Evening star., 1960-06-19

in the whole national suffrage
course through Congress. pro-
posed the District suffrage
amendment, also be attached,
along with the Holland poll tax
amendment to the Kefauver
House vacancy resolution.
Cites Bill of Rights
Challenged on the basis for
which he proposed such a
multiple-purpose constitutional
amendmsnt, Senator Heating
came up with the best of all
possible precedents-the Bill of
Rights. The Bill of Rights,
consisting Of the first 10
amendments Of the ConStitu-
ton, was submitted (along with
two others) to the States in a
single package" Ten were
ratified by the States.
After brief debate. the Kefau-
yer amendment, the Holland
poll tax amendment and the
Heating Beall Case District
suffrage amendment were ap-
proved by a Senate vote of SO
to 25-well over the two-thirds
majority required for constitu-
tional amendment approval,
and sent as a package" to the
House. Within a matter of
minutes, the Senate had accom-
plished what previous Con-
crosses had been unable to do
in 160 years.
In the House, Chairman
Celler Immediately promised to
do what he could to advance
the suffrage bill.
The cagey New Yorker, how
ever, faced difficult dilemma:
He felt positively that the
three-way amendment had not
the slightest chance of clearing
the House. He felt that the
attachment Of the poll tax
provision alone-while he per-
sonally favored it strongly
would be enough to kill the
whole package on the House
floor. House sentiment, in ad-
dition, was against the Kefau-
yer House vacancy proposal.
Committee Reactivated
The only thing Mr.. Celler
believed had a chance was the
District suffrage amendment
alone. So he announced he
would forget the Senate pack-
age for the moment, and hold
hearings on his own District
suffrage resolution.
On February 10. meanwhile,
recognizing the new opportunity.
Washington civic leaders re-
activiated the Citizens Joint
Committee OH National Repre-
sentation for the District of
Columbia. Jesse Suter. long
its chairman but now retired
from The Star, resigned as its
chairman to take the new Of
flee Of historian, created at his
request, and was succeeded by
F. Elwood Davis, Washington
attorney.
This committee had been
formed in 1917 under the lead
ership of the late Theodore
w. NoyeS, editor of The Star.
who had begun the District
fight for national suffrage in
1888. and who remained its
most stalwart champion until
his death in 1916.
In his will, Mr.. Noyes had
established a special trust fund
to further the suffrage battle,
and proceeds from this fund
paid the basic expenses of the
Joint Committee. Citizen sup
port for the reactivation was
instantaneous.
At about this same time, the
suffrage drive received another
boost when Senator Kefauyer
gave The Star permission to
print a report approved by a
majority of his subcommittee
the previous September when
1t voted 81 in favor of the
amendment.
This report proved to be one
OF the most concise and vigor-
GUS condemnationS ever issued
by a congressional committee
against the senseless depriva-
tion Of Washington voting
rights, although the report had
no status as an official docu-
ment, never having been ap-
proved by the full Judiciary
Committee.
House Members PoIIed
Early in April, The Star as
signed 80 reporters to conduct
an informal poll of every men,
Der Of the House who could be
reached to ask their positions
on the amendment. The results
were astonishing. Of 400 of the
437 House members reached,
only 33 said they opposed Dis
trict suffrage.
Apart from a substantial
number who reserved comment.
312-more than two-thirds of
the entire House-said fatty
they believed Washingtonians
should participate in national
elections, and 279 said they
favored some kind of District
representation in the House.
These results were further
backed up on April 81, when
Mr.. Celler's House Judiciary
subcommittee held hearings on
his amendment. More than 40
witnesses testified, and not one
opposed the resolution.