Evening star., 1955-03-18
1enlpey Flare
As Assembly
Nears Close
Senote COP. Leudel
Is Nearly Involved
In Fist Fight
By Gene Goodwin
sinr sinH cnrra.nnndanf

JltterS last night.
Going into session after o
cocktail party and buffet given
for them at Carvel Hall by the
Magothy River Association, the
delegates fiared up at an at
tempt by the Speaker and ma
jority leader to hasten passage
on some local liquor bills.
And in the Senate. that cham
ber's customary aplomb nearly
gave way to q Republican fist
fight between Senators Kimble
Of Allegany. minority floor lead
er, and Senator Friend Of Gar
rett.
Auto Tag Increases
They were forcibly restrained
by colleagues after the Senate
passed, 17-8. a bill to COM
pletely wipe out scheduled motor
vehicle license tag increases
which the Legislature postponed
for one year earlier in the ses-
sion.
Mr.. Friend co-sponsored the
bill with three Democrats. Dur
ing a brief but heated floor de-
bate with Mr.. Kimble preceding
its passage. he accused the mi
nority leader of trying to OBJ
struct 1t. Mr.. Kimble had
sought to delay the vote for an
other day on grounds four Sem
ators were absent.
This brought an angry retort
from Mr.. Kimble that the Gar
rett Senator was questioning his
honesty.
"My motive is just as honest
as any from the Senator from
Garrett could ever be-" the mi
nority leader said. adding that
it was a matter of senatorial
courtesy to have all Senator's
there on an important piece of
legislation.
Postponement Rebuffed
With the debate over, the Sen
ate defeated Mr.. Kimble's post
ponement move on a voice vote,
passed the bill and shortly ad-
journed.
After the session. Mr.. Friend
strolled up to Mr.. Kimble's desk.
A reporter within earshot said
the two exchanged some uncom-
plimentary remarks.
Don't you call me that" Mr..
Friend shouted while lunging at
Mr.. Kimble and pulling off his
coat. Mr.. Kimble put his guard
up and several persons seized
MIR. Friend, struggling to restrain
him.
Senate President Goldstein,
Democrat. Of Calvert, also rushed
over to quiet the two. AS tempers
subsidized. Mr.. Kimble apologized
for his remark and Mr.. Gold
stein amiably led the two men
to his Office for a chat.
Wild House Session
Several times during a wild,
two-hour House session, Speaker
John C. Luber warned delegates
to stay in their seats and nom
members to stay out of dele
gates chairs. On one occasion,
he sent sergeants-at-arms chas-
ing through the statehouse look
ing for missing members.
It started when Democratic
Majority Leader A. Gordon
Boone announced seven local
liquor bills. already approved by
the House, would be moved UP
for final passage even though
they had just been reported out
of the Alcoholic Beverage Com
mittee and were not on the So
called third reading calendar on
members desks.
After passing three of them on
suspension Of rules, some of the
delegates started asking that
the bills be explained. Neither
the chairman of the Alcoholic
Beverage Committee, Delegate
Randolph Harrison, Democrat,
of Talbot, nor the delegates
from the counties affected could
do it.
The next two bills were sent
back to the committee and Mr..
Boone pulled the last two of the
calendar ''in view of the temper
Of the House" He said the dele
gates shouldn't fool around with
local bills from other counties"
Several delegates. most of
them freshmen, jumped to the
floor to protest that liquor laws
Of one county can affect neigh
boring counties. Besides, added
Delegate William Burkley, DEM
ocrat, Of Cecil, "we're elected
to represent the State as well
as our own counties and we
shouldn't blithly accept the word
Of every other local delegation"
Turns to Roads Board Probe
After the hassle on how local
Is local. the House turned to
b significant vote on a bill to
investigate the State Roads Com
mission. As debate was about
to begin. two Baltimore City
delegates, Edward w. Dabrowski
and William L. Hodges, crept to-
ward the lounge, but MIR. Boone
caught them before they could
reach the door and persuaded
them to stay awhile.
It was about then that Dele
gate John j. Nowakowski, DEM
ocrat, Of Baltimore, asked the
speaker, in view Of his ruling
that members had to stay in
their seats, for permission to buy
q pack Of cigarettes. Permission
was granted.
The roads probe bill which
cleared the House by q 77-27
margin Is identical to o bill the
Senate defeated three times. Six
House Democrats joined Repub-
leans in opposing it.
The Democrats. having charged