We believe it would be peculiarly untimely for the Congress to now provide educational grants either for classrooms, teachers salaries, or similar school expenses in West Virginia. This belief is founded on the fact that soon after the 1959 West Virginia Legislature adopted enabling legislation, no less than 19 or one-third of West Virginia's 55 counties moved to avail themselves of the 100 percent excess school levy provisions of the November 4, 1958, constitutional amendment. The voters in these 19 county school districts all of whom will go to the polls prior to the opening of the 1959-60 school year, have at their disposal an aggregate of $7 million in additional funds for current school expense. These 19 counties have 53 percent of the State's elementary and secondary school enrollment and it seems clear that a veritable wave of local enthusiam for adoption of such excess school levies is now sweeping the State. In 3 of the 19 counties where the votes have already occurred, 73 percent of the voters approved the 100 percent excess school levies and 87 percent of the voters recently approved the levy in another county.

The constant promise of Federal aid to local schools during the past decade has naturally caused cautious taxpayers to procrastinate about permanently raising the level of local school support, these citizens justly fearing that a double burden of local as well as Federal school taxes may be imposed.

May we observe in conclusion that it is certainly not the duty of Congress and it should in fact be beyond the power of Congress to aid the schools of a State or a district where the resources are ample as in West Virginia and the people are simply unwilling to help themselves.

Respectfully yours,

H. A. STANSBURY, Managing Director.

Senator RANDOLPH. Mr. Reeder, the position of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce through its managing director Mr. H. A. Stansbury that position having been made known by the communication which has been made a part of the record of today's hearingindicates that the plight of West Virginians is not as bad as people throughout the country have been led to believe, and the exact language is "our exhibitionist West Virginia Congressmen."

That is the quote to which I refer, indicating there is a feeling that the Members of the delegation in the House and Senate from West Virginia have been attempting to draw out of proportion to the problem the presentation of the needs of our State.

First of all, I should like to state for the record that I am privileged to hold a membership in the Elkins, W. Va., Chamber of Commerce. I would have reason to believe that there are fellow members in that fine organization who share my thinking in the matter under discussion.

I should like to say that, rather than be characterized as an exhibitionist, I have sincerely attempted to be a realist. I am sure I speak for my colleagues from West Virginia in saying that, insofar as I know and I believe I know-these representatives from the districts and from the State of West Virginia have been diligent in determining the facts and in attempting to alert not only the people of our own State to our problems and possible solutions but also the citizenry of the United States to some of the basic transition problems which have been created in West Virginia to which you made earlier reference here today.

Of course, Mr. Chairman, I take pride, as does Mr. Reeder, in West Virginia as a State and in its resources, especially its human resources, its men and women, its boys and girls. We are people who are selfreliant and we are of hardy stock. We do attempt to help ourselves. But we are caught today in certain circumstances which are not wholly of our own making. Very frankly, the most ingenious individual would not be able to solve these problems in himself.

So I am not unduly upset with the allegation that I have read, that the West Virginia Members of the Congress are exhibitionists.

But I inquire, Mr. Reeder, would you believe that the people of our State feel that our actions were "exhibitionism" in attempting to receive aid for West Virginia and the Nation, such as the passage of the area redevelopment bill, the imposition of mandatory controls on the importation of residual oil which is interfering adversely with our coal tonnage production, and in our advocacy of the youth conservation corps to improve the youth of our State and add wealth to our forests and fields? All of these programs apparently characterize us, because we advocate them, as exhibitionists.

I do not wish to lead you into any protracted discussion, but you might desire to make comment on this.

Mr. REEDER. The comment that I would make in regard to that, Senator Randolph, is that, in the first place, it is a typical Stansburian

statement.

We ourselves have received many like statements directed against us personally and against the organization which I am privileged to represent.

Unfortunately, our State chamber of commerce does not look forward with a great deal of progressivism. It is primarily an "anti” body. For example, when we speak in terms of aid to schools, the State chamber of commerce is just as "anti" on State expenditures for education as it is concerning any Federal support of education. Senator RANDOLPH. What was the record in the recent legislature on this matter?

Mr. REEDER. Not only was it opposed but it publicly came out and asked that State aid be reduced $10 million for the public schools of the State.

So I think that fact within itself speaks as to the chamber of commerce attitude, the outlook, and so forth.

On behalf of the 17,000 teachers in my State, I would want to attest before this committee that there were five of us representing the State department of education, the Superintendents Association, the West Virginia Education Association itself who earlier this winter came to Washington for the purpose of sitting down with our two U.S. Senators, Senator Randolph and Senator Byrd, and our entire congressional delegation for the purpose of laying before them the problems facing education at both the State and the Federal level.

We were more than amazed and pleased that these busy men and women gave not just an hour of time to us but gave the entire day, you might say, for a hearing and a discussion of these problems.

I certainly can attest that there was no exhibitionism insofar as their response to us was concerned.

As for your moving forward to secure aid for my State at the present moment, because of the technological revolution in the coal industry and because of those worldwide conditions which you have mentioned, our coalfields are in a most serious plight, and we do need a very careful look at it from the Federal Government level as to what can be done to rectify and bring about a remedy for those conditions which prevail.

I want to pay tribute, sir, to the Senators and the Congressmen from my State.

Senator RANDOLPH. You would say then, Mr. Reeder-and I shall leave the subject after this question-our attempt to channel additional quantities of needed surplus commodities into West Virginia would certainly not be classified as exhibitionism in nature? You know the suffering of our people.

Mr. REEDER. I know the suffering. I certainly do.

Senator RANDOLPH. You know the hunger among our people.

Mr. REEDER. I know it, as you well know. The schools and the teachers themselves make personal contributions in the way of clothing and foodstuffs for the children in those areas. And certainly there is a need for Federal assistance in that regard.

Senator RANDOLPH. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Stansbury, on behalf of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Chairman, has made an observation in the letter which I placed in the record of these hearings today:

*** It is certainly not the duty of Congress and it should in fact be beyond the power of Congress to aid the schools of a State or a district where the resources are ample as in West Virginia and the people are simply unwilling to help themselves.

Mr. Reeder, would you comment on this?

Mr. REEDER. I would like to comment upon that statement, sir. We, for example, in the West Virginia Legislature that adjourned on March 15, went before that body with the purpose of increasing the aid to our schools. The question of a special tax was very much in the picture. The question of a personal and corporate income tax was also very much in the picture. But these same forces as are represented by Mr. Stansbury, in public hearings and behind the scenes, opposed any additional revenue to the bitter end, and were successful within the State Senate, as always, in killing that kind of legislation. So they have a record of opposition to those things progressive, Senator RANDOLPH. Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to be present this morning, I will say again that Mr. Reeder has brought enlightened testimony to this subcommittee on this vital subject. I was also gratified by the further opportunity afforded to place in this record the letter addressed to Senator Murray, chairman of the Subcommittee on Education, which set forth the opposition of the managing director of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce to the pending proposals, including Senate bill 2, of which I am a cosponsor.

We have a motto in West Virginia: "Montani semper liberi”"Mountaineers always free." So, if the record indicates that we have differences of opinion, as the colloquy shows, let us act with conviction. When I meet Mr. Stansbury during the national convention here of the chamber of commerce bodies, we'll no doubt continue to talk over mutual problems-and in a friendly manner.

Mr. REEDER. That is right.

Thank you, sir.

Senator YARBOROUGH. I can personally testify that there is not a harder working delegation of Senators from any State than the West Virginia delegation of Senators Randolph and Byrd, and there is certainly no exhibitionism in that delegation. Quite the contrary, it is a very hard working, serious delegation.

Mr. Reeder, I have one other question I want to ask you before you are excused.

In the study that you have made and the investigations that your group has made in West Virginia of sources of wealth and distribution of wealth and means of taxation, types of reporting of the distribution of real wealth in the United States, have you come to any conclusions as to why chambers of commerce oppose the education of the youth of America?

I notice the West Virginia chamber is opposed not only to any Federal assistance but wants to reduce the quantity of money spent on education in West Virginia.

Mr. REEDER. It seems that certain business leaders, at least the management of business organizations, take the position that education is a local responsibility.

Of course, I have been somewhat amused. I am a member of the chamber of commerce, a member of the education committee of our State chamber of commerce. I receive the literature of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. chamber takes the position very largely that it is the function and role of the States. Then when we get down to the State level it is the position of the State chambers that it is the role and function of the locality. It seems to be a kind of buckpassing attitude.

In giving due credit to the business people of the United States— and certainly they should have just and due credit-I think it goes back to my basic premise that we have need for economic literacy among the adult population of the United States.

I believe that there has not been sufficient study of this basic wealth problem as it relates to the modern day and time. I believe that if business leaders would take the time to sit down in conferences where we could analyze that problem there might be a difference in attitude in some.

Senator YARBOROUGH. Thank you, Mr. Reeder, very much for your testimony.

We have another witness this morning. The next witness is Mrs. Paul Blanshard, executive secretary of the Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice.

Mrs. Blanshard.

STATEMENT OF MRS. PAUL BLANSHARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITARIAN FELLOWSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Mrs. BLANSHARD. Senator Yarborough, I was very much interested in having Senator Randolph refer to the memorial that is being considered for Senator Morrill of many years ago in Vermont. I live just a stone's throw in Vermont from Senator Morrill's old home, and I think the day may come when there will be memorials in Texas and in West Virginia to those of you who are supporting so staunchly the Federal aid to education today.

Senator YARBOROUGH. Mrs. Blanshard, I might say this: I have no illusions about such memorials. I do not see memorials being built for people who supported education in the history of this country. Mrs. BLANSHARD. There are always pioneers, you know.

My statement is short, and I will not trespass too much on your time, Senator.

My name is Mrs. Paul Blanshard. I am the executive director of the Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice. Our organization is the legislative and social action arm of Unitarians. It is nationwide and includes 60 chapters from Boston to Hawaii, from Detroit to Georgia.

The president is J. Ray Shute, former mayor of Monroe, N. C. The members of the legislative committee are Mrs. A. Powell Davies, Kenneth Birkhead, Mrs. Percival Brundage, Mrs. Paul Douglas, Ted F. Silvey, Mrs. Charles Tobey, Ross A. Weston, David C. Williams, Mrs. Richard L. Neuberger, and Ernest H. Sommerfeld.

I wish to record the support of the Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice for the Murray-Metcalf bill, S. 2. The experts have appeared before you giving facts and figures of the desperate need for more classrooms and more teachers. We underscore their facts and steadfastly support their arguments.

We believe, however, that as Unitarians we have something new to add to the testimony which has been heard. Unitarians not only support Federal aid to education; we are ready to pay for it. But we support aid for tax-supported public schools only.

I wish to insert in the record two resolutions of the American Unitarian Association as passed at its annual meetings.

The first was adopted unanimously in 1956 at the 131st annual meeting of the American Unitarian Association in Boston:

Whereas our present prosperity may depend upon a uniformly well-educated producing and consuming public for its continuation, and our national survival may depend upon adequate numbers of engineers and scientists and those trained in the humanities: Therefore, be it

Resolved, That Unitarians be urged to devote their energies in the community, State, and Nation to securing sharply increased allocations of funds for the support of public schools, by all levels of Government, even though it may result in substantially increased taxes.

The second was passed at the 133d annual meeting in 1958. It deals with the very proper concern of Unitarians for the loyal maintenance of the separation of church and state in our public schools:

Whereas the principle of the separation of church and state is one of the foundations not only of religious freedom, but also of political democracy; and Whereas violations of the principle endanger not only the freedom of religious minorities, but, in the end, the freedom of all; and

Whereas there have been increasing violations of this freedom on the local, State, and National levels, including legislation granting the use of public funds for parochial schoolbus transportation, development of released-time programs for religious training during public school time, pressure for medical care, purchase of textbooks for private-school children from public funds, and public subsidies in the form of price concessions for the sale of public lands to institutions operated by religious bodies: Therefore be it

Resolved, That the delegates to the 133d Annual Meeting of the American Unitarian Association, assembled in Boston on May 27, 1958, declare their firm and unequivocal support for the principle of separation of church and state and urge the Adult Programs Department of the Council of Liberal Churches, to which the American Unitarian Association belongs, to develop an educational program for churches and fellowships on this problem with suggestions for local action; further, to work with organizations committed to the principle of separation of church and state with a view to develop a joint initiative; and be it further

Resolved, That telegrams be sent to the President and leaders of both major parties in the Congress, declaring our concern at the growing threats to this basic constitutional freedom.

Thank you very much, Senator Yarborough.