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Opposed to the bill were several senators, mostly representing the southern states, who were growing increasingly sensitive to the erosion of what they believed were the rights of the individual states to exercise authority expressly reserved to them by the Constitution. Concerns regarding federal encroachment were particularly intense when joined with fears that such legislation would cause an upheaval of the South's racial caste system. South Carolina senator Ellison "Cotton Ed" Smith acted swiftly to organize a filibuster to kill the proposal. Josiah Bailey of North Carolina took the Senate floor to warn his colleagues that "this is a cause worth dying for. It is a battle worth fighting if it takes until Congress begins its next session in January 1936. . . . We'll speak day and night if necessary." Costigan's response was equally swift but still conciliatory: this was not, he proclaimed, a bill aimed specifically at...
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This section contains 342 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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