Tennessee governor Austin Peay signed the law to gain support among rural legislators, but believed the law would neither be enforced nor interfere with education in Tennessee schools.

But because there was a tradition that each county must have its own representation in the lower House, ridiculous imbalances occurred which the rural legislators would not allow to be corrected.

Early on, the biggest stumbling block appeared to be rural legislators, concerned that the authority would spend the state's transportation dollars exclusively on Atlanta.

Unlike the desegregation cases, in this instance, the Court ordered immediate action, and despite loud outcries from rural legislators, Congress failed to reach the two-thirds needed pass a constitutional amendment.

The Chickasaw resulted from a compromise between urban and rural legislators.

"The state Legislature, particularly but not exclusively rural legislators, see mass transit as remote," he said.

Louisiana's House of Representatives approved the tax-free shopping measure last week despite opposition from rural legislators.

But suburban and rural legislators, many of whom see Mr. Cuomo as soft on crime, want tougher enforcement and stiffer sentences, even if it involves building new prisons.

Nevertheless, most rural legislators agreed with Orval Hafen of St. George, who became a major defender of rural overrepresentation after his election in 1952.