to what would be in the best interest and most con ducive to the welfare of not onlv the individual pupils but the school sys tem as well. The determination, according to the proposal, would be made by the su perintendent upon such information as may be at his disposal, and may, in his discretion, consider psycholog ical, sociological and other scientific data. Appeals by either dissatisfied party may be directed first to the local board of education, secondly to the State School Superintendent and finally to the State Board of Educa tion. “The opinion of the state board shall be final and conclusive, and shall not be subiect to review of anv court or tribunal, by arineal. on certiorari, or in any other manner,” the measure states. untruthful if I said all facilities are equal. On that basis, there is discrim ination if you want to put it that way,” he added. Dr. Scheps continued: But it is my considered opinion that a sudden, rapid integration in the public school system would do irreparable dam age to the children of both races. He revealed that there are 7,800 Negro school children on the platoon (half-day) system in New Orleans. “There are 51 Negro classrooms in this thriving metropolis that still are heated by pot-bellied stoves; the overcrowding situation applies most ly, but not totally, to Negro schools,” he said. He asserted that the present school board has made a “great deal” of progress toward equalizing facilities and is continuing to move forward “but I very much regretted that the Supreme Court decision came at this time.” Dr. Scheps added that he wished integration could be post poned for another 50 years. Asked to explain his “chaos” re mark, Dr. Scheps said “I don’t mean bloodshed and revolution when 1 speak of chaos. But to try to get over a school tax increase, for instance, for any future much-needed program was difficult enough before, and would be pretty nearly impossible if we integrate now.” Another reason, he said, is that the state will most probably “engage in as many delaying efforts as it can, which means litigation, probably f° r many years.” While the question is being set tled, he continued, the school system would suffer from diverted interest He concluded: We—and I think on this one point l speak for the school board—we belief® every child of every race is entitled equal educational opportunities. At the same time, I think that the edu cation of both the white and Negro chil dren would proceed better for man]• many years to come if education proceed under separate but equal facu 1 " ties.