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Show EDITORIAL Freedom to choose! The freedom of opportunity for every American to work at an available job for which he is qualified is an objective of our way of life. Employment and assignment to jobs should be determined solely by matching an individual's skills and qualifications with the requirements of an available position. The proposed Employment Opportunities Enforcement En-forcement Act designed to eliminate unlawful hiring hir-ing practices would give the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission almost unlimited power, including cease-and-desist orders patterned after those of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). It would necessitate the addition of substantial numbers of lawyers and hearing examiners, together with a large supportive staff, at a time when the Administration is making sincere efforts to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy. Also, the act would combine within one agency the powr to enforce en-force the purposes and policies of the Act, and, at the same time, serve as a decisional agency on questions ques-tions of fact and law. Experience has proved that it is impossible for a single agency to serve both as an advocate and an impartial judge. Broader enforcement authority will not prove an effective remedy. Opposition to the proposed legislation in no way indicates that we are opposed to equal employment opportunities for everyone. We strongly support efforts to assure this objective, but we believe that those who create and sustain jobs should not be subjected to unnecessary harassment. We feel that the courts should review in full any alleged violation viola-tion so as to protect the rights of all parties. Small towns are growing faster in population than the national na-tional average for all communities. Nearly three-fourths of the communities with 2,500 to 25,000 people in 1950 had an overall over-all growth rate of 21 per cent by 1960. Towns with 2,500 to 5,000 people grew an average 18 per cent the national average. |