Evening star., 1922-11-14
WET AND DRY TEST
STILL A YEAR OFF
Little Chance of Vote in Con-
gress Before Lapse of
That Time.
STATE BANS BAR PATH
Though Volstead Law Be Amended
and Supreme Court Approve,
All But Two Still Arid.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Is there any hope for beer and light
wines? Did last weeks election help
the vets or the '.drys'' and when can
the next move on either side be ex-
pected-and what will come of it?
These questions have been asked
thousand times since the two national
organizations. fighting for and opposed
to prohibition. began their series OF con-
aicting claims
The truth lies between the two. as
usual. Each side can present convlnc-
ing figures to show that Congress is
still dry or will be wet as the case may
h." But when one finds each side claim
ing some of the same men as being
wet and dry and when the doubtful or
n0u-votin:, group is examined and when
some of the wavering one are canvassed.
III. conclusion is inescapable that moth
ing is definite till the roll Is called and
that the prohibition issue Will be de-
,.ided in the next Congress by an oppor-
1unst bloc. which will wait to see
which wat the cat jumps.
Want Assurance of Votes.
In otrer words. there are scores of
members of Congress who have voted
dry who will be tempted to switch to
the other side if the National Associa-
non Opposed to Prohibition. which is
1rying t" parallel the work Of the Anti
Saloon League. can show that the wet
votes in their respective districts will
be sufficient to elect these members next
time
The fight has become more inten-
S1Ve. After permitting the Anti-Sa-
loon League several years start, the
National Association Opposed to Pro-
hibition is finally getting under way
with state organizations. speakers
ana vote solicitors in the hope that
they can swing II political club just
as the Anti-Saloon League has done.
On the face of the last election re-
turns, however. the case looks better for
the drys than it does for the vets New
Jersey. New York. Massachusetts and
Mary land have always been con-
sldered wet states. They stayed wet
ohio has been dry and stayed dry by
defeating the wet amendment. Cali
fornia. however. the wine-growing
state, which has always been thought
wet, turned out to be dry. defeating
the referendum. To this the vets an
sw"r that their organization in that
state was TOO young to be effective
and that there will be next time"
Illinois Either Way.
In Illinois you can take your choice
as to what the election meant. The
straw vote for 2.75 per cent beer was
not opposed by the dryS at the polls
at least il is claimed that the drys
were asked not to vote at all so as to
see if the vets could muster a ma
jority of the votes cast. Some OF the
drys voted anyhow. but the organiza-
tionS contend they made no fight. Out
of 2.nUp.G0h votes cast 100000 were in
favor OF The beer amendment.
Senator FoneTene. democrat, of
Ohio. was considered a "wet" and in
his place Simeon FesS. a pronounced
dry was elected. Senator Hitchcock
of Nebraska. democrat. was openly in
dorsed by the National Association
Opposed to Prohibition. but he made
il clear that he didn't favor a modi-
tication of the Nolstead act. Although
his defeat has been attributed to the
opposition of the dryS, many Of his
friends insist that goodly number
OF the 10000 Germans in the state
really punished Mr.. Hitchcock for his
championship of the Wilson cause
after the war So even the dry lead
ers frankly admit that there is a
doubt as to the meaning of Nebraska's
dry, which undoubtedly it is. as SEN
;tor Hitchcock himself was a convert
to the cause.
Vets Lack Majority.
Dry headquarters comedies the wet
strength to be about 1873 and argues
hat in the next Congress 296 will be
definitely dry. This is on the basis
pf oI1 old namhers u-ho yotod dry
Wet headquarters starts with about
rs known vets and contends that
sixty vets have been elected in place
Of drys. This would make a total of
1S5, but that isn't a majority. which
must be at least els. The difference
between 1S5 and 21S, however, is ex-
pected to be gained out of the ninety
members who privately are said by
the vets to have promised they would
switch if it could be proved the coun-
try was swinging and their own dis
trictS would support them.
The National Association Opposed
I" Prohibition is endeavoring to prove
to the wavering members that they
had better turn to the wet side. but
the chances are no real test will be
elected is called into special or reg
ular session some time after March 4,
1923. Meanwhile the fight will be
carried to states and congressional
districts from coast to coast.
Now, when all is said and done, and
majority Of both houses of Congress
are ready to modify the Volstead law
what practical effect will their action
have? Supposing Congress- decides to
permit the manufacture of 275 beer
and light wines. The Anti-Salo
League argues that such modifica-
tion would be futile. as forty-three of
the forty-eight states of the Union
have their own laws making one-half
of l per cent the legal alcoholic con-
tent for beverages of all kinds. CALI
fornia has just adopted by referendum
this one-hAlf of per cent standard.
The law of Congress permitting a
greater degree of alcohol would not be
effective in any states which had laws
of their own at one-half Of 1 per cent.
Two states have the l per cent stand
ard and two states-Maryland and
Observation-Disclosures any limit, but
are governed by federal statute.
No Light Wines"
The National Association Opposed to
Prohibition admits there Is no such
thing as light wine" and that un-
less wines are fortified with sufYicient
alcohol thew turn into yjbegar Meet