Evening star., 1928-11-08
Politics at Large
By C.. Gould Lincoln.

by a decisive vote has turned It's back
on a. presidential candidate who pledged
himself to set the pace for modifica-
ton of the dry laws, even to the extent
of amending the eighteenth amend
ment so as to permit States to go wet"
If they desired. Opponents of the dry
law insist that 1t cannot be enforced.
There are no laws on the State books
that are never violated Whether the
dry laws can be enforced to a greater
extent than at present remains to be
seen. During the last year the writer
has travelled in nearly every State of
the Union. and If there is any State in
which it is not possible to procure
liquor of varying degrees of excellence.
1t must have been one of those the
writer missed. 1t is an old story that
an official bootlegger was established in
g. prominent place in Houston at the
time of the Democratic national con-
vcntion If Kansas City was any drier
than Houston, it was not particularly
obvious.
The country. however. has voted dry
in this campaign. with the prohibition
issue thrown clearly into the limelight.
Mr. Hoover, the President-elect, has de-
and against the repeal of the eighteenth
amendment. He has said that he con-
siders prohibition a great social and
economic experiment which must be
worked out constructively" Apparent
ly the country has agreed with him.
1t remains to be seen whether the coun-
try will join with Mr.. Hoover in work.
ing out this experiment in a construC-
tive manner. Voting dry and drinking
wet is another story. 1t may be con-
strued as an indication that the voters
at bottom believe that prohibition is a
good thing, although they are not will
ing to conform to it individually.
The wet cause received a severe Jolt
in more ways than one in the election.
Some of the most outspoken champions
of repeal and modification of the dry
laws in the Senate went down to defeat.
There are Senator Bruce of Maryland
Senator Edwards of New Jersey, Senator
Gerry of Rhode Island and Senator
Bayard of Delaware, all aligned with
the wet cause, all Democrats, and all
defeated for reelection. On the other
hand, Senator Copeland of New York,
who espoused the wet cause quite v1o-
lently year or so ago, has been re-
elected, defeating Alanson B. Houghton,
American Ambassador to Great Britain.
who took the same stand on prohibition
as did Mr.. Hoover. And Senator King
Of Utah, an opponent of the eighteenth
amendment apparently has been re-
elected Senator "Jim" Reed of Mis-
souri,. who has been strongly opposed
to the prohibitory law, declined to run
for the Senate again, and, he too, will
be missing when the roll of the vets Is
called in the next Congress.
Phillips Lee Goldsborough, the Sena-
tor-elect from Maryland. is reputed to
be dry" 1t is evident that Mary
land, therefore, is not so wet as many
people have been led to believe. There
were other factors in the election III
Maryland, of course. but the wet and
dry fight was not minimized. Hamilton
Kean, who defeated Teddy" Edwards,
famous for his promise to make New
Jersey as wet as the Atlantic, is ranged
on the side of the vets, but not SO
heavily wet in sentiment as Edwards.
Senator David l. Walsh, strong wet,
has been returned by substantial vote
in Massachusetts. Incidentally Sena-
tor Walsh ran much ahead of the DEM
ocratic national ticket in the Bay State
This had been predicted. Senator
Walsh has for years had strong sup
port from independent Republicans and
Progressive voters In Massachusetts, and
they stuck to him this year in great
battle. Probably no candidate for the
Senate was more determinedly wet than
Cermack, the Democratic nominee in
Illinois. Illinois has been rated wei
State also, but Cermack was showed
under.
The effort of the Democrats to line
up with them the voters who supported
the late Senator La Toilette in the
presidential race four years ago met
with a certain measure of success, but
failed to accomplish any real results.
Take. for example, the case Of Wis
consin. Senator Blaine, Republican
Progressive, threw his support to the
Smith cause Other La Toilette Pro-
gressives joined in. although Senator
Robert M. La Toilette, jr., failed to
declare for Smith. The result was that
Smith polled a very large vote in that
State, running about $4,000 votes be-
hind Hoover The wet sentiment
doubtless aided Smith in Milwaukee and
other cities in wisconsin. But the
point is that the attempt to hook
up the Progressives with the New York
Democratic nominee for President
failed in the end. Enough of the Pro-
gressives Joined with the 'stalwart'
Republicans in Wisconsin to give Hoo
YER handsome lead.
The members of the Progressive
group In the Senate up for reelection
were signally successful. Hiram john
son was reelected in California with
out any difficulty whatever. Senator
Howell of Nebraska. although he was
laid up in a hospital during several
of the last weeks of the campaign due
to an accident, was reelected. Senator
La Toilette went through with flying
colors in Wisconsin, and Senator
Wheeler of Montana and Senator Dill
of Washington, both Democrats and
both members of the Progressive
group, were reelected although their
States gave their electoral votes to Mr.
Hoover. Senator Norris of Nebraska,
although he failed to swing his State
into line for Smith in the presidential
race, has had the satisfaction of seeing
his colleagues in the Senate, the Pro-
gressive group reelected. Senator
Shipstead of Minnesota, the. sole Farm
er-Labor Senator, has been reelected
with a considerable vote. The Mime
sofa senator Is popular III Alo oCdIe:
When he first was elected, member Of
the Farmer-Labor party, he was re-
garded as a more or less wild radical.
But Senator ShipStead has shown him.
self to be an effective and we'll bal
anced Senator. 1t was noticeable in
the recent campaign that many of the
business men of Minneapolis, Repub-
licans, too, were quite content to support
Shipstead. The Democrats made every
effor. they could to win him over to the
support Of Gov. Smith in the presiden-
tial race. But Senator Shipstead de-
clined to give his support to. either the
Republican or the Democratic nominee
for President. He stood on his own
record in the Senate before the voters
If Minnesota and declared that he would
deal With the recommendations OF the
Preside-t when they were submitted to