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Othe rs Have Rignts, loo w 5 - ? - r We ~ sympathetic with the desire of the Negro race In America to obtain the full civil , educational and economic rights to which they are entitled under the U.S. Constitution , alt hough the bellicose attitude s hown recently by some Negro leaders makes us doubt their wisdom and self-control. But we ;ire emphatically opposed to that part of Presiaent Kennedy's" civil rights" program in Congress that would force a man in private business to serve customers against his will. This attitude is based on legal and moral princ iples whic h woul d hol d true eve n if th e ques tion of race were not involved. In the various discussions of this issue which ·we have read recently we havefoundnowherea point which seems vital to us -- the difference between a public utility and a purely private business. Yet It is one that is clearly recognized in law. When a city , a county or a state enfranchises a public utility such as telephones, electricity, gas or transportation it is usually granted a monopoly. In return, it agrees to serve any person who can pay for its services. T he r eas on for this is obvious : if it did not do s o the ci tizen could not obtain the service anywhere else . He would be fo r ced to do without a necessity of life. In like manner it can be a rgued with some plausibility that any citizen, particularly any tax- payer, is entitled_ to any services offered by the Feder state, county or city governments . But a private ~ such as a restaurant, hotel, tllea or arber shop falls in ~either category. It is not a public utility wit h a monopoly franchise, nor is it a public ins titution. Private businesses of the type na med are many -Z-· in number and operate in keen competition with each other. In Atlanta and JDQI! ities hundreds of them are operat~ groes for Negroes. It is only logical and r ight that 0thers are operated by white persons for an exelusively white patronage. (As a matter of fact, many s uch bus ine ss es wi li not adm it white pat ro11 s whom th c·y cons ide r un desi r ab le). lf the owner of such an establishment agrees voluntarily to accept Negro business -- as many in ,\ t I a II r a r ece mly h a v c: ,; one ~- he has a pe rfec t r i·,hr to do s o. Th ar i'l a vc- , :, ii -rnr t thing from being coerced into doing it ·by the power of the Federal Government. But those who do not care for Negro business are not depriving a citizen of some needed service. There. are many other places where he can obtain it. The air is filled these days with cries of "minority rights". But what about '• majority rights", including the right of any citizen to establi sh a legal bus iness Jnd corid ucr it as he sees fit, so long as he operates it honestly and within the law? This right is so fundamental to the American s ys tem of free enterprise that wedonot believe Congres s will abr idge it. Senator Richar d B. Russell of Geor gia and other Southern senator s already have made i clear that they will conduct a" last- ditch" fili buster to pr event passage of this part of the Kenned " ·v ·1 rights" prof"Jm. will not be .Q8JMIH '3. are many men ln both the House m all p~ 9q t ited States and who v ill recognize the ser ........, ..... ., of the Administration's attack on what has been a car dinal point of American freedom. NTA CONSTITUTION, Frid ay, July 12, 1963 adge Sees Rights Terror Constitution WashinJt"!on Burea u WASHINGTON-There would be "terror throughout the land" if President John F. Kennedy 's civil rights bill became law, Sen. Herman Talmadge said in a radio interview Thursday night. have federal voting registration referees appointed and give the President power to withhold federal funds from government programs under which segregation was practiced. The senator also pred icted that "It would take troops all over Congre s would pass very little America lo en for c e this," the other legislation this year. J\t one Georgian said. point he said, "it is doubtful that action on the tax bill can be comBut he said he didn't helieve the pleted this year." Senate would ' 'approve this bill in its present form." Later in the interview (on CBS Capital Cloakroom l Talmadge Talmadge hit hardest at the seemed to indicate he felt the tax three principal sections of the bill had a chance. seven-section bill. He scored those part.I that would ire desegre"I suspect that outsde the field gc1ti busine es, of civil rights and taxes, the apepartrncnt to propriations bill will be about "" allow the Ju only m ajor Jegisla resul t," he said. th will The Presi dent an d his legislative leaders have said the tax bill shares " uppermost" legislative priority wi th civil rights. Asked to predict how Jl'resldent Kennedy would run i tile 1964 elections, Talmadge I He said it was too far Asked if Pre ly's apparent loss of the South meant Sen rlwater of Ariwna n up str h, Talm a e ~aid he did not lieve the President's loss ' 'had been translated into a particular party or any particular C date. ' I' �