sional debates reflect the fear of disturbing the status quo of white supremacy. In 1894, most of the legislation dealing with the right to vote was repealed.

Meanwhile, some States had been busy enacting legislation to disenfranchise the Negro. They adopted a variety of devices, with no effort to disguise their real purpose disenfranchisement of the Negro. Whites unable to meet the new requirements were protected by the so-called "grandfather clause"--which could not possibly have applied to a Negro newly freed from slavery.

The Supreme Court struck down the grandfather clause in 1915, but discrimination and disenfranchisement continued. The Negro's theoretical right to vote was successfully thwarted by intimidation and fear of reprisal. The white primary long served to disenfranchise Negroes, until declared unconstitutional in 1944. During this long period America almost forgot, and certainly ignored, its commitment to voting equality.

Beginning with President Truman's 1948 recommendation to Congress, based on the report of his Committee on Civil Rights, bills to protect the right to vote were introduced in successive Congresses. Still, action did not come until the Civil Rights Act of 1957. That act authorizes the Attorney General to bring suits to correct discrimination in State and Federal elections, as well as intimidation of potential voters.

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 sought to make such law suits easier. It amended the 1957 Act to permit the Attorney General to inspect registration records and to permit Negroes rejected by State registration officials to apply to a Federal court or a voting referee.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 sought to make voting rights suits faster. It amended the 1960 act to expedite cases, to facilitate proof of discrimination, and to require nondiscriminatory standards.

What has been the effect of these statutes? It is easy to measure. In Alabama, the number of Negroes registered to vote has increased by 5.2 percent between 1958 and 1964 to a total of 19.4 percent of those eligible by age and residence. This compares with 69.2 percent of the eligible whites.

In Mississippi, the number of Negroes registered to vote has increased at an even slower rate. In 1954, about 4.4 percent of the eligible Negroes were registered; today, we estimate the figure at about 6.4 percent. I mean eligible by age and residence within the State. Meanwhile, in areas for which we have statistics, the comparable figure for whites is that 80.5 percent of those eligible are registered.

And in Louisiana, Negro registration has not increased at all, or if at all, imperceptibly. In 1956, 31.7 percent of the eligible Negroes were registered. As of January 1, 1965, the figure was 31.8 percent. The white percentage, meanwhile is 80.2 percent-and I should add, Mr. Chairman, that registration in Louisiana is almost entirely in the southern district of the State and in the predominantly Catholic parishes.

The lesson is plain. The three present statutes have had only minimal effect. They have been too slow.

Thus, we have come to Congress three times in the past 8 years to ask for legislation to fulfill the promise our country made in the 15th amendment 95 years ago, the promise of the ballot.

Three times since 1956, the Congress has responded. Three times, it has adopted the alternative of litigation, of seeking solutions in our judicial system. But three times since 1956, we have seen that alternative tarnished by evasion, obstruction, delay, and disrespect. The alternative, in short, has already been tried and found wanting. "The time of justice," the President said on Monday "has now come."

II. DENIALS OF THE PRESENT

The discouraging figures I have cited do not represent lack of will by any administration in administering the voting rights laws. These laws have been administered by four Attorneys General serving under three Presidents and representing both parties.

Nor do these figures represent any lack of energy, ability, or dedication by the lawyers of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. I believe I have never, whether in government, in private practice, or in the academic world, seen any attorneys work so hard, so well and, often, under such difficult circumstances.

What these Negro voting figures do represent is the inadequacy of the judicial process to deal effectively and expeditiously with a problem so deep-seated and so complex.

My predecessors have, for a decade, given this committee example after example of how the registration process has been perverted to test not literacy, not ability, not understanding-but race. Like them, I could, today, give you numerous examples of such perversions.

I could cite numerous examples of the almost incredible amount of time our attorneys must devote to each of the 71 voting rights cases filed under the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964. It has become routine to spend as much as 6,000 man-hours only in analyzing the voting records in a single county-to say nothing of preparation for trial and the almost inevitable appeal.

I could cite numerous examples of how delay and evasion have made it necessary for us to gage judicial relief not in terms of months, but in terms of years. For the fact is that those who are determined to resist are able, even after apparent defeat in the courts, to devise whole new methods of discrimination. And often that means beginning the whole weary process all over again.

In short, I could cite example after example, but let me, at random, pick just one: Selma, Ala.

III. THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN DALLAS COUNTY, ALA.

The history of Negro voting rights in Dallas County, Ala., of which Selma is the seat, could-until February 4-be told in three words: "intimidation," "discouragement," and "delay."

There has been blatant discrimination against Negroes seeking to Vote in Dallas County at least since 1952. How blatant is evident from simple statistics.

In 1961, Dallas County had a voting age population of 29,515, of whom 14,400 were white persons and 15,115 were Negroes. The number of whites registered to vote totaled 9,195-64 percent. The number of Negroes totaled 156-1.03 percent of the total.

Between 1954 and 1961, the number of Negroes registered had mushroomed; exactly 18 were registered in those 7 years.

If effective and prompt remedies were necessary in any county, they were necessary in Dallas County. And as a result the first voting case filed in the Kennedy-Johnson administration was brought against Dallas County on April 13, 1961. The case finally came to trial 13 months later. In an additional 6 months came the district court decision. The court decided that prior registrars had, in fact, discriminated against Negro applicants. But, the court concluded, the current board of registrars was not then discriminating and, therefore, refused to issue an injunction against discrimination by the registrars. We appealed.

The CHAIRMAN. May I interrupt you?
What judge was that?

Mr. KATZENBACH. That was Judge Thomas.

On September 30, 1963, 22 years after the suit was originally filed, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court and ordered it to enter an injunction against discrimination.

Nevertheless, the Department also had urged the court of appeals to direct the registrars to judge Negro applicants by the same standards that had been applied to white applicants during the long period of discrimination-until effects of past discrimination had been dissipated. The court of appeals recognized that this type of relief might be needed in some cases, but did not order it in this case.

Our experience has shown that such relief is essential to any meaningful improvement in Negro voter registration in areas where there have been previous patterns of discrimination. Thus, after 22 years, the first round of litigation against discrimination in Selma ended, substantially in failure.

races.

Two months later, Department personnel inspected and photographed voter registration records at the Dallas County Courthouse. These records showed that the registrars were engaged in obvious. discrimination. With a topheavy majority of whites already registered, the registrars had raised standards for applicants of both The percentage of rejections for both white and Negro applicants for registration had more than doubled since the original trial in May 1962. The impact, of course, was greatest on the Negroes, of whom hardly any were registered. Eighty-nine percent of the Negro applicants had been rejected between May 1962 and November 1963. Of the 445 Negro applications rejected, 175 had been filed by Negroes with at least 12 years of education, including 21 with 16 years and 1 with a master's degree.

In addition to directly discriminatory practices, the registrars also were using one of their most effective indirect methods-delay. For example, on 11 of the 14 registration days in October 1963, 60 or more persons waited in line to register, but the average number of persons allowed to fill out forms was 36. In previous years-when the applicants were predominantly white-up to 148 applications had been processed in a single day.

For Negroes to register in Dallas County was thus extremely difficult. In February 1964, it became virtually impossible. Then, all Alabama county boards of registrars, including the Dallas County board in Selma, began using a new application form. This form included a complicated literacy and knowledge-of-government test. Since registration is permanent in Alabama, the great majority of

white voters in Selma and Dallas County, already registered under previous, easier standards, did not have to pass the test. But the great majority of voting-age Negroes, unregistered, now faced still another, still higher obstacle in voting.

Under the new test, the applicant had to demonstrate his ability to spell and understand by writing individual words from the dictation of the registrar. Applicants in Selma were required to spell such difficult and technical words as "emolument, capitation, impeachment, apportionment, and despotism." The Dallas County registrars also added a refinement not required by the terms of the State-prescribed form. Applicants were required to give a satisfactory interpretation of one of the excerpts of the constitution printed on the form.

As the result, we decided to go back to court. In March 1964, we filed a motion in Federal court initiating a second full-scale law suit against discriminatory practices in the registration process in Dallas County. It should be noted that in September 1964, pending trial of is second law suit, Alabama registrars, including those in Dallas County, began using a second, still more difficult test. In October 1964, our reopened Dallas County case came on for trial. We proved that between May 1962, the date of the first trial, and August 1964, 795 Negroes had applied for registration but that only 93 were accepted. During the same period, 1,232 white persons applied for registration, of whom 945 were registered. Thus, less than 12 percent of the Negro applicants, but more than 75 percent of the white applicants were accepted.

Finally, on February 4, 1965-nearly 4 years after we first brought it-the district court entered its judgment. This time, the court gibstantially accepted our contentions and the relief requested by the Department was granted. Specifically, the court enjoined use of the omplicated literacy test and knowledge-of-government tests and ntered orders designed to deal with the serious problem of delay. Whether this most recent decree will be effective only time will tell. We hope and expect it will be. But the Negroes of Dallas County have. good reason to be skeptical. After 4 years of litigation, only 383 Negroes are registered to vote in Dallas County today. The recent events in Selma are indeed demonstrations-demonstrations of the fact that, understandably, the Negroes of Dallas County are tired of waiting.

The story of Selma illustrates a good deal more than voting discrimnation and litigating delay. It also illustrates another obstacle, sometimes more subtle, certainly more damaging. I am talking about fear.

The Department thus has filed four separate suits against intimidation of Negro registration applicants by Sheriff James Clark and other local officials.

The first of these filed alleged that the defendants had intimidated Negroes from attempting to register by physical violence, baseless arrests, and prosecutions of Negro registration workers. We introduced proof that Sheriff Clark had deputies present at every civil rights mass meeting in Dallas County. They took notes and license tag numbers. They harassed, arrested, and assaulted young voter registration workers. The district court found, however, that the

Government had failed in its proof and denied injunctive relief. This decision is presently pending on appeal.

We filed a second intimidation suit in November 1963. This suit alleged that the local grand jury sought to interfere with the operation of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and thus intimidated potential Negro voters who looked to the Department for assistance and action. The Department of Justice introduced substantial proof in support of these allegations at the hearing, but the district court rejected this evidence and found that the grand jury had acted in good faith. This decision is also pending on appeal.

Our third Dallas County intimidation suit, also filed in November 1963, illustrates still a different level of harassment and fear. The defendants in this case, now awaiting trial, are the Dallas County Citizens' Council and its officers.

The suit alleges that they have adopted and sought to execute a program to frustrate court voting orders and to intimidate Negroes so they will not attend voter registration rallies. We filed a startling overt example of this program together with our complaint. It was a full-page advertisement in the Selma Times-Journal on June 9, 1963, sponsored by the citizens council. It was headed: "Ask Yourself This Important Question: What Have I Personally Done to Maintain Segregation?" And the text said, in part, "It is worth $4 to you to prevent sit-ins, mob marches, and wholesale Negro voter registration efforts in Selma?"

The fourth intimidation suit again was against Sheriff Clark and other local officials. It arose from events relating to voter registration and desegregation of places of public accommodation in Selma last summer. The case was tried before a three-judge district court in December 1964, and has not yet been decided, but I hope for a decision

very soon.

At the trial, the Department introduced proof showing that the defendants had prosecuted, convicted, and punished Negroes discriminatorily, and had issued and enforced injunctions preventing Negroes from organizing and discussing their grievances. Proof was also introduced to show that the defendants used unreasonable force against Negroes who exercised their rights and had failed to provide Negroes with ordinary police protection.

Let me be quick to point out that such intimidation is hardly limited to Dallas County; on this aspect as in others, Selma is merely a symbol. In Rankin County, Miss., three young Negro registration applicants were beaten in the registrar's office by the sheriff and his deputy. In our consequent suit, we were unable to secure relief even on appeal. The court ruled that the assault was not the result of bigotry, but the deputy's and sheriff's vexation over crowded conditions in the registration office.

In Wilcox County, Ala., a Negro insurance agent became the first of his race to apply for registration in several years. Within weeks, 28 different landowners ordered him to stay off their property when he came to collect insurance premiums. To keep his job, the man had to accept a transfer and live away from his family, in a different. county. Again we had an appeal. Today, two years later, the appeal is still pending.