Fireworks

The Wet and Dry issue last week boiled merrily. In Congress there were debates in both Houses. In the press straw votes were taken. The progress of legislation in Congress was retarded by the first of the debate and the Wets pressed their attack in a way that gained them much publicity and for a time took the Drys aback.

In the Senate Mr. Smoot exclaimed: "I used to take a good deal of pride in keeping the Record clean from anything outside just what was said in this body, but I long ago gave that up. However, I do want to say that every page printed in the Record costs about $48, outside of transportation throughout the United States of the mail itself. I think Senators ought to begin to see that, if we are going to fill the Record with page after page, day after day, of extraneous matter, they are simply taking that much money out of the Treasury of the United States."

To him Senator Bruce replied: "I wish to say to the Senator from Utah, Mr. Smoot, that he should not lose sight of the fact that the tendency of correct information on this subject is to save the United States the expenditure of $25,000,000 a year, for that is the amount it is expending at present in its vain and futile effort to enforce prohibition."

In the House the Wet attack centred on Messrs. Upshaw of Georgia and Blanton of Texas. Congressman Tydings of Maryland declared: "Anyone who dares to say anything against the 18th Amendment is called un-American or a hypocrite. As a matter of fact the prohibition law is unChristian. Listen to what St. Paul said: 'If righteousness shall come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.' "

He shook his finger in Mr. Upshaw's face: "You prohibitionists are narrow and intolerant and I with many others resent the invasion of my personal rights by people like you. I ask you to follow God's plan. You can't improve on it.

"You people want to do away with what St. Paul said and put up the gentleman from Georgia instead. Prohibition has no real milk of human kindness in it. It is contrary to culture, to geniality, to refinement.

"If sitting under a tree with a couple of friends with a mint julep on a hot summer's day is a sin, then send me to hell."

Congressman LaGuardia from Manhattan asked Mr. Blanton what he thought of Congressmen who "vote dry but drink wet whenever somebody else buys."

Mr. Blanton retorted: "I think we ought to run that kind of a Dry out of the country."

And Mr. LaGuardia inquired: "You know, don't you, that we would not have a quorum here?"

Congressman Celler read George Washington's beer recipe into the Record and said he was going to send it to his constituents. Congressman Somers of New York proposed to have ballots for and against light wines and beers printed and furnished with franked envelopes for every Congressman to send to his constituents.

Meanwhile a poll carried on through the press on the question of retaining the prohibition law or repealing it, or changing it to permit light wines and beer, brought about a million ballots, in which the proportion of dry votes was only about one in nine.

Wayne B. Wheeler retorted for the Anti-Saloon League: "Do the people want beer and wine? The minority does. The majority does not, or it would secure them by legal and orderly methods. The majority has spoken its mind on this question, not once but repeatedly; not in straw votes but in official ballots, and that majority has rejected the wine and beer plan.

"The Wets will have to change .State laws before they can present any reason to Congress for changing the Volstead act. In such a contest straw ballots are as useless as a straw hat in a blizzard."

And the League itself said formally: "The Anti-Saloon League of America reaffirms its position that straw ballots upon questions which have been decided in a legal and orderly manner by the whole electorate by the methods provided in the Constitution not only serve no good purpose but actually create a false impression."

In the Senate the Judiciary Committee referred five wet bills and one resolution (to repeal the 18th Amendment) to a subcommittee (which is all dry except for one member, Reed of Missouri). The bills are expected to die.

The delegation from the Anti-Saloon League called on the President to urge on him the necessity of absolute drought, but he refused to enter the verbal battle, saying that he believed progress is being made in enforcement.