Evening star., 1952-10-14


Candidates Define
Issues at Meeting
Battle lines were sharply drawn
in The Prince Georges County
home-rule charter fight today.
And for the first time since the
campaign opened in midsummer.
county voters have a reasonable
idea what their votes for or
against a home-rule charter in
the November 4 election will mean.
The view of the two opposing
states vying for the five seats on
the charter board, which would
draw up a home-rule charter for
the county if it is approved at the
polls, were defined by the 10 cam
didates themselves. They ap-
peared on the same platform last
night before the county chapter
of American Association of Uni
versity Women at the University
of Maryland.
In a Nutshell.
Here, from verbal and written
statements made by the candi.
dates last night and previously.
is what the issue November 4 ap-
pears to boil down to:
If you want home-rule char
ter giving local governmental
body the power to write most of
the county laws now drawn up by
the Maryland General Assembly
In its yearly sessions at Annapolis,
vote Eyes" on the first question as
to whether you favor a home-rule
charter, and then pull down your
voting machine levers for the five
Charter Board candidates nomi-
mated by the Citizens Committee
for Good Government-Reuben j.
Gordon, Walter F. Mulligan.
Nicholas Orem. jr., Charles F.
Parker, jr., and DR.. Joseph M.
Ray.
If you believe the present sys-
tenn Of county government is ade.
quate. vote mo" on the first oues-
ton and then, if you want further
assurance that the present form
of government will not be SUBJ
stantially changed, even if the
first question is approved-vote
for the five Charter Board candi-
dates nominated by the county
commissioners-Edward c. Bell.
George T. Burroughs. Edwin A.
Glenn, Mrs. Dorothy B. Groth and
H. Winship Wheatley. jr.
The Maryland Constitution pro-
vides that, if the voters approve
home-rule charter on November
4. the Charter Board will draw
one up within six months, after
full public hearings, and it will
be submitted to the voters for ap-
proval in 1854.
Other Issues at Stake.
There are side issues involved
in charter balloting. of course.
One Of the most important Of
these is whether the charter
drawn up would provide for q
county manager-council system Of
government such as that operat-
ing in Montgomery County.
The commissioners candidates
are dead set against any county
manager. They said so in a plat
form they released after last
nights meeting and in their re-
marks to the meeting itself. They
went so far as to suggest that the
manager idea is foreign importa.
ton.
The position on county man.
ager of the Citizens COMMITTEES
slate, as stated by Mr.. Gordon, Is
that he and some of his coll
leagues personally favor the pro-
posal, but will approach the sub
ject with an open mind" If elected
to the Charter Board.
Mr.. Wheatley summarized the
platform of the commissioners
slate when he told his audience Of
about $50 last night:
my colleagues and I are in
accord that we see no reason for
a home-rule charter for Prince
Georges County. There's no
sense in waiting until 1854 to de-
feat it. Do it November T."
At another point, he said EN-.
Iphatically: I'VE will not write .
charter with a county manager
provision in it,"
Held Only One Issue.
The citizens committee aspir.
ants charged that the opposition
was making a straw man out OF
the manager proposition.
'The county manager idea Is
just one of many phases of home
rule which would be argued out
at public hearings" Mr.. Mulligan
declared.
Mr.. Orem stated that even II
Ia county manager were to be pro-
vided for in a proposed charter,
he and his colleagues certainly
are not in favor of giving him
any dictatorial powers. as charged
by the commissioners slate. Mr..
Orem pointed out that the 1851
Legislative act that set up the
governmental system under which
the county now operates provides
for a county manager If the COM
missioners decide to name one.
Mr.. Orem charged that it il
inconsistent for the commission.
ers' candidates Ito say they are
opposed to a home rule charter
and in the same breath say they
want to write it."
Another citizens candidate, Mr..
Parker. labeled the present county
governmental system inefficient
cumbersome and not re-
sponsible to the will Of the
people"