Now What?

Though Adam Clayton Powell's campaign manager waited 90 minutes after the polls closed to claim victory, he need hardly have been so circumspect. Powell's re-election last week to the House seat from which he had been excluded in March was a foregone conclusion; the only question was how large his vote would be. As it happened, he beat two non-campaigning nonentities by a lopsided margin of nearly 7 to 1. But the results hardly seemed to bear out tales of uncontrollable rage among Negroes at Powell's treatment in Washington. Only 32,418 of Harlem's 126,-529 registered voters bothered to go to the polls--compared with 60,688 last year and 111,331 in 1964.

After Powell's new election certificate arrives in the House Clerk's mailbox some time next week, nobody is quite sure of what will happen. Powell could force a showdown by appearing in person to demand admission, but thus far he has shown no inclination to leave his Bimini retreat. Representatives who want Powell admitted could force the is sue by seeking to reverse the House decision to exclude him, but they are likely to be defeated. If anything, congressional sentiment has hardened against the preacher-playboy in recent weeks. "The reasons for excluding him in the first place," said Missouri Republican Thomas B. Curtis, "still are there--ethics and conduct." Some House members are urging the Justice Department to take the whole problem off their shoulders by prosecuting Powell on charges of misappropriating public funds. Last week Justice said it was actively investigating the case.

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