Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-18
Monroney 10 Seek
Commonwealth for
Hawaii and Alaska

Senator Monroney. Democrat.
of Oklahoma will launch q move
in the Senate today to give
Hawaii and Alaska common
wealth status as q substitute for
statehood.
He viii be joined by Senators
Smathers of Florida, Fulbright
of Arkansas and Daniel Of Texas.
all Democrats.
Senator Smathers, leading the
opposition to statehood, believes
40 votes can be mustered for the
commonwealth bill. But this
would not be enough to pass it
unless the total vote was unusu-
ally light.
The supporters Of statehood
are expected to fight the COM
monwealth plan. which would
merely give Hawaii and Alaska
the present status of Puerto Rico.
May Seek to Recommit.
II the commonwealth plan
fails. Senator Smathers indicated
he will move to recommit the
statehood bill to the Interior
Committee. It is doubtful, how
ever. that either of these votes
will come before next week,
and If the excise tax bill is out
Of the Finance Committee by
Wednesday, final showdown on
statehood will have to be put
OF until the end of March.
The chief advantage of COM
monwealth status would be to
enable Hawaii and Alaska to
levy and collect income taxes
now paid to the Federal Govern
ment. It would also enable
them to elect their Governors.
A lively but good-natured de-
bate was touched of late yester-
day by an editorial in The Star,
pointing out that opponents of
statehood voted to tie Alaska
and Hawaii together in the hope
Of killing both. The editorial
also suggested opponents are
tllibuStering.
Senator Holland, Democrat, of
Florida. supporter of the state
hood bill, read the editorial to
his colleagues. He had pleaded
with the Senate not to join the
two bills, because he also thought
1t might defeat them.
Senator Morse, the Oregon
Independent, took issue with the
editorial. He said it should have
dealt with the failure of the
House Rules Committee to let
the House vote on Alaskan
statehood. He and several Dem
ocratS also denied a filibuster is
in progress now.
But Senator Long, Democrat.
OF Louisiana, who also is sup
porting statehood, pointed out
that since Alaska was added to
the Hawaiian bill. four Senators
who voted to combine them have
taken the floor to oppose the
combined bill.
Morse Predicts Passage.
=" Senator Morse predicted the
Senate will pass the combined
bill by a seven-vote margin and
offered to buy Senator Long a
dinner if his forecast proves
wrong. The Oregonian said OPP
ponents who voted to combine
the bills viii find themselves
boxed in.
On the subject of filibustering,
Senator Holland suggested his
good friends from the South
should remember that they no
longer hold the iaurels in that
department. With a grin, he
reminded them that Senator
Morse set a new record last April
by talking for % hours and Is
minutes on the tidelands bill.
Senator Morse proudly admit
ted being the record holder, but
he said he frankly informed the
Senate he was filibustering on
that occasion. He added that
he would interrupt a speech any
time the Senate is ready to pass
the Morse anti-filibuster rule.
Senate Republican Leader
Knowland, who had been quietly
listening, began to show some
alarm over the talk of a fill
buster record.
Sitting here in this exposed
position" said the floor leader,
Il hope the Senator from Flori-
da is not setting off fuse that
will prompt someone to try to
60 out and break the record"