State can legislate and can be determine who is or who is not a qualified

voter.

That point is too crucial; is too sacred.

Mr. BURRUS. We have followed the policy that those basic policy problems properly belong to Congress; and in this particular project we have attempted only to assure ourselves that the circumstances which gave rise to the need for the law in the first place exist today. In other words, that those circumstances are the same.

You have an emergency; you have two or three million soldiers who could not vote except for this law. Congress wanted them to vote during the last war when they were away, and we assume that, unless Congress expresses itself differently, it has the same policy now.

We simply could not go into the policy behind each one of these laws, and you would not want us to do that, I am sure.

Mr. FORRESTER. Do not misunderstand me. I want every qualified voter to vote. But I am not going to be a party to letting any man vote just because he is wearing a uniform that cannot qualify under State law. I rather have the idea that a man has got to have some intelligence and some character before he is permitted to vote.

As I said the other day, if we are just going to let everybody vote indiscriminately, we ought to register the mules and just let them vote, too, if we are not going to have any standards.

Now I want to pursue this question, if I may. Where you waive registration with a man in the armed services, how would you determine that that man has the qualifications to vote? How would you do that? I am going into this sympathetically now, but I just want to know.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. The Army does not determine that. Mr. FORRESTER. How is it determined? In other words, suppose I am over in Korea. Let us put it now where we would be more in sympathy with the boy who wants to vote than we could under any other situation whatsoever. He is over there in Korea in the front lines. He wants to vote in Georgia. We have a law that you have got to register down there.

How would this law work and how would this man attempt to qualify, and how would any board down in Georgia be able to determine whether that man was or was not a qualified voter?

Colonel BLOCKER. In most cases, sir, it is a matter of people who are known in their own communities. The States that are most liberal simply require a post-card application for a ballot to be sent in. On that it states the man's name, his age and his residence, and so forth. That goes right down to the county, and the people there are able to check whether he actually lived there at the time he said or not, and he probably appears on records in the county.

I think that is the administrative way they handle it.

Mr. FORRESTER. Do you know that or do you think that, Colonel? Colonel BLOCKER. I do not know it. No; I cannot say. That is an assumption.

Mr. FORRESTER. It is important that we know.

Colonel BLOCKER. Where they have such a simple method as that, I know they make some check. I am quite sure they do.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. I know this in my own State, when the application comes in, the county clerk has the records there. He

can check and he will not send out a ballot unless this man is qualified to vote.

Mr. FORRESTER. Certainly the county clerk is not vested with that discretion; is he? It would seem to me it would be some board.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. It would be the same thing as a person walking in to vote. The people there have a record as to whether a person is qualified to vote. The county clerk has a record of the persons who are qualified to vote.

Mr. FORRESTER. Only those who have already been held to be qualified. But suppose a man who have never voted before and has never had his qualifications determined wants to vote in this particular instance; how do you determine it?

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. How do they determine it when a person walks in to vote?

Mr. FORRESTER. Down in Georgia that is simple enough. He goes down and he enters his name in a book. Then you have a board of registrars and that board of registrars gives that man the opportunity to appear before them.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. Then how do they register by mail? Mr. FORRESTER. Only where he is already a qualified voter. If he is a qualified voter, then he remains qualified.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. You mean no new person can vote? Mr. FORRESTER. No; I certainly do not.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. That is what I was trying to find out. Mr. FORRESTER. I mean he can register and he can have his qualifications determined. But until those qualifications are determined, he cannot vote.

Lieutenant Colonel LUNDBERG. It would be the same way by application by mail.

Mr. FORRESTER. How? That is what I am trying to find out.

Colonel BLOCKER. For the Armed Forces in Georgia, the unregistered members of the Armed Forces may apply for registration by absentee process by requesting a military registration card from the tax collector, tax commissioner, or the registrar of the county of residence. Any relative or friend of the service man may also request the military registration card and mail it to the serviceman.

The military registration card must be filled out according to accompanying instructions and returned to appropriate officials. Such registration may be accomplished at any time.

Mr. FEIGHAN. May I interrupt. In the final analysis, is it not an official of the State that makes the determination as to whether or not to accept the qualifications?

Mr. FORRESTER. That is what I am trying to find out now.

Colonel BLOCKER. Absolutely.

Mr. FORRESTER. I am trying to find out if they do have a board down there who will effect the determination.

Colonel BLOCKER. Every one of these that comes in, the final determination is up to the State and the officials there as to whether they accept him as registered or whether they even accept his ballot or not.

Mr. FORRESTER. That is what I am trying to find out, and that would make a lot of difference with me. I do not want to deny any qualified man the right to vote, but I have got the idea, whether right or wrong, I think intelligent votes have got to save this country.

I am not interested at all in giving a man a vote just because he has come to a certain age, if he does not have the quality and the intelligence. Some people disagree with me on that, and that I know full well; but I just do not think any man ought to have a privilege until he has come to where he is able to exercise it with some discretion.

Mr. PICKETT. Colonel, I understand part of this statute we are dealing with has the force of a mandate of law that says certain things may be done. Part of that statute is in the nature of a recommendation to the several States only. Is that correct?

Colonel BLOCKER. That is my understanding.

Mr. PICKETT. The statute according to your statement applies to certain candidates for Federal office and electors in the general election only, and does not obtain and apply in the primary. Is that right?

Colonel BLOCKER. That is my understanding of sections 201 and 202, title I.

Mr. PICKETT. Now then, we are then faced with the situation where there will be none of this exercise of the privilege of the ballot until the November election, 1952. Is that correct?

Colonel BLOCKER. Except as the States permit.

Mr. PICKETT. The States could permit that with or without this statute; could they not?

Colonel BLOCKER. Yes; that is, the State laws that are now in existence determine whether they vote in their own State election or not.

Mr. PICKETT. You do not need this statute here for the purpose of the primaries, if I understand you.

Colonel BLOCKER. No.

Mr. PICKETT. For practical purposes, then, we are dealing with a subject that is not effective for the benefit of the members of the Armed Forces until November, or at least the days preceding November when you must take the steps necessary to get the ballot to them and so forth. How many potential votes are affected by this statute in the 1952 election?

Colonel BLOCKER. It has been estimated, I think, there are about two and a half million who are of voting age and probably eligible to vote in their States.

Mr. PICKETT. And based upon past performance, what percentage of those will actually exercise the privilege?

Colonel BLOCKER. In 1944 in the Armed Forces there were 9,225,000. Of that number, 4,487,540 were eligible to vote, and 2,691,160 did send in ballots. That is quoted from the Committee Report of Special Committee on Service Voting, American Political Science Association.

Mr. PICKETT. That was not quite 30 percent, then. I believe you said a few moments ago that we are confronted with a large mobilization for a long period of time. That means that we can reasonably expect about the same number or a greater number of personnel in the Armed Forces for several years. That would be my thought about it, and I hope that I interpret your meaning correctly. Colonel BLOCKER. That is just an assumption.

Mr. PICKETT. Yes, sir. We of course all hope that facts do not warrant the maintaining of that number, and we can reduce it, but I think we can look for it. With the President's message on this sub

ject on Monday of this week, and the fact that Congress will be in session for at least 3 month from now, that nothing practically can be done to implement the privileges of the ballot between now and then, do you not think this is a substantive question as a matter of permanent policy that the Congress ought to pass on directly rather than just an extension of the existing law?

Colonel BLOCKER. I think for the interim period it would be highly desirable to continue this as emergency legislation pending a substantial revision of it by Congress during this session.

Mr. PICKETT. I can say this, that if there is a demand for it, an extension of the policy for a permanent period, the pressure to pass the legislation necessary will be considerably_relieved if we extend this as an emergency or temporary measure. I think that if we are going to adopt a policy, we ought to go about it and not postpone it until

1953 or 1954.

If we continue this statute, it will be my guess that the committees that handle the legislation on a permanent basis will not go to work at it; and if we do not extend it, they probably will go to work and we will have a declaration of policy before this session of Congress is over, Colonel.

I make that statement to indicate to you this, that I do not particularly favor the extension of this provision of the law, because I think it is a matter that we ought to decide as a matter of permanent policy.

Colonel BLOCKER. I think a permanent policy should be passed on by Congress, but that I do believe there is a need for the extension of this for the interim period for administrative purposes.

Mr. PICKETT. I can certainly respect your judgment on the matter, Colonel. You have had a great deal of experience in it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. FEIGHAN. Colonel, may I ask you, with reference to most of these ballots, have they been the entire State ballot or just the separate ballot for Federal elections?

Colonel BLOCKER. The war ballot went out-I forget the date when that went out. That certainly was repealed in 1946 when the law had its last major revision. In 1944, only 85,000 war ballots were used, but the trouble there was that the only States in which they could be used were the ones who consented to accept them; and the only States that consented to accept them had good State laws anyway, and they were not required. Therefore the only other provision for their use was where a State ballot did not arrive by the 1st of October, the war ballot could be used instead; and that probably accounts for the 85,000 that were used overseas only.

Mr. FEIGHAN. Whatever ballot is used is provided by the State under their own terms?

Colonel BLOCKER. Under their present set-up. There is no ballot except the State ballot.

Mr. FEIGHAN. The meeting is adjourned, and we will reconvene Friday morning at 10 a. m.

(Thereupon, at 11:10 a. m., the subcommittee adjourned until Friday morning, 10 a. m., April 4, 1952.)

(NOTE.-The subcommittee did not meet April 4.)

EMERGENCY POWERS CONTINUATION ACT

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1952

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE No. 4,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in room 346, Old House Office Building, the Honorable Michael A. Feighan, presiding.

Subcommittee members present: Representatives Feighan (presiding), Boggs, Forrester, and Hillings.

Also present: Miss Velma Smedley, assistant chief clerk; Cyril Brickfield, committee counsel.

Mr. FEIGHAN. The committee will come to order. This morning our first witness will be Mr. D. B. Robertson, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. Mr. Robertson.

STATEMENT OF D. B. ROBERTSON, PRESIDENT OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN, CLEVELAND, OHIO, ACCOMPANIED BY HAROLD C. HEISS, GENERAL COUNSEL Mr. ROBERTSON. My name is D. B. Robertson. I am president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, a railway labor organization composed of more than 100,000 locomotive engineers and firemen living in the United States and Canada. I have been president of the brotherhood since 1922. The organization has its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, in a suburb of which I maintained my residence.

I appear before the committee as the spokesman for the brotherhood in opposition to enactment of a provision of House Joint Resolution 386, to wit, section 1 (a) (27), which proposes to extend for the period of time prescribed in section 1 (a) of the resolution the power of the President of the United States, heretofore exercisable only in time of declared war, to take possession and control of any system of transportation by railroad, through the Secretary of War.

The President's letter of February 19, 1952, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives relating to the simultaneously transmitted draft of the Emergency Powers Continuation Act explains thatThe purpose of this draft bill is to insure the continuation of certain specific powers which the Government is exercising for the preservation of the national security.

It is then further stated in the letter that

Under the language used in the statutes conferring these powers they exist now ⚫ only because we are still technically in a state of war. The only state of war still existing between this country and others is the state of war with Japan.