The Washington herald., 1920-04-08
VETS HOPEFUL
OF COMEBACK
Gains Made at Polls in New
England Towns Enrour-
ages Liberals.
CALLED HONEST VOTE
Some Saloonkeepers Hold
On to Properties in
Cities.
(By stan Correspondent.)

Boston, April THE prohibition
lists of Massachusetts, and New Eng
land, generally, are still wondering
what meaning or significance to at
tach to the city and town elections
in March when nearly every one of
the towns and cities that for a quar-
ter of a century or more have been
voting mo license" suddenly voted
license" Some people think it was
joke, but in point of fact 1t was
nothing of the kind. and 1t is prob
ably an honest expression of opinion.
In several of the New England
States there are local option laws
in the statute books which call for
a vote on the question of granting
or not granting liquor licenses each
year at the annual town or city cleo
tions. On the whole, sentiment has
run pretty much the same from
year to year in most of the towns
of these States-no license.
Vote Usually Close.
In the smaller cities the vote has
been rather close, and one year the
vets" would win and the next year
the "drys" would win, but this year
they practically all voted wet"
Until these local option laws are re-
pealed vote must be taken each
year on this question.
The reason for calling this years
vote an honest" vote is this: Here
tOfore Boston. Springfield, Worces-
ter, and the large cities could be
almost certainly relied on to vote
wet" and. knowing this, the vot-
ers in the towns and smaller cities
did not keenIy feel the need of
having license in their own COM
munities.
Nearly All Vote -wet.-
For instance, there are about
thirty-siX cities and towns in
Greater Boston-alI within a half
hours ride of the Big City. Re-
suit: most of these cities and towns
voted no license in the past This
year nearly all of them voted Yes"
Cambridge. home of Harvard Uni
versity, which for more than a
quarter of a century has voted no
license, voted license this year
Brookline. said to be the wealthiest
town in the world, has always vot-
ed no license: this year it changed
completely. Towns in Vermont that
so voted this year.
The result of this has been to
raise the hopes of the anti-prohi-
bitionists and the further result is
that "A number of saloonkeepers in
Boston are holding on to their
places in the hope that something
will come of this honest" senti-
ment. But these are very few and
it is safe to say that 80 per cent
of the saloons in Boston have been
closed and ''junked."
Chinese Open Restaurants.
One noticeable effect of prohibi-
tion has been the increase in Chi
nese restaurants not only in Bos-
ton but in all the large cities of
New England. And these are not
cheap restaurants by any means
In Boston about a dozen new
Chinese-American restaurants have
been opened-some of them seating
as many as 500 people at a time
and 1t is difficult to get a seat in
one of them.
These restaurants are fitted up in
magnificent style-American style
with orchestras and American.
women walters, and are conducted
on a high plane. All of which
means that the Chinese are far
seeing and apparently understand
what prohibition means, much bet
tie rthan American saloonkeepers.