Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—OCTOBER, 1962—PAGE II
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington’s Outlook
(Continued From Page 1)
peal for admission, was correct in find
ing that Judge Cameron acted too late
and that “his stay had been improvi-
dentlv granted."
In a two-page statement, Black said
he agreed with the Court of Appeals
that the stays which had been granted
by Cameron “can only work further de
lay and injury to movant (Meredith)
while immediate enforcement of the
judgment can do no appreciable harm
to the University . .
Black said there was very little
chance that the Supreme Court would
hear an appeal on the Meredith case
because essentially it involved questions
only of fact—not of law.
“Although convinced that I have the
power to act alone in this matter,”
Black said “I have submitted it to each
of my brethren, and I am authorized to
state that each of them agrees that the
case is properly before this court, that
I have the power to act, and that under
the circumstances I should exercise that
power as I have done here.”
In the days and weeks following
Black’s ruling, as Mississippi Gov. Ross
R. Barnett moved to block the enroll
ment of Meredith, the Justice Depart
ment was urged to move immediately
against the governor. There was no
inclination in the department to follow
these suggestions. Attorney General
Kennedy said merely that his depart
ment would enforce court orders “no
matter what course is ultimately neces
sary.”
On Sept. 23, the National Association
Policing the Ole Miss Campus
Armed soldiers clean up litter following riots.
State-Federal Rights
Line *Often Shadowy’
The following excerpt is from an
address by U.S. Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy before the
House of Delegates of the American
Bar Association, meeting in San
Francisco Aug. 6. (Subheads add
ed.)
The very complexity of modem life
makes it easy for individual liberties
to be disregarded. More and more the
American people must rely on the law
for the protection of these liberties.
It is here that you and I have such a
heavy responsibility. For it rests on us
to be certain that the legal protections
so necessary for the individual do not
become merely fine declarations in the
lawbooks but that they actually have
some real and genuine meaning for the
human beings to whom they have been
granted. This task requires the care
and attention of the whole legal pro
fession.
At the Department of Justice, we are
lust part of this effort and as such
have our limitations.
We recognize for instance that the j
line between what the Federal Govern
ment can and should do and what state
and local authorities can and should do
13 often shadowy. Frequently it is the
3u m total of these efforts that counts.
°r this reason it is vital that we work
The Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy talks to
n owsmen in Washington.
closely and continuously with local au
thorities in achieving our common ob
jectives.
No issue brings the role of the indi
vidual into sharper focus than that of
civil rights. I am proud of the record
of the Department of Justice in recent
months in striving to assure all citizens
the full rights guaranteed them under
the Constitution of the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Burke
Marshall and his aides are performing
a distinguished service in this respect
—a service which goes far beyond in
stituting and prosecuting cases in the
Federal courts. We have not filed a
single civil rights case without first
going to the local authorities. We have
informed them of what appears to us
to be a violation of the law, for the
Constitution being the law of the land,
the local authorities—judges, prosecu
tors and lawyers—have an equal obli
gation to protect and defend it.
Local Action
In the majority of cases, the local
officials have taken action and nothing
further has been required of the Fed
eral Government. There are no front
page news stories, but there are
changes; there are results and they are
brought about by local officials—not the
Government in Washington. In the long
run this is what is of real importance
in this country.
Sometimes the local authorities have
disagreed with us about the law, and
we have gone to court. On other occa
sions, local authorities were unwilling
to remedy the situation, or could not
because of what they believed to be
the political facts of life, and so court
action was necessary.
In all this effort Burke Marshall has
been in the forefront, negotiating, prod
ding, advising, persuading — working
with explosive problems and devising
solutions which fulfill the law of our
land and the ideals of our nation. This
is the historic role of the lawyer in the
fullest sense.
Lauds Judges
I am proud, too, of those Federal
judges who have seen and done their
duty under difficult circumstances. A
judge’s popularity or unpopularity is
of no proper concern to him in the
performance of his judicial duties. Yet
to do that duty—to give an honest
reading of the Constitution and of the
law of the land—may and often does
require great courage.
I might add that this is also the
sworn obligation of every lawyer. If
the bar has done much to assist in the
orderly realization of constitutional
rights, I would be less than candid if
I did not tell you that I believe more
can and should be done. # # #
is Cautious in Wake of Riots
for the Advancement of Colored People
made public a telegram to President
Kennedy advising that he call on Bar
nett to end his defiance.
“If he persists,” the telegram said,
“all power of the federal government
should be used, including jail for a
recalcitrant head of state government.”
The Justice Department view was that
every effort should be made to avoid
pitting the attorney general against
Barnett in what might take on the ap
pearance of a personalized conflict.
“This is not Kennedy against Barnett
in 15 rounds,” one official said. “The is
sue is the law, and it is better to keep
it that way.”
Justice Department strategy, at this
point, was to concentrate in the Court
of Appeals in New Orleans on obtain
ing compliance to Meredith’s enrollment
from trustees and officials of the uni
versity.
On Sept. 26, the attorney general told
reporters that “the situation is serious.
The question of federal troops is as it
has been. That is, as I said three or four
days ago, we’ll use whatever is neces
sary to do the job.”
By this time, it was understood, the
possible use of troops in Mississippi had
been discussed with Pentagon officials.
But the predominant view in the Justice
Department was that the state would
somehow back down and permit the
enrollment of Meredith. It was reported
that conversations between Washington
and state officials in Jackson had
avoided acrimony.
On Sept. 27, Justice Department of
ficials still insisted to reporters that
they had reason to believe a physical
showdown could be avoided. That eve
ning, confronted with the possibility of
“major violence and bloodshed” when a
large crowd gathered at Oxford, the
attorney general called off an attempt
to register Meredith at the university.
Kennedy issued this statement:
“It has been clear from the time of
the court’s decision ordering the Uni
versity of Mississippi to accept Mr.
Meredith that there would be but one
resolution to these difficulties. The or
ders of the federal courts can and will
be enforced. It is important to our
country, however, that, if possible, this
be accomplished without force and
without civil disorder.
“Every American has the duty to
obey the law and the right to expect
that the law will be enforced. It is
fundamental to our system that there
be respect for the law and compliance
with all laws—not just those with which
we happen to agree. The course which
the governor is following is therefore
incompatible with the principles upon
which this union is based.
“As the legislature of the State of
Mississippi stated in solemn resolve 129
years ago: ‘This State owes a duty to
the Union above all minor considera
tions . . . The doctrine of nullification is
contrary to the letter and spirit of the
Constitution, and in direct conflict with
the welfare, safety and independence
of every state in the Union; and to no
one of them would its consequences be
more deeply disastrous, more ruinous,
than to the State of Mississippi . . .’
“This matter will be before the court
again tomorrow in New Orleans. At
that time Gov. Barnett will have an op
portunity to state his case before all the
judges of the Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit. I hope that this matter
will be resolved peacefully and without
violence or further action by the fed
eral government.
“However, if this is not to be, the
federal government will see to it that
the orders which are presently out
standing are maintained and enforced,
whatever action that may ultimately
require.”
Secretary of Defense Robert S. Mc
Namara said Sept. 28 that “we’re pre-
(See WHITE HOUSE, Page 15)
Governor Speaks on Television,
Blames Marshals for Violence
Here is the text of Gov. Ross Bar
nett’s television address Monday
night, Oct. 1, following the enroll
ment of James Meredith at the Uni
versity of Mississippi and rioting on
the campus. (Subheads added.)
This is something that makes my
heart heavy with extreme sadness. Two
people are dead—a newspaperman and
a male student. I deeply sympathize
with the families of these, and those
who were injured.
While the state of Mississippi was in
control of its internal affairs at the
university, no violence occurred. Yes
terday, hundreds of federal marshals
backed by more than 15,000 armed
troops installed James Meredith on the
campus of the university. Students
gathered and demonstrated. They were
noisy and boisterous, but were not
violent. This is the natural thing for
students to do.
When a large number accumulated at
one point, the federal officers asked for
Mississippi highway patrolmen to deal
with them. These state a dicers had the
co-operation of the majority of the
students.
The unarmed highway patrolmen, j
with their backs to the federal mar- j
shals, were peacefully moving the stu- j
dents when a pop bottle thrown by j
one of the crowd shattered in the
street. The marshals immediately fired j
point blank into the backs of the state j
officers who were only a few feet from
them, and into the groups of young J
people.
‘Direct Cause’
This was the direct cause of the
violence on the campus.
Five unarmed highway patrolmen
have been hospitalized from effects of
tear gas fired by federal marshals. The
federal marshals were inexperienced, ]
nervous and trigger-happy.
Their instability and unwarranted j
brutality against unarmed youths will |
forever blacken the record of all fed- |
eral officers.
They were quick to fight American
youth, but are extremely slow to fight |
Castro.
The people of Mississippi are en
raged and incensed, and rightly so.
Free men do not submit meekly to this
kind of treatment. Our people have
been inflamed deliberately in order
that the resulting resistance can be j
cited as justification for military force
against the people of a sovereign state
and the crushing of the rights of all
the states.
Urges Calmness
I have requested that all Mississip- j
pians remain calm, but the federal
authorities alone have the power to
stop bloodshed in Mississippi. They can
stop it if they act now to remove
James Meredith and the thousands of
armed troops that are Meredith’s body
guard.
Members of Mississippi’s congres
sional delegation have asked repeatedly
and I have pled with federal authori
ties to remove their forces from Mis
sissippi and to withdraw James Mere
dith. The question before the people
of Mississippi directly affects the peo- '
The Governor
Vows resistance
pie of every one of the 50 states of this
nation.
The question is—are we to have con
stitutional government in the nation
now and in the future, or are we to
have an all-powerful central govern- j
ment in Washington that makes its
laws as it goes along and is backed by
a federal judiciary? Are the states go- j
ing to submit to unbridled federal
power? Are we to have central gov
ernment in Washington that controls {
our every thought and action? Are we
to meekly give up the constitutional
rights of the individual states? Those
are the questions before all the people
today. They are not just questions for
the people of Mississippi.
Federal authorities must face up to
a certain fact that I feel has com
pletely escaped them. Placing Mere- |
dith in the University of Mississippi
by armed might positively does not in
tegrate the university. It only means
that he is illegally at the university, !
and that the campus and the city of |
Oxford are occupied by federal troops. I
‘Over-Powering and Illegal’
We have been pushed aside by the
over-powering and illegal use of the
armed forces of our own nation. Mis-
sissippians cannot fight the armed
might of the United States.
More than 100 students have been ar- j
rested and are being treated in a bru
tal and inhuman manner. The univer- I
sity campus is an armed camp. Educa- j
tion is at a standstill.
We stand firm in our conviction that j
every action we have taken in Missis- |
sippi is completely legal and constitu- j
tional under the 10th amendment of
the constitution of the United States.
The right of each state to administer
its own internal affairs is dear to the |
hearts and minds of all people. This is J
the real issue.
I urge our people to calmness and I
call on the federal authorities to put
a stop to further violence by the im
mediate removal of Meredith and the
withdrawal of federal troops and mar
shals from Mississippi soil. When this is
done, peace and tranquility will again
prevail in Mississippi.
Taking cognizance of statements
in Washington by Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy accusing the
Mississippi governor of withdraw
ing highway patrolmen from posi
tions to assure security of the cam
pus, Gov. Barnett added this to his
television statement:
I understand from statements of At
torney General Kennedy which I have
not yet seen, that he charges me with
having withdrawn highway patrolmen
from the campus Sunday night. I em
phatically and positively deny that
statement.
From the time that it became ap
parent that the federal government in
tended to place Meredith in the Uni
versity of Mississippi by force, I have
repeatedly contacted the President and
the Attorney General of the United
States in an effort to persuade them
that such action should not be taken.
As late as Sunday morning, I urged
them to give Mississippi a cooling off
period. When it was made known to
me that they would forceably put
Meredith in the University either Sun
day, Sept. 30, or Monday, Oct. 1, I
realized that Oxford would be crowded
on Monday and that hundreds of peo
ple would probably be killed.
‘Only Alternative’
The only alternative offered by the
federal government was whether Sun
day or Monday would be the day Mere
dith would be forceably put into the
University. The decision to put Mere
dith on the campus Sunday night was
that of the federal government.
I was compelled to admit that it
would be better for them to place him
on the campus by helicopter Sunday
than to force him in with widespread
bloodshed Monday.
I have consistently stated that I
would use all forces at my command
to try to maintain law and order. More
than 15 hours before bringing Mere
dith into Mississippi, the President took
the national guard away from me and
then created this explosive situation in
our state by placing Meredith on the
campus.
‘Repeatedly Warned’
The federal officials were repeatedly
warned of the danger involved I did
not know that the federal government
had actually placed Meredith in the
University of Mississippi until I was
advised of this fact by federal officials.
Since the federal government has
put Meredith at the University of Mis
sissippi, I have repeatedly urged the
federal officials to remove Meredith
from the campus and from Mississippi.
I have, and I shall continue to handle
this difficult situation in a manner
which will avoid violence and blood
shed if humanly possible. In this mat
ter, the federal government has been
the aggressor from the outset It must
assume the responsibility for the re
sulting tragedies. # # #