CITY SEEKS RULING ON PLAN TO START WHITE BUS SYSTEM

Reports of an all-white transportation system became official here yesterday as the Montgomery City Commission petitioned U.S. District Court to learn if a "club" bus line can operate legally.

City attorneys filed the petition asking U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. if the city can legally issue a franchise to a "private" bus system in the face of the Supreme Court's ban on racial bus segregation here.

The action yesterday followed the filing of a memorandum on the proposed bus system and articles of incorporation with the Montgomery City Clerk late Thursday.

'REBEL CLUB'

Incorporated as "The Rebel Club," the group asked for a franchise from the city to operate a non-profit bus line for transportation of members only.

No mention of race was made in the memorandum to City Commission, but informed sources said membership would be confined to whites only. Names of some Negroes might be associated with the project on the understanding they would not ride the buses.

The city's petitions for instruction, signed by the Montgomery Board of Commissioners, asked Judge Johnson for an advisory opinion on three legal points:

1. Can the city hold a hearing on the application for a franchise by The Rebel Club.

2. Can the City Commission, provided the bus system is needed, legally issue such a franchise?

3. Will the City Commission have to enforce racial integration on the buses if the proposal becomes a reality?

Judge Johnson and Judge Richard T. Rives of the U.S. District Court of Appeals entered a formal order which said no action on the request will be taken for at least three weeks.

The memorandum filed with the City Commission and included in the city petition to the federal court said, "This non-profit club does not propose to offer public transportation in the city of Montgomery . . . Its patrons shall be restricted to the membership of the corporation and no person shall be permitted transportation who is not a member in good standing."

Members of the club, the memorandum continued, would have to be approved by the board of directors.

The club proposes to operate five routes at the outset and already has "tentative" arrangements to purchase 10 buses to start the service.

It would begin operation with a minimum capitalization of $25,000 raised partly through donations, partly through loans and the rest from membership fees.

During the long Negro bus boycott that preceded the end of segregation, Negro leaders asked the City Commission for authority to operate their own bus company but were turned down on grounds that the present bus service was adequate and there was no need for an additional bus line.

Should members of the City Commission be found in violation of the federal injunction ending racial segregation of buses here, they are individually liable for a sentence of a year and a day in prison and a fine of $10,000.

The articles of incorporation name Hugh Hollon, sales manager of Motion Picture Advertising, president; W. P. Sanders, manager of the Nolin Restaurant Supply Co., first vice president; Frank Rowley, of Phillips 66 Oil Co. and Cloverdale Drug Store, second vice president; W. B. Wyatt, Wyatt Supply Co. and Wyatt Lumber Co., secretary; and Simeon McNeill, teller at the First National Bank, treasurer. (Occupations are those listed in the Montgomery City Directory.)

These five Montgomery were named with J. Jack Ingram, also of this city, to the group's board of directors.

The Rebel Club promised the City Commission that it would use vehicles in good mechanical condition, employ qualified drivers and provide a blanket insurance policy with a $300,000 minimum coverage.

The group proposed to charge each member $1 for a membership fee and 15 cents for each ride.

A non-profit organization, the group said its officers will not receive salary or other compensation for their efforts.

The 10 vehicles with which The Rebel Club proposed to begin its service are "mechanically sound but in used condition" and purchased by the club for about $1,000 each, the group said.

"Adequate garage and parking facilities will be furnished on a temporary basis by one of the incorporators. Permanent facilities are being sought," the memorandum said.