Evening star., 1914-04-19
WINE AND WOMEN
BEFUDDLE HOUSE
Dry Nation and Suffrage Prob
lens Worry Congress
Into Blue Funk.
TWO VEXATIOUS QUESTIONS
IN JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Representatives Scared by Predic-
tion That Hobson Resolution
Will Be Reported Out.

Far more troublesome than currency
or tariff to the democrats of the House
is the Hobson resolution to make the ma
ton dry by means of a constitutional
amendment. The suffrage question is
just as bad. The two combined are worse
than a visitation of grasshoppers on a
Kansas farm.
When it is realized that the two aues-
tions stare the House judiciary committee
in the face and may be put to the test
combined on Tuesday. one is able to COM
prehend that a congressmans life is not
happy one.
Before Judiciary Committee.
For months and years the House has
STAYED off both these vexatious prob
lens. The anti-iquor forces. neverthe-
less. have been tremendously busy of
late. So have the suffragists.
The two questions are before the judici-
ary committee. There is discomfort in
the committee. Some members of the
committee want to be rid of the prob
lens. This. perhaps, explains the pre-
diction made by one of them yesterday
that the Hobson resolution to amend the
Constitution to prohibit the manufacture,
sale and Importation of liquor would be
reported Tuesday from that committee to
Al
come true there would be a scared lot of
congressman.
However, it is probable that while the
committee will secretly-very secretly in
deed-mull over the liquor problem, it
will not be reported out. The reason
is that the committee is evenly divided
on the liquor proposition although no
one has been able to get an accurate
line on how the committee would vote
if the vote were to be recorded and made
public.
Division on Suffrage.
Also the committee is evenly divided
on the vexatious woman suffrage prob
lem. But the pro and con are not
identically made up in each case.
Some men opposed to the Hobson prop
osition to make the country dry by force
of the Constitution would listen to rea-
son on the suffrage matter. Therefore
the men who oppose the Hobson resolu-
ton are not going to let that be re-
ported to the House unless the woman
suffrage resolution is also reported to
the House
They say in effect: "If have to
stand up and take a drubbing. then
you've got to come, too
At the last regular meeting there was
a proposal to postpone the suffrage ques-
ton indefinitely, which brought forth a
howl from the members who are wary
Of reporting the nquOr matter. InlS
proposition was amended so as to mean
that the suffrage question should be re-
ported out Immediately. That also raised
a howl.
Postponement Hoped For.
The committee thereupon wisely de-
cided to wait few days longer. The
next step will be to postpone both suf-
frage and liquor resolutions indefinitely.
There is one thing sure. If either
question is reported out some one will
demand that the votes be made public.
A record vote on a liquor or suffrage
matter is intensely distasteful to poll
ticians just now. To vote against the
cry of the white-ribboned army would
be construed to mean that the man
casting the vote was tied up hand and
foot with King Alcohol.
1t really might mean that the MEM
Der has undying convictions on the
right of a state to regulate it's own
liquor problems. But the W. c. 7. Z.
and Anti-Saloon League arguers are now
swinging their speeches into batterinS
ram against the state rights claims.
On the other hand, the judiciary com
mittee has all the appearance of be-
lieving that the suffrage question ought
to be settled by each state instead of
by national legislation.