Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-21
SURVEY
Continued From First PAGE

| SUkVEI
Continued From First Pag,
In the armed services ha,
prompted sharp controversy ir
Congress. Many influential
Congressman, such as Repre-.
sentative Vinson, Democrat OF
Georgia. chairman OF the Hous,
Armed Services Committee
have declared their firm oppo-
Sition TO the plan.
The poll shows that the plar
has not yet been sold 10 the
people. Almost go per cent are
undecided. but OF those who
have made up their minds, 2l.e
per cent are against the plan
and 1915 per cent are for II.
In this case. however. the
division In Congress does not
reflect the split in public opin-
ion. Half Of the House and
the Senate are undecided. But,
asked specifically whether they
support the Presidents plan.
roughly a third in each House
said they did. The President
thus starts his campaign with
some 80 votes in the Senate
and about $50 In the House.
Committed TO opposition, the
poll indicates. are Is Senators
and about rs Representatives.
An analysis Of the responses
by parties shows that among
members who have decided,
Republicans favor the Presi-
dent plan five-to-one. Demo-
Gratis in the House favor the
plan by a slight majority. In
the Senate. the Democrats
split seven-to-ten against the
plan.
Point Of View
The poll indicated that what
a congressman found about
economic conditions in his
home district or State was
heavily influenced by his politi-
cal point OF view.
Not one Republican Of the n
Senators interviewed reported
conditions worse than a month
ago, for instance. Majorities
on both sides Of the political
fence found conditions un-
changed during the past month.
Democratic Senators who
found things worst were ex-
actly balanced by Republicans
and one Democratic senator
who found things were better.
House members, who are
perhaps a little closer TO the
spotty areas Of high unemploy-
ment. were a little more pessi-
mistic. Sixty per cent Of those
who noticed a change in the
economic situation. saw the
change as a downturn.
Responses on economic con-
ditions also were evaluated for
geographic factors. using the
standard census bureau break
down of nine sub-regions.
On balance. the sub-regions
showing q tendency toward
worsening conditions. as re-
Elected in the Congressmen's
estimates. were:
The Middle Atlaptic-New
York. New Jersey anFPennsyl-
vania.
The East North Central
Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. Mich
igan and Wisconsin.
Those showing a trend to-
ward an upturn:
The South Atlantic-Dela-
ware. Maryland and Virginia.
The Pacific - Washington,
Oregon and California.
In 1855 per cent Of the con-
-stituencies, the lawmakers
found economic conditions the
Number One problem. This re-
spouse was broken down fur
ther to determine the specific
aspect Of the economic down.
turn that was most troubling to
the voters. The results show
that in 35.8 per cent of the
areas, unemployment is the big
issue.
Farm Problem Next
Next. with 22.4 per cent. is
the farm problem.
High prices accounted for a
statistically negligible number
Of top complaints. although it
was frequently mentioned as
an extra irritant."
In a related question, the
poll showed that the voters
were sharply divided on the
question of whether the Fed
eral Government should do
something" about high prices.
BY a slim margin of those who
had an opinion. the nays won.
The question on constitu-
entS' view on tax reductions
disclosed that a surprising
number Of voters-more than
one in five - did not know
whether they were for a cut or
not. Slightly more than half
favored a reduction. This opin-
- w - mm m -