Eisenhower and the South

President Eisenhower at his recent press conference once again pleaded for moderation and responsible leadership on the integration issue in the South. To the non-extreme Southerner, wedged uncomfortably between the racism of White Citizen's Councils and the militancy of the NAACP, the words were doubtless encouraging. But with little support in the South itself, the moderate is finding it increasingly hard to subsist on the compliment-a-week strategy of the President.

Numerous observers, including Adlai Stevenson and Governor Herter, have urged Eisenhower to take some decisive role in easing racial tensions in the South. The most frequent proposal has advocated a bi-racial White House conference, to be composed of thoughtful and dispassionate Southern leaders. Such a group would be valuable not only in repairing frayed communication lines between whites and Negroes, but also in preparing the ground for future study groups and advisory commissions organized on the state level.

Eisenhower has so far sidestepped these proposals by pointing out that he asked Congress in his State of the Union message to authorize a joint commission to investigate illegal discrimination in the South. The advantage of Congressional commission, according to the President, would be its power to subpoena witnesses and compel them to testify.

Even if Congress should follow Eisenhower's request, which seems unlikely with 96 of its members pledged to fight integration on all fronts, a Congressional investigation is no answer to the crisis in the South. The present problem is to enlist more Southerners in an effort toward gradual integration, and to reduce the tension which Southern politicians themselves have done much to foster.

The President can best serve the cause of integration not by asking for a controversial investigation, but by lending the influence and prestige of his office to a high level meeting of moderate Southerners. Eisenhower has widespread popularity and respect which can do much to influence public opinion in the South. The need at present is for an invitation, not a subpoena.