Montgomery County sentinel., 1942-07-23
County Congress To Fight
Charter Referendum MOUe
Pamphlets Outlining Organizations Stand To
Be Distributed Among Voters; Speakers Brand
Proposal AS Impractical Theory And Effort
To Kill TwO-Party System

Efforts to place on this years
ballot a referendum on the ques-
ton of adopting a charter form of
government for Montgomery Coun-
ty will be fought by the more than
1000 members of the County Con-
gress of the United Democratic
Congress.
At meeting in the gymnasium
of the old Rockville high school on
Tuesday night, the Congress went
on record in opposition to voting
on the charter proposal during the
present emergency and laid plans
designed 10 keep the issue out of
the November elections.
After lengthy discussion of the
charter proposal, which is being
sponsored by a county committee
headed by Allen H. Gardner of
Silver Spring, the Congress voted
to authorize the distribution of
10000 pamphlets describing it's
stand on the measure to the voters
of the county. This step was pro-
posed by James B. Fitzgerald of
Chevy Chase, who read the con-
tents of the pamphlet to the Con-
gress delegates and urged that it
be placed in the hands of county
voters before they are asked to
sign the referendum petition being
circulated by the charter group.
Twenty per cent of all the regist-
cred voters of the county-about
5000 persons-must sign the petit
tion if the charter proposal is to be
placed on the ballot.
The Congress also authorized a
committee headed by ]. Bond
Smith of Takoma Park and Joseph
A. Cantrel of Chevy Chase to rep
resent the United Democratic
Organization in opposing the
charter movement in the future.
Mr.. Smith opened Tuesday
nights discussion with sweeping
denunciation of "the impractical
theories recommended in the
Brookings Institute survey of the
Montgomery County government,
which was submitted over a year
ago. Mr.. Smith recalled that the
charter plan was "born" in the re-
port of this survey, later to be
adopted by certain civic organiza-
tions and, finally, by the present
charter committee. None of these
sponsors, he declared, had accused
the present county administration
of corruption, mismanagement or
any other faults that would justify
such a complete change in the
form of government as outlined in
the charter proposal.
Roger ]. Whiteford of Chevy
Chase, who termed the charter
movement "a deliberate attempt to
eliminate the two-party system in
the county, deplored the fact that
the proposal was being forced upon
the voters at time when so many
Montgomery Countians were serv-
ing in the armed forces of the
United States to uphold the demo-
cratic way of life."
Other speakers of the evening,
all of whom opposed the move
ment, included States Attorney
Ben G. Wilkinson, Miss Vivian
Simpson and James d. King, presi-
dent of the Montgomery County
Farm Bureau. The following reso-
luton, offered by Judge Carey E.
Quinn of the Orphans Court, was
adopted by the Congress:
"For the reasons stated by the
speakers appearing before the
County Congress here tonight in
opposition to the proposal that the
present form of the Montgomery
County government be changed to
something called charter and
"For the reasons set forth in the
statement read to this Congress
tonight by James B. Fitzgerald Of
Chevy Chase and approved by the
vote of the delegates to the Con-
gress for distribution and circula-
among the voters and taxpayers Of
Montgomery County, and
Because Of the reasons that
fro mtime to time will be stated
by the committee of which J. Bond