Evening star., 1948-04-18
By Don S. Worren

pf OoH }. warren
A poll of House District Com
members yesterday indi-
Gated favorable action would be
taken on the revised bill for an
elected city government here.
1t confirmed predictions by spon-
sors that the charter measure would
go to the House and not be bottled
up in the committee.
AS closely as the attitudes of menu
bers could be checked, prior to
yesterdays release of the long ex-
planatory report on the revised bill,
the score sheet showed nine
approving and five voicing general
Endorsement" These IA, If all ac-
tually vote yes. would constitute one
over majority of the full menu
bership of Is.
Four Listed Against.
Four were listed as against and
the seven others were left as un-
committed Zone of these could not
be reached. Sponsors say they
will get at least three of the un-
committed members opponents are
counting on three others. One mem
Der. listed as uncommitted yesterday,
said he planned to vote for the bill
but wanted some amendments.
At the other end of the Capitol
the present situation in the Senate
District Committee appeared con-
jectural. Four OF its Is members
were listed as definitely yes. three
as generally favorable but with some
ifs involved; three were against the
proposal; two were out of the city.
and one Senator was making no
comment.
Members of the Senate Home
Rule Subcommittee recently de-
clined to sign the pending joint
report on the revised bill. preferring
to let the House act separately.
Want More Details.
The counts, assembled in the
past few days by The Star, list as
generally favorable, though not as
finally committed. number OF
members who said they supported
;he idea but we're not familiar with
all the details. or had questions
about some of them.
The first major test for the char
ter bill will come at special meet
ing of the House District Commit
tee Wednesday More than one
full day may be required to hear
all the explanations and arguments.
It is conceded some votes may be
changed there from what now ap-
pears to be the lineup.
Sponsors of the bill are claiming
a far higher percentage of the
House committee than is indicated
in this report of interviews. Oppo-
nents, actively working over the
membership list, have been claim
ing some of the same votes as the
authors.
Pressure From Both Sides
Subjected to pressure from both
sides, some members have declined
to make positive commitments. Ac-
cording to indications given The
Star, some others have changed
their positions in the past few days.
There could be still further changes,
for or against.
The Stars poll of the House COM
mittee indicated the following nine
members were prepared to vote out
the bill favorably:
Representatives Auchincloss OF
New Jersey: Allen, of California;
Dirksen, of Illinois; Youngblood, OF
Michigan; Beall, of Maryland; Ho-
mer R. Jones, of Washington, and
McGarvey, of Pennsylvania. Repub-
licans; and Deane. of North Caro-
lima, and Klein, of New York, Demo-
Gratis.
Indorse Principle.
In addition to these, Endorsement
Of the principle or the general idea
of limited home rule. came from
these five Representatives: Bates,
of Massachusetts; Mcmahon, Of New
York, and Mcdowell, of Pennsyl-
vania, Republicans; and league, OF
Texas, and Kennedy, of Massachu-
sets, Democrats. Some of these
wanted some changes made.
Listed as opposed were: Repre-
sentatives Mcmillan, of South Caro-
lima; Harris, of Arkansas; Aber-
nethy, of Mississippi and Davis OF
Georgia, Democrats. Their forces
may be joined by Representative
Smith, Democrat, of Virginia, but
within the past several days he told
The Star he had not had time to
study the plan and could not say
what he would do.
Opponents also are counting on
Representative Price, Democrat, OF
Florida, elected to the committee
last week to fill a vacancy. He
now is in a reelection campaign
and not due back until May A. He
may be asked to give his proxy for
the Wednesday test.
Those Uncommitted.
This leaves in the. uncommitted
classification Republican Represen-
tatives O'Hara, of Minnesota: Miller,
ISee HOME RIFLE Page A-4)