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·· ..'·.;,,t~ --- 3 All Alone With His Courage A Dixie Mayor and _R ights fa ther's multi - million dollar Kennedy and was angling for office supply firm he became a Federal job. ¥!'. Allen den ie-d it stoutly, president of both the.city and ., ATLANTA . insisting that l:e talked with state chambers of commerce. For . days the word went But now the board room no one in Washington except out ' from the big business boys are a little on edge. None the commiti;ee official who men -a nd civic leaders, the of that "Mau Mau" stuff, of invited him to api:t>ar. He later received a short political pros and public opin- course. · While the Mayor's ion molders, the ;people in political life may be damaged, letter from th'3 President Atlanta who -usually count his personal stature is ad- which praised "a number of effective pomts" in the statethe most. judged secure. ment. Mayor ..c.Jlen seemed "You're making a big mis- . · "It took a lot of- courage to genuinely ~urprised by it . take." The message was plai1;1, do what he did," one acquainblunt and nearly unanimous . tance said with a touch of Ivan Allen jr., the 52-year- awe, "and if that's his perold merchant-turned-Ma.yor, sonal view - hell, I respect . him for it." listened very ca.refully. • Sure, the f1·iend col\tinued, T-hen , all alone with his courage, he flew off to Wash- segregation is -wropg. But a ington and went before the F'ederal law against is someSenate Commerce Commit- thing else. 'This was the crux tee to read a carefully drafted of the worry : Mr. Allen had · "deserted private enterprise." 14-page statement "Gentlemen," the Mayor The prominent owner of said firmly, " If I had your several cafeterias in town problem, aqned with the lo- sent the Mayor a long, stingcal experience I have had, ing telegram expressing shock I would pass a public ac- and disappointment, then pla.-ced blown-up copies in his commodations .law." Mr. Allen thus became the ,windows. flrst--and- just possibly the But in perfect -illu~t.ratlon last-Southern politician 'to of the temper of t hings, the voice pubiic approval 'of t he man's eating places were bemost· controversial' portion of ing picketed at the same time the civil rights bill. by whites whose signs The Mayor followed · an branded him a leadel'. for outraged squadron of South- integration." ern political leaders, includThe .cafeteria owner had deing Gov . Ross R . Barnett of segregated most of his chain Mississippi .and Gov. George last June . His concern was not C. Wallace of Alabama. The civil rights, he insisted, but air was heavy with denuncia- the preservation of free entertion . prise. Sen. Strom Thurmond of The Mayor came back to South ·carolina, a ·member Atlanta and found two main of the Senate committee, schools of thought about his seemed hardly able to bebehavior before the lieve his ears at the Ma.yor's startling Commerce Commitee. stand . A lot of the borne The least substantial ¥erfolks ·had the same ·reaction . "I wish to nominate you ," sion put it down as a shallow one man wrote, "as Mr. Mau bid for Negro votes. But Mau of 1963 . . . . . I under- seasoned observers said that stood that you are a half- even with a full turnout he brother of Martin Luther would still need plenty of King and that may explain whites . For a quarter-century winyour position." ning Atlanta politics has been It came 11.s somewhat of a based on a highly successful surprise that at least those "alliance" between Negroes who wr6te the Mayor sup- and ttre so-called "betterported his :stand about 2 to 1 class" whites. in initial stages of the reacAnd the thought was that tion last week. the latter might prefer free "Deeply proud of you," a enterprise over Mr. Allen telegram said. when the 1966 term comes up . But few believed the ma- The Mayor has indicated that jority to be on Mr. Allen's ~e now intends to run again . side. The second feeling about The state and city cham- the Mayor's testimony conbers of commerce had moved sidered the possibility that he in the opposite direction, and . had talked with President a canny political observer said : "He has taken a very perilous step. r seriously doubt he can make it stick in the political forum- particularly if these things are still un solved." Mr. A)len, with strong Negro slam-banr; reductions I support, took Qffice in Janua1·y, 1962, after a harsh battle with arch-segregationist Lester Maddox. The Mayor drew 64 per cent of the vote. He went in as a son of the ctty's old-line business com~m~un

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it~h~~h~is~ ~ !!!!!--~!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!_,.._ _,_1_ . · By Walter Rugaber Special to the Herald Tribune swimsuit SALE ..~~. - About his testimony he says simply that the nation's Mayors have b~ n stuck out on a limb and left there to handle the whole racial crisis by themselvas. The Supremz Court has been striking down segregation laws for years, he paintsout. and yet no really solid 1 legislation has taken their I I place. �