Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12—OCTOBER, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Next Morning
Marshals line sidewalk.
Mississippi
(Continued From Page 10)
sible authorities of the state to cope
with this deplorable and unfortunate
situation in which we now find our
selves.”
Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, while
Gov. Barnett sat in the executive man
sion under highway patrol guard, the
F ro-segregation Jackson Citizen’s
Council called a special meeting to be
held in the street in front of the Plaza
building, where it has headquarters on
the third floor, which is just across a
street from the executive mansion in
downtown Jackson. A crowd gathered,
estimated at 2,000 by police.
Mansion Surrounded
Speaking over a hand amplifier from
a window on the third floor of the
building, John Wright, immediate past
president of the Citizens’ Council, told
the massed throng that word had been
received that Gov. Barnett “will be
seized.” He urged the masses to en
circle the mansion grounds “five deep”
and “place yourself in a position that
to get by it will be necessary to push
you.”
The crowd responded, and the man
sion, which occupies an entire city
block across from the federal building,
was surrounded.
The next morning, Monday Oct. 1,
William H. Mounger, president of the
Lamar Life Insurance Co., went on his
company-owned television station
WLBT-TV. His was the first voice of
business and professional leadership to
be raised in the flaming controversy.
Mounger said he had discussed “with
many leaders the graveness of this sit
uation and the conviction which many
of us had that the events which were
taking place would lead to violence.”
“However,” he said, “none of us were
willing to speak out and to try to in
form the people of Mississippi of the
terrific tensions that resulted on the
University of Mississippi campus last
night.”
He appealed to Gov. Barnett to go to
Oxford and “stand up before those
rioting crowds and explain to them
that he has based his entire case on
the law and the constitution of the
President Issues Proclamation And Order
Following are texts of the procla
mation and executive order issued
by President Kennedy in connec
tion with the University of Mis
sissippi problem.
OBSTRUCTIONS OF
JUSTICE IN THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI
BY THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
A Proclamation
‘Still Time’
(See MISSISSIPPI, Page 13)
Whereas the Governor of the State of
Mississippi and certain law enforcement
officers and other officials of that State,
and other persons, individually and in
United States of America and that it is
not his desire that violence be carried
forward.”
Mounger also appealed to the Gov
ernor to “use our state power and ar
rest men like General Walker, who
have come into our state and incited
students and citizens in this state to
violence which in my opinion is not
the true will of the people of Missis
sippi.”
Pointing out that there are many
nations which have unstable govern
ments, which have violence on every
turn because they have no constiution,
no courts to interpret it and because
the citizens do not respect the authori
ty of the land,” Mounger then said:
“We are part of the United States of
America and we must obey the laws of
the United States of America.
“I make these statements simply as
an individual concerned about Missis
sippi, concerned about the fact that the
things which we have done—that the
leaders of Mississippi have failed to
communicate with one another and
failed to stand up and express them
selves as being against violence, as be
ing for law and order and constitu
tional government.
unlawful assemblies, combinations and
conspiracies, have been and are will
fully opposing and obstructing the en
forcement of orders entered by the
United States District Court for the
Southern District of Mississippi and the
United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit; and
Whereas such unlawful assemblies,
combinations and conspiracies oppose
| and obstruct the execution of the laws
j of the United States, impede the course
of justice under those laws and make
it impracticable to enforce those laws
in the State of Mississippi by the ordi-
j nary course of judicial proceedings; and
Whereas I have expressly called the
attention of the Governor of Mississippi
to the perilous situation that exists and
j to his duties in the premises, and have
requested but have not received from
him adequate assurances that the orders
j of the courts of the United States will
be obeyed and that law and order will
be maintained;
Now, therefore, I, John F. Kennedy,
President of the United States, under
and by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the
j United States, including Chapter 15 of
Title 10 of the United States Code, par
ticularly sections 332, 333 and 334 there-
j of, do command all persons engaged in
| such obstructions of justice to cease
and desist therefrom and to disperse
and retire peacefully forthwith.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto
set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States of America to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this
30th day of September in the year of
our lord Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-
Two, and of the independence of the
United States of America the One Hun
dred and Eighty-Seventh.
of the United States District Court for
the Southern District of Mississippi and
the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit and to remove all ob
structions of justice in the state of Mis.
sissippi.
JOHN F. KENNEDY.
By the President:
Secretary of State.
Executive Order
“And even though as late an hour as
it is when some people have been hurt
and two people have been killed, I
think it is still time for us to stand up
and let the world know that people
in Mississippi believe in the United
States of America—that we may dis
agree with some of the laws of this
country, but that we believe in con
stitutional government and that this is
the greatest country on earth because
we have a constitution.”
Asserting that “we interpret the
Constitution and the legislative laws
in the courts,” Mounger said “we can
not maintain the greatness of this
country or the stability of our govern
ment by insurrection or by rioting
against law enforcement of the United
States Army.”
“While we are concerned with the
lives of young people, we are more
concerned with the fact that we as
adult leaders in Mississippi have failed
to stand up and counsel and give them
guidance and we have allowed them to
be incited to the point that they them
selves have caused violence and re
sisted the United States of America.
“I plead with everyone to stand up
and realize that we are together citi
zens of the United States and that our
differences must be settled with law
and order and constitutional govern
ment.”
The following day, Tuesday, Oct. 2,
| an estimated 130 Mississippi business
and professional leaders accepted
Mounger’s challenge and held a meet
ing in Jackson.
By resolution, they expressed them
selves as “grieved at events which have
PROVIDING ASSISTANCE FOR THE
REMOVAL OF UNLAWFUL OB
STRUCTIONS OF JUSTICE IN THE
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
Whereas on September 30, 1962, I is
sued proclamation No. 3497 reading in
part as follows [quoted in entirety
above] and
Whereas the commands contained in
that proclamation have not been obeyed
and obstruction of enforcement of those
court orders still exist and threatens to
continue:
Now, therefore, by virtue of the au
thority vested in me by the Constitu
tion and laws of the United States, in
cluding Chapter 15 of Title 10, partic
ularly sections 332, 333 and 334 thereof,
and section 301 of Title 3 of the United
States Code, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. The Secretary of Defense
is authorized and directed to take all
appropriate steps to enforce all orders
Section 2. In furtherance of the en
forcement of the aforementioned orders
of the United States District Court for
the Southern District of Mississippi and
the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit, the Secretary of De-
fense is authorized to use such of the
armed forces of the United States as
he may deem necessary.
Section 3.1 hereby authorize the Sec
retary of Defense to call into the active
military service of the United States,
as he may deem appropriate to carry
out the purposes of this order, any or
all of the units of the Army National
Guard and of the Air National Guard
of the State of Mississippi to serve in
the active military service of the United
States for an indefinite period and until
relieved by appropriate orders. In car
rying out the provisions of Section 1,
the Secretary of Defense is authorized
to use the units, and members thereof,
ordered into active military service of
the United States pursuant to this sec
tion.
Section 4. The Secretary of Defense
is authorized to delegate to the Secre
tary of the Army or the Secretary of the
Air Force, or both, any of the authority
conferred upon him by this order.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
The White House
September 30, 1962. # # t
President’s Broadcast Appealed
For Mississippians ’ Co-operation
Following is the text of President
Kennedy’s broadcast talk on the
night of Sept. 30. (Subheads added.)
Good evening, my fellow citizens:
The orders of the court in the case of
Meredith v. Fair are beginning to be
carried out. Mr. James Meredith is now
in residence on the campus of the Uni
versity of Mississippi. This has been
accomplished thus far without the use
of National Guard or other troops—and
it is to be hoped that the law enforce
ment officers of the State of Mississippi
will continue to be sufficient in the
future. All students, members of the
faculty and public officials in both
Mississippi and the Nation, it is to be
hoped, can now return to their normal
activities with full confidence in the
integrity of American law.
This is as it should be. For our Na
tion is founded on the principle that
observance of the law is the eternal
safeguard of liberty—and defiance of
the law is the surest path to tyranny.
The law which we obey includes the
final rulings of our courts as well as
the enactments of our legislative bodies.
Even among law-abiding men, few
laws are universally loved— but they
are uniformly respected and not re
sisted.
Americans are free, in short, to dis
agree with the law—but not to disobey
! it. For in a government of laws, and not
of men, no man—however prominent
or powerful—and no mob—however
unruly or boisterous—is entitled to defy
a court of law. If this country should
ever reach the point where any man or
group of men, by force, or threat of
force, could long defy the commands
of our courts and Constitution, then no
law would stand free from doubt, no
I judge would be sure of his writ and no
citizen would be safe from his neigh
bors.
The President
A ‘healing of wounds’
Even though this Government had
not originally been a party to this case,
my responsibility as President was
therefore inescapable. I accept. My ob
ligation, under the Constitution and
the statutes of the United States, was
and is to implement the orders of the
court with whatever means were nec
essary, and with as little force and
civil disorder as the circumstances per
mit.
For This Reason
Private Suit
State Patrolmen at the Scene
They wore military helmets
In this case—in which the United
States Government was not until re
cently involved—Mr. Meredith brought
a private suit in federal court against
those who were excluding him from the
university.
A series of federal courts—all the
way up to the Supreme Court—repeat
edly ordered Mr. Meredith’s admission
to the university. When those orders
were defied and those who sought to
implement them threatened with ar-
! rest and violence, the United States
Court of Appeals—consisting of Chief
Judge Tuttle of Georgia, Judge
Hutcheson of Texas, Judge Rives of
Alabama, Judge Jones of Florida, Judge
Brown of Texas, Judge Wisdom of Lou
isiana, Judge Gewin of Alabama and
Judge Bell of Georgia made clear the
fact that the enforcement of its orders
had become the obligation of the United
States Government.
It was for this reason that I fed
eralized the Mississippi National Guard
as the most appropriate instrument
should any be needed to preserve law
and order while United States marshals
carried out the orders of the court and
prepared to back them up with what
ever other civil or military enforcement
might have been required.
I deeply regret the fact that any ac
tion by the Executive Branch was nec
essary in this case, but all other avenues
and alternatives, including persuasion
and conciliation, had been tried and
exhausted. Had the police powers of
Mississippi been used to support the
orders of the court, instead of delib
erately and unlawfully blocking them,
had the University of Mississippi ful
filled its standard of excellence by
quietly admitting this applicant in con
formity with what so many other
Southern state universities have done
for so many years, a peaceable and
sensible solution would have been pos
sible without any federal intervention.
The nation is proud of the many
instances in which governors, educa
tors and everyday citizens from the
South have shown to the world the
gains that can be made by persuasion
and good will in a society ruled by
law. Specifically I would like to take
this occasion to express the thanks of
the nation to those Southerners who
have contributed to the progress of our
democratic development in the en
trance of students regardless of race to
such great institutions as the state-
supported Universities of Virginia,
North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas,
Louisiana, Tennessee Arkansas and
Kentucky.
Responsibility Must Be Shared
I recognize that the present period
of transition and adjustment in our
nation’s southland is a hard one for
many people. Neither Mississippi nor
any other Southern state deserves to
be charged with all the accumulated
wrongs of the last 190 years of race
relations. To the extent that there ha:
been failure the responsibility for that
failure must be shared by us all, by
every state, by every citizen.
Mississippi and her university more
over are noted for their courage, for
their contrition of talent and thought
to the affairs of this nation. This is the
state of Lucius Lamar and many other:
who have placed the national good
ahead of sectional interest. This is the
state which had four Medal of Honor
winners in the Korean War alone. I"
fact, the guard unit federalized this
morning, early, is part of the 155th
Infantry, one of the 10 oldest regiments
in the Union and one of the most deco
rated for sacrifice and bravery in si*
wars.
In Mississippi in 1945 Jake Lindsey
was honored by an unusual joint ses
sion of the congress. I close therefor
with this appeal to the students of the
university, the people who are mo**
concerned.
‘Great Tradition’
You have a great tradition to uphold
a tradition of honor and courage, * vor '
on the field of battle and on the grid'
iron as well as the university camp 35
You have a new opportunity to she*
that you are men of patriotism 8*°
integrity. For the most effective mear-'
of upholding the law is not the sta' f
policeman or the marshals or the Nrr
tional Guard. It is you. It lies in y 0 '?
courage to accept those laws with whi £ '
you disagree as well as those Wi®
which you agree. The eyes of the A 3 '
tion and all the world are upon V°“
and upon all of us, and the honor *
your university and the state are in 0*
balance. I am certain the great td
jority of the students will uphold th 2 ‘
honor.
There is in short no reason why
books on this case cannot now
quickly and quietly closed in the m 3 ”
ner directed by the court. Let us PV
serve both the law and the peace 3,1
then healing those wounds that
ai*
within we can turn to the gre 3 *^
crises that are without and stand uni*,
.tec
as one people in our pledge to m 311
freedom.
Thank you and good night.
#
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