Newspaper Page Text
STATE CANVASSED ON OUTLOOK FOR LIQUOR LICENSE ELECTIONS APRIL 16, 39 CITIES WILL VOTE ON OPTION; DRYS NOW LEAD "Sun" Canvass of New York Kloction April 16 Shows Anti-Uum Ahead. WOMEN TO SWAY RESULT Wets Tutting Up Bitter Fights in larger Towns and May Carry a Few. The Tottr" of thlrty-nlna cltlca In this fute will determlno on April 1, two wiekn from to-morrow, whether the n Nn rr niiy other form of liquor clllnic l to be tolerated In their communities. Thli special local option election author !id by tho Wll-Whceler law will bo without doubt tho liveliest and moat In tertrtlnff u of the ballot for a special tad specific purpose that ever will have occurred In the history of New Tork. For the first time women will have a sy. Having been rescued from their traditional Hating with criminals and ' i'ofecthc. they will go to the polls to ilres themselves as authoritatively as mm upon a queotlon which has taken t,r.t rank as a polltlra Issue. Special iorroponclcnl nf Tub Scn reporting concisely upon the likelihood-of ' the de tlnn to he made by the voters of tfielr ltlcs Incllno to the Judgment that the treat majority of tho women voters will ftrlke hard against liquor. It appears. Indeed, from the canvass uhlch has been conducted by this news paper that the women are the bosses of the situation and that they are strongly minded to wipo the saloon and other phases cf tho liquor traffic out of exist ence in most of the cities where the test will bs made. This fact la Indicated by ih preponderance of the names of women upon the petitions which had to 1, filed under tho new law as a legal Wflimtnary of the election. It Is based also on the seat and activity that women !ie shown in nioet of the cities during ii colorful and even acrimonious cam paign. Mqiinr Interest Scared. Their attitude ban frightened the mip porttrs of license, and in practically every one of the thirty-nine cities where voting will be done the liquor Interest have equlrmsd and struggled to nullify the woman strength so potentially re vealed. In the first place, legal attacks were made against the validity of peti tions, tho argument being used that they remained duplications of names and were improperly prepared. This attack failed, however, even where duplications were proved, because In every cue, when corrections were msdc, it was shown that the dry peti tions contained vastly moro names tlran were required by the law. Next, the wets plotted to eliminate the women by a court decision. In several iltles, Syracuse, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. among them, the powerful liquor Interests attacked the right of women to vote, alleging that they had no suffrage standing because they had r.et registered. This scheme failed when Supreme Court Justice A. S. Tompkins of Rockland county upheld the constitu. tlonallty of the Hl-Vheeler law and rlsht of women to vote under its yrmisions. There will be a very large vote cast in thce cities, where the strength of the I saloon Is to be challenged as never be fore. The asfRTeentc will he iaru no i "sly on account of the accession of the wo.-nen but also because of the Interest around among the men by means of bitter campaigning. Generally speaking, the license -s. no license fight resolves Itself Into a duel between morality and materiality. On the one hand are the forces usually associated with law and orJer the ministers of churches, the church societies, the temperance asso ciations, various organizations of women nnfl a majority of women as In dividuals all maintaining that the paloon Is nn InftiMtn,- mt ,.ll I. should he wiped out without thought j "i ir.e monetary loss Its disappearance may aue. I'lKlitlnar (or Their ProBts. On the other hand is the conglomerate ooalltlnn made up of various liquor In terests fUhtlng for their profits, com nrrc!al associations who fear that a lusher rate of taxation may have to be J't if the revenue from liquor selling s denied to their communities, advo 'ats of personal liberty, labor unions "rd a man of Individuals Inclined to k'!4 to a habit In most of the cities the fight will be 'ese. hut a surrey of the situation at n. date reveals, as nearly as tho out ot.o of nny election can be surmleed, it t!-e drs have had the better of the Jht and are ro!t:(T to the polls with the S'eater probability of succes.. Tho can 's' undertaken by correspondents of 'ir, St Indicates upon Its face that at at t:shtcen nf thirty-two cities from wl" h teporti have been received will ote dry and that fourteen cities or the thirtj-two re, jrtcd on lean toward the etj, though very slightly In some cases. A" matters stand the following cities "-m fairly certain to abolish the saloon : Auburn. Batavla. Beacon, Canan !fua. Coming, Ithaca, Jamestown, Johnstown, aioversville. New Rochelle, ""tint Vernon. Ogdensburg, Oneonta, Fulton, riattsburg. Tort Jer1, nome ra Salamanca, "he following cities display a close ""Mt favorable In many cases to the n st ra r,.ni Falls; Geneva, Txick- MI'IdlrtOTii, Newburgh. Norwich, ';: rj . i ... cj-i ...... c North Tonawauda and ii.vcitovn . . - v. ii muitAiru ill "atnvln. New Hoohelle. Mount Vernon. '):ienl,urff, T.rt Jen-Is, Home and aUrnin-a, nlth the drys having the wtter ehance, nnd In Hlmlra, Olens Geneva, Newburgh and Syracuse, w.th the wets t coming to lead. Women Important Factor. Hut, all estimates and calculatlona are r.mr.rM by ln9 b,. ncw of w'nanv. entranco Into the altuatlon. ""wo women are traditionally aup--m n a, pTfit moral Issues, It ia -. iM,,iy that they will cast their 0 f"i- no license in heavy majority; Hi'tiimptlon Is weakened here im-rc n. in Home, Hchenectady, f dr.il other manufacturing cities mil attitude of many women ( 1 'dhorifie clan, who seem to think i-i t Hi r men foil; are nono the worse ' f rl iHi or two of beer dally. 'a s-rnc cities, as In Watertown, there M lm retentment caused by tha "wpaignlng methoda employed by tha '"is. who were accused of branding vtrjbody not patently fata tho "atoon aa "creatures of the liquor traf fic" Another complication Is the atti tude of persons who signed tha dry petitions and who atate, nevertheless, that they will not vote accordingly. The Impression given by such aa thesa la that they feel they were dragooned Into signing the petitions. Especially bitter contests are reported from Syracuse and Newburgh, where as In other cities the argument thaj abolition of the saloons will raise tax assessments and bring ruin to property holdcTs Is employed with some effec tiveness. All In all, however, It seems likely on the face of the reports from correspond ents of Tub Svx that rum la In for punishing defeat two weeks from to morrow, and the outstanding feature of the election la the power the women h'ave It In their hands to use. The prohibition forces will spend their entire time this week in registering women for the special election. The special registration days arc next Friday and Saturday. Women of 21 years of age and over may vote, provided they rcjrlstrr. Men who voted last Novem ber and are still residents nf tho pany election district do not need to register again, but those who failed to vote last outurr.n or who have changed their election district may register the same as the nsw voters on April S and 6. The general .situation is revealed In the following reports received by Tun Sl-n : AUBURN. Although sentiment Is changing In a swing toward license, Auburn probably will go dry' In the special election April 18. The drya have organised very thor oughly and by personal work of over a thousand advocates of a dry Auburn will be able tn bring out the women's vote, which will decide the Issue In all probability. The drys assert that the city will vote no license by 2,000 majority u. a total vote estimated at 12,000. The wets :lalm confidently that Au burn will remain wet owing to the ap parent preponderant sentiment among working people, especially In the foreign colonies, where many Polish and Italian resorts would be closed by prohibition. BAT.WIA. Batavla, the only city In Genesee county, la conceded generally to be closely divided on the excise questions which will be submitted to the voters. Liquor men claim the men's vote will carry the questions In tha affirmative by fully 400 majority, but frankly admit they can not get a line on how the women will vote until after the two days of regis tration. 1 However, a cire'ful survey of the sit uation leads careful observers to bellete that the city will go dry on all four questions beraii'e of the women's vote. Both the wet and dry foiccs are well organized and the temperance people are spending money on the preliminary campaign. It the women register within 73 per cent, of the number of men hi the city there Is no question but that the city will go dry, leaving two wet towns in the county, Elba, and Byron, with two li censes in each town. The population of Genesee county la 40,000 and of Batavla 1S.000. BEACON. Conservative opinion Is that the dry forces will carry the day by at loast 2 to 1. The population Is 11.000. There will be about 2.100 men and 2.300 women to cast ballots. Interest runs very strongly. The dry forces are finely organised, par tlcularly among the women, and prob ably 80 per cent, of these will vote dry on all four questlona to be submitted. The liquor Interests schemed to pre vent aw election by an attempt to nullify the petition. Charges of fraud and per jury were made by counsel for the wets. These Uctics felld, Hut the fight has grown so bitter that a movement has been started by the drys to impeach Mayor Samuel Bevkln, who treats the matter as a Jke. The Mayor In a statement notes that there are twenty-three vacant store In the principal street and that there will be i twenty more vacant stores If the liquor traffic Is wiped out. He asks who W going to make up the taxation of which tho city will be deprived. i In this city the W. C. T. V. has 500 I members. Another strong organization Is the Anti-Saloon League. All the Trot, estant ministers, except the Episcopa lians, have joined forces with the drys. The rector of Rt Joachim's Church, the Kev. Michael V. Aylward. Is out for tho wets, however, claiming that local pro hibition will not prohibit, and that'ltii effect Is actually to make drunkards Meetings are held nightly and the stir Is like that preliminary to a Presidential election. CANANDAIGI'A. Betting Is odds on with practically no takers that Canandaigua will vote dry In the special election. Political wise acres predict a dry Canandaigua begin ning In October, Liquor men, who ad mit that they have seen the handwrit ing on the wall, are preparing to switch to other vocations during the summer. This campaign will be a continuation of the scrap of 191S over the plan to make Canandaigua a city. This move waa launched and vigorously backed by the liquor Interests to shut oft license campaigns. It is responsible In a large measure for the present local option law. the author of which. Herbert K. WhcehJr of this city, former aAssemblyman. was stined to press the legislation to pre vent a lcpctltion of the farclt-nl proceed ing leading up to Canandalgua's Incor poration In the face of strenuous opposi tion. Practically the same forces arrayed against the city charter plan are ad vocating no license. There seems to be a feeling, quite generally cherished, that were the election to do tor men only Canandalgun would go dry. But women voters also are taking an active Interest In the campaign and are being looked to by both sides to pile up a big majority against the liquor traffic. comrnro. All present Indications point to a dry victory at the special excise election April 16. with the women's votes aa the determining fnctor. House to house canvasses made by both the wets und the drys show that fully 70 per cent, of the women who will ote will voto dry. and that most of the women Intend to vote. Tho preponderance of the women vote for no license will be more than suf ficient. It is believed, to overcome an admitted predilection of a majority of the male voters for license.- Conserva tive estimates place the dry majority at under S 00. The campaign of the drys, however, la tn no sens a women's campaign. It has the backing of the solid business men and the manufacturers of the com munity, who have themselves through committees directed the campaign. Union labor has been less unfriendly to the drya here than In some neighboring cities, but it Is believed the majority of union labor men will vote wet. KI.MIRA. The local 'option campaign U proceed ing here vigorously yet without the bom bast anticipated by many who feared III feeling would be engendered. The drys and the wets resort to printer's Ink to espouse their respective causes, using tha newspapers, billboards, window cards and street cars. Each aid la making a houM to houaa canvaaa. Opinion! aa to tho outcome vary largely according to tho bias of the per son giving them. The estimated, vote for the city Is 2O.00D. On tha local op tion petition there were among the sign ers 3,800 women and 3,700 men. As the drys made n thorough canvass at the lime of securing signatures the wets pre dict license will prevail. The result wilt be close In any event. If tho city goes dry It Is predicted It will be bone dry, GENEVA. Sentiment seems evenly divided on tne local option election. All eyes are focused on the woman vote, which so far as a reading of the public pulse divulges. Is cither for tho drys or non committal. The campaign between the wets and drya is devoid of acrimony. -Jt Is con ducted exclusively through newspaper advertisements and is absolutely lacking In spirit. The drys filed an election .empowering petition containing enough names to swing the elections. The wets did not seem perturbed, but openly declared many of the signers would vote other wise. The winners will have but scant majority. GI.KXH PALLS. While It v.111 not bo surprising if the men and women voters vote In favor of -losing the saloons in the special elec tion, it Is not epfted that the city will go dry entirely. From present Indica tions It Is UliM'.y that the voters will favor continuing the hotels and whole sale places. The sentiment for a 'bone dry" city Is not nt all strong owing to the fact that there are licensed liquor places In South Olens Falls, which Is Just across the Hudson niver,' and In Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, a tmlley ride of three and six miles respectively. Liquor Is also sold In tho town of Queensbury, which borders th city limits nn tho north. There Is no organized effort on .tha part of the wo-icn voters to vote against the liquor traillc. Uowever. there ia con siderable sentiment against the saloon among both men and women. Glens Falls receives n great deal of summer traffic and as long as surrounding plnccs hav licenses many Glens Falls people aro not desirous of having the city dry. They fear the possible loss of summer visitors. 1TITACA. All surface Indications Indicate defeat of the licenae forces at the coming local option election. A vigorous though quiet campaign Is being conducted by both the wet and the dry forces through ad vertisements in the newspapers, and the dry are also holding a series of meet ings on Sundays at which local min isters and prominent speakers of the W. C. T. t sre urging elimination of the saloon. Hoth sides are conducting a personal canvas)) of the voters. A feature of this campaign has been tho absence of mud slinging and per sonal abuse. Another novelty Is that the Antl Raloon League has no part whatever in tho campaign of the dry forces. Its ser vices were offerod. but the offer waa politely declined. It has been the aim of the dry forces, to make this a home rule campaign so far as possible, and to keep acrimonious debate and abuse out of It. The character of the campaign was largely shaped by the chairman, Liberty Hyde Bailey, one cf the foremost leaders in agricultural edncatlon and former director of the State College of Agricul ture, The executive secretary and ac tive manager of the campaign is Prof. R. 8. Baby nf Cornell University. The decisive factor In the election will be the women's vote. While the drys claim they could carry the city even without the women, this claim should be regarded with skepticism. But If 3,000 women vote, and the Indications are for nearly that number, a majority 'of them will voto against the saloon. It is esti mated that 6,000 votes will be ca.it, with tho ratio something like 10 to 6 for the drys, JAMESTOWN. Jamestown will vote dry at the local option election In the opinion of a ma jority of the city officials. The sentiment has always been strong for temperance. Before the enactment of the Klines law, excls matters were governed by' a board of three- excise commissioners. The voters always kept one no license man on the board and thereby made It possible to hold a stiff contest every year. One year the tem perance folk lost the election by a ma jority of one. A representative of the Anti-Saloon League, In a public speech in James town a few years ago, said it was the onlv city In the State where It had been impossible to get evidence of violations of the excise law. Mot of the women are expected to vote for no license, but many of those employed In the wooiun mills are witn the .ets. Consequently It Is difficult to predict what effect It will have on the election. JOnNSTOWN and GLOVEIlSVILLr: Popular opinion In Johnstown and Gloversvlllo anticipates a victory for the "drys" in both cities. It Is believed tho margin will be conslderaBle. The "drys" are conducting a systematic campaign through the presa and by means of pub lic meetings. Special emphasla Is laid upon the financial and economic phases of the question. It Is the general Impression that even If women l'ad been denied the franohl&n that the men would have voted ll'iuor out. and that row with the women In th fight there Ss no doubt n to the autcome. The women have made a very thorough house to house canvass on their own account, and their reports Indicate but few women will voto "wet." Incidentally the women havo made It their business to ascertain as nearly as possible the sentiment of- tho men on the question and what they have learned In that re gard substantiates the opinion of the man on the street that the "drys" will win. LOCK PORT. While an aggressive campaign haw been waged here for no license the past three weeks. It has created no unusual excitement so far and Indications aro that the result will be close, the "bone dry" provlston not being relished by many citizens who are otherwise not favorable to the saloon business. The petition filed hero March 13 con tained 3,601 signatures, of which l.tOO wero of men and 2,192 women. Many who blgncd tho petition say they do not Intend to vote against license. This In cludes a large number of women. The campaign so far, outside of one or two meetings, has been entirely conducted by the Cltlsens No-Llcenaa League by means of newspaper publicity. The Liberty League and Central Labor Union are advocating the cause of tho "weta." MIDDLETOWN. With a campaign as hot as any ever held tn this city and growing mora bit ter every day. guessing aa to the result of the local option election In this city m one of the popular local sports. How eer, with the women voting there seems tittle doubt that no license will be car ried. Tlvs Taxpayers' and Business Men's League are fighting for license while the Committee of Three Hundred, h jaded by the clergymen of the city, are conducting a warm campaign against liquor selling. With only tha man voting the "wats" would carry tha city by a large majority. Women tax payers, who fear higher tazoa if the city goes dry aro a big factor In the election and may awing It to the wets. NEWBURGH. The struggle between tho wets and the drys waxes hot, nothing of a purely local character having ever before stirred the city as has local option. The petition whereby the election Is to be held was signed by 1,230 men and 1,082 women. The vole cast on which the percentage was based numbered 4,374. Tho list closed on the part of the drys a week previous to the prescribed time. The women signed separate peti tions and had the requirements curled out, as on the part of the men, purcly for educational purposes. It was claimed by tha wets that the women not belntt yet registered wfre not qualified to sign, although two rtllnlgn from tho Attorney General of the State declared they were. On whether the women, will register and vote on election day will depend In a measure the outcome of the election, for both sides are marshalling their full strength. F. K. Howard, better known ss Convict 11221, Is managing the dry campaign. Tho Libert? League, as the wet committee styles Itself, Is looking after tho Interests of that faction. James H. Woertendy'ko of California htw ben here speaking for the drys, with Judge Stratton, Itabbl Wlso and others an nounced for the future. The wets had C. A. Wlndla of the conoclfl.if to boom their side In a pub lic meetings, where a discussion of Bible facta was raised, participated In by local preachers. Several other promi nent speakers, one from Maine, are promised by the wets. The men seem to be evenly divided, hence the ques tion of how rTeat the woman suffrage will aid figures largely. The subject of real estate, business Income and pos sibility of automoblllsta cutting nut a dry town figure largely In the discus sion. The Newburgh Shipyards, Inc.. employing 3.000 men. fear that a dry town will prevent them getting nnd keeping competent workmen. Two hundred leading merchants lti the city signed a protest against hold ing an election and asked that their friends) refrain from slgnlnu the petl iton to have the election. The saloons were cut from 100 last year to fifty-five under the new law and the Income to the city was greatly reduced. The wets aro holding this argument up as a reason for not voting dry. NEW ItOCIIELLE and MOUNT VERNON. These neighbor cities aro now prepar ing for the hottest special election ever held In either, as tho followers of pro hibition are conducting n red hot cam paltn to bring about tho success of their plans for no license. The wets. Including the hotel men and saloon keepers, hacked by brewery In terests, have raised n big fund to pre vent either city goinp dry, but the mem bers of tho no license committees assert that the women will be tho deciding factor at the special election, and that Jhey will vote to make Mount Vernon nnd New Rochello as dry- as the Sahara. In New Rochelle the petitions for no license have been signed by 3,400 per sons, of which 2,000 are women. The drya and the wets are conducting publicity campaigns in the local newspa pers. The main argument of the wets Is that the closing of all tho saloons and hotels, nnd there are many In both cities, will mean ruin to property own ers. In New Rochelle the argument is raised that the city should he totally dry because Fort Hlocum is cloe and thousand of soldiers pass through New Rochelle to the fort every week. Counsel for the wets in New Rochello nnd Mount Vernon have raised the point that the women cannot vote nt the spe cial election because the election law provides that they have not been reg istered, but this la answered on the dry side by the statement that the women will be allowed to register April & and 6. It Is the general opinion that If the women get a chance to vote both cities will ko dry-, and for that reason they are bending every effort to prevent the special election from being herd. The special election Is to l a test nf tho no license question, and If both cities should ko dry then It Is proposed by the temperance followers to submit tho same proposition in every town ana city in the county at th fall election for tho purpose of making Westchester county a strict temperance county. of;nr.NsnriiG. Upon the voto of tho women depends whether this city is to eliminate the saloon and Join the ranks of prohibi tion communities. This is admitted by the leaders of both wets and drys. Tho saloon question Is beln thoroughly discussed here. No cam paign of recent years has developed such Interest, and whoever wins will not win by default. A thorough canvass of the city has been made by each side. The drys claim that they have 80 per cent of the woman voters with them and they anticipate victory by a majority of probably- 2 CO The wets aro fighting on the Demons! liberty argument, and they consider that this appeal has made votes for them. The best prediction that can be made nt present Is that the result will be verv closely attained, with tho dry's as the most likely winners. ONEIDA. There Is a lull In tho fight between the wets and the drys in this city. The drys are doing their best to whip up interest in meir campaign and the wets are arraying arguments favorablo to a continuance of the liquor tranlc. Organized labor. Including tho cigar makers' union. Is lined up solidly ag.-'.nst prohibition. Just across tho city line, over In Oneida county, Is the village of Oneida Caatle, which will be wet for two years more at least, and this fact Is a strong factor In favor of the wets. The dry petition contained about 1,400 signatures, or twice as many as were necessary. More than half of the signers were women. But ot. the whole there la very little enthusiasm for pro hibition. Tha Indications aro that no license will be defeated by a small ma jority. What tho women will do Is more or less guesswork, but many of them It Is known will vote on tho side of the wets. ONEONTA. Unless thero Is a sweeping change In public sentiment In Oneonta before elec tion day a dry victory Is surely Indi cated. The movement here Is purely local in character, being inspired and directed by a committee of cltlsens enlisted largely upon economlo grounds, hence the arguments ot the wet faction are apparently Influencing few not Inter ested tn some way In tha tranlc Tha women of Oneonta wilt vote In large numbers, and a very large per centage of them will vote dry. Shrewd observers, howefer, declare the city would have gone dry Independently of tho women's vote. OSWEGO and FULTON. local option campaigns in Oswego and Fulton have not processed suffi ciently to forecast the result with any degreo of accuracy. Well and drys hove opened headquarters here and are planning a vigorous campaign, Tho result apparently depends almost entirely on the women's vote. The drys are focussing their attack on tho evils of the saloon In relation to tho home. Answering this attack tha opposition Is pointing to the one arrest for public Intoxication In Oswego for March, 1918, to how that conditions could scarcely be Improved In this respect oven If tho city were bono dry. Fifty saloons wero eliminated In Oo wegn In September last and there are now only forty-four licensed places. An other argument of the wets Is that the small taxpayer will bo saddled with a heavy debt If the city becomes bone dry, not only because of tho loss of excise revenue, but also by reason of tho many empty business places. Tho probability Is that the wets will h.i successful on some of tho proposi ti. Some of the dry leaders admit privately that the elimination ot the saloon is their chief concern. Tho women's vote will not be cast aolliliv for the bone dry city. .tome appear to expect. Tho majority of woniet. voters will vote "No" on most of the questions, but thero nre many who will mark their ballots "Yes," not Levause they approve of the saloon, hut In tho caso of mnny wives of working men who drink moderately on the ground that a glass or two of beer a Uay does tha men no harm. Tha wets are making a hard fight In Fulton, but they nre not especially hope ful. The administration there, as well as In Oswego, has announced that If Ihn city becomes bono dry the tsxes will bo Increased for some years to come. This argumentvls having lt effect. However, the anti-saloon advo rates have n strong organization In Fulton, and expect, with the aid of the women's votcB, to win. PLATTSBURO. The women of this city have organ lied for active work at tha coming spe flal election, when tho question of the sale of liquor In Plattsburg during, the coming two years will bo decided. Elec tion district committees are calling upon the women In all parts of tho city and are urging them to vote. Aa a result It la expected that tho voto of the women will nearly equal that of the men. It Is estimated that nearly 90 per cent, of the woman voto will be for prohibition and that as a result the "di-ye" will win. Sale of liquor In Plattsburg would be prohibited by law for the first time In over forty yearn. Samples of the ballots tn be used M the April election already have been printed and the .women have organized classes, which nre being Instructed hy men actively working In the cause of temperance. PORT JERVIB. Tha local option election will bo close, but the drya expect to carry It, the women aiding to a large extent. Tha drys are well organized and aro carry ing on a large advertising campaign. The wets have formed a taxpayers crcanliatlon., hut office have not been announced. C A. Wlndle of Chicago gave an address apalnst prohlbltior in the New Theatre Tuesday evening to n full house, but no one accepted h'a offer of ten minutes to refute his state ments. The drys claim that he aided their cause by his references to the Bible. Ministers aro ridiculing his arguments. A full vote will be cast. ROME. , The question of whether the cltv Is going to vote dry has rather a mixed' as pect. Thono who claim to know the trend of affairs In times of special elec tions .say tho decision Is going to rest with tho women. Without the women's vote It is thought tho wets would carry Urn day, as thl Is a strong manufactur ing town, containing more than 3,000 men who carry the dinner palls. There is a foreign vote of between 700 and 800, the great majority of which will owing we!. The drys filed a potitbn with more than 2,000 names, and the wets filed a protest. After they examined tho peti tion they found that there were more than 1.300 r.amca legally recorded, the number necessary being but t,04S. The leaders of both aides predict vic tory. At present it looks as If tho dry. were going to swing the election with aid of tho women. Both sides expect to enter t.ic campaign strenuously next wtek. SI,A.MANCA. Doubtful, with the odds slightly fj-voi-.ng tho drys such Is the present classification of this city as to local op tion. Three times the requtre-1 number of signers to the petitions were secured, de- spuo a vigorous nml elaborate campaign by tho wets to induce voters to refuse to s.gn. About two-thirds of the signers were women, and so far as there are any in dications of tho attitude of the women they are largely against a continuation of llcersc. The dry forces are well or- ganlzed and will conduct nn energetic ' campaign during the closing days. SCHEXECTATJV. The outromo of the local option fight 1 In this city- hinges upon the woman vote. I If .the forces favoring a "dry" city make! good half their clatms the city will bar' the sale of liquor. The petition of tha prohibition element carried nearly 14,000 name, of which 8,000 were women, though only 3,700 names were necessary. At present the "drya" nre centring their efforta In an educational campaign. Women are be ing Instructed In the Importance of reg istering. There are 13,800 women in tho city eligible to vote. In last year's Mayoralty campaign 14,000 votes were cast by the men. It Is argued from this that If three-quarters of the women who signed the pell Hon will take the trouble to register and to vote tho cause of local option Is won. Liquor Interests and labor unions al lied with the Interests, such as bartend ers and waiters, have failed to show their hand and have taken no part In the campaign, cither through speakers or advertising. It la understood that they are planning a ten day whirlwind campaign which will bo directed through the labor unions at the home ot the la boring man. Representatives of the liquor Interests are worried, but predict that Schenec tady will not go'dry thlo year. SYRACUSE. Coming down the homestretch In the local option election both sides are claiming a victory, but both are fe.ir f til of the result and the vote Is still In doubt, There will be an Increase of between ".' and 100 percent, In the total number of votes cast at tho dry election over the vote here for President two years ago. That muoh is certain. The per centage of women who will not vote la very small. During the past six weeks the dry forces have enllated several hundred women In the campaign ami have made a house to house canvass ot the city. Schools nre being held In the various ward headquarters where the women are being Instructed how to cast their ballots. The are badly scared. They havo tiled every means In their power to com bat the dry workers. Mnes niftMliige aro being held nightly by both i lik';- In every available hall, theatm nnd meeting placo throughout the city. William ,1, Hryan came here and spoke for tlu drys. Now they have secured Hilly Sunday to come back for a one day campaign. Hilly will travel from ono end of the city to the other at half a dozen meetings as the campaign nears Its close. Other speakers of note are to bo brought here. The weta aro holding rival meetings, "Importing'' speakers and attacking tha leaders In the dry movement here. An especially hitter attack against Chancel lor Day of Syracuse University brought an equally bitter retort. Since then tho chancellor haa been let severely alone. Both aides are spending thousands of dollars In advertising In tho newspapers), street cars, billboard, pamphlets, lawn signs and every known kind ot adver tising. Betting on the result Is about even. A month ago odds of 5 to 4 were offered the ctly would stay wet. This week It han changed to even money, although odds slightly favoring the wets havo been reported, TONAWANDA and NORTH TONA WANDA. With the approach of the local option election In Tonawanda and North Tone wan rla the drya nnd wets nre straining every effort to llne'up voters. Both sides say they aro sanguine of victory and that there can be only one result at the election. The drys have been waging a longer nnd perhaps a more extensive fight than the wets, and have made great prep aration for getting out the voters on election day. Tho drys have, been sup ported by lending women of the Tonn- wnndas In conducting p campaign te-nled to educate the voters of the great vajuo and necessity, as they see It, of bring ing about a suspension ot liquor li censes. The drys have executive com mittees In both Tonawanda and North Tonawanda. who are supervising a most aggressive campaign. The weta have been holding meetings and Intend to arrange for others during the rest of the campaign, at which prom inent men will speak on the liquor situa tion from the saloon mnn'a point of view, The biggest argument being offered by the liquor Interests and business men of the Tonawandas. particularly the mer chant. Is that the voting dry of these 'cities will cause a rush to Buffalo by persons who desire to Imbibo in liquid refreshments and that such person' "III he disposed to shop there nn a more ex tensive scale than heretofore. They ton tend that such conditions will Injure the local stores. The liquor dealers have made arrange, ments to be out early on April 16. pro viding conveyances for those who hate shown a disposition to support their cause. They believe that many of the persona nho have signed the petitions placed In circulation by the drys will vote wet. WATERTOWN. For the first time In the history of the city a vote will be taken on the local option question April 16. nnd for tho flr't tlmo women will be permitted to vote. Two petitions were ell ciliated ' In thlw cltv. first, one by t!'n vts urging that tl-c election be deferred until the time of the general election next fall, and secondly, by the drys In order to I obtain the necessary signatures In order to submit the questions on the date provided under the act of tho lant Leg islature. With 1.200 signatured neces sary the drys filed petitions contain ing 2.223 names, but a perusal of the petition shows that a number of names appeared thereon twice or more, The wets did not file their petition nnd naturally have refused nn Inspection of It. The campaign has been In progres for several weeks and considerable bit terness has already developed. The churches have entered the campaign with avidity and a canvass has been taken in many Instances. A month sgo the city would have gone dry, save possibly for a drug store license, by a large majority, but the opinion prevails that the sentiment has changed tn a considerable extent be cause of the attitude of the drya. who In many Instances have openly charged persons declining to sign their petitions or to express themselves as being "in league with the. whiskey interests." At a meeting of the Rotary Club nf 1 this city some weeks ago Ray Winched Magoun, representative or the army cimp commission, "peiklncr before the i ' V L . u"1 , M there would bp no soldlcis the coming' summer at elth-r Madison Kirracks or The acilcn o,' S'vnmel Gamper I" se rine Camp. The next night the dry . rearing In Vlhany acni'ii prohlh Mon .is league came out with an advertisement . th reprepnta-lve of 'he Ani'iican VVil- contalnlng the question, "Which will von hove nniillers nr nnn. - - -rhla statement cost the drys many votes That n majority of the women will vote dry Is tho general opinion, but th belief also exists that the drya are to be disappointed when the vote Is can vassed at the numler who have voted for at least the hotel and tho drug store license, and possibly all four of the propositions w ill bo close. ARMY DRIVER HAS $2,000,000. Acting nn ChaonVnr for Poor Officer nt t'nnip Green, CnAni,orn:. N. c, M.irch 31 When .i high offli'r of the United States Amy from Camp Green appeared at the te- , let's window of a Charlotte bank the other day to have his monthly pay check cashed the president of the bank recog nized him and Invited him to open an account In that bank. j "My account." replied the officer, ' "would be worth little to you. I havo only my sal.uy aa an officer, but If you will go out with me to my automobile I i will Introd-jco you to my driver. Hi" I account would tie of snnn use to your ' bank. He. Is wortlt more than $2,000,- ' 000." Surprising, the number of women who visit our store to select cravats for hus bands or brothers. They appreciate the re fined selection, exquisite colorings and splendid quality of our neckwear. They are often emphatic in their expressions of ap proval. It's a pleasure to serve them. John Forsythe 20 W. 34th Street, (Next to Waldorf Astoria) DRYS MAKING DRIVE FOR NEEDED VOTES Final Effort for Prohibition Ratification to Bo Made This Week. SUPPORTED BY LABOR Efforts of Wots to Control Workers Repudiated by Union Men. tptriat flf patch to Tnt ?ry. Albany, March 31. With the Legis lature making every effort to complete Its 118 session by April 12 or 13. the final attempt for ratification of Federal j prohibition Is expected during the com- Ing week. Tho length of the eesslon will de pend Isigely on Senator Klen It. Brown, the majority leader. His bill to return to the convention system of nomlnntlnR State and Judicial officers Is yet to be acted upon, and It may result In a fight which will prolong the session. Gov. Whitman Is opposed to Interfering with ttie direct primary, and the State con vention measure may ogaln line up the hitman and nntl-Wh1tman force, i not nict In the rpen on the platform. Should the bill pas the Governor would L ". ,h, Vcr5' ";n,n!V,t that J'"" r" ,.., ... . , ,. hawing your nbhoiepcp of hypocrisy- veto It. but there has been talk of .., ,, ,..ero emraccl ,l the greatest po effort being made to pass It over his J lltlcal confidence uame ever rough! n veto. bo perpetrsted upon the people of .V" The prohibition fences are basing their , York StaU-' last hope for ratification on the belief Tnlka of Pretensions nnd At-tlons.1" that several hitherto wet Rcnntors will "Araln, you pretend to bo In favor of follow Senator Emerson Into the dry allowing the people Id vote on the liquor, camp. They have been making a drive I J".'?110" and ' y'J ,J'.U fouht, """I"1?" during the laat few days tn the districts of Ber.atnr Wicks of Oneida and Arget slnger of Rochester, and declare that these nnd other Penators, who have op posed the ratification meosure are be ginning to hear from their districts in no uncertain terms. It was the protest from his corwtltuents t'irit made a prohibi tion advocate of Senator Kmerson. Indorsed iy Labor. Mnny IcKlrdators who have been de landing on the assertion of labor lead ers that labor was ncaiiiM prohibition to bolster them up in their alignment with the wets nre beginning to find out that mnny labor organizations are hear tily indorsing the dry campaiKii. There are Indication., in fact, of a wide spread repudiation by organlztd Inbor of the efforts of some wet labor lenders to line up the rank nnd file of working men against prohibition. In Elmlra the Carp.sr.ters' Union has Issued r. statement drclailng lh'it the action of the Central Trades Assembly In coming out against prohibition was "another attempt of the liquor 'interests to Intimidate, cocrco and control the en tire labor movement." The statement says that until the Central Assembly shall apologize for the. treatment Riven the carpenters they had decided to with - draw their delegates from the assembly, In Blnghamton a large number of la- bor men havo organized a trade union dry league In protest against similar ac- Hon by the Central Labor Union of the city. Schenectady labor men have also voiced their proiei-l HgAlnst being put against their will in the position of sup- porting the waning cause of the saloons. the brewers and the distillers. Gomprr.'. Action llc.cn ted. I oration of Labor i rese.tid by nuny lubor men. They declare tlvat If 1 wanted 10 speak against ptnhlbltlnn a' the hearing lie should have done s as an Individual and not as n labor reiiresoi.t atlvc. Announcement from Syracuse, which Is the largest city that is expected to go dry aa a result of the city local option elections on April 1 state." that the an polntment of a third municipal and po lice court magistrate has been postponed until after tho election. Mayor Stone declares tint If the "' goes diy the i otra Judge will not be needed. I Men's Shoes Manufactured by Henry Cort & Co. Shoes with a reputation Men's Shoes 8.50 Men's Oxfords 7.50 Many styles to select from Value $10.00 and $12.00 Arttolb. QlmtHtabls? $c (En., Jlur. 40th St. at 5th Ave. Separate Entrance 449 5th Ave. Now Ready Mew Edition HIGH COST OF LIVING REDUCED If you have a piece of ground, however Email, utilize it for reducing the cost of living. GOLD MINES IN BACK YARDS There are miniature feold mines in tmck yards. Fresh, crisp vege tables, better than any to be purchased at Mores, can be prown with little trouble and trifling cost on any available piece of land. A plot 25 by 25 feet will supply a tmnll family and ;0 by 50 feet con be mr.de to keep a family of eight supplied with a variety of fresh ecctables fcU summer, lth totne to etore for winter use This ImoMrt tells nil sliout III lion ti lrn in th. l ar'j Tri nd preoirs th. sill esartly bow much teed to iimii tlma ind how to so lie mcIh aj tho ylrld t.nl my bs rsptcted- Complete Information with dlarsrn. Cllvn kluiplo and rumpltr.u I i.truc lion more thin is to bo found In oma uook oa the ubiect costing It.iu w 1,73 mcb, JSow U Ui Uiu, to rrxl up and he prepared fur fprlnii work. Price, 5 ctt. By mail, 6 cts. Address, GARDEN DEP'T THE SUN. 150 Nassau ANDERSON RENEWS ATTACK ON BROWN Anti-Saloon Leader Asserts Senate Majority Head Ts ' , Hypocrite. SCORES STAND OX VOTE Challenges Attitude as to Bal lot of People on Pro hibition. William If. Anderson, State siipcrln- tendent nf tho Antl-Snloon League, ro iMsnl 'tils attacks on i:inn II. !?rown.- mnjorlty leader of the f-'t.ite -ciiHtf. Iu another open letter jeslerdiy ill nhlch charges violation of faith aud word and "a bawling down of hyporrlsy vhl!o' entngel In the greatest political conll dence game eer." The letter follows' 1 "tn your speech the other day, In" lining up with the brewers against rati-" flcatlon, you said, 'I abhor hypocrisy.' c "We Tlll, pass over for the present your violation of faith nnd of your" word which wo offered to pmo to your constituents, from your written word and,, your public record, nut which you dared' ll'lllUS .117,11 l'. l. .nvfc j h.iicii u n v . - procedure was honestly urged, and If you should succeed In using this propo sition to enable you to get back Into the next Senate you would oppose It again and grin at the gullibility of the people easy enouvh to believe that anybody who apparently belongs body and sou, legislatively, to the liquor traffic can tu stralghifomaid mi the liquor question "You say that the people oucht tu vote. Then whv do you prevent the tepresentatlves nf tin- people, who n n charged with responsibility for ot'ns by tho Constitution of the t'nlted sir.t. . from voting on the question of the ac tual piss-age. of ratification" "We understand that you now a.y that It is Senator Kmerson who is re sponsible for the falluie to report ratifi cation on Its merits. There will prob ably be another attempt to get It up. Will you favor and vote for having It brought before the Senate on Its merit on tho question of final passage? Advises Jmoklnir Ont Hypocrisy. "Or Is your reluctance to have It eo brought up based upon a. fear that you cannot hold the. members of the Senate in line. npcauM Mine men nave sum that if tho question comes up on It.s merits they will vote for It? Anyhow, this would smnko out some hjpnert-y. 1 Or is It only the so-called hypocrisy that consist In dragging you out into the. open that causes you such dreadful an- gulsh? , "jf ynu are. In fact, free to do as y0;i please. If sou are capable of doing thp aquare, honest thing on any fub- ject involving prohibition, you can prove jt tlv i1eIpinir bring up the ratification rc!:im,on for final passage without any . f referendum nnd by releasing your a.-.s-il Id the Senate from following you nny further tow.it d destruction on the que;o-i ' DANIELS TO SPEAK FOR LOAN. lie Will Open Cleveland Campaign M rs. tinker to Sing. C:.r: w.and, March 31. Secretary P.m cl has accepted the invitation of the Cleveland Liberty Loan committee, nnd wll' Inaugurate, the third loan campaign hern next Satutriay, campaign ottlclals announced to-day. M-s. Maker, wlfo of tho Secretary of War, ha been Invited by the womnu'n (.inipa'.gn committee to sing In the pub lic rn.unre be'ore Sei'ielaiy Panlclri nialics H.- address Street. NEW YORK