Evening star., 1927-09-14
Few Among Either Vets or Drys
But Find Praise for Wheeler

to assume the. leadership in various
public causes" comments the Ann
Arbor Times News, while the Worces-
ter Evening Gazette sees him at
times ''as a heroic figure"
Many pay tribute to his political
shrewdity, the New York Evening
World describing him and his as
sociates as 'the shrewdest, the sharp
est, most adroit, and altogether the
ablest group Of practical politicians
this country ever knew" The Kan
sas City Post views his policies as
practical politics, and that was what
Mr.. Wheeler was playing in order to
assure the success Of the dry cause"
The Pasadena Star-News, while CIV
ing credit to the w. G. T. U. for its
support, holds that ''to Mr.. Wheeler,
more than to any other one person.
belongs the distinction of carrying
prohibition legislation over the top
in Congress and in the States" He
is praised as "a game fighter" by the
Savannah Press.
Calling him a wonder, the st. Louis
Post-Dispatch enumerates his quail.
ties: "Tireless energy, extraordinary
political sagacity, a dazzling propa-
gandist, vigilance that never nodded,
most intense convictions. nerve with
out end, every inch a fighter" His
passing, to the Birmingham News,
''deprives the League of a militant
and unyielding figure, the country of
a vigorous and sincere citizen" That
his work was mot for personal profit"
is an outstanding fact to the Phil
adelphia Evening Bulletin. The Blue
field Telegraph estimates his cause
as lone of the two great economic
and political revolutions of our
country at slavery and the
liquor traffic.
The Des Moines Tribune-Capital
points out that "the 'supergovern-
ment' charge never took hold. for the
reason that he never did more than
use the force of publicity to uncover
policies of officials who wanted to let
law go unenforced." The Albany Eve
ming News says of his opponents that
"if they did not approve the interfer-
ence by Wayne Wheeler, they had
to admit that he was a worthy oppo-
nent-one worth fighting"
But not all voices are raised in per-
feet eulogy. The Charleston Evening
Post expresses the view that "the
cause of real temperance may be
stronger without him." while the Chi
cago Daily News, commenting on his
recent work in Illinois, remarks that
NUSu lll0 OISdillZGu lOICSS VI Tie
league deliberately exalted political
success above a clear moral issue.
the essential immortality of the cru
sader who chooses expediency in pref
erence to the right is Enthusiastically
exposed" The Dubuque American
Tribune adds that mo party boss
could have been more intent than he
in playing every part of the game for
all it was worth"
ut is safe to say now," asserts the
st. Paul Pioneer Press, that the po-
litical philosophy he came to typify
is regarded with increasing apprehen'
sion among disinterested statesmen
and serious people generally" and the
Chattanooga Times suggests that 1T
may be that his going will mark the
passing of much of the bitterness and
intolerance which has characterized
prohibition discussion, and permit the
entrance of something like rule OF
reason where the liquor question is
The Hartford Times ex-
presses the Judgment that his method
set an example of lobby az aCSressive-
ness and efficiency, of political tyranny
for which there is no American paral-
lel"
For the most part, editors seem to
agree with the Fort Worth Record
Telegram and the Duluth Herald
which express similar views when the
former notes that widely divergent
forces unite in wholesome respect for
a man who believed in himself and
the cause"