Mr. POWELL. From the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers? Mr. McDONALD. From the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers official minutes. I am informed now that he tried to get $5,000 from an employer and the employer turned him down and the executive committee official minutes state that President Robinson has discussed rumors which were current which he felt would be detrimental to the organization and these rumors reflected Mr. Robinson accepted a personal loan from Mr. Pack. Mr. Robinson said he did seek a loan from Mr. Pack but it was an error in judgment. I would like to know what the Steelworkers would think of David J. McDonald if he went to the president of the United States Steel Corp. to obtain a loan. They would characterize him as a sell-out artist and that is what I would be. I would say it would be a man devoid of character and destitute of honor. We stand on our record and our record is as I have read it to you here this afternoon. in Mr. BURKE. I knew something about this case because it happened home town. my Mr. POWELL. You mean the Robinson case? Mr. BURKE. Yes. Mr. POWELL. Do you have any more questions? Mr. BURKE. No, sir. Mr. POWELL. Then the committee stands adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 4:30 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned to 10 a. m., Thursday, May 26, 1949.) FEDERAL FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a. m., Hon. Adam C. Powell, Jr. (chairman), presiding. Mr. POWELL. The committee will please come to order. I should like to mention here, in connection with the question of the constitutionality of fair-employment-practice legislation which I discussed yesterday with Congressman Hays, that this matter is covered in detail in Senate Report No. 951, Eightieth Congress, second session, on pages 15 to 19. Our first witness this morning is Rev. Samuel McCrea Cavert, general secretary, Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. TESTIMONY OF REV. SAMUEL MCCREA CAVERT, GENERAL SECRETARY, FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA Reverend CAVERT. Mr. Chairman, my name is Samuel McCrea Cavert. I am general secretary of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. I appear in behalf of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, a federation of 27 national denominations with a membership of 28,000,000. The churches of the Federal Council have a keen interest in the welfare of minority groups in our population and for this reason are concerned with justice for them in our economic life. The right of every citizen to support himself and his family by his work is so fundamental that any discrimination on account of race, creed, color, or national origin is a matter of moral and spiritual significance. I shall not enter into any discussion of the administrative provisions of the bill which you are considering; they are beyond my competence and are not within the area of the primary responsibilities of the churches. I limit my testimony to the basic moral principles which the bill is designed to apply. The position of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America on this subject is set forth in a statement adopted by its executive committee on March 21, 1944, as follows: Discrimination in employment because of race, creed, or national origin is one of the great moral issues before our Nation today. The right of the worker to be employed and paid solely on the basis of his character and ability is so clear, just, and Christian that it should be protected by law. This right should be safeguarded by appropriate legislative and administrative provisions: Be it therefore Resolved, That the Federal Council of Churches urge our Government to establish permanent procedures for securing objectives which have been sought by the Committee on Fair Employment Practices. On the basis of this resolution, the executive committee of the council, on May 17, 1949, authorized me to testify at this hearing. In accordance with our procedure which permits any denomination to dissociate itself from any position of the council which it may not be in accord, I make record of the fact that the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern) is not included in this presentation. The general position expressed in the council's resolution, which I have quoted, has been strongly supported for several years by many of the major denominations meeting separately in their official national gatherings. As typical I submit the following: The General Conference of the Methodist Church, in its quadrennial meeting in Kansas City, Mo., in May 1944, said: We stand for * * * equal opportunity in employment, upgrading, and conditions of work, in exercise of the full rights of citizenship; in access to professional and business careers, in housing, in transportation, and in educational facilities. We endorse the principles underlying the Fair Employment Practice Committee and urge all agencies involved in the administration of the act to improve that administration. The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, in its general assembly in May 1944 went on record as follows: That the general assembly commend the essential purpose of the President's Fair Employment Practice Committee as being in keeping with Christian principles, and favors its receiving legislative sanction rather than remaining in its present status as an Executive order. The Northern Baptist Convention in its annual session in Atlantic City, N. J., on May 23, 1947, recorded its judgment in the following terms: Whereas discrimination in employment because of race, creed, or national origin is one of the great moral issues before our Nation today, and Whereas the right of a worker to be employed and paid solely on the basis of his character and ability is so clear, just, and Christian that it should be protected by appropriate legislation; and Whereas this has clearly been recognized in legislation passed recently in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut: Therefore be it Resolved, That the Northern Baptist convention urge the enactment of legislation designed to secure these objectives by other State legislatures and their serious consideration by the Congress of the United States. The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches, at is biennial meeting in Grinnell, Iowa, June 18-25, 1946, declared: Discrimination in employment because of race, creed, or national origin is one of the great moral issues before the Nation today. It threatens the basic economic rights of many individuals. We recognize that the immediate postwar period has brought with it increasing tension between racial and religious groups in our country, and that reduction in employment will tend to work a special hardship on Negro and other minority groups. We therefore reaffirm our support of legislation constituting permanent fair employment practices commissions for States and Nation, such as will afford all citizens, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, equal opportunity to useful, adequately remunerative employment. The General Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, in session in York, Pa., in 1944, took the same position. Similar views have been expressed by four great Negro denominations-the Na tional Baptist Convention, Inc., the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the Colored Methodist Church. These many declarations of many different bodies during the last 5 years make it clear that there is an awakening moral concern over the question of economic justice for minority peoples in our national life. After having asked Negroes and other minority groups, equally with white, to fight and die for democracy, we cannot, in good conscience, be indifferent to any denial of democratic rights to them at home. One of the most elementary of these rights is the right to equal opportunity to earn their daily bread. Moreover, the good name of America in the eyes of the world is at stake. If we fail to put our house in order with respect to full economic justice for those whom it is all too easy to discriminate against, we shall play directly into the hands of the Communist attack upon our way of life. The great defense of democracy is always a moral and spiritual defense. Let us strengthen that defense by setting up the necessary safeguards against discrimination in our industrial and economic life. Mr. POWELL. Thank you. Reverend Cavert. I have one question. The Presbyterian Church in the United States, Southern, is the only denominational group in the federal council that has dissociated itself in the endorsement of fair-employment practices? Reverend CAVERT. That is correct. Mr. POWELL. But other denominations which cover the South, such as the Methodist churches and general synods of other churches, they did endorse it? Reverend CAVERT. They did, insofar as they are within the membership of the federal council. I have to add there is one great southern body, the Southern Baptists, which is not a member of the council and, therefore, they are not involved in my testimony. Mr. FoWELL. What other large denomination outside of the Southern Baptists in the South are not included in the Federal Council of Churches? Reverend CAVERT. I think there are no others. Mr. POWELL. The Federal Council of Churches represents about how many persons? Reverend CAVERT. Between 28 and 29 million. Mr. POWELL. And you, as a minister, feel that that is a moral issue? Reverend CAVERT. I feel so, very strongly. At least, it is the moral aspect with which my testimony is concerned, and the council is concerned. Mr. POWELL. Reverend Cavert, thank you so much for coming. Mr. POWELL. Our next witness is on the way from the Department of Labor, and the committee will stand adjourned for the next 5 minutes until he comes. (A short recess was taken.) Mr. FoWELL. The committee will come to order. Our next witness of the morning is the Secretary of Labor, Hon. Maurice J. Tobin. TESTIMONY OF HON. MAURICE J. TOBIN, SECRETARY OF LABOR, ACCOMPANIED BY WILLIAM T. EVANS, SOLICITOR'S OFFICE, AND KENNETH MEIKELJOHN, ASSISTANT SOLICITOR, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Mr. TOBIN. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am very happy to have this opportunity to testify before this committee on legislation designed to eliminate discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin. I have a particular interest in legislation of this type because it was while I was Governor of Massachusetts that the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practice Act, a law similar to the bills now under consideration, was enacted. Discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion or national origin is contrary to basic democratic theory that a person shall have opportunity in accordance with his individual ability and qualifications. That such discrimination exists in this country, however, is well-known to everyone-too well-known to require at this time the submission of any supporting data in the form of statistics of comparative earnings, occupational distribution and unemployment among the respective racial, religious, and national groups which comprise our population. We cannot afford to tolerate restrictions upon the economic opportunities of individuals based upon the irrelevant and accidental factors of race, color, religion, or national origin. With an awareness of the existence of discriminatory employment practices and of the necessity of their elimination, one of the 15 points of the Labor Department's legislative program to improve the economic status of those who work, is the enactment of a sound, fair employment practice act to end job and wage discrimination against minority groups in interstate industries. The freedom to earn a living without being discriminated against because of race, color, religion, or national origin is as important as the more well-known civil rights and freedoms guaranteed by the bill of rights of the Constitution. The freedom of speech, assembly, and religious worship are all precious but in order to enjoy these freedoms one must exist and the existence of most of us and of our families is dependent upon the wages and salaries which we can earn. To restrict the opportunity to earn a living on the basis of considerations beyond our control is to deprive us of a right upon which the enjoyment of all our other American freedoms depends. To deprive any person of the chance to make a living is to violate one of the most fundamental of human rights. We cannot escape the fact that every evidence of the existence of discrimination against minority groups in this country is seized upon and shamefully distorted by exponents of competing political philosophies. Every indication of a gap between our professed principles of freedom and equality and our practices is cited as evidence that our democracy is a fraud and the existence of underprivileged and exploited groups is a necessary part of our economic system. The enactment of legislation such as that now being considered by this committee would do much to combat this harmful propaganda |