Governor COLEMAN. I testified fully on that when I was here in 1957, and you could get the full details on that. For brevity's sake, by referring to the record of your hearing in 1957.

Mr. SLAYMAN. May we get a copy of the authorizing statute? I thought we had it but we didn't have it in the record.

Governor COLEMAN. I sent it for inclusion in the record and it is my recollection that it went in.

Mr. SLAYMAN. All right. If it did, we will just refer back to it.
Governor COLEMAN. Thank you.

(The statute referred to is as follows:)

GENERAL LAWS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

CHAPTER 365

House Bill No. 880

AN ACT creating the State Sovereignty Commission, prescribing the membership thereof, the methods by which they are to be selected and their terms of service, describing its authority, duties and powers; and for related purposes.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi:

Section 1. There is hereby created the State Sovereignty Commission, which shall be composed of the following members: The Governor, the Attorney General, the President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be ex officio members; three (3) citizens who shall be appointed by the Governor, one from each Supreme Court District; two (2) members of the State Senate who shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and three (3) members from the House of Representatives who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Governor, Attorney General, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives shall serve from and after the date of passage of this act during the remainder of their terms of office, as such ex officio members; the members of the State Senate and the House of Representatives shall serve from and after the date of their appointment until the expiration of their present terms of office, and the three (3) members appointed by the Governor shall serve during his term of office and their successors shall be appointed in a like manner and serve for a like period. The membership of the State Sovereignty Commission shall be successively composed from term to term in the manner set forth above, and the membership and their successors are clothed with full power and authority conferred upon them by this act, together with any and all other powers necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act.

Section 2. Each member of the commission, other than the Governor and the Attorney General, shall receive a per diem of twenty dollars ($20.00) for each day of service rendered in attending meetings or otherwise in the discharge of his duties hereunder, and payment of hotel, meals, and traveling expenses while away from his home for any of the purposes herein. If the member should use his own automobile in travel on business of the commission, he shall be paid six cents (6) per mile for each mile traveled.

All expenditures by or for the commission, out of funds appropriated by the state, shall be paid by the state treasurer upon warrants issued by the auditor of public accounts, which warrants shall be issued upon requisition signed by the chairman of this commission. All funds received from other sources shall be kept and accounted for and expended in such manner as may be determined by the commission. Full and complete accounting shall be kept and made by the commission for all funds received and expended by it. Representatives of the office of the State Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually audit the expenditures of all funds received by the commission from all sources; and the said auditor of public accounts shall make a complete and detailed report of such audits to the legislature.

Section 3. The Governor shall be chairman of the commission, and the President of the Senate the vice-chairman, with authority to act in the absence of the chairman. The commission may employ a secretary who shall keep a record of the proceedings of the commission and its receipts and disbursements. Section 4. Vacancies occurring during any term shall be filled by the successor in office to the Governor, Attorney General, President of the Senate or Speaker

of the House of Representatives, each respectively, and other vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker, each respectively, as the case may be.

Section 5. It shall be the duty of the commission to do and perform any and all acts and things deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the State of Mississippi, and her sister states, from encroachment thereon by the Federal Government or any branch, department or agency thereof; and to resist the usurpation of the rights and powers reserved to this state and our sister states by the Federal Government or any branch, department or agency thereof.

Section 6. The commission may co-operate with one or more of the states of the Union, or any agency or agencies, commission or commissions thereof, or with any person or persons, corporation or corporations, organization or organizations, and may join with them or any of them, and pool such of the funds and resources of this commission in carrying out the objectives and purposes of this act as may be deemed necessary and proper by the commission. Section 7. It shall be the duty of such commission to keep full and complete minutes and records of all its proceedings and actions, which said minutes and records shall be open to the inspection of any member of the legislature at any reasonable time during the regular hours of a business day.

Section 8. The said commission is hereby fully authorized and empowered to subpoena and examine witnesses, to require the appearance of any persons and the production of any books, records, papers or documents as evidence, and to order the attendance of any witness or the production of any books, records, papers and documents and, in such cases, the commission shall have the porer to issue all necessary process which shall be signed by the chairman, vice-chairman, or secretary of said commission, and shall be directed to the sheriff of any county or to the bailiff or process server of said commission, or the deputy of either. When any such process has been served, obedience thereto may be enforced by the attachment of the persons, papers and records subpoenaed, and if any person should willfully refuse to appear before such commission or to produce any paper or record in obedience to any process issued and served, then the commission shall have authority to enforce obedience thereto by fine or imprisonment in the discretion of the commission.

Section 9. The chairman, vice-chairman, or secretary of the commission is hereby authorized and empowered to administer oaths to witnesses, and any witness appearing and testifying before said commission who shall willfully and corruptly testify falsely to any material fact shall be guilty of perjury and shall be subject to prosecution and punishment therefor as provided by law; and if such perjury be manifest, or if the witness shall refuse to testify or produce any books, records, papers or documents, he shall be guilty of contempt of the commission and shall be punished accordingly.

Section 10. The commission shall have the power and authority to apply to the chancery court of the first judicial district of Hinds County for aid and for the issuance of the proper process to enforce obedience to any process issued by said commission.

Section 11. Any person sworn and examined as a witness before said commission without procurement or contrivance on his part shall not be held to answer criminally or be subject to any penalty or forfeiture for any fact or act touching which he is required to testify; nor shall any statement made or book, paper or document produced by any such witness be competent evidence in any criminal proceeding against such witness other than for perjury in delivering his evidence. Should any witness refuse to testify to any fact or refuse to produce any book, document or paper touching which he is to be examined, on the ground that he will thereby incriminate himself, or that it will tend to discredit or render him infamous, the commission shall consider such refusal as a part of the evidence and shall inform the public of the refusal of such witness to so testify, and the facts and circumstances under which such refusal was made.

Section 12. The members of the commission and the duly authorized employees: and representatives of the commission shall have the power and authority to examine, during the usual business hours of the day, all records, books, documents and other papers touching upon or concerning the matters and things about

which the commission is authorized to conduct an investigation, and the commission shall have the power and authority to require all persons, firms and corporations having such books, records, documents and other papers in their possession or under their control to produce same within this state at such time and place as the commission may designate, and to permit an inspection and examination thereof by the members of said commission or its authorized representatives and employees. The authority of the commission and its employees to examine such books, records, and papers shall extend to all such books, records, and papers which are required by law to be kept or which are necessary or helpful in conducting investigations. If any person, firm or corporation shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section, then such person, firm or corporation shall be guilty of a misdeamenor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Section 13. The commission may employ such legal, professional, expert, secretarial, clerical and other help deemed necessary and proper to carry out the objectives and purposes of this act, and is hereby authorized and empowered to fix the compensation of such employees at any reasonable amount, in its discretion, and in addition, to reimburse such employees for expenses incurred in traveling on the business of the commission. The commission may also pay witness fees and mileage to witnesses at the rates now allowed witnesses by law in the circuit court. A full, complete and itemized record shall be kept of all such expenditures. The commission may expend such of its funds deemed necessary for advertisement in any manner or form deemed necessary, and to employ speakers and other persons and agencies wherever deemed necessary and proper to assist this commission in carrying out the objectives and purposes hereof.

Section 14. The commission is authorized and empowered to receive and expend any funds appropriated to it by the legislature of this state, and/or received by it from any other sources, in carrying out the objectives and purposes of this act.

Section 15. The commission is hereby authorized and empowered to receive contributions, donations and gifts of money and/or property from any state, department, agency, commission, or subdivision thereof, and from any person, corporation. or organization, to be expended by it in carrying out the objectives and purposes hereof.

Section 16. The commission is hereby endowed with full power and authority to do and perform any and all acts and things deemed necessary and proper to carry out the objectives and purposes of this act.

Section 17. All elective and appointive officers and employees of all state, district, county and municipal offices or political subdivisions thereof, the University of Mississippi and other institutions of higher learning shall co-operate with the commission and render such aid and assistance as may be requested of them by the commission.

Section 18. If any section, paragraph, sentence, or clause of this act shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, the same shall not effect any other part, portion or provision of this act, but such other part shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 19. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved March 29, 1956.

STATEMENT OF HON. DALE ALFORD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS

Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Chairman, inasmuch as I have to return to the floor of the House as soon as possible, I would like to make my remarks brief and state my position at the outset in opposition to the civil rights measures that are proposed.

Senator ERVIN. We are glad to have you present.
Mr. ALFORD. Thank you, Senator.

I shall open my remarks with excerpts from an editorial entitled, "The Plight of Our Constitutional System of Government," which appeared in the Pioche, Nev., Record of January 1, 1959:

The Constitution of the United States has achieved world recognition for having established individual personal freedom and opportunity to an extent never before even approached in the history of governments. There is now a sudden realization that there has come about a change. The change is not the result of laws drafted by representatives of the people, as authorized by the Constitution. In certain instances, Congress has delegated its duties, without the constitutional right to do so, to specially selected bodies of men who are not responsible to, and not expressive of the will or wishes of the people. Another case is where the Supreme Court steps out of its authorized field and asserts governmental powers to back up invalid orders which are nothing more than the opinions of men without authority. The United States as a whole faces such a state of affairs in various large sections of the Nation that we are brought to a realization of a far-reaching fact. The fact is that the Revolutionary War whereunder the Colonies gained their independence, was fought to remedy what had become an unbearable evil, but more important than that, to establish the remedy as a matter of principle that the right to govern rests uopn the consent of the governed. We now wake up to the fact that there has been a growing encroachment upon all freedom of action by the individual citizen in all sections of the country. On a studied reflection, this sad and widespread state of affairs springs out of the administration of bureaucratically made and enforced laws, all of which are in violation of the spirit and intent and definite wording of the Constitution.

And Mr. Chairman, this committee is now confronted with so-called civil rights bills which, if any were enacted into law, would be in fact a violation of the spirit and intent and definite wording of the Constitution. I respectfully wish to submit to this committee my opinion as an American citizen, which I sincerely believe represents the opinion of the majority of the people of this country, not just one section of this country. And that we as Members of Congress are concerned, or should be concerned with the opinions of the majority of the people of this country and not the opinions of other countries. This should be above political expediency. Any so-called civil rights measure enacted by this Congress over the laws of the respective States is an absolute violation of States rights. The law of the land is the Constitution of the United States which derives its authority from the several States.

Proposed civil rights measures violate the ninth amendment, which I quote as follows:

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

These measures would violate the 10th amendment which states that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States respectively are reserved to the States respectively or to the people." I testified briefly before the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee that any so-called civil rights measures can be likened to a sword with two edges for where in one instance one edge serves as a specific purpose, the opposite edge can be turned against its present wielder.

In our beloved country the people are sovereign and make no mistake about it, the people of this country, the majority if you please, are concerned about their American freedoms and will win this fight, and this crusade to preserve their individual liberties as guaranteed them under the Constitution. The opinions of members of the Supreme Court do not make the law of the land. The Constitution is

the law of the land. Members of Congress are representatives of the people and it is my duty to uphold and maintain the opinion of the majority of the people of my State. The Constitution, I reflectively submit, is not plastic. It cannot be molded or twisted to suit the political designs of a few. The Supreme Court decision is not the law of the land, even though in a case the Court may soundly define the meaning of particular words of the Constitution. It is the Constitution which remains the supreme law of the land, while the Court's decisions and orders in a case control only the parties to that case. The Court has no power to make general rules binding upon the people, and governments of the States, nor to amend the Constitution.

The Supreme Court's decisions and orders are in conflict with the Constitution and do not even exist in the eyes of the Constitution. They are null and void, and they must be treated accordingly by all who are loyal to the Constitution, to the Republic which depends for existence on a stable Constitution and to the people's inalienable rights. The same is true regarding anti-Constitution acts, orders, and pronouncements of other officials, notably Federal judges on lower courts, and the President and his subordinates, as well as acts of Congress.

The great moral issue today, therefore, is not necessarily segregation versus integration in schools. It is instead the issue of the sovereign people and their Constitution versus defaulting public trustees as oath-breaking usurpers. In other words, shall the people in their State governments defend their constitutional rights or bow down before an anti-Constitution elite enforcing rule by man. Shall we have limited government and rule by law under the Constitution, or usurpers supreme with unlimited power? Shall the Republic endure or shall we allow its destruction by the weapon customarily used to this end, usurpation.

I ask, Mr. Chairman, that I may revise my remarks in the record and leave a record with the clerk of the committee, for I must go to the floor of the House of Representatives.

Senator ERVIN. That will be fine. I know you are very distinguished in the field of medicine. I would say that your statement constitutes very strong evidence that you are a mighty good constitutional lawyer.

Mr. ALFORD. Thank you, sir. I appreciate the remarks of the distinguished Senator.

Senator ERVIN. I appreciate very much your taking the time and trouble to come before this committee and to give us the benefit of your views.

(The full prepared statement of Mr. Alford is as follows:)

STATEMENT OF DALE ALFORD, MEMBER OF CONGRESS, BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, MAY 28, 1959

Mr. Chairman, I shall open my remarks with excerpts from an editorial, "The Plight of Our Constitutional System of Government," in the Pioche, Nev., Record, January 1, 1959:

The Constitution of the United States has achieved world recognition for having established individual personal freedom and opportunity to an extent never before even approached in the history of governments. There is now a sudden realization that there has come about a change.