Three bills aimed at outlawing discrimination because of race, color, creed or religion were supported in principle by Jewish organizations today before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. David A. Morse, representing the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith and the Jewish Labor Committee, read a statement to the committee in connection with the Holley-Read, Breitbart and Goldberg bills.
The Holley-Read bill would declare void, as against public policy, any contract providing for discrimination against any person because of race, color or creed. The Goldberg bill is aimed against discrimination in public housing, civil service, etc. because of race, color or creed. The Breitbart bill is aimed against such discrimination in public utilities. Governor Lehman, in his message at the opening of the legislative session, favored passage of such bills.
“There can be no doubt that the discriminatory practices at which these bills are directed exist and since they are contrary to the spirit and the letter of the Constitution should be corrected,” Mr. Morse said. “We therefore state that we strongly favor the under- lying principles and in large part the substance of these bills and urge the passage of legislation embodying these principles. We state our position in this manner because we recognize that in detail the bills may require revision and reformulation in order to make them completely effective and to conform them more strictly to the problem.”
Last night the Senate, by a vote of 27 to 20, passed and sent to the Assembly the McNaboe bill to bar Communists from the State’s civil service and teaching system. An identical measure was vetoed by Governor Lehman last year on the ground it violated constitutional rights. Replying to criticism by Senator Lazarus Joseph during debate, Senator John McNaboe said he would soon introduce another measure that “will take care of these Nazis and Fascists.” Senator Joseph had declared that the present bill, by covering only Communists, would by implication approve the activities of Nazis and Fascists.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
