GOP Liberals Urge Strong Rights Bill

A strong call for action on civil rights was issued yesterday by the Republican Citizens Committee's Critical Issues Council. The Council asked for a combination of legislative action and "affirmative steps" by individuals to advance Negro rights.

Headed by Dr. Milton Eisenhower, the Citizens Committee represents the moderate wing of the Republican party and includes several members of the Eisenhower administration. The report was largely researched and written by the Ripon Society, a liberal Republican study group.

The report is expected to provide liberal Republican Senators with fresh support in their effort to halt amendments to the civil rights bill, Eugene Marans '62, head of the Ripon Society's force for civil rights, said yesterday.

Marans estimated that nine of the 33 Republican Senators, including Massachusetts' Leverett Saltonstall '14, would support the report's proposals "unequivocally." "Around a dozen more," he felt, would support it in substance.

The most severe measure presented in the report is a demand that state representation in Congress be based on the number of registered voters, rather than on raw population totals.

The paper stressed the importance of the clause of the civil rights bill which would allow the chief justice of the Appellate Court to appoint a three-man court to hear civil rights cases at the district level. Civil rights litigation, the group contends, has frequently been hampered by dilatory judicial attention.

The report denied the usefulness of "widespread pupil shuffling" as a method of alleviating problems of de facto school segregation. "This would not, however, rule out such devices as enlarging school districts," said Marans. The group advocated that funds be devoted to improving the quality of all schools, regardless of the color of the students, rather than to bussing students from one district to another.

The group's recommendations for relieving discrimination in employment emphasized the responsibilities of private as well as government enterprises in ensuring Negro job opportunities. It cautioned, however, against "discrimination in reverse" through quota systems which would give Negroes preference over more capable whites. A Fair Employment Practices Commission to oversee both hiring practice and union apprenticeship regulations was also proposed.

In the area of housing, the report asked that executive authority in preventing discrimination in federally-financed housing projects be extended and made mandatory rather than discretionary. The desirability of "rehabilitating" private housing instead of constructing "massive new apartment complexes" was also stressed.