Swing Shift

Idaho's Republican Senator Henry C. Dworshak last week performed an odd trick: he passed himself on a merry-go-round. Just a few days before, Dworshak had shifted away from support of Hawaiian statehood unless it was coupled with statehood for Alaska. His switch produced an 8-to-7 vote by the Senate Interior Committee to report Hawaii and Alaska together. Dworshak thereby helped set up a combined target on the Senate floor for those who are 1) against Hawaiian statehood, 2) against Alaskan statehood, and 3) against statehood.

Since Hawaii's admittance is an important Eisenhower (and Republican

Party) pledge, Dworshak was treated by many G.O.P. colleagues to pained looks and stony silence. He got to thinking. Said he: "I really didn't want to be a roadblock. This is my Administration. Why should I fight it unnecessarily?" There was a way out. Dworshak, some of whose mining constituents see a rich field for investment in Alaska as a state, got a promise from Chairman Hugh Butler that Alaska would be approved by the committee soon after Hawaii. With that assurance. Henry Dworshak provided the swing vote in another 8-to-7 decision, this one to report Hawaiian statehood favorably and separately.

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