Evening star., 1960-06-19
VOTE
Alaska and Hawaii
Statehood Helped :
Continued From First Page

OSlldGOAo "C4C PlCdSCu W ouP@
port the Holland amendment,
and pressure was mounting to
get it out of the judiciary Com
mittee. where it was blocked by
its chairman. Senator Eastland
of Mississippi.
On August 10 The Star
printed an editorial under the
caption, Amend the Amend
ment," pointing out that If it
was wrong to prevent citizens
from voting by requiring the
poll tax, there was even greater
wrong in preventing citizens
from voting because they hap
pened to live in the Capital of
the United States.
The editorial proposed that
the Holland amendment be
amended to correct both wrongs
and to forbid the disqualified
ton of voters by imposition of
a poll tax or "by reason of res
idence in the Capital of the
United States" ~.
Adopts Suggestion
On the Senate floor the next
day, Senator Heating. Repub-
ican OF New York, announced
that he would follow The Stars
suggestion and propose such an
amendment. He was immedi-
ately joined by Senator RAN
dolph, Democrat of West Vir-
ginia, who placed the editorial
in the Congressional Record.
In the House that same week,
at a public hearing on a home
rule bill, there was a ground
swell of support for national
suffrage legislation. Among
those who said they would back
such a constitutional amend
ment were several House men,
bers who opposed home rule.
Meanwhile, back in the SEN
ate, a Judiciary subcommittee
headed by Senator Kefauver,
Democrat of Tennessee, was
busy with hearings on the Hol-
land poll-tax amendment.
There. Senator Heating sug-
gested adding the District vote
for-President provision to the
poll-tax amendment. He was
dissuaded, however, by Senator
Kefauver, who promised in re-
turn to hold separate hearings
on the District vote issue if
an independent constitutional
amendment for that purpose
were proposed.
Combine Their Proposals
Early in September, there
fore. Senators Keating and
Case, along with Senator Beall.
Republican of Maryland-each
Of whom had introduced sep
arate proposals for a constitu-
tional amendment-agreed to
combine their proposals in one
new amendment. This would
have permitted District resi-
dents to elect three Delegates
to the House, as we'll as to
vote in national elections.
On September 10, Senator
Kefauver held a hearing on
this amendment, which drew
widespread support from the
community at large, and COM
mendation from President
Eisenhower.
The very next day, Septem-
ber II. the Kefauver subcom-
mittee approved the national
suffrage amendment by a 5-1.
vote, with only Chairman East
land of the full committee dis
senting. :,
Simultaneously, on the
House side, Chairman Celler
OF the House Judiciary Com
mittee introduced a compara-
BILE but differently phrased res
olution.
Although the end Of the
1859 session was only a mat
ter of a few days away. the
Senate sponsors were hopeful
that their resolution might
reach the floor at the last
moment. But both the Keat-
ing-Beall-Case national suf-
frage amendment and the Hol-
land poll tax constitutional
amendments remained locked
In committee under the thumb
OF Senator Eastland. That was
the situation when Congress
went home last fall.
Suffrage Log Jam Breaks
When Capitol Hill came
alive again in January, 1860,
prospects for both the suffrage
and poll tax amendments still
appeared dim. But the log jam
broke within just a few weeks
in a most unusual way.
The big break came on Feb
ruary 2, when the Senate was
considering still a third con-
stitutional amendment - this
one empowering the Governors
of States to fill vacancies in
the House of Representatives
in the event of a national
catastrophe. This amendment,
by Senator Kefauver, had
cleared the Senate Judiciary
Committee and was therefore
ready for Senate action.
During the debate on the
ketauver amendment Senator
Holland. protesting that his
poll tax amendment was still
bottled up in the Judiciary
Committee, proposed it as an
amendment to the Kefauver
amendment.
Then Senator Keating, in