Evening star., 1933-07-19
The Halfway Mark.

The effort for repeal Of the eight
eenth amendment has reached the
nur, riCal halfway mark, Arkansas ana
AlaL ma adding their vo 5 to the SIX
teen States already on record IN favor
Of ending prohibition by constitutional
amendment. But while half the neces-
sarv number of States have recorded
themselves in favor of repeal, the wet
victory in the South is, OF course, lar
more significant than that. The friends
of prohibition themselves cannot logical
" discount the importance OF the ac-
ton by two of the dryest of dry States,
and the foes of prohibition believe that
the influence of Alabama and Arkansas
will furnish the remaining impetus
necessary to wipe the eighteenth
amendment from the statute books,
possibly within the present calendar
year.
With eighteen States in favor OF re-
peal and seventeen States having set
election dates betwaEl now and Novem-
ber 7. action by one more State VIII
make possible the ratification OF the
repeal amendment before January. And
when such dry bulwarks as Alabama
and Arkansas are found melting away
before the new wet sentiment TOR re-
peal. this possibility becomes a strong
probability. 1t is true that in some OF
the States the dry leaders are turning
their efforts to prevent any test OF SEN
timent. and it is true that there are con-
stitutional questions that may be inject
ed-and have been already-concernlng
the validity of the course taken in some
States for choice of delegates to the rat
living conventions But these are tao
tics that in the light of action by Ala
bama and Arkansas appear more than
ever as futile steps toward goal that
would at best represent merely tenn
porary delay.
1t is net known what part OF the
success of the repealists has been due
to the efforts of the administration
to expedite State action. 1t is reason
able to believe that with a victory
flushed party machine functionlng
everywhere and linking repeal with
loyalty to the party and the President
the repeal movement has been tremen-
dously aided Added to this has oeeh
the economic situation, which has been
cleverlv translated into apt comparl-
sons between the revenues enjoyed oy
the bootlegger and the revenues saoly
lacking to a Government that py
Herculean efforts is trying to balance
its budget. But it is probable that the
simplest explanation of the racing toe
in favor of repeal is that the great
middle class of voters. who are IN the
habit of following the leaders, have
swapped leadership The psychological
effect of eighteen consecutive victories
In favor of repeal, with the battle1leidS
ranging from Rhode Island to Iowa 10
Arkansas. is a great force.
As one of the dry leaders has said,
after the vote on repeal there are LETT
the State prohibition laws. The dry
forces will put forth their remaining
strength. after the States have spoken
on constitutional prohibition, to keep
these laws as intact as possible on
the State statute books. 1t is not TOO
early for the forces directing the repeal
10 give as much thought to the State
laws as the drys are giving them. II
one-half the Democratic pledge. which
the party chieftains are now seeking to
carry out, was for repeal OF the
eighteenth amendment, the equally
important other half was for the pre-
yention of the return of the saloon.
When the eighteenth amendment is re-
pealed. the fight of all who favor tenn
nerance-and these include repealsts-
must Immediately be directed against
the common enemy that originally LED
to adoption of the eighteenth amend
ment In the race to repeal the eight
eenth amendment it will be fatal to
underemphasize the nature OF the con-
ditions that produced it.