Evening star., 1927-10-08
BY ROBERT BARRY.

BY ROBERT BARRY.
Senator William Cabell Bruce o.
Maryland, Democrat, is militant anti
prohibitionist. He leaves no cause foI
doubt of his views, in the Senate ol
out of it.
THE effort of shifty and timid poiti
cal leaders" Senator Bruce declared
''to suppress the prohibition issue is
as John Randolph said of the effort
in his time TO suppress the issue OF
slavery, only an attempt TO cover up
an earthquake with a carpet.
In my opinion nothing could be
more futile than the effort that is
now being made by the party poltroon
or pussyfooter to shift the attention
of the Democratic party from such
an absorbing and engrossing issue as
prohibition to such comparatively col
Orless issues as tax reform, tariff re-
form, election profligacy and the like.
1t is nothing less than an attempt
10 convert the thought of the party
from an issue everybody is thinking
about to issues to no small extent un-
real that nobody is thinking about; or
that are being thought about only in
a languid or purely secondary way.
Prohibition Paramount Issue.
"I cannot see how any one can rea.
sonably doubt the prohibition issue is
the paramount political issue at TINS
time The fanatical element of our
voting population. which was mainly
instrumental in bringing about pro.
hibition. is strenuously, if not eXcit-
edly, endeavoring to keep it from slip
ping down hill; while the element of
that population which was opposed to
prohibition has, unquestionably, been
waxing stronger and stronger.
During the widespread newspaper
polls, taken in the early part of 1926.
of the 6.376, 165 votes cast, only 1874
were cast by the 'drys.' In November,
1926. liquor referenda were passed
upon by the voters of eight States,
New York, Illinois, Wisconsin. Mon
tana, Nevada, Missouri Colorado and
California. and the vote in five, New
York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Montana
and Nevada, which contain between
one.sixth and one-f1fth of the entire
population of the United States, was
adverse to prohibition. In New York
it was to l, and in both Illinois
and Wisconsin 2 to l.
Cites Record Vote i'm States.
"That the vote in Missouri was not
adverse to prohibition was, it is fair
to reason, due to the fact that the Mis-
Houri referendum was framed in such
sweepingly reactionary terms that the
st. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Associa-
ton Against the Prohibition Amend
ment and Senator James A. Reed, all
relentless foes of prohibition, advised
dts rejection. 1t is significant that at
the same election Hawes, wet men,
ber of Congress from Missouri, was
elected to the Senate from that State.
THAT the vote in California was
likewise not adverse to prohibition
was. it is fair to rea ason, due to the
fact that the referendum in that State
did not involve "A clean-cut issue be-
tween modification and non-modifica-
tion, but merely the question whether
the State should recall its pledge to CO.
in the enforcement of the Volstead
act.
Grape Growers Interested.
cit should be borne in mind, besides,
that the enormous increase in the
use of California grapes for wine max.
ing has notoriously converted vine-
growing communities in California
that were formerly wet into dry com.
munities. AS it was, prohibition won
in California by a small margin of
$4,000 votes in total of more than
a million votes.
I'm Colorado, supposed to be one of
the dryest of the States. prohibition
won by a margin of 10000 votes only,
in a total of 186, 900 votes.
Add to all this the fact that many
newspapers are now assailing prohibi-
ton and that, in great part of the
United States, it is almost invariably
topic of eager conversation, and it
would seem clear that prohibition is
the major political issue at present.
See No Chance for Dry.
II might add that during the recent
sessions of the Institute of Public AT.
fairs at the University of Virginia.
which covered a wide range of public
topics, the largest audiences were
those which assembled to hear the
discussion of the eighteenth amend.
ment.
Under these circumstances. how
can any one reasonably believe that
any dry. nominated to the presidency
by the next Democratic national con-
vention would have the slightest
chance of being elected if opposed. as
he doubtless would be, by either a dry