Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26
DRY FORCES RIDE HIGH
|. AND STRONG IN CONGRESS
Question of Enforcement, Especially in
y Senate, Where Borah Opens Breach,
Is Pressing Problem.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
A SUMMARY of the atmosphere
Y Of Congress, If accurately stated,

WAAC CNC4lbo anu bARC cDCCChCo 1SSOCAubC0
with the tenth anniversary, on January
16, and since; and in the actions con-
nected with the report Of the Com
mission on Law Enforcement and with
the legislation introduced.
Among all these signs an especially
obvious one was in the respective re-
ceptions given to wet and dry speeches
on the day of the tenth anniversary.
From q comparison of the responses
from the floor of the Lower House,
nothing was ever clearer than that the
dry cause is high and strong in the
favor of the members. It is not merely
that the drys have q majority of the
membership must be admitted that
fully rs per cent of the Lower House Is
dry, and probably not less in the Senate.
The evidence was not so much In the
numbers, for there was no roll call on
any question involving dry and wet; the
evidence was in the spirit with which
Congress as whole greeted the dry
speeches.
Dry Atmosphere Is Evident.
In any room containing some 400
men there is often an atmosphere
almost as tangible as any material
thing, as recognizable as the sunlight.
And the atmosphere in favor of prohibi-
ton was clear to everybody and was
shared by almost everybody. 1t is GER
tain the moderates, the middle of the
road members who have no particular
preoccupation with prohibition. wantes;
to cheer the drys on. One would almost
say that the vets as rule, in smiling,
good-natured, sportsmanlike way, shared
the general spirit Of giving prohibition
o hand"
1t was not that the dry speeches were
better or more numerous than the wet
ones. But some of the wet speeches
-4,-H-- -
teriStic Of many wet leaders since pro-
hibition has been in Congress. The vets
too often tend merely to jeer at their
dry opponents, and the Lower House of
Congress is too good a judge of quality
in speech-making to be impressed by
jeering, or to pay much tribute to that
kind Of demonstration. ut should be
added that the wet speeches about the
time of this tenth anniversary were less
at fault in this respect than formerly;
some of those wet leaders who were too
violent without being much else have
passed out of Congress-
Going on Since Christmas.
The speech-making on prohibition
has gone on practically every day since
the Christmas recess. On the tenth
side was made by Representative Oliver,
representing a New York City district.
Early in. his speech he fell into the
familiar style of the older school of ret
speech, more intent on sound than on
meaning, too intent on being epigram-
matte to impress a House familiar with
the fact that epigrams and the spirit
of truth or earnestnesS do not always
go hand in hand, that a mind intent
on the art of epigrammatic phrasing is
likely to be less intent on persuasion.
I'VE are dealing" said Representative
Oliver, with laughing, sporting and
toasting revolution. The Gov
eminent has succeeded in driving liquor
from the bar to the boudoir. from the
saloon to the salon, from hops to hips,
from the keg to the kitchen, from the
loud speaker to the speakeaSy."
Applause for "wisecracks."
At that there was some laughter and
neutrality-suspicious. more for the wise
crack" than for the wet cause. At the
end of Mr.. divers speech there was
also applause.
A little later dry, Representative
Cooper. from Youngstown, Ohio. arose.
He made a simple, not particularly i'm
passioned speech in defense of prohibit
tion-a speech which was of the nature
of a reply to challenge.
1t was perfectly evident that this was
the kind Of speech the House wanted
to approve Nothing in Congress was
ever more apparent. The applause was
in part for Mr.. Cooper and for his
speech, but much more for the dry
cause. The House was looking for
chance to express, by applause appro-
priately directed. it's descent from the
wet speeches that had been made, its
encouragement for the drys.
Mr.. Coopers speech was applauded
throughout. In the course of his quite
brief speech, one auditor thought ne
counted some 20 Interruptions by ap-
plause. though the official record in
the minutes next day was lie
The whole occasion was one to con-
vince any observer that the vets will
get no encoursg cement in the present
Lower House. 1t is evident that the
morale of the drys in the House is as
high as ever. The House is dry. And
the House is a body that knows its
collective mind and acts in accordance
with it. CNot quite 90 much can be
said of the Senate.)
Dry Leaders Hit Enforcement.
There can be no doubt. nevertheless,
that the dry leaders in Congress and
out of it had few days of qualrn and
tremor about January / ard Just pre-
ced1ng the tenth anniversary on Janu-
airy l6. The cause was chiefly the
rather violent criticism OF enforcement
that came from some dry leaders in
the Senate, particularly from Senator
Borah and Senators Norris and Brook
hart.
Senator Borah's statements amounted
in effect to. a dictum from him that
enforcement is not success. To say
that enforcement is not a success at
the end of 10 years of experience with
it came perilously close to saying it
can never be a success. Also, Senator
Borah said that the present enforce
ment personnel from top to bottom
Is all wrong. To say the personnel of
any Government department is wrong
from top to bottom at a time when
It is directed by such men as President
Hoover and Attorney General Mitchell
is to give rise instantly, in the mind
of any dry or neutral, to a disturbing
doubt If enforcement or any ether
Government activity is not a success
under President Hoover and Attorney
General Mitchell, what are the chances
that there can ever be a President or
an Attorney General under whom en-
4oreceftn can be success?
Those implications from Senator
Borahs statements were seriously dis
turbing to the drys and tended to be
convincing, in way unfavorable fol-
prohibition, to neutrals. There was sGf-
flcient reason for the disturbance that
the dry morale suffered for q few days
Also, the rather violent criticisms
+. from Senator Borah, Norris and Brook
hart came during the holidays, when
most Of the dry members of Congress
were away from washington. Some Of
them wondered about the future posi-
ton Of these Senators on prohibition.
They would never be wet, of course but
might they go on on some course Of
their own? Might they come to have
the same relatinns 10 the dry caiIse that