Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-11
u. S. IS HELD DRY
/ AT HEART IN POLL
Straw Vote of Magazine
Shows Only Six States
in Wet Column.


most spirited storms over prohibition
since passage of the Volstead act, a
straw vote, Nationwide in its scope,
taken by the Pathfinder, weekly maya
zine. published here, shows, according
to results disclosed today, that the
Nation is still dry at heart"
The fact that nearly four times as
many votes were polled Tor "stricter
enforcement" as for prohibition as Is
was taken by the Pathfinder to mean
that "a great many people are dissat-
iSfied with present conditions.
The vets still hoping for return OF
the saloon constituted the smallest
group in the balloting, while less than
half of those reporting favor light
wines and beer.
The District swung into the wet column
with 288 wet ballots and 2S9 dry, while
the totals for the country as whole
stood at III ,S02 wet and 272,826 dry.
Out of total of SIT votes cast in the
District of Columbia this city thus gave
a margin of only 40 to the wet group
The dry vote was broken down" into
prohibition las is" and "stricter ex-
forcement,'' while the wet vote was
''broken down" into four different views.
Prohibition "as is" in Washington
poIled 65 votes, while most of the dry
sentiment here was in favor OF "Strlcter
enforcement" with 174 votes.
Favor Government Sale.
The wet local vote shows 155 in favor
of Government sale of light wines and
beers, 80 in favor of Government sale
of hard liquor, 80 in favor of return to
the saloon and IL in favor of private
sale at non drinking places.
The six States voting wet were Idaho,
Louisiana, North and South Dakota,
Montana and Nevada.
The country as whole cast 214,S73
votes for Stricter enforcement and 81, 953
for prohibition "aS is"
The wet vote for the Nation showed
that 1864 favored Government sale of
light wines and beers, 56,502 favored
Government sale of hard liquor, is, 444
wanted return of the saloon, and 24,252
voted for private sale at n-drinking
places.
Results of this first Nationwide pro-
hibition poll by the magazine was in
terpreted by it as inviting two specific
deductions"
"First and foremost" says the maya
zine, ''it would seem that the Nation
is still dry at heart. At any rate, it Is
in the rural regions, which, after all
hold the balance of power. This. despite
the present deafening ballyhoo Of an
extraordinary wet tendency.
This should please the drys.
Dissatisfaction Is Seen.
But the fact that nearly four times
as many votes were polled for 'stricteI
enforcement as for prohibition as is
would indicate that q great many
people are dissatisfied with present con-
ditions.
which may or may not be encourage
ing to the vets. The Pathfinder pub
fishes the returns for what they are
worth
The circulation of the Pathfinder, ii
was explained by the magazine, sis
largely in the small towns and rural
communities, where the dry sentiment
is well known to be more prevalent than
in the large cities. This fact is re-
dected in the returns" continues the
magazine, interpreting the results. For
example, in Kansas, which has only IS
per cent of the urban population, the
vote is about rs per cent dry, while in
New York, which has about SO per cent
urban population, the vote is about SO
per cent dry"
Maryland Votes "Dry."
Maryland, which has refused to enact
a State enforcement code, went dry in
the Pathfinder poll by vote of 1907
TO 1899, with 462 favoring prohibition
cas- is" and 1,845 stricter enforcement.
The wet votes were accounted for as
follows: Government sale of light
wines and beers, 497; Government sale
Of hard liquor, ADJ; return of the sa-
loon. 1913, and private sale at non
drinking places, 1913.
Virginia went dry by 271 votes, with
1893 wet and 1884 dry. In Virginia
789 favored prohibition "aS is" and
3,175 wanted stricter enforcement The
Virginia wet vote was divided as fol-
lows: Government sale of light wines
and beer, 1.342; Government sale of
hard liquor, 1881; return Of saloon,
300, and private sale at non-drinking
places, sill.