Voices in Mississippi

Even in Mississippi, which by every statistic and standard will be the last state in the Union to give way to integration, there were some hopeful signs. Items:

> Lieut. Governor Carroll Gartin, addressing the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, counseled that "we must adjust to change or be destroyed by change." Said Gartin: "Businessmen, industrialists and civic leaders must speak up and speak out in a positive manner. We must not let the irresponsible become the voice of Mississippi, because in that silence we do our people the gravest injustice."

> Mississippi Bankers Association President Nat Rogers told the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce: "We must recognize that we have a problem and come to grips with it. We must obey the law, keep in step with the times, and blend our enthusiasm with realism and honesty."

> Mississippi Bar Association President Earl T. Thomas defended the U.S. Supreme Court before some 40 Mississippi state and local judges: "Fair, objective and rational criticism of the court, as of all courts, is not only healthy and to be commended but also to be continued. When criticism, however, not based on rational or reasonable bases becomes solely vitriolic and emotional, then all courts are bound to suffer in the consequent loss of respect, prestige and the confidence of citizens."

Of all the calls for moderation, none was more remarkable than that issued by the 2,500-member Mississippi Economic Council, the state's foremost businessmen's organization. The council issued a statement urging Mississippians to accept and "adjust to the impact" of the new civil rights law. That law, it said, "cannot be ignored and should not be unlawfully defied." The statement demanded that "registration and voting laws should be fairly and impartially administered for all"

Also, Mississippi's Governor Paul Johnson urged his state's public officials to appear voluntarily before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which last week held closed-session hearings on the subject of Negro voting rights and the treatment accorded Negroes in Mississippi courts.

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