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The tendency on the part of American voters today to support the opposition, to vote against whoever is in, may express the frustration of an electorate which has frequently under both parties, seen its wishes set aside by unrepresentative legislators who hold power through undemocratic districting & the seniority system. Such frustrations, repeated over a long period, have generated a negative, almost skeptical mood concealed in the acquiescence in moderation. Those frustrations may also have been involved in the McCarthy interlude through which the country passed between 1950 & 1954. In the last half cent a radical right developed as a product of the rootlessness & heterogeneity of US life. The children of immigrants have now themselves become involved in this quest for status. Their dynamic dissent takes the form of emphasis upon their own Americanism & ideological Intolerance of the elite of Eastern intellectuals & business leaders. McCarthy came to express a mood prevalent in US society but his position was distinctive in its lack of + ideology & his power had no organizational base & disappeared without a trace at the face of the first determined opposition. In the context of this past, the voters value above all else Eisenhower's appearance of peace & stability, with 'moderation' as the means of evading the necessity of choice between undesirable alternatives. J A. Fishman.

In over-reaction against the dictum that'the end justifies the means' which epitomizes the totalitarian mentality, the exponents of moderatism ignore ends altogether in their preoccupation with the use of proper (legal & constitutional) means. The result is a pol'al formalism which celebrates the institutional process through which decisions are reached while ignoring the content of the decisions. Emphasis on the means rather than the ends of politics encourages politicians to minimize their substantive interests & values. A sharper division between our parties is desirable but not one which would necessitate their becoming monolithic groups totally lacking in internal differentiation. A clearer line of division between the parties would check the seductive appearance of an indiscriminate moderatism that blurs all issues. J. A. Fishman.

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -4- to pay. A majority of the more than 3,000 messages I have received since November 4, expressing regrets, have come from the South, and these people are willing to stand up and be counted on the side of moderation. They are representative of the millions of Southerners who deplore bigotry and intolerance and are anxious to do everything they can to restore conditions of race harmony. While it might be said that the moderates are now in a minority in the South, this minority is beginning to be heard as it has not been heard before. Reasonable people, who were intimated by the intensity of the outbursts of the extremists, are at last coming to believe that they must speak out if the values they cherish, the finest traditions in the Southern way of life, are to be preserved. Newspapers throughout the South have deplored extremism and expressed hope that I would continue to help supply leadership for the South's moderates. I was reassured by the Nashville Tennessean of November 11, 1958 "It is no disgrace at all for Representative Hays to be deprived by Governor Faubus of something he had honorably won in the Democratic primary, and by highly questionable methods; instead, this may have been one of the most significant developments in an unfinished career based on respect for law and a devotion to the moderation which is in need of unwavering champions." The November 6 Memphis Press-Scimitar prophesied that

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -5- "out of office, as well as in office, Hays will be doing a lot of good " and I hope I can live up this prophecy. To cite just one more encouraging editorial the Charlotte Observer of November 11: "somewhere, at some time, the example of Brooks Hays may encourage someone to stand up to the facts, hold to his convictions, and tell the people the truth on a painful subject." That this will not take place overnight is made clear by the Observer: "That is not likely in the immediate future. The election returns in Arkansas probably will guarantee for the South more of the same political fantasy - with the volume turned a bit higher." The struggle cannot be viewed in short-run terms but rather as a long-run effort to reconcile the national attitude and the Southern extremist viewpoint. That southern newspapers view this as a possibility gives me renewed confidence that the course I am charting is not in error. What, then, is this moderation I have been talking about? First, let me say that, while I am stuck with the label and will not renounce it, I am starting no new cult under that name. Moderation is not invariably a virtue. Truth is often highly partisan. But I think we can find a definition of the term which is reasonably precise and to which the just and prudent may repair. This definition would include: (a) an adherence to the concept of equal justice under law and a recognition that the 14th Amendment is a vital part of the Constitution

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -12- of the South so that the Negro minority voice is never heard. On these issues I would like to find middle ground that meets the test of the moderation. I have long maintained that the Supreme Court's original decision ordering school desegregation upset orderly race progress, regardless of the righteousness of its plea for equal justice. It has been my hope that the implementation might be made more flexible than was originally assumed possible, and the recent Court decision in the Alabama Pupil Placement case has made me more optimistic about the future. While the Court has not weakened its devotion to constitutional rights, it is giving evidence of scrutinizing more closely the complexities of achieving desegregation. It is this spirit of justice tempered with understanding of the South's problem that can reverse the present trend toward abolition of public schools. While it might be said that there is some lack of reality in the Southern viewpoint which prefers inferior private education or still hopes that public education can continue without adherence to the principle of desegregation, men of good will can provide more effective leadership when they do not have to defend themselves from the charge of being mass integrationists. There has not yet been enough leadership exerted in the South to lead the people out of the present impasse. Some of the responsibility for this must be laid elsewhere, since gratuitous attacks of the South only exacerbate the

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -8- in my own home city and I find there a great longing to resolve the school problem in an honorable way. I did receive 49 percent of the reported vote in my district and my leadership of the Baptist Convention appears to remain unimpaired. The holder of public office in the South faces a real challenge to his political survival if he tries to be anything other than an extremist on the race issue. Many of my Southern Baptist colleagues have expressed personal regrets over what happened to me, but some might be damaged if they made their position public. I would not want any one of them to be hurt by having my views imputed to them. Through the years I have made many deep Southern friendships and I am hesitant to put any strains on them now. One of the problems is that in the present climate of opinion in the South, the word "moderate" itself carries a good deal of prejudice. In the press conference I held on November 7, after returning to Washington, I expressed my own personal beliefs, but admitted the dangers involved in this position. As the New York Times story by Anthony Lewis quoted me, "I think the South suffers when a man like the Governor of Arkansas pillories men like me. I'm seeking a chance for Southern people themselves to do justice to the Negro. We've been obstructed in that because the extremists interpret anything you do as a move for integration. The tragedy is that you can't raise your voice now without having a label

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -9- pinned on you." This label now implies a softness of the race issue that the people feel strongly about. It is fair to say that my opponent's views probably conform more with the views of the people of my district on this issue than do my own. But I have been in situations before where the voters disagreed with me, and when I went to them and explained the reasons for my actions, they continued to support me. One thing that must be kept in mind in considering my election fight was that it was a sneak attack, carefully planned, but only made public 8 days before the voting date. When a man in public office takes a risky position, he must have time to defend himself, and I never was given a chance to present my case to my constituents. When I was faced with a rabid segregationist opponent in my primary, I defeated him with almost 43,000 votes to his 28,000. This should provide ample evidence that my people would tolerate views such as mine if they were given the opportunity to understand them fully. The course I was following was not in conflict with our system of representative government, because a representative need not always agree with the majority of the people at a particular time. As Edmund Burke put it, "your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays you, instead of serving you, if he

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -11- moderate label. While Governor Faubus has said that public education must be sacrificed if necessary to preserve segregation, the moderate view is that we must save our public schools. Our public school system must be preserved because without it, the freedom that flowers from an educated citizenry would perish. James Madison put it succinctly: "Without popular education, popular government will be a farce or a tragedy, perhaps both." The reaction of fair-minded people in the South to the recalcitrance of Alabama election officials is another omen that bears attention. A basic constitutional guarantee is that no one should be denied the right to vote because of race, creed or color, and certainly Negro citizens who meet the qualifications for electors should be enfranchised. The entire membership of the Civil Rights Commission, a distinguished body of three Northerners and three Southerners, was shocked at the unrebutted testimony that there were counties in Alabama where no Negro voted and those who tried were always unsuccessful . We know that there can be no government of and for the people without government by the people. Minority rights should not be lost sight of in the recognition of the principles of the majority rule, and the South's case for free debate in the Senate rests on the same logic. No Southerner can support the position that rule 22 must be upheld or only slightly modified, and then defend white majority control of the election machinery

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -13- situation. Southerners are proud and sensitive people who want to work out their destiny within a minimum of external interference. While we cannot deny a national concern for equal justice in all parts of the country, we can ask for patience and tolerance while we try to work out a solution. Extremists on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line must be silenced. There is hope for the restoration of a climate of rational deliberation, if those who inflame passions are met with determined resistance. The issue of states rights can be resolved by a recognition that both the state governments and the Federal Government should practice what Madison called "reciprocal forbearance." Above all, we must help eliminate the causes of hatred and prejudice. We can believe that we are right and the other fellow is wrong without hating every man we think persists in his error. Not many people really hate, but fear is associated with hate, and it is this spirit of fear that has been ignobly exploited by some politicians. The only antidote for fear is understanding. What can be done to carry forward the work of the moderates? We need to re-establish the bridges of understanding between the races and work within traditional Southern patterns which were once helping close the gap. Interracial meetings must be held at the Federal, state, and local level, so that

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -14- opinion leaders of both races may confront each other and begin planning ways of ending present bitterness and strife. It is only in this manner that laws can be successfully implemented, because the conditions for obedience must first be established. These meetings can be disassociated from the political conflict and give non-political leaders a chance to bring enlightened guidance to their communities' problems. Since every community has different issues to resolve, the greatest responsibility will be in the hands of local businessmen, church leaders, educators, industrialists and other opinion leaders. Theirs is the greatest possibility for finding patterns of accommodation that will make the South the pride and joy of all its inhabitants. For in the last analysis, Jeffersonian local self-determination is the only answer to the South's dilemma.

Speech reflecting on recent Congressional election defeat ; -2- Given the ability of Governor Faubus to inflame passions, I think my contesting would create considerable bitterness and further division in the Little Rock community, when what is needed is a greater spirit of reconciliation. I do think that the validity of the procedures used to gain a majority vote should be determined as a legal question, with the decision made, not in the context of a personal rivalry between Dr. Dale Alford and myself, but as an abstract proposition. I am convinced that most all Americans want clean elections and it is the preservation of that fundamental principle of democracy that is at stake. I would not want my interest to confuse the issue. If the proper authorities can make the necessary judgment of the means employed, the no other holder of public office need fear becoming the victim of this kind of impropriety again. The people are entitled to have an incorruptible election system. Democracy will fail and our liberties will be lost unless the standards of propriety, with reference to the conduct of clean elections are maintained. It is in this way, by exposure of procedural misdeeds, that public confidence in the demagogic tactics of power-hungry men