Evening star., 1917-01-10
DISTRICT DRY BILL :
MAY GET 2-TO-1
MAJORITY IN HOUSE
Members Predict a Big Victory
for the Sheppard Pro-
hibition Measure.
STRAWS GATHERED TODAY
SHOW WAY WIND BLOWS
Prohibitionists Expect Referendum
Paragraph to Be Proposed.
Ready to Fight It.

Ready to Fight It.
1t is freely predicted in the
House of Representatives by re-
publicans and democrats alike
that the Sheppard bill will pass
through the lower body by as
large a majority as it did in the
Senate There IS no attempt to
modify or soften this prediction.
which is. a harsh one from the
standpoint OF the "wets.'' 4
canvass of nearly forty members
OF the House today produced a
bundle of straws. all blowing
dry" by two-to-one vote.
Men who expect TO vote against the
Sheppard bill. who are wet at heart and
from wet districts, and thus are open
and above suspicion in their Wet ten
dencies. whose political fortunes de-
pend on their being wet. said today.
mournfully: We'll. | hate to say II. but
if ever the Sheppart bill gets up
in the House. il Will go through a-kit-
ing with scores of votes to spare"
But One Chance for Vets
All this is no news in Congress. The
Sheppard bill probably will pass the
House eff it gets up on the floor
Consequently the enemies OF the bill
see but one chance of defeating IL.
and that. of course. is to prevent IL
from reaching the House floor. Lead
ers of the House say in reference to
this that the cards are stacked for
the Sheppard bill, and the preponder-
ance of influence in the House is on
the side of the dry" proposition. There
will be little, IL any, chance to crowd
the House program with legislation
that will obstruct the Sheppard bill.
1t is known that Majority Leader
Kitchin has thrown his weight With
the dry element Once the bill gets In
to the House. and just at present III
bill seems to have enough momentv
from the boost II received in the s
ate to run IL through the House W
out struggle-or. at least. only
struggle of speechmaking. No one
the House has been found yet who pf
diets a defeat for the sheppard b
when the time to vote arrives.
The bill was reported to the House
today and referred to the District com.
mittee.
Early Meeting of District COMMITTEES
1t was learned today that as soon as
the hearings on the Lewis telephone
bill are out of the way Chairman john
son will call together the House Dis
trict committee for the purpose of TAX
ing up the Sheppard prohibition bill.
This is said to be satisfactory to the
proponents of the bill. they fear In
action worse than an adverse report.
port when presented from a commits
tee, exactly as 1t can act on favor.
able report.
Barkley Bill Before Committee.
The District committee already has the
Barkley bill before it. That bill is the
House edition OF the Sheppard bill. father-
ed and written by Representative Bark
ley of Kentucky. 1t has been referred to
the subcommitte on the judiciary. OF
which Representative Vinson OF Georgia
is chairman.
Up to this point there have been no
hearings on the Barkiey bill. Requests
for hearings have been made in a de-
sultory manner in the past. but Mr.. Vim
son has taken the position that long
as the Sheppard bill was up in the Senate
he would wait until the bill came to the
House.
Now. should any request for hearings
be made IL is possible they will be
Supporters of the Barkley-
Sheppart legislation made IL plain today
however. they would oppose the idea
of long-drawn discussions of the guess
tion of prohibition in the District.
Willing to Accept Sheppard Bill.
Representative Barkley said. In dis>
cussine the situation today:
Il have introduced two bills for pros
hibition in the District of Columbia,
and inasmuch as the last one is all
most identical with the Sheppard bill
as passed by the Senate / will be con-
tent to accept the Sheppard bill OF
course this bill will be referred to the
District committee, and / have been
Informed that 1t would be reported to
The House by that committee"
There are ''wet" members on tho
District committee of the House who
nay be expected to fight the Sheppard
bill or any other prohibition measure.
If these succeed in stopping its progress
the move which the prohibitionists ex-
Dect to make is through the rules COM
nittee. That committee is closely
divided on the dry and wet question,
out dry" prophets predict that when
I comes to the question of a rule by
which the Sheppard bill should be
aiken up by special order in the House.
here will be a majority of four.
Prohibitionists on the Alert,
Prohibitionists have feared the Dis.
rict committee of the House for sew