Evening star., 1932-09-12
The Political Mill
By C. Could Lincoln.

~ w. vOuS0 LtUCOlus
Definite and final decision by the
Antt-Saloon League and the Prohibition
Board OF Strategy not to support q
third. independent and dry national
ticket in the coming presidential elec-
tion has lifted one threat from the
back Of the suffering @. o. p. There
is going to be no third ticket headed by
or another important figure in the
public life Of the country and backed
by these organizations. As most Of the
the Democratic South-appear to be
Republicans. the terjection Of Q dry,
Independent candidate for President Of
such size as to draw many votes would
have been q serious blow to the pros
poets Of President Hoover and Vice
President Curtis. The Board Of Strategy
and the Anti-6aloon League decided at
meetings here last week to conflne their
efforts to the election Of dry members
OF the House and Senate and not to
back third ticket for President. The
latter proposal was put up to them and
voted down. These ardent drys did not
give their approval to Mr.. Hoover and
Of course they frowned upon Gov.
Roosevelt. Both the Republican and
Democratic platforms were attacked.
This was q good break for the
Republicans. The @. O. p. has suf-
fered often in past elections because
Of the determination of the fanatic
dry Republicans to permit the election
Of wet Democrats rather than to see
a Republican wet put in office. The
cases of Wadsworth and Tuttle in New
York, candidates for Senator and Gov
ernor in the past, and of Mrs. McCor-
mick in Illinois running for the Senate
are instances of the fate which has
overtaken Republicans who have been
bold enough to break away from the
dry cause There have been instances,
it is true, where Republicans have de-
fed the drys and yet been successful, as
in the case of the late Senator Dwight
w. Morrow Of New Jersey. But Mr.
Morrow was so highly regarded that it
mattered little what he did on this
question OF prohibition. II the dry
leaders like Clarence True Wilson and
others. had their way today the dry
Republicans would desert in a body
vote for an independent dry or for
lNOluldA 4lVOhldop StSAdhot.
President Hoover's speech Of accept
ance, interpreting the prohibition plank
of the national platform, did great
deal to take the prohibition question
out Of the campaign as an issue be-
tween Hoover and Roosevelt. Wet Re-
publicans can support the President
without qualm, since he has placed
n enlf hn
vision Of the eighteenth amendment SO
as to permit wet States to become wet.
The only serious difference between the
positions Of the two candidates Is that
President Hoover wishes to retain a
prohibition against the old saloon in
the Federal Constitution and Gov.
Roosevelt does not but prefers to repeal
the eighteenth amendment outright,
leaving it to the States to keep the
saloon out Of the picture. This was
blow to the Democrats who hoped to
win over to Roosevelt the wet Republi-
can voters. The Democrats have never
dry Republicans with their wringing
wet candidate and platform. So they
have pinned their hopes, since Hoovers
declaration for revision of the eigh-
teenth amendment. en- big movement
by the dry organizations and their
leaders to support a third and dry
ticket. These hopes are finally dis
sipated.
II the Anti-Saloon League and the
Board Of Strategy have refrained from
backing third presidential ticket, they
have In effect undertaken to back dry
Independent candidates for the House
and Senate where the Republican and
Democratic nominees are both wet. This
may make 1t exceedingly difficult for
some Of the Republicans to be elected
to Congress Take the case, for ex-
ample, Of Senator Hiram Bingham of
Connecticut. He Is as wet as the At
lantic and q great stickler for beer
with or without the eighteenth amend
ment. The drys among the Repubn-
cans In the Nutmeg State are rallying
to a third candidate. With the hard
feeling existing between the Roosevelt
and Smith factions Of the Democratic
party in Connecticut, 1t looks pretty
good for the reelection of Senator
Bingham. But the promised detection
Of the Republican drys will make it
far more dificult for Bingham to win
against his wet Democratic opponent,
Representative Augustine Lonergan. The
dry Republicans seem to take q delight
in bringing about the election Of wet
Democrats, when the G. o. p. has the
temerity to nominate. Some OF them
are drys first and Republicans last.
Just how effective the drys will be in
their fight to elect dry members of the
House and Senate remains to be seen.
The pendulum has swung so far to-
ward the wet side this year that 1t is
dimcult to estimate Just how effective
this kind Of a campaign is to be. par
ticularly II the candidates Of both the
Republican and Democratic parties are
wet. Out In Michigan tomorrow two
widely known former dry Republican
members Of the House, Cramton and
Hudson, are seeking to stage q come
back, running for nomination to the
House. It will be interesting to see
how they fare. They were defeated in
1880 by wet opponents.
xk i
While the dry organizations are cam
paigning for the nomination and elec-
ton Of dry members Of House and Sen
ate, the vets are not standing still The
Association Against the Eighteenth
Amendment, now headed by Jouett
Shouse, Is laying its plans to put the
skids under dry members Of Congress
who are seeking reelection. Mr.. Shouse,
who until the reorganization of the
Democratic National Committee this
Summer was the chairman Of the Ex-
ecutive Committee Of the National
Committee, Is both resourceful and
widely known. As head Of the wet or
ganization he has had to lay aside par
tisan politics for this campaign, al
though it may well be supposed that
the election Of wet Democratic mem
bers Of House and Senate over Repub-
ican opponents, wet or dry, win not be
displeasing to him. The vets look upon
the coming election as their big chance.
They are going to do their utmost this
year to combat the efforts of the dry
organizations In the congressional elec-
tions.
When Congress meets In December
the elections will be in the past.
Whichever national ticket wins, the