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PAGE 10—Jan. 6, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Mississippi JACKSON, Miss. ESS than one-third of the qualified electors in Mississippi went to the polls on Dec. 21 and voted 2-1 in a special election to vest the legislature with authority to abolish public schools if it takes that to prevent desegregation. The action ratified an amendment to the state constitution of 1890 by which public education is made leg islatively optional rather than con stitutionally required. The amendment was drafted by a 25-man Legal Educational Advisory Committee created at the 1954 reg ular session of the legislature prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 17 decision. A ruling against segregation had been anticipated, and the leg islature created the committee to be gin work on plans for preserving seg regation in spite of the ruling. Gov. Hugh White was named chair man of the advisory group. Legisla tive approval for submitting the pro posed amendment to the voters was gained at a special session last Sep tember. Only 27 of the 189 legislators voted against submission of the amendment to the voters in the Dec. 21 special election. CALLED ‘LAST RESORT’ Although proponents have insisted that the amendment will be used only as a “last resort” to preserve segre gation, they demanded its ratification in advance of other planned maneu vers as an “additional weapon” t o gain consent of Negroes to continu ance of segregation on a “voluntary” basis. The plan envisions the imme diate elimination of the wide dispar ity between Negro and white schools. The plan, which is to be submitted to a special session of the legislature Governor White has called for Jan. 11, calls for adequate funds for pay ment in full of the equalized teacher salaries and transportation aooroved earlier this year, and immediate is suance of 60 million dollars in full faith and credit state bonds for launching a Negro school building program. Ultimate cost of closing the “gap” between Negro school build ings and those long provided the whites has been estimated by the State Department of Education at 118 million dollars. Sponsors of the school abolition amendment made its ratification a condition for the Jan. 11 special ses sion to begin a far-reaching program to give Negroes a fully equalized program with that of the whites. Just as soon as election returns showed the amendment had been ratified, Gov. White issued the special session call. State officials are confident that Negroes will agree not to seek inte gration if their oonortunities are equalized without further delay. The officials feel that Negroes will be willing to accept that rather than no tax-supported schools at all. On that basis, state officials said thev are willing to vote additional funds for continued segregation un der the asserted “protective fea tures” of the abolition amendment. OTHER STEPS MAPPED Other planned steps to preserve segregation, as previously outlined by the Legal Educational Advisory Committee, include: 1. Assignment of pupils (as pro vided in a 1954 legislative enact ment) . 2. Use of the state’s police power on the assumption that attempts to integrate will cause disorders. 3. Gerrymandering of school dis tricts. 4. Other avenues yet to be devel oped. Not until those have been ex hausted, proponents of the abolition amendment said, will the “last resort” amendment be used. Before the amendment can become operative, legislation implementing it must be enacted. Gov. White said no such legislation is planned at the January special session because “nothing has arisen to call for it at this time.” However, from other sources it is reported that several bills to set the machinery for aboli tion on the “local level” may be of fered at the approaching assembly. The amendment, which is sched uled for insertion in the constitution at the January special session, has two “abolition” authorizations. 1. By a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate, public schools may be abolished statewide. (The House membership is 140 and Senate 49.) 2. By a majority vote of each branch, a county or separate school district may be empowered to abol ish public schools on these levels. Should course No. 2 be attempted, plans call for a provision which would leave final abolition to some kind of a referendum at the local level. A THIRD PROPOSAL Another provision of the amend ment allows the legislature to con tinue to support public schools with out any reference to “separate, or equal.” That section is planned for use by its proponents to set up a sys tem “within the framework of the United States Supreme Court de cision.” Under that course, propo nents believe that an attack on what ever system is developed would be directed at a particular school and not the statewide system, and would serve as a “delaying action.” Gov. White said the section per mitting continued legislative support of public education, without any ref erence to segregation, will replace the present constitutional require ment for segregated public schools which, he said, the court ruling struck down by indirection. That was the basis of his demand for ratifica tion, since, he said, without the amendment the legislature could not vote funds for any type of public ed ucation program other than a segre gated one. TAX BILLS SEEN Confronting the approaching spe cial session will be tax increases suf ficient to bring in an estimated 18 million dollars in “new” money an nually for public schools. That is in addition to three million dollars to be required to mature the 60 million dollars in school building bonds over a 20 year period. Interest on the bonds will be borne by counties or school districts sharing in the allo cations. The 18 million dollars “new” money will make a total of 68 million dollars available for public schools for the usual allocated biennial period. The new 68-million-dollar equalization program enacted at the 1954 regular legislative session increased the amount previously noted from 50 million dollars for the 1952-54 bi ennium. However, in anticipation of the ad verse Supreme Court ruling, the 1954 regular session refused to appro priate the full amount for the new two-year period, leaving the 1955- 56 session short by 18 million dollars. A bloc of legislators, sufficiently strong to prevent passage of revenue measures by the required three- fifths vote, refused to annrove the full equalization for the 1954-56 bi ennium in advance of the ruling. Under the 1954 equalization pro gram, teachers salaries. transDorta- tion and funds for administration were put on a par, regardless of race. Salaries of teachers, which were left up to local authorities, must now be equalized on the basis of training and experience without regard to race. Provision is also made for transporta tion of all students, Negro and white, living more than one mile from school outside municipal districts. FUNDS FOR SUPPLIES Negro schools, which in a large measure depended on local contribu tions. are now assured sufficient state aid for necessary supplies, such as lights, fuel and work material for students. Funds under the new equalization program are allocated “where the child is in school,” rather than on an educable census basis, disbursed at the will of the local school authori ties. The old system resulted in the wide disparities in expenditures per child. Equalization of facilities was not provided at the 1954 regular session pending outcome of the Supreme Court’s action. That is the phase to be dealt with at the January special session with the amendment as an as serted “additional weapon” to gain Negro consent to continuance of seg regation—but at long last on an equalized basis. To raise the 18 million dollars “new” money, a legislative group has blue-printed the following tax in crease program: Raise two per cent sales tax to three per cent for an additional 15 million dollars a year. Add one cent to the four-cents-a- pack cigaret levy for an additional $1,450,000 annually. “Across the board” increases, pro rated as to the additional needs, in income, beer and wine, amusement, franchise, statewide privilege and oil- gas-timerance severance taxes. CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND Ratification of the school abolition amendment in the Dec. 21 special election followed a bitter statewide campaign. Gov. White and his Legal Educa tional Advisory Committee headed the proponents. They were aided by five candidates for governor in next summer’s election; the two U.S. sen ators; five of the six congressmen; the state superintendent of education and all other state officials; the Mis sissippi Farm Bureau Federation; Mississippi Economic Council of business and civic leaders; the Mis sissippi Association of School Admin istrators; many leaders in the Missis sippi Education Association, and the newly organized Mississippi Citizens How They Voted Here’s how Mississippi’s 82 counties voted (unofficial figures) on the public school abolition amendment: For Against Pet. Negro Amend- Amend- County Pop. 1950 ment ment Adams . 49.9 1,824 557 ♦Alcorn . 14.3 456 691 Amite . 54.1 1,389 133 Attala . 43.3 1,552 189 ♦Benton . 43.7 170 330 Bolivar .... . 68.3 2,023 227 Calhoun .... . 23.3 455 261 Carroll . 56.9 626 23 Chickasaw . . 44.4 842 141 Choctaw ... . 30.2 647 176 Claiborne .. . 74.7 491 37 Clarke . 40.6 1,413 206 Clay . 56.8 903 80 Coahoma ... . 72.1 1,913 286 Copiah . 53.3 1.645 124 Covington . . 32.5 542 417 DeSoto . 67.1 257 223 Forrest . 28.7 2,200 1,975 Franklin ... . 39.3 581 86 ♦George . 12.2 342 595 Greene . 18.3 410 141 Grenada .... . 52.1 1,047 47 Hancock ... . 17.1 426 396 ♦Harrison .... . 15.9 5,287 5,758 Hinds . 44.9 6,680 3,443 Holmes .... . 73.4 2.393 70 Humphreys . . 69.6 1,091 32 Issaquena .., . 67.4 207 12 ♦Itawamba .., . 05.4 228 1,248 ♦Jackson . 21.4 688 2,868 Jasoer . 51.2 1,079 261 Jefferson ..., . 74.4 659 60 Jeff Davis... . 55.5 573 198 Jones . 26.1 2,767 941 Kemper .... . 60.9 527 56 Lafayette ... . 35.4 1,248 690 Lamar . 15.8 369 202 Lauderdale . . 36.4 3,259 1,600 Lawrence .., . 37.6 867 131 Leake . 41.4 1,167 175 ♦Lee . 27.8 399 1,534 Leflore . 68.7 2,661 127 Lincoln , 32.9 2,065 200 Lowndes ..., . 48.6 1,430 197 Madison ..., . 73.6 814 71 Marion . 35.0 1,140 263 Marshall ..., . 70.6 323 33 Monroe 37.5 686 598 Montgomery , . 42.9 1,825 172 Neshoba .... .22.5 223 66 Newton . 33.4 1.068 152 Noxubee .... , 74.3 904 51 Oktibbeha 48.6 1,138 257 Panola 55.9 1,119 162 ♦Pearl River.. , 21.7 493 652 Perry 24.2 382 177 Pike , 44.6 1,547 737 ♦Pontotoc .... 19.0 339 1,371 ♦Prentiss 11.7 391 845 Quitman ..., , 60.5 342 29 Rankin 47.3 962 17 Scott 48.2 1,590 238 Sharkey .... 71.2 504 84 Simpson .... 33.3 1.479 323 Smith 20.2 521 139 ♦Stone 21.7 307 787 Sunflower ... 68.0 1.915 64 Tallahatchie.. . 63.5 2,023 24 Tate 57.5 1,025 55 ♦Tippah 19.3 198 1,673 ♦Tishomingo .. 05.1 131 1,618 Tunica 81.1 297 7 ♦Union 17.9 439 1,434 Walthall .... 46.0 1,029 56 Warren 50.6 1,680 446 Washington . 66.6 2,242 623 Wayne 36.5 778 263 Webster 23.1 872 189 Wilkinson ... 69.1 783 124 Winston 41.5 1,177 177 Yalobusha .. 43.8 620 66 Yazoo 61.8 1,838 90 Totals 91,903 40,875 * Against amendment Councils composed of “white males dedicated to preservation of segre gation.” The opposition forces were headed up by an organization known as “Friends of Segregated Public Schools.” Miss Alma Hickman, re tired state college professor of Hat tiesburg and former president of the Mississippi Education Association, was chairman of that group. Her two chief lieutenants were State Sen. George Owens of Pontotoc, who fought the submission proposal at the September special legislative session in the Senate, and Rep. Joel Blass of Stone County (Wiggins), who fought it in the House. The Mississippi Conference of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People was op posed to the amendment. Both labor unions (CIO and AFL) were against the amendment. Parent-Teacher groups, as such, took no part, although many officials, as individuals, were against the amendment. State school leaders who supported the amendment did so strictly as a “last resort” step. They said that if its use is attempted before that, they will fight legislative approval of abolition acts. COUNTY RESULTS Voters in 14 of the 82 counties re jected the amendment. Major opposition centered in the heavily white-populated hill counties of northeast Mississippi. Much of it stemmed from their bitterness towards the assertedly rich Delta counties where Negroes outnumber the whites. Many people in the hill counties felt that the Delta would seek to abolish public schools with out any delay, and in that way re move themselves from supporting public schools. The hill counties are in the equal izing area where the state returns to them more than they send to Jack- son in the form of taxes. The situa tion is reverse in the Delta. For in stance, Washington County in the heart of the Delta, sent in excess of 10 million dollars in general fund taxes to the state for the period 1949- June, 1954, and got back in state aid for schools slightly more than two million dollars. Some of the hill counties, however, ratified the amendment. Hill counties voting against the amendment were: Alcorn (Corinth); Benton (Ash land) ; Itawamba (Fulton); Lee (Tu pelo) ; Pontotoc (Pontotoc); Prentiss (Booneville); Tippah (Ripley); Tish omingo (Iuka); and Union (New Al bany) . Two coast counties and adjoining areas likewise opposed ratification. They were George (Lucedale); Har rison (Gulfport); Hancock (Bay Saint Louis); Jackson (Pascagoula) ; and Pearl River (Poplarville). home of the late white-supremacist, U.S. Sen. Theo. G. Bilbo. The 26 counties in which it is known there are organized Citizens Councils went one-sidedly for ratifi cation. Sunflower County (Indian- ola), where the first council was or ganized and home of U.S. Sen. James O. Eastland (D. Miss) voted 1,915 for and 64 against. Despite organized labor’s opposi tion, only one of the counties where that vote is strong went against the amendment—Jackson on the Gulf Coast. Other counties with big labor votes which favored the amendment included Adams, Pike, Jones, Lau derdale, Warren, Monroe and Hinds. In calling the special session for Jan. 11. Gov. White has said that he will submit the proposed 60-million- dollar bond issue for new Negro schools, as well as tax increases to raise the necessary funds for full equalization of the dual system. CAMPAIGN ARGUMENTS During the campaign, proponents of the amendment said its rejection would be “heralded throughout the world as our rejection of segregated schools and our acceptance of inte gration.” However, the opposition said such was not the case because “everybody knows Mississippi favors segrega tion.” Also posed was the question of having confidence in the legislators, with the added statement: “How can we ask for states rights if our peo ple do not trust their own elected state legislature to enact laws?” Gov. White said ratification was “not necessary as a vehicle for abol ishing the public schools, but in order to make sure that there will be a con stitutional basis on which the state government can continue to aid our people obtain an education for their children in the event the Supreme Court of the United States or some other federal court holds our present provisions pertaining to schools un constitutional.” “There is no desire on my part and no thought among the members of the legislature to abolish the public schools or to take the state out of the business of helping every boy and girl in Mississippi to obtain the ben efit of an education,” Gov. White said, “The whole thought, effort, and pur pose behind the proposed amendment is to place our state government in position to cope with any problem that may arise by virtue of any un favorable federal court rulings. “If we are not placed in position to act freely and without fear through the passage of this amendment, then we may well become subject to what ever evils an all-powerful federal autocracy desires to cram down our throats,” he said. Asserting that the amendment “is not a threat to public education,” Gov. White said: It is my view that under it the people can continue to expect the oneration of public schools in the state of Mississippi, and that, if our separate public school system is destroyed by the federal courts —not by the Mississippi legislature—our pen’ll e can still continue to have their children educated in separate schools, at state expense, through a system op erated under provisions of this amend ment. When we look at the amendment in the light of the existing situation and our fundamental philosophy of government, it is crystal clear that the adoption of this amendment is no threat to public school education, but that it is in reality noth ing more than an additional weapon with which we are seeking to arm ourselves in our fight to conduct our own affairs as we know they must be conducted if we are to survive as a free people. The only possibility that the public schools will be abolished is that at some future day the yoke of federal tyranny may become so oppressive upon us that the people will demand of their chosen representatives in the legislature that a system be devised for educating our chil dren in schools other than public. OPPOSITION VIEWPOINT Opposing ratification, Rep. Blass said instead of the amendment being a “last resort” matter, it will be “used as the first and only resort by a hand ful of legislative bosses showing dic tatorial arrogance.” He said an inci dent could be created and then mag nified far bevond its real significance for immediate use of the amendment. “This could bring on a tidal wave of hvsteria which would overwhelm the legislature at the special session,’ he said. “They would act immediately to destroy the public schools before a blue-nrint for nrivate schools has been worked out.” Ren. Blass and the “Friends of Seg regated Public Schools” said other stens should first be taken before the legislature is clothed with abolition power. They suggested use of the state’s nolice power as has been voted in Louisiana. Miss Hickman declared that “seg regation is not the real issue and is not in danger.” “There are much better and less dangerous means of preserving seg regation,” she said. STATEMENT ISSUED Following the election. Miss Hick man and Rep. Blass said in a join* statement: The election on the school amendment is over and with it. we hope, any bitter ness arising from the campaign. We wib work in complete harmony with all 0 those seeking to provide better school for our children. At the same time, ' ,v? will continue to maintain the closest P 0 ^ sible vigilance to protect our public scho°* system against any future attack. We feel that the nre-election cornua'^ has been very helpful in pointing outjjj the neoule the dangers of the course are following and that the very sw” stantial vote against the amendment vhj give our legislators the support thev ne^ as they try to work out a sound and web- financed school program. The incomplete returns from tb e 82 counties showed the following vote: For ratification, 106.832. Against ratification. 46.095. Total tabulated, 152,927. Total voting strength, 525,000.