The Washington times., 1931-02-23
WET-DRY ISSUE
To Be IGNORED
At BIC RALLY
No Effort Will Be Made to
Commit Democratic Party
to Either End of Buzz-SaW
BY GEORGE r. HOLMES


The National Democratic rally
to be held next week probably will
ignore the dangerous prohibition
issue and concern itself with ways
and means of rehabilitating the
party'S finances.
This was the word being passed
around in responsible party quar-
ters today to quell the fears OF
Southern dryS that an effort is
to be made to commit the gath
ering to the wet end of the pro
hibition buzz-Saw.
Chairman John j. RaSkob, his
friends asserted, is as well aware
as his opponents that the ma
tional committee has no power
and no authority to commit the
party to any policy other than
purely organization finance.
Platforms and issues are deter
mined by the delegates to ma
tiOnaI conventions, plus such in
terpretatiOns as the candidates
choose to write into them.
right baO DuSlHcSS
Even those Democrats who
frankly want and expect to see
the convention next year nomi-
nate an anti-prohibition candi-
date on an anti-prohibition plat
form concede it would be bad
business" to start a wet-dry fight
in the meeting of the national
committee here. The convention
itself must do the determining,
anyway, they point out, and
there could be no result but hard
feelings by inaugurating the dis
cussion next week.
Besides, it is considered doubt
full if a majority of the national
committee could be prevailed
upon to go on record as being
for repeal or modification of pro
hibition. The national commit
tee is composed of one man and
one woman from all the 48 States
and territories. Thus, for ex-
ample, arid Kansis has as much
voice in the national committee
as wet New York.
The same will not be true in
the national convention next
year. In the convention New
York will have about four times
as many delegates as Kansas, and
will be in a position to make. its
influence felt.
Calls Committee Dry
Senator Cameron Morrison CD
of North Carolina, who has been
the most vocal of the Southern
drys in "defying" Chairman
Raskob to bring up the prohibi-
ton issue, asserted today he has
counted noses and that a ma
jority of the national committee
is dry. The vets did not dispute
it, although they think it would
be a close division if it got down
to cases.
The Democratic vets do not at
tach to much Importance to Sena
tor Morrison's frequent assaults
on the wet element of his party.
While they do not question the
sincerity of his dry views, they
consider that the political situa-
ton in North Carolina is partly
responsible for some of the Sena-
tors utterances.
Must Go To Poles
Morrison is now serving the in
completed term of the late Sena-
tor Lee S. Overman. upon ap-
pointment by the governor. At the
general election next year he
must submit his candidacy to the
voters. There are a lot of Dry
votes in North Carolina-Hoover
carried it in 1928-and those who
bolted Smith must be lurel back
to the party.
Incidentally, Senator Morrison
supported Smith in 1928, a fact
which his political opponents in
North Carolina expect to bring
up against him when he stands
for election next year.
Some of the other Southern
drys who stuck to Smith three
years ago are in the same posi-
ton. 1t accounts for a good deal
of the prohibition rumbling which
has been going on ever since
Chairman Raskob issued his call
fo,. tha roeetipC 1oext week