The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-13
WOMEN VOTING DRY, RESULTS
 PRIMARY SHOW
Hard to Find Single Woman Leader Who Stands 0pen- Iy For Light Wines
 and Beer
NRx CARoLYN vANCE

Special Correspondent of The Age-HeraId
 Copyright, 1929, by The Age-Herald)
 Washington, August 12.-Returns from the Ohio primaries this week serve to put decided check upon an ill-timed effort to spread the propaganda that the women of the country are turning against pro hibition and want a modification of the volstead act.
 With women voting in Ohio the dry sentiment seemed to be over whelming. The issue Is still to be settled in New York and New Jersey.
 An emissary of the modification forces, now in Washington, has called down on her head the opinion of women workers Tn politics and other civic movements, that she is decided anorchronism.
 The protagonist of light wines and beer, like a dripping mermaid arising from a wet, wet sea, ap- peared here with the weighty title of National Director of the Wom- enss Committee of the National Lib eral Alliance" Her name is Miss Helen Baughan and she announced, without cracking a smile, that she believed a majority of women throughout the country favor modi- fication of the dry laws.
 She may have sources of informa- ton which are convincing, but the writer has found it difficult to find any woman leader except those in the business of disseminating wet propaganda, who will come out openly and declare herself in favor of light wines and beer.
 All Violently Dry
 Women leaders at the headquar- ters of the former militants, the national women's party, were ques- toned as we'll as the women of the rival faction-the League of Wom- en Voters. Women at the head quarters of both the democratic and the republican parties were asked for their wet or dry opinions with same result Nowhere could a wet be found and all of those who were willing to talk on the subject, were not only dry, but violently so.
 And yet, Miss Baughan says Most of the women with whom l have talked on the subject of pro- hibition say that they oppose con- tinuation of the present drastic laws. They claim that they did not realize what prohibition meant until the law had actually been put into effect and then they discovered that it was entirely too drastic. They now say that they made the mistake of not realizing the difference be- tween prohibition and temperance and in trying to achieve the latter they were misled into favoring the former. Most of them now realize the terrible consequences of indul- gence in the vile bootleg concoc- tions of today and are worried about the effects upon the next genera ton. They know that bootlegging and all it's attendant evils are the natural accompaniment of such pro hibition laws as the Volstead act and they want to get back to q sys- tenn that will make real temperance possible"
 Women have put too many drunkards to bed" says Mrs liar riet Taylor Upton, leader of the re- publican women, lever to be in fla vor of anything but strict prohibi- ton"
 Drys Must Defend Selves
 Its up to the women to get into the parties." says Mrs. Emily New ell Blair, leader of the democratic women, and make their influence felt in deciding the wet and dry issue. You would think to hear all
  that getting a man drink w. the most important thing in the world today while settling the national debts and the recovery of the eco homie stability of the world were problems that would have to wait until the wet and dry question was decided in this country The vets injected the issue into the congress sional campaign and it is up to the drys to defend themselves. It's too bad that the wet and dry issue is beclouding the political situation while far graver problems are in need of solution"
 'The League of Women V ters.' said Mrs. Maud Wood Park, has made no study of the effect C, pro- h,bition on home life and the well fare of children and my work has given me no opportunity for spe- cial observation in that field. I can only repeat the story one Of my friends tells of a radiant faced woman whom she saw not long ago on the two-bed pay ward of city hospital. The mother had borne one other child in that hospital, but in the crowded free ward. With touching pride she called my friends attention to her baby's dainty frock. That dress is every stich hand made she said. I had a real out fit for this baby. I call it my prohibition outfit--and this time Jim comes to see the baby and me every day
 Tt is not easy to imagine that mother working to bring back even light wine and beer. And the moth- CTS of the nation are no more likely to nullify the eighteenth amend ment than they are to demand the cultivation of typhoid germs in the water science has purified.
 "The League of Women Voters is heartily in favor of the enforce ment of laws from the time they are put on the statute books"
 Mary Anderson. director of wom- sn's bureau of the United States department of labor; Grace Abbot, chief of the children's bureaus of the United States department of labor; Mrs. Blair Bannister. second in command in the woman's depart ment of the democratic headquar- ters, and Miss Eleanor Brannon, treasurer of the national women's party, have all come out strongly for enforcement.
 
 SPEAK FOR YOURSELF LAURA