Segregationist Governor To Defy President

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30155, 12 June 1963, Page 15

Segregationist Governor To Defy President

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

TUSCALOOSA (Alabama), June 11.

More than 1500 troops and police were poised today as the segregationist Governor, George Wallace, of Alabama, prepared for his personal showdown with the Federal Government. The Governor has promised to appear in person at the University of Alabama campus today to prevent two negro students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, both aged 20, from enrolling at the all-white university.

Last night Governor Wallace rejected an appeal by President Kennedy to stay away from the campus, saying his presence at the university would guarantee peace.

President Kennedy said in a telegram, that if the Governor stayed away, outside intervention of any troops. State or Federal, would be unnecessary. “I therefore urgently ask you to consider the consequences to your State and to its fine university if you persist in* setting an example of defiant conduct and urge you instead to leave these matters in courts of law where they belong,” Mr Kennedy said. Should Mr Wallace violate the terms of the Court injunction—which does not forbid his actual presence on the university campus—he could face up to 10 years in gaol on conviction. Lawyers’ Appeal

Forty-six lawyers from various parts of the United States yesterday appealed to Mr Wallace to yield to Court rulings and permit the negro students to enter the university, “in the interests of sustaining the rule of law.” The appeal was issued in Philadelphia by the treasurer of the American Law Institute, Mr Bernard Segal. It was signed by, among others, the president, the president-elect, chairman and board of governors of the American Bar Association, six past presidents of the association, and three

farmer United States Attorney s-Generai. Six cars will bring the students, accompanied by about 20 to 30 Federal marshals and Justice Department officials, to one of the four entrances to the auditorium where enrolment takes place, to confront the Governor. What will happen then is not clear

Governor Wallace said he would be waiting outside one of the auditorium entrances formally to refuse admission to Miss Malone and Mr Hood. He has not said whether State troopers will join him, or whether he will resist

efforts to brush past him. A Justice Department spokesman has said every effort will be made to enroll the students, but that they will withdraw if this fails. In that case, it is expected that troops will be called in. Eight hundred State and local police and 700 National Guardsmen, were going to strategic positions this morning. They were surrounding the university campus to keep it sealed off to the public during the showdown. The town of 60,000 was calm but tense. Weapons Seized Since Saturday. State troopers and local police have arrested 21 whites and one negro carrying pistols and other weapons and have confiscated them.

Meetings between Federal and State officials yesterday were described as cordial. In Danville, Virginia, authorities yesterday turned fire hoses on negro demonstrators after a protest march, and arrested 37 of them.

About 50 negroes congregated last night around the Danville city gaol, where the arrested people were held. Police used fire hoses and truncheons to break up the demonstration. Two more negroes and one white man were arrested before the crowd dispersed. Yesterday Mississippi University's first known negro student, Mr J. Meredith, delayed his plan to register for the summer session. Meredith said he was staying on in Jackson, some 200 miles south of Oxford, to attend to “urgent personal business.”

Campus police,' reinforced by officers from nearby towns, patrolled the milesquare university area in Oxford. The 300 Army troops who have been handling permanent guard duties at Mr Meredith's dormitory also stood by.