Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1917 — DRY QUESTION UP THIS WEEK [ARTICLE]

DRY QUESTION UP THIS WEEK

State-Wide Prohibition Bill Is the - Center Law Is Also Discussed. X’._, . 3 : S>-r ;■ -XX’ - *- .-a-,- --± The statutory state-wide prohibition bill, which if enacted into law, will abolish about 3,000 saloons, is to be the center Of interest in the legislature .this week. It is expected that with the coming of Bryan Friday, the prohibition movement will reach its climax. 'Regardless of the final outcome, the bill is bound to make progress during the week. It is understood the senate committee, to which the . bill was referred, is friendly to the prohibition cause. If so, it is not likely a favorable report for the bill’s passage will be long delayed. But when it reaches the opening debate it’s going to find rough sailing. At this time nobody, knows just how many senators are wet or how many are dry. And it is very doubtful whether or not this bill will be known until the bill is placed upon its third reading for final passage. It will not be at all surprising if several senators who now think they are wet find they are dry after they hear from the “people at home.” And again, some of the drys may discover that they are wet for the same other reasons. The wets claim ifhat the final vote will show 30 to 20 against the passage of the bill —but just what facts they have as a base for their claim is not known. The drys do not seem 'to be discouraged at all' by this claim, and assert with equal positivene’ss that the bill will .pass. It requires at least twenty-six votes for the passage of the bill in the senate. ' It is said that the wets are claiming all of the democratic senators except four and that nine of the republican senators are in the wet column. A hall has passed the senate changing the time of holding city primary elections from March until August. Another bill is now being prepared by a Howard county representative to abolish the whole primary election law 7 and go back to the convention plan. There is, without doubt, a general feeling all over the state that the present primary law has not brought about the results hoped for, and that it has proven a very expensive and burdensome measure to the tax-pay-ers of the state.