New-York tribune., 1920-03-05
. omen Give
Edwards Wild
Ovation Here
Hundreds Fight to Enter
Tammany Club to Hear
Jerseys ssWet" Governor
Denounce Prohibition
Attacks the Volstead Act
Declares ''Drys" Seek to
Dictate Religious Worship
by Federal Constitution

Animated by wild enthusiasm hun
dreds Of women struggled desperately
with equal numbers Of men to enter
the crowded Osceola Tammany Hall
Club, 1885 Park Avenue, last night to
hear Edward l. Edwards, New jerseys
wet" Governor, in verbal onslaughts
against the "demon" prohibition.
On the staircase, in the halls and
even on the window slls inside the
club women waited anxiously on pre-
carious footholds for the Governor to
arrive. Outside the crowd was almost
as large. On his arrival from the
Democratic Club, where he had been
entertained at dinner, Governor Ed
wards was given an ovation. With
him were Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Lewis
Nixon, members Of his staff and pom
inent New York Democrats.
Like Ku Klux Klan
The Governors entry into the club
was effected with difficulty after great
exertion by number of men of bulk.
At the outset Of his speech he attacked
the Anti-Saloon League as a "Iatter
day Ku Klux Klan," whose object was
to revise the United States Constitu-
ton $50 that every conceivable don't
will be part thereof"
ut Is attempting through amend
ntents to the Constitution" he con-
tinued, "to bring about condition Of
affairs that will be tantamount to a
dictated form of religious worship.
The wise men who drafted our Consti-
tuition could find no reason for in
cluding therein the law Of God in the
Ten Commandments, consisting mostly
of prohibitions, but this fact does not
in any manner deter, or affect, these
Anti-Saloon fanatics"
The Governors alusion to the Vol
stead act as "the biggest fool bill ever
passed by Congress" was greeted with
Il round of applause. He declared that
liquor had been made a political issue
Volstead act "The issue will be pre-
sented every two years." he added
"and every candidate for Congress will
be compelled to make known his inter-
pretation Of the law"
Not a Closed Incident
He said that certain persons tried to
make the people believe that prohibi-
tion was a closed incident ard cannot
be affected by anything that is said or
done. "These persons will soon know"
he said, chat the people will take steps
within the law to remedy the situation
now prevailing"
Governor Edwards presented the ar
gument of the "wets' in the same
guise as that of the "drys" in the
following manner:
"The several states were gradually
but surely arriving at a solution Of
the problem and it was conceded by
all far-minded persons that the will
had gone dry was being respected.
Every one had conceded to the states
the right to determine whether aIco-
hol should or should not be manu-
factured and sold and no one had ever
questioned the right of Congress to
enact such legislation relating to the
matter Of interstate commerce as would
assist the state to actually become and
remain dry.
"I am certain that the people of the
State of Maine and the other dry
states would better understand and
approve my views upon the subject of
Pei ooHot tiDCIU W anu oSil GcISItIl lIld-
tion, if those opposed to prohibition
should, by amendments to the Consti-
tuition or by Federal legislation, make
impossible the enforcement of prohibi-
tion in any state, or otherwise circum-
vent the will Of the people. This is
the converse of the situation created
by the Eighteenth Amendment and the
fairness of the reasoning should ap-
peal alike to the so-called vets and
Tobacco To Be Banned
While attacking the Anti-Saloon
League Governor Edwards said: 81 am
firmly convinced that it contemplates
still further amendments, so that the
use of tobacco, the question OF Sunday
amusement and other matters of like
kind may be regulated or prohibited
by the Constitution. The Anti-Saloon
League proceeds upon the assurance
that it has the average man 'buifaloed
and that he will meekly bow to it's in
functions and commands"
The women who attended were open
ly Of "wet" convictions and did not