Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-17

Behind the scenes Of the White House
and the wickersham Law Enforcement
Commission prohibition politics Is being
, played with vengeance these days
Drys and vets are waging battle royal
for their respective views in the hope Of
having them incorporated in the Wick
ersham report and eventually adopted
by President Hoover. The story goes
that up to within q few days ago the
wets-or rather the moists-were head
ing irresistibly for q touchdown. The
goal was beer Of as high-powered volt
age as 3.75 per cent. Alarmed by the
unexpected momentum of the vets, the
drys organized an aggressive eleventh.
hour defense which, some Of them be-
lieve, has definitely checkmated the
vets mad dash toward fernented liquor
made from malt and hops. The Vol
steadians are prepared for Wicker
sham Commission report that will be
far from bone dry. Not only are the
Hoover law enforcement fact-hnders re-
garded as vets or semi-wets, but the
drys think the commission has been
affected by the anti-prohibition agita-
ton and the recent elections.
y 4 X
Apart from the purely alcoholic con-
tent Of the controversy. the politics of
II Is causing perturbation in the high
est Republican quarters. 1t is an open
secret that the more the Democratic
ship tends 70 list wetward the more
the President is advised by many
shrewd @. o. p. politicians to main
tain an Incorporating dry stand.
nNrf tafeAArsxr osR1 VNfaalArAFataNv ar
cording TO one of these Republican
the elbow of a President, all teach
that a great party seldom gets any
where by adopting in self-defense the
position OF the enemy. The authority
Just quoted points 10 the late @. o. p.
gubernatorial fiasco in New York-a
futile" loss, as he puts 1t.
n X
Pressure has been put to bear upon
the Wickershammers, from the Repub-
lican dry side, not to be stampeded
into stressing exclusively the unen-
forceability of the liquor laws. This
Is exactly what the vets want en-
phasized. Sweeping modification Of
the Volstead act would then ensue, they
fancy, with the certainty that night
| follows day. Dry strategy is also
taking the direction Of trying to induce
Messrs. Wickersham & Co., II they
! feel they must call attention to the
| equally glowing colors the benefits of
| prohibition-how it has promoted in
| dustrial efficiency, ETC., etc. Drys hope
that the commissions report will also
tabulate the many safeguards thrown
around personal liberty by the liquor
statutes, including the legality Of home
distilling and even, under liberal con-
struction, of home-brewing.
Mobile Giacomo de MARITIME, who is
completing his sixth successive year as
Italian Ambassador to the United
States, has taken leaf out of Calvin
Coolidge's home-exercise notebook. Mus
solini's accomplished envoy has just in
| stalled q rowing machine in the en-
| bassy and works at the oars early every
morning. In younger days M. de Mar
| tino was a passionate oarsnnan on the
italian rivers. He stu thinks the steady
stroke is the most satisfactory form
| of muscle play. The Ambassador Is
| who ever got down on his knees with
| Woodrow Wilson. The occasion was the
war Presidents visit to Rome just be-
| fore the peace conference. De Martina
was then secretary-general of the Ttal-
ian ministry Of foreign AFFAIRS. One
\ day while Wilson was going over italian
| territorial demands in Rome, it was
suggested that he look ut q big map
spread out on the floor Of room In
| the foreign ONCE. De MARITIME was as
signed the job Of explaining the MAP
| to Mr.. Wilson. For the purpose Of close
study, both Of them dropped TO their
knees.
John J. Raskob isn't the only angel