The Augusta Courier

CONGRESSMAN VURSELL OF ILLINOIS FIGHTS FEPC BILL

Mid-Westerner Charges Measure Backed By Political Opportunists

The Yankee Congressmen are waking up.

Congressman Charles W. Vursell of Illinois told the Congress on February 22nd, 1950, that the main purpose of the FEPC bill was to secure the votes of the Negroes of the nation.

He told the Congress that even the members voting for the bill did not believe in it.

He said "Politics has brought it before this body. If a secret vote could be had without a written record being made, it is my judgment that less of the membership present would vote to fasten this dangerous bill on the people of this nation."

His speech follows:

"Mr. Chairman, the Members of this Congress are faced today with one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation to the entire Nation that has come before this body in years. I refer to H. R. 4453, which is chiefly the product of Representative Powell and Representative Marcantonio, of New York.

"If this bill is passed, it will set up a great bureaucracy here in Washington, and smaller bureaucracies working under the direction of the Washington bureaucracy, in every county, city, and town in the Nation. It will regiment, annoy, harass, investigate, and coerce any and every little businessman it seeks to disturb throughout the Nation.

"It can subpoena and compel him to bring all of his business records thousands of miles into any court they designate at his own expense to defend himself against any charge of discrimination alleged against him from any applicant for a job who he does not employ if he selects another applicant when he needs to hire a man or woman in his store, shop, or factory.

"This bill takes away from any employer the right to freely hire or discharge employees needed in his business.

"It will discourage the businessman from expanding his business and giving more jobs and employment to more people. It will deprive men and women of a chance to work and earn their living. It will defeat the very purpose set out in the act. It will add to the unemployment rolls that now stand at 4,000,000 people in the Nation. It will lower the national income and the productivity of the Nation. It will mean less jobs for good men and women who need them the most.

"It is my conviction that this legislation is unsound in principle, impractical in application, and certainly should not be enacted into law.

"The ideas embodied in this proposed legislation were conceived and born in Russia.

"The first government job ever held by Joseph Stalin, the present Russian dictator, was in 1917 when he conceived an FEPC under a different name in Russia. Surely the membership of this House will not intentionally follow the leadership in enacting legislation first conceived and applied in Russia by Joseph Stalin.

"His ideas finally crossed the Atlantic and have been embodied in this iniquitous bill whose chief sponsor and supporter is Mr. Marcantonio of New York.

"The first supporters and agitators for this type of legislation was the Communist Daily Worker newspaper of New York, and was endorsed by all Communists in our land who seized upon this opportunity to further stir up class hatred throughout the Nation in the hope of destroying this Republic. Later the officers of the CIO, which organization was permeated with hundreds of Communists in its ranks, seized upon it and endorsed it in the hope by the deception of its promises to add to its dues-paying membership in an attempt to largely organize the colored working men and women in our Nation.

"Most of the supporters of this bill now seek to exploit it for political purposes. Were it not for the political advantage most of the supporters of this bill hope to gain it would not be before this Congress today. Politics has brought it before this body. If a secret vote could be had without a written record being made, it is my judgment that less of the membership present would vote to fasten this dangerous bill on the people of our Nation.

"Mr. Chairman, the main purpose of this bill is to secure the votes of the great majority of the Negro voters in the nation. Keen interest in the personal advancement and welfare of the colored people of this country. They are among our best American citizens. Coming from slavery into freedom about 75 years ago, by their own efforts, they have justified my confidence and the confidence of the people in the nation by making the greatest advancement in education, business, the arts and sciences of any people placed in a like situation in the civilized world.

"I want to see their lot improved. I want to see them continue their proud record of advancement in the future, and I am confident that the passage of this bill will make it more difficult for them to continue to advance, succeed, and continue their great contribution as good American citizens to this Republic.

"I am and always have been, and always will be opposed to any discrimination against their welfare.

"Mr. Chairman, if any legislation is to be enacted, it should approach the problem through mediation, conciliation, and investigation, seeking to bring about better race conditions and better opportunities for all minority groups.

"You cannot bring about better relations by passing another law. You cannot change the thinking and the heart of any people by legislation. This problem must be worked out by a developing of a greater tolerance toward all people, beginning at the grass roots of every small community in the land. Instead of passing a law that will increase prejudice, we must approach it through Christian principles by leading men away from the hates and prejudices of this world. That can be done. That must be done. That is the fundamental, moral concept underlying this entire problem.

"If we approach this matter on any other basis except a voluntary basis, the basis of education, the basis of taking men by the hands and leading them into the right path, we make the problem worse, and will do great harm to the principal minority race the colored men and women of this Nation."