The News and Observer
Vol. CC, No. 153
Raleigh, N. C. Wednesday Morning, June 2, 1965
Moore Urges Legislators to Leave Gag Law Alone
By LAURIE HOLDER JR.
Governor Moore recommended Tuesday that the 1965 General Assembly leave the controversial Speaker Ban Law alone.
He proposed that the legislature authorize a study commission to examine the law instead of attempting to amend or repeal it at this session .
The commission would start work after July 1 and report back to the Governor after taking "such time in its deliberations as is necessary to find the facts."
The Governor's statement, presented in a cautious press
release, is expected to end a movement led by Sen. Jennings King of Scotland to amend the law and return authority over campus speakers to Consolidated University and college trustees.
The law bars Communists and Fifth Amendment pleaders from speaking on the campuses of State-supported colleges and universities.
Moore said he decided to propose the study commission after talking to Lt. Gov. Robert Scott, House Speaker Pat Taylor, Senate President Pro Tem Robert Morgan and appropriations co-chairmen Sen. Tom White of Lenoir and
Rep. A. A. Zollicoffer of Vance.
"It is our considered opinion that the present General Assembly would not be receptive on the basis of information now available to any move to repeal this law or to substantially amend it," the Governor stated.
"Therefore, we do not believe it would be in the best interests of higher education for the General Assembly to consider repeal or amendment of the law at this time."
Approval of the study commission by legislators would mean that the gag law would be left untouched until it is
taken up by a subsequent legislature, or in a special session.
The Governor said he is concerned "with anything which threatens the future of higher education in North Carolina" but added that the State "cannot forget that our nation is at war with worldwide communism."
"The Speaker Ban Law has become a symbol of resistance to communism in North Carolina," he added.
"My primary goal in this growing controversy is to preserve, protect and strengthen the excellent system of high-
er education which North Carolina has developed down through the years," the Governor said.
"In talking with members of the General Assembly about this issue, I have found the same concern and the same desire to do what is best for the University and our colleges and for the people of North Carolina. Yet it is obvious that there is no simple solution to this problem."
He continued: ". . . North Carolinians are dying in the jungles of Viet Nam and elsewhere in this great conflict (with communism). . . . Their sacrifices have stiffened our
resolve to oppose the spread of communism, whether it comes by force of arms or by infiltration in our society.
"I think we can all appreciate the desire of an educational institution to be free in the pursuit of truth. On the other hand, there should be tolerance for those who have lost sons or husbands in the bloody conflict with communism. For, those who have died, the debate has ended."
Agitation over the Speaker Ban Law hit a new peak a few weeks ago when the Governor was informed the law poses a threat to accredita-
tion of Tar Heel Institutions of higher learning by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Last week the University board of trustees adopted a resolution urging the legislature to amend the law and return responsibility for regulating campus speakers to the trustees.
Governor Moore said he has received "hundreds of letters and other communications from people in all walks of life" since the accreditation issue was raised.
The study commission proposed by the Governor would
consist of nine members�five appointed by the Governor, two by Lt. Gov. Scott and two by Speaker Taylor.
The Governor proposed that the commission be named by July 1 "and begin its task in an orderly, calm, judicial approach to this controversial situation..."
He said it would be the commission's task to bring together "all information possible concerning the effects of this law on our institutions of possible loss of accreditation, higher education, including faculty, federal and private funds, and related matters."