Schlesinger Attacks Nullification Theory

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. '38, professor of History, said yesterday that a statement by Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia spoke "sadly for the decay of constitutional knowledge in our day.

Byrd said on Feb. 25, "In interposition (nullification) the South has a perfectly legal means of appeal from the Supreme Court's order." Schlesinger retaliated in a letter to the New York Times, saying that "when South Carolina tried to carry interposition into effect in 1832 it was unable to gain the support of another state."

"It seems singular that a United States Senator, ignoring the whole constitutional history of our nation, can still insist, in 1956, that nullification is 'perfectly legal!'" he said.