New-York tribune., 1918-03-09
Prohibitionists Expect As
sembly to Ratify Amend
ment Tuesday
23 in the Senate
For Prohibition
Anti-Saloon Leaders Con.
fldent Three Needed Votes
Will Be Gained
[Staf Corvespondencel

ALoA4N1 1, March S.-Fear that the
Legislature will ratify the Federal pro
nlbltlon amendment caused the LOBBY
lists of the "wet" interests to send ont
hurried calls for help tonight. Their
rear Is we'll grounded. The "drys"
claim that in the last few days the
Assembly has been won over to their
cause and that they have twenty-three
pledged votes in the Senate. Tonight
the "drys" are boasting that the AS
sembly will ratify the amendment next
Tuesday,
Inc situation is a serious one for
the "wets." The "drys" will have to
get but three more votes to insure the
ratification of the Federal amendment
IN the upper house. Ordinarily there
are fifty-one Senators. but there arc
two vacancies due to designations. De-
spite the fact that there are but forty
nine. the "drys" will have to get
twenty-six votes, or a majority of the
Senate as legally constituted.
Even with this handicap, the "drys"
are hopeful. Leaders of the "drys" to-
night declared that if the Federal bone
dry amendment is not ratified by this
Legislature they will be disappointed.
Earlier in the session. in fact as late
as three days ago, leaders of the Anti
Saloon League informed The Tribune
correspondent that it looked as if the
vets" had the upper hand in the Leg
islature. but all this is changed now
in their opinion.
"Drys' Will Win, Says Hill
Senator William H. Hill Republican
of Broome County, who introduced the
resolution in the upper house, claims
that the necessary twenty-six votes
will be obtained in the Senate. "The
tide is all our way" said Senator Hill.
Two weeks ago it looked as if we were
beaten. but there is growing senti-
ment in the state for prohibition. The
business men and laboring men are be-
ginning to see that prohibition is not
only necessary to win the war, but
necessary in order to live clean. up
right lives. And the women who are
gong to vote next fall are almost
unanimously for prohibton-upstate
anyway. The vote in the town of Al
blon. which has always gone wet
went dry this week by 234. 1t was the
woman's vote which turned the tide"
Socialists Stand in Doubt
In the Assembly, which was "wet"
by a safe majority a month ago at
which time Thaddeus C. Sweet,
Speaker, said that there were but sixty
or so votes pledged for prohibition,
there is now a solid lineup of seventy
eight Assemblymen on the "dry" side. /
This is a majority of three. This is
without the ten Socialist votes, and
while the Socialists have announced
they will not vote for the Hill-McNab /
resolution until they have heard from
the people, there is bare possibility
OF the Socialists going bodily over to
the "drys."
August Claessens, who is regarded
as the brains of the Socialists here, in /
an interview with The Tribune cor
respondent shortly after he intro
duced resolution submitting to the
people at the next election the right to
say how the Legislature shall vote on !
the Federal amendment. said:
"We arc not committed either way on
the prohibition question. Most of the ten
Socialists are personally prohibitions
lists, but we do not wish to impose our
views on the people until we hear from
them. OF course, if we had big state
fund we could call the state committee
together at twenty-four hours notice.
But we have not. SO we are doing the
next best thing. We arc learning their
sentiments by letter. And as the major
ity Of the state committee decide, so
shall we act And if we don't hear
from them we MAJ get together again
up here and caucus on the question:"
The prediction was made by one en-
thusiastic upstate Assemblyman that
more than ninety votes in the Assembly
you'd be found supporting the Hill I
McNab resolution on Tuesday. The
report of the Judiciary Committee,
favoring fhe resolution, received .
ninety-one votes on test ballot
on Wednesday. But ffty-thrce votes
were lined up with the "wets"
Not All Ninety~one Votes Were "Dry"
But the nincty-one votes cast last
Wednesday were not all "drys" The So
cialists voted soIidly with the "drys."
So did several known "wets" Had the
test vote gone the other way, it would
have meant that the Assembly would
not have acted on the Hill-McNab reso-
luton, and the Socialists and the known
"wets" who voted with the "drys" did
80 that there might be full discussion
on the subject and counting of noses.
Speaker Sweet expects that the full
mem nbcrship Of the Assembly, $50, will
be on hand on Tuesday. close class
of the Assembly has been ordered,
which means that any Asscmbl lyman
not in his chair at II O'Clock Tuesday
morning will be arrested and brought
a prisoner to the Assembly.
n