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~L Administration’s awareness of yor ine Admunistrauon to identity itself with a diluted bill even gis before this Birmingham atrocity. It seems inconceivable now. ‘the. Surely all the dimensions of the behind-the-scénes ‘struggle have. git. ® been altered by these shattering blows to the whole dottrine “ i@ of non-violence, and to the face of America. é Regardless of what: happens today or tomorrow In’ Birming-” ham, the battle of Washington has been decisively altered, The Justice Dept.'s decision to send such top civil rights 3 trouble-shooters as Burke’ Marshall tq the scene reflecis the human horror of these killings ¥™ aid the FBI was being -Vcalled-in” at once, but someoye must jhave quickly recognized the inadequacy. of that. 4 ~ : * *: 0 The .real question, as one ponders the latest uniques from Birmingham, is not whether the Administration can any wlonger contemplate some tidy compromise on’ civil rights legis- Jation supplemented by isolated. acts of, intervention. It is. to the t whether even its effective advocacy of a strong dill will be the Ind sufficient to sustaln the authority of the Negro leaders who have’ jumpin; bravely clung to the course of non-violence in the face of so lt’ much. brutal provocation, - of fry: The Kennedy Administration, in. its first (hase, underesti- mated the passion and meaning of the equal rights’ revolution. ¢ Mr. Kennedy. has confessed that his own sense of timing changed when the dogs were unleashed in Birm'ngham; up till that mo- ment he had obviously hoped to avoid any Congressional battle, This slaughter of children in Birmingham {s far more mon- strous than anything that happened before. It renders adacemic any argument as to whether the Administration can avold a major confrontation on Capitol Hill in the coming civil rights . test. Once again events have dictated that the President rise to‘): wet Au: ‘an occasion not because any clause of any bill r1ight have saved 19 41, *3s@. these children, but because there can no longer be any ambiguity i nOeyy8 Ss about where the Federal government stands. . fu Xqt 13a In the context of this Birmingham tragedy some of ‘the ®P!searAst detailed arguments over specific provisions of the “public accom- modatious” bill become as vulgar as they are irrelevant. Shall we seriously quibble over whether these slain little girls should have been permitted to enter public swimming pools? * * * It was Harry Traman’s misfortune, on the eve of this disaster, to deliver an oration proclaiming that “if the Northern busy- bodies stay at home and clean up their.own backyards, the rest of the country will obey its laws” and to berate “these young- sters who are running around the country trying to institute mob~ 8" rule.” J trust Mr. Truman hates himself this morning. But Co there are many others whose insensitivity to the-depth of this ‘ conflict appears equally conspicious as funeral services are pre- is < pared for these children of Birmingham. anc The calamity has happened. It is ifretrievable and unfor- gettable. In the face of these murders, only the President can pla speak for the country's conscience—and not merely by words sn¢ of genviné laments but:by full, dedicated comm'tment in’ a legis. Jative as well as moral sense. His. 1863 is her wtd‘now. * 7