In the South's unflagging battle against civil-rights legislation, House Rules Committee Chairman Howard Smith has been serving as a quietly effective Dixie doodler. Virginian Smith bottled civil rights in committee for two months until a majority forced it out. When the measure reached the House floor last week, "Judge" Smith took command of Southerners marshaling to defeat or disembowel it. The bill's backers steeled themselves for diatribe and delay, quorum calls and quixotic demands. But with gaunt, mild-looking Howard Smith calling the shots, they were never more wrong.
Before the House sat...
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