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Show KAI XjgV DREW ' P.EAR5GN Republicans Vie for South QAPITOL HILL IS TALKING about a move to adopt the rebellious re-bellious southern Democrats in th Republican party. The plan is tc offer the G. O. P. vice-presidential nomination to a southerner, possiblj Virginia's Sen. Harry Byrd. The idea already has picked up some support among southern Democrats Dem-ocrats and has been given a strong push by western Republicans. The Republicans are eager to carve up the "Solid South" while the time is ripe. One westerner, who has been spurring the idea in the cloakrooms, is Utah's Congressman William Dawson. He proposes a Vanden-berg-Byrd ticket, pointing out that the big Michigan Republican already al-ready has a reputation for bipartisan biparti-san cooperation while the conservative conserva-tive Byrd usually votes Republican anyhow. This ticket has the private endorsement en-dorsement of an overwhelming number of southern Democrats who have asked that their names be kept secret until the merger plan gets off thin ice. Congressmen from Florida and Notth Carolina predict that Vandenberg and Byrd together could sweep their statrs three-to-one. Biggest southern fear Is that the Republicans would shunt them aside after elections, just as happened hap-pened after they helped elect Herbert Her-bert Hoover in the row over Al Smith. The mechanics of shifting from the Democratio to the Republican Re-publican party also is an obstacle in the way of southern congressmen. congress-men. Dawson has suggested that the Republican party could endorse en-dorse certain Democratio candidates candi-dates In the South this year; and that a system of cross-filing, as used in California, might be worked out in the future. Florida's Congressman Dwight Rogers, one of the most active southerners behind the plan, ' acknowledged ack-nowledged the difficulties, but warned: "If we don't get together on our own initiative, we are going to be pushed into it." Dawson also is harping on the theme of a southern-western alliance. alli-ance. "The South and the West think alike on most issues," he told a group of southerners. "There is no reason why we should be divided up the way we are." Lobbyists Knife Veterans THE POWERFUL SEAL-ESTATE SEAL-ESTATE LOBBY has missed no bets in its campaign to block low-cost, low-cost, public housing for war vets and others. However, the lobby's latest move, engineered by senate allies, is the shabbiest to date an effort to trade off senate approval of a bill to aid 2,200 paralyzed veterans vet-erans for another bill, supported by the lobby. The latter bill would provide lush government loan insurance in-surance for private home builders. The real-estate senators are not anxious to have their operations known, but here are the facts: At a recent closed-door meeting of the senate banking and currency committee, Sen. Charles Tobey of New Hampshire sought approval of a section of the Taft-Ellender-Wag-ner bill providing housing aid for paraplegic veterans. These are the tragic cases of veterans wholly paralyzed par-alyzed below the waist. However, no sooner had the committee voted approval than the real - estate - lobby senators went Into action. G. O. P. Sen. Harry Cain of Washington proposed pro-posed that "a lot of construction people" needed help. He also wanted to know if the housing bill was to be dismembered and passed in separate sections. Dem-ocratio Dem-ocratio Sen. Willis Robertson of Virginia kept the ball rolling. "Now that we have agreed to the adoption of this section for veterans' vet-erans' aid, we ought to do the same with Title I of the bill," observed Robertson. Title I is a sop to private pri-vate builders to offset low-cost public pub-lic housing provisions of the housing hous-ing bill. It authorizes government guarantees up to 90 per cent on bank loans to private home builders. build-ers. "The section we just approved and the section you gentlemen would like to have approved are not on a par," objected Tobey. However, Robertson continued to press for a vote, at which point able young Sen. John Sparkman of Alabama stepped into the fray. "I introduced a bill for the paraplegic par-aplegic vets last year and have tried to help them in every way possible," declared Sparkman. "However, I have told my veteran constituents that I would not support sup-port action on independent sections of the T-E-W bill if it jeopardized approval of the entire bill, including includ-ing the public housing and slum-clearance slum-clearance features. Therefore he moved that the entire en-tire housing bill be left intact. The Sparkman motion carried by one vote, thus upsetting- the plan to use aid to crippled vets as a bargaining point to win concessions con-cessions for private building Interests. |