Evening star., 1926-04-20
|VETSLOOK AHEAD
TO NEXT ELECTION
Expect to Win Dry Votes by
Andrews Advocacy of
LegaIized Beer.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


NEW YORK. April 30.--This sec
ii, II of the country is deriving consld
,thle satisfaction from the hearings
i ng held in the National Capltal on
he proposal to modify the prohibi
t.on law.
Although New York has never lost
ne that light wines and beer might
me day lie permitted by law. there
no question but that the Senate
a lringS have been taken here to
~ IN that the day of modification is
ltnt far distant. Conversely. the drNs
! reahouts are doWncast because they
iieve the agitation for modification
IN weaken the opportunity to en-
&c the law as it exists today.
This explains in a measure the dis
rpmfiture of the drys over the state
unnts made by Assistant Secretary
.ncoln Andrews of the Treasury De
prtment to the effect that legalized
= er would help prohibition en-
forcement.
Fear Breakdown of Law.
Mr.. Andrews insists that he did not
i"tend to advocate such change. but
hat in response to a question he
ye his personal opinion as TO what
nc effect might be if a change were
cally made The truth is that here
well as in Washington many dry
leaders, privately admit they do not
object to legalized beer. but they are
aid the whole structure will be
I"oken down if the drys WELD an
t1ch
Not only do they fear that the sale
of legalized beer would require ma
rhinery for distribution that would
make it easy To distribute whisky. too,
lNIt they think the moral effect of
my modification would be one OF de
eat for prohibition itself and that
enforcement of any law would be
made correspondingly difficult there
after
When the hearings are concluded
he vets are planning to carry the
light into the congressional election
they admittedly have more ammuni-
ION than ever before All the stump
eDeaker needs to do now is to read
aome of the testimony of Gen. An
,reWS, himself in order to win the
support of the vets without neces-
aarily losing all the drys. The whole
irive has been directed at the drys
anyhow. They have had such a big
ma jority that the am of the vets
has been to draw to their side some
nf the dubious drys. 1t is "a slow
process at best. but never before
have the dryS been attacked from SO
many quarters.
MOdificatiOnists Embarrassed
There is arising a middle Off the road
group which likes to be known not as
either wet or dry. but favoring a mod
ification of existing law. These mod
ifcationiStS are embarrassed to some
extent by the support given them
from the thirsty element. who would
never be content with legaiized beer
and who are really aiming to break
down the entire prohibition system.
1t is conceded by all disinterested
observers now that the eighteenth
amendment Itself will not be repealed,
but that modification of the Volstead
act affords the onlv' opportunity for a
change in the existing situation. This
rests on the theory that the eighteenth
amendment gives Congress the power
TO determine what is really an intoX-
fcating beverage.
Contrary TO a general impression,
the Supreme Court has not definitely
disposed of this point. the drys claim
ing that the Supreme Court has mere
lv said that Congress was well within
its rights in establishing one half of
per cent as lower limit for non-in-
toXicating beverages.
Up to Supreme Court.
The drys contend that if Congress
ever did pass Il law permitting four
per cent or five per cent alcoholic
content. they would still have a
chance to bring the controversy to
the Federal courts with the hope of
proving to the Supreme Court that
Congress. by such a law. violated the
eighteenth amendment in permitting
the sale or manufacture Of a beverage
deemed to he intoxicating. If the
drys could prove to the satisfaction
of the court that four or five per
cent alcoholic content was in fact
intoxicating. then the whole case of
the modificationiSts would fall to the
ground.
The vets are not unmindful of the
legal obstacles ahead and they are
confident that when public sentiment
is developed sufficiently to demand a
repeal there will be quick action. The
hearings were designed by the vets
TO develop public sentiment and to
aEitate the whole question anew.
Thus far the vets have been success
full. For, on the Eastern seaboard at
least, the talk about modification is
increasing and the hearings have had
4 profound effect already. Whether it
has affected the vets in the South,
where the dry votes are found in
Congress, is still another question.