"An Historic Step"

The State of New York, long used to pacing the Union in matters of social legislation, this week struck out on what may prove its most ambitious stride. The legislature passed and Governor Dewey signed a bill to outlaw employment discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin.

The new law, providing for a permanent five-man commission to decide cases of individuals who claim to have been unjustly discharged or denied jobs, was enthusiastically backed by the state's churchmen, the C.I.O., A.F. of L. and a host of other organizations. Said Governor Dewey: "Passage of the bill ... is an historic step. I am happy indeed that our state has led the nation. . . ."

But the bill did not go unopposed. The powerful Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, which has an anti-Negro clause in its constitution, fought hard from an extremely awkward position. So did the State Chamber of Commerce and the State Bar Association. They and other opponents wondered how it was possible to legislate against the human feelings that bring discrimination about. Some employers went so far as to prophesy that New York's industries would move out and leave it a ghost state.

If industries did go so far as to move out of New York, they were likely to find fewer & fewer frankly discriminatory states to move into. Anti-discrimination measures like the New York law are under consideration in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and California.

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