Rep. Newman Decries Misuse of Committees By Speaker Thompson

Mary B. Newman, Cambridge state representative, claimed in a recent news-letter that her removal from the Massachusetts Committee on Labor and Industries was an act of retribution by House Speaker John F. ("Iron Duke") Thompson.

Mrs. Newman, who opposed Thompson's re-election as speaker, criticized in the newsletter his misuse of "committee assignments as a system of reward and punishments, with complete indifference to the important part these committees play in carrying on the work of the Legislature."

It took six ballots for Thompson, a Democrat, to overcome opposition to his re-election. This was in spite of the large Democratic majority (150 to 90) in the House.

Writing the newsletter to Cambridge voters, Mrs. Newman also described the battle which preceded the Republicans' re-election of Sidney Curtiss as a party leader. Mrs. Newman indicated that the close 47 to 40 vote in favor of Curtiss reflected a basic Republican discontent with his lack of "dynamic and imaginative action" during the last session.