ACTION FILED AGAINST 'P.R.'

Doan James M. Landis' pet baby, Plan E and proportional representation for Cambridge, is apparently in for more trouble despite the 7,500 vote majority given it in an election referendum. Yesterday Assistant City Solicitor Joseph A. DeGuglielmo, acting as a private attorney, filed a petition asking the Supreme Judicial Court to declare that form of government unconstitutional.

DeGuglielmo acted for Andrew L. Moore, who in turn was exercising his rights as a private citizen and not as Secretary of the Cambridge Bar Association and the Central Square Business Men's Association, positions which Moore holds.

"Desperate Attempt"

Commenting on the action, Jeremiah Downey, Chairman of the Committee on Finance for Plan E, stated last night that the petition was a "desperate effort on the part of the politicians to keep themselves in power." Dean Landis himself was out of town and could not be reached.

When asked what chance of success the Plan had in weathering the Supreme Court test, Downey was optimistic. Although similar proportional representation plans have been declared unconstitutional in Michigan, California, and Rhode Island, he stated that details of the various plans and not the proportional representation itself had been the cause for the decisions, and that there should be little chance for that to happen in the present case, inasmuch as Dean Landis, who has had a broad experience in administrative and Constitutional law, claims that the Plan is legal.

Right to Vote Lost

When DeGuglielmo was questioned last night, he expressed great confidence in the success of his petition. "It takes away the right to vote and to have that vote counted," and that in his opinion makes Plan E unconstitutional.

While not attacking Plan E directly, the Assistant City Solicitor hopes that by throwing out the proportional representation parts of the Plan, the rest of it will collapse, since the whole plan is constructed with "PR" as a base.

No Immediate Action Expected

Neither Downey nor DeGuglielmo expected that the Courts would deliver a decision in the near future. However, before next November, when the public will next go to the polls, a verdict will probably be handed down.

If it is upheld, the Plan will go into effect January 1, 1942, but up until that time Cambridge will be run by a "lame duck" administration.