Evening star., 1923-05-31
Vets and Drys Thunder Ad-
vice to Governor-Albany
Jammed With Orators.
WOMEN DOMINATE BODY
DEMANDING BILL VETO
Executive Told That Either Policy
He May Adopt Will Be
Wrong.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
ALBANY, n. V, May S1.-Gov. Smith
was almost the only person in Albany
today who professed to have an open
mind on the advisability of signing
or vetoing the legislatures bill for
repeal of the Mullan- Gage state pro-
hibition enforcement act.
Drys. vets and prohibition neutrals
marched on the capitol today. primed
with last-minute arguments with
which they hoped to influence Gov.
Smiths action on the legislative bill
for repeal Of the MullanGage state
prohibition enforcement act, which he
must sign, veto or kill by failure to
act between now and midnight Sun
day.
Numerically the drys got the jump
on the opponents. beginning to pack
the assembly chamber, where the
public hearing on the repeater was
to be held more than four hours be-
fore the time set for the governors
appearance.
Women PredOmfnate.
Preponderatlngly of the feminine
sex, the opponents of repeal rushed
for the front seats. and got most OF
them, sitting patiently through the
forenoon hours while Gov. Smith
busted himself with other affairs.
Every dry was decorated with a white
badge bearing in blue letters the slo-
gan For law. against repeal"
Not to be outdone. a wet adherent
soon put in his appearance with
huge banner bearing the legend:
When the Anti-Saloon League comes
down approaching that drinking
is sinful
I'll wager the rascals crown they
always preach best with a
skinful."
The banners life was short, how
ever, for, on protest of Miss Alice
Carpenter, head of the Molly Pitcher
Club, which is opposed to prohibition,
and Assemblyman Louis A. .CuvillieT,
author of the repeater bill, 1t was
banished from the hall amid applause
and jeers.
Mrs. ida B. Sammis Woodruff of
Brooklyn. New York states first wom-
an member of the assembly, who had
been selected by the drys as their
floor leader, announced that her cam
paign would be as follows:
One hour devoted to legal argu-
ments against the repeal by United
States Attorney William Hayward Of
New York, Orville S. Poland, state
counsel of the Anti-Saloon League,
and Wayne B. Wheeler. general coun-
sci of the Anti-Saloon League of
America.
One-Minute Speeches.
The remainder of the time. what
ever the allotment, to be consumed in
one-minute speeches, mostly by
women and ministers.
Col. Hayward. it was explained. is
appearing not as an advocate or an
opponent of prohibition, but merely
to urge veto Of the repeater in order
that the government may have the
full support Of state agencies in en-
forcement of the Volstead act.
Ransom H. Gillett, general counsel
for the Association Opposed to the
Prohibition Amendment who is di-
Of making the repeal effective, said
that Augustus Thomas. playwright;
Samuel Gompers. president of the
American Federation of Labor, and
James p. Holland. president of the New
York tSate Federation of Labor: John
Sullivan. president of the New York
Central Trades and Labor Council. and
former Supreme Court Justice Clear
water would be the principal speak
ers for his side.
He also was expected to resort to
the oneminute speech program for
some of the adherents of repeal.
Off1cially undecided. despite a flood
of letters and kilograms that have
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