Evening star., 1952-02-08
Norfo|kP tanning
To Block New
North District
Legislators of Area.
Hope to Withhold
Emergency Action
Sier Siaff correspondent


RICHMOND, Feb. 8.-Norfolk
area legislators today laid plans
to block a proposed 10th con-
gressional district for Northern
Virginia by mastering enough
votes to prevent emergency ac-
tion on the committee-approved
measure.
IF necessary" one State SEN
ator said. Were prepared to hold
out until we're the dirtiest bunch
of - in the General Assembly. ,
To a man, State legislators from
the first and second congressional
districts showed resentment at
yesterdays swift action of the
Senate Privileges and Elections
Committee in reporting out the
Fenwick bill to rediStrict the
States representation in Congress
The measure, sponsored by Sen
ator Charles r. Fenwick of Ar
lington and half the Senate men,
bership, would carve the new 10th
out of the eighth. The new dis
trict would consist of Arlington,
Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls
Church.
Primary Presents Emergency.
It is essential, however, that, if
o primary is to be held in the new
district, the legislation must pass
as an emergency act. A four
dfths vote of both houses is
needed to do this.
At present, the bill carries no
emergency clause, and it probably
will be sent through the Senate
and House of Delegates by simple
majority vote. This would make
it effective in June.
But a run-off primary bill, re-
Gently enacted, has moved the
primary date up from August to
July Is this year, with the filing
deadline correspondingly moved
up to April 16 for all candidates.
Gov. Battle has said that, no
matter which redistricting plan is
passed, he hopes it will bear an
emergency clause so it can take
effect Immediately, thus giving the
10 candidates for Congress suf11-
cient time in which to file.
If the Fenwick bill goes through
both houses on a simple majority
vote, and its hackers do not claim
four -f1fths support, then the Gov
ernor could be expected to send
1t back with a special message
asking for an emergency amend
mend. 15~S.yses
Results PrOblematical.
Whether the Chief Executives
appeal would be sufficient to win
over enough of the 1st and I'd dis
trict holdouts is problematical. But
from the tenor of the Norfolk
areas pleas before the Senate
committee yesterday, it is certain
they do not now intend to go along
with such a plan.
Altogether, four different pro-
posals were heard by the Senate
committe, which sat jointly with
the corresponding House group.
One, offered by Republican SEN
ator's Ted Dalton of Radford and
Floyd Landreth of Radford, more
nearly met a constitutional re-
quirement for equal distribution
of population among the districts
With an ideal distribution of 331,-
900 for each district, the Republi-
cans had a disparity of from BIT,
900 to BAT, 900.
A special study commissions
plan varied from 263, 900, to 446,-
600, while the Norfolk areas plan
showed a difference of from $685.
900 in the smallest to 100000 in
the largest.
Fenwick Bill Disparity.
The population disparity of the
Fenwick bill, now before the Sen
ate, makes the proposed new 9th
District, with 277,000 the smallest
and the I'd District, with 403, ,923,
the largest.
Norfolk area legislators, still un-
willing to be quoted, promised a
contest in the courts, if the Fen
wick proposals. approved because
they said, it does not sufficiently
meet the constitutional require
ment.
At the hearing, however, Senator
Fenwick had anticipated this
argument. He cited an opinion
from the State Supreme Court
about 20 years ago, when a re-
districting law was thrown out anc
all candidates for Congress had te
run at large. The opinion said
in part:
Mathematical exactnesS, eithel
in compactness of territory or II
equality of population, cannot ot
attained, nor was it contemplated
In (the Constitution.
1.-THE discretion to be exercised
should be an honest and fair dis
cretion, the result revealing an at
tempt, in good faith, to be gov
erned by the limitation enunciatee
in the fundamental law OF thu
land"
Cites Equalizing Attempt.
To get redress in court, thl
opinion said, sit must be a grave
palpable and unreasonable devia'
ton from the principle fixed b.
the Constitution"
Senator Fenwick argued tina
drafters of his bill had gone a
far as any court could expect il
an attempt to equalize population
He said that the second district
with a population of 100000
would have only 400 square mile
but that the sponsors had reache'
out to cover more than 100
square miles to bring the proposes
9th districts population up T
277, 900.
Counties that would be adde'
to the proposed 9th are Caro-
line, Hanover and King and Queel
and the City Of Fredericksburg.