Birmingham age-herald., 1894-07-18
GRAND OUTPOURING. The Best Citizens of Birmingham
 Resolve to Act. LAWLESSNESS MUST CEASE Our Lives and Property Pledged to lt-A Committee of Or-
 ganized Effort.
LAWLESSNESS MUST CEASE

The good citizenship of Buckingham and Jefferson county is aroidsed to full sense of it's rosreonsijiiIty.
 morning with the best citizens of the town.
 There was one feeling, one readiness of purpose animating them all.
 Dr. J. B. Luckie presided and Mir. N. F. Thompson was secretary.
 "Our community has suffered enough. Our lives and property are at the service of the law officers and the cause of law and order.'
 Ringing speeches were made by General Johnston, MT. Rhodes, Colonel Hewitt, Captain Ward, Colonel Shepard, Captain Webb, Captain Weakley, MT. T. H. Johnston, Professor Burrus and others, all sounding clear and distinct and leaving no doubt that the community is aroused to a sense of both insecurity and duty. The speakers were in earnest.
 There were some special incidents.
 When Mir. Rhodes sat down amid cheers Ed Warren handed the chairman copy of the Sunday Morning Star of last Sunday with unfavorable comment.
 Colonel Hewitt said in his speech: "There's a dirty little sheet, the Item, which ridicules Tom Jones for bringing thel troops; here.' A voice, "Read.the Sunday Morning rG st star;m ColGnsl Hewitt lowed the remark.1 man who criticises Jones for maintaining the law would not assist in preserving it himself.b Cheers.
 The widest demonstration of the meet ing, amounting to pandemonium, greeted MT. T. Il. Johnston when he said:
 ''I claim that man is as much of mur- derer when he kills man in barroom as when he kills him at Pratt mines. The trouble is we let some criminals off and do not enforce the law, and arraign our good people for that.'' [Cheers.]
 feature of the meeting was the tribute paid by every speaker to Governor Jones, and the applause which greeted every mention of the governor's name.
 The committee on resolutions was as fol- lows: Capt. w. H. Graves, chairman; i; H. H. Brown and N. F. Thompson.
 The report of the committee was as fol- lows:
 Whereas, The acts of crime and Iawless- ness that have paralyzed business and jeopardized the material prosperity of this community are such as demand from every good citizen the utmost efforts to ferret out and punish, and to this end we pledge to the authorities of this county and state our united moral and personal support; and,
 Whereas, The fact that the crimes and acts of violence committed at Pratt City come from striking miners, and as the business men of this and other communi- ties have been and are now contributing to the support of strikers families, and are thus furnishing the means to prolong a strike that means destruction to the inter- ests of the district. Therefore be it,
 Resolved, That every one wh1 subscribed to the relief fund for these strikers be re- quested to withhold all further contribu- tlons thereto, and the Associated Press requests the same of other communities un- til present disturbances among this class shall cease. We believe the executive com mittee of the miners, by their persistent course in urging continuance of the strike, are directly chargeable as being the cause of the outrageous lawlessness in this district, and are indictable as conspirators against the peace and dignity of the state. That we, the citizens of Birmingham and vicinity, in mass meeting assembled, do hereby denounce the action of the strikin g miners in firing upon the guards and work ing miners on yesterday at Pratt mines as an outrageous attack on the rights of un- offending citizens, and is subversive of law and order in this district, and that we hereby tender our services to the Hon. Thomas G. Jones, as governor of the state, and uphold the law at all hazards. That committee of twenty five of our most discreet citizens be appointed by the chair to take this matter in hand, and to suggest such plans as will be most efficient to put an end to such damaging and out rageous acts of lawlessness in this district. We regret that we feel the necessity of referring to some of our newspapers who nave lately attempted to belittle the char acier of our public officials, whose sole