New Chairman in Dixie

Once, when told that a Jew had been elected lord mayor of Dublin, so the sto ry goes, baseball's unique Yogi Berra replied: "Only in America could such a thing happen." Well, something equally wondrous did happen in America last week: a black was named chairman of the Southern Governors' Conference.

He is Melvin H. Evans, 56, of the Vir gin Islands, a former physician and a Republican who was appointed to of fice by President Nixon before winning the islands' first gubernatorial election in 1970.

Evans accepted the gavel that was graciously offered by the outgoing chair man, George Wallace, who would have once barred him from any white school in Point Clear, Ala., the magnolia-dotted town where this year's conference was held. As the two men warmly shook hands, Evans said: "The completely routine manner in which this historic event took place is indicative of a basic understanding and acceptance of principles which may have been in doubt in the past."

The election really was routine. The post automatically goes to the vice chairman, and alternates each year between a Republican and a Democrat. Last year the five-Governor Republican caucus chose Evans for a fundamental political reason that transcended all questions of race, creed, religion or national origin. Evans faced a tough re-election campaign in the troubled Virgins, and gaining the vice chairmanship boosted his chances to win.

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