The Charlotte News

Wednesday, October 1, 1958

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the President, at his press conference this date, urged all Americans, public officials and private citizens alike, to comply with the Supreme Court's school integration rulings to avoid "grave consequences" to the nation. He had been asked whether, with the Court's decisions, the Arkansas and Virginia schools ought to re-open their closed schools on an integrated basis without being forced into it by the Federal Government, and he produced a prepared statement which he read, indicating: "The Supreme Court, in its opinion rendered Monday, once again has spoken with unanimity on the matter of equality of opportunity for education in the nation's public schools. It is incumbent upon all Americans, public officials and private citizens alike, to recognize their duty of complying with the rulings of the highest court in the land. Any other course, as I have said before, would be fraught with grave consequences to our nation. Americans have always been proud that their institutions rest on the concept of equal justice under law. We must never forget that the rights of all of us depend upon respect for the lawfully determined rights of each of us. As one nation, we must assure to all our people, whatever their color or creed, the enjoyment of their constitutional rights and the full measure of the law's protection. We must be faithful to our constitutional ideas and go forward in good faith with the unremitting task of translating them into reality." After reading the statement, the President said that since the matter was still pending in the courts, he would not have anything further to say regarding it at the present time. It was his first press conference since August 27.

In Little Rock, Ark., the Little Rock Private School Corporation appealed this date for public contributions in money and buildings to operate the four closed high schools as private, segregated institutions. The president of the corporation announced the new plan at a press conference, indicating that a "study and survey of buildings and facilities" was already underway and that the new plan was contingent upon the ruling, scheduled for Monday, of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, as to whether to make the temporary injunction previously issued permanent against use of the Central High School buildings under private lease from the school district to the corporation. He said that in that event—which was not only likely but impossible of any other ruling given the Supreme Court's opinion of Monday—, they would begin holding school in other quarters. He said that the President, among others, was "leading our nation to destruction." His prepared statement said: "Monday, the Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the injunction issued against the Little Rock Private School Corporation is to be continued in effect. Pending that decision, we will conduct a survey of facilities and buildings which will be available for use in operating private, segregated schools. Then, if the court enjoins our use of the high school buildings, leased from the Little Rock School District, we will immediately begin school in other quarters. In addition to this preparatory work, we are studying several plans for public appeals for funds to meet the cost of operating the schools. We firmly believe that any interference with our lease of the high school buildings by the federal government is illegal and constitutes further usurpation of the right of the State of Arkansas and its political subdivision, the Little Rock School District, to exercise the rights of ownership over their properties. The right of ownership is a precious thing, and certainly no one can argue that the leasing of a building for a school is an unlawful act. Thus, the crisis of state's rights of which integration of the public schools is but a facet is brought into sharper focus. Federal government officials, from the President on down, who are working with the NAACP in this program, must somehow be made to understand that the course they have chosen is leading our nation to destruction. There is no future for our children if we now seek to approach this grave situation through a program of appeasement of the Daisy Bateses [referring to the head of the Little Rock NAACP] … and their kind. We have chosen our course and as long as the people of Little Rock and our public officials give us their support, there will be no turning back. Let us hold our heads high and continue to be proud of our cause and our determination to save our nation and its 49 independent state governments. We ask that any person or group who owns an available building which might be used for classroom purposes call at our office…" How 'bout the outhouse out yonder in the backyard?

In Karachi, Pakistan, about 3,000 primary school teachers in the western wing of Pakistan had gone on strike this date. Negotiations with the Government had broken down on demands for a pay increase, security, and service in regular monthly payments.

In Beirut, Lebanon, the last U.S. Marine battalion in the country, consisting of 1,500 men, sailed early this date for a rendezvous with the U.S. Sixth Fleet, where the battalion was to remain in the Mediterranean. As we have consistently been indicating when it was pointed out that the new officials in Lebanon had made demands that the Marines withdraw, they had been withdrawing steadily for the prior couple of weeks.

In Nicosia, Cyprus, three British soldiers had been wounded the previous night when a military ambulance and escorting vehicle had been ambushed near a village, ten miles west of Limassol.

In Verdun, France, it was reported that Private Wayne Powers, the Missouri G.I. who had hidden for 14 years in his French girlfriend's home after deserting during the war, would be released from prison on October 9, according to the Army this date. He would have served a little more than two months of the six-month sentence imposed after he had pleaded guilty before an Army court-martial to a desertion charge. He would be escorted to Strasbourg the following day to receive a U.S. passport, which would enable him to obtain a French residence permit. He said he wanted to remain in France after serving his term, returning to his family. He had been sentenced by the court-martial to ten years, but Brig. General Robert Fleming, commander of the advance section of the U.S. Army communications zone, had later reduced it to six months, and the further reduction by General Fleming to two months had been expected. During his time in hiding in a village in northern France, he had fathered five children by his girlfriend and common law wife who supported the family by going to work in a textile mill while Mr. Powers remained at home and did the housework, hiding under a staircase every time someone came to the door.

In Charlotte, Julian Scheer of The News reports that the City Coach Lines had ended contract negotiations early in the morning in a stalemate and buses had failed to roll at the usual start time of 5:00 a.m., as a strike had ensued, leaving the 52,000 daily bus riders to seek other means of transportation to and from the city. There was no indication early this date as to when union and company officials would get together for further talks. The union had rejected the company's final offer this date and both sides were awaiting the call from a Federal labor conciliator for a resumption of contract talks.

Charlotte remained fairly normal this date despite the strike, with shoppers not rushing to the downtown area and schoolchildren being a little late, while Douglas Aircraft employees were also somewhat late and automobile traffic was fairly heavy, with a few more traffic accidents than normal. But otherwise, it was hard to tell that the city was experiencing a bus strike.

Mr. Scheer also reports that the Billy Graham Crusade in Charlotte, the first time the hometown product had held a crusade there, was having an effect on Charlotte and the Carolinas in many ways, as determined by several informal samplings of opinion. An informal street poll in one neighborhood revealed that 8 of 10 people knew the answer to the question: "Who is appearing at the Coliseum now?" The same people could tell of the large crowds at the Coliseum and at least four had attended a crusade meeting, with at least two more planning to attend one before the four-week crusade would end in two or three weeks. A check of coffee break conversation in downtown Charlotte found that the Reverend Graham was competing well with football as a leading topic of conversation. And a check of churches showed that it might be a reality that one or two or three people from 900 churches within a 50-mile radius of the city had already attended one meeting at the Coliseum. A check of schools revealed that children were talking about Dr. Graham and a surprisingly large number had been to one of the meetings. There was no way to judge church attendance, according to ministers, as the previous Sunday had been promotion day in churches and attendance was always high on that Sunday. The following Sunday could prove a better day by which to judge, but preachers expected attendance to remain high then as well.

Make a splash and tell the people to support the President's efforts to foster school integration in the recalcitrant areas of the South. Or is that too much to ask from a man of God?

On the editorial page, "For a Moment, They Hailed Dick Nixon" indicates that the Vice-President had been hailed a hero as a defender of the State Department after a "saboteur" or group of them in the Department had undercut Secretary of State Dulles and his Far Eastern policy by revealing that of some 5,000 letters from the public, 80 percent opposed the present policy. Mr. Nixon had been "shocked" at the disclosure and at the "'assumption … that the weight of the mail rather than the weight of the evidence should be the controlling factor in determining foreign policy.'"