The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-08

| Austin was among the defeated. Some say that this defeat means a desire on the part of majority to have wide open" town. Others say that 1t is re- buke to Chief Austin for iis over-zealous efforts to suppress gambling and to pun ish breakers of the Sunday liquor law. And still others affirm that 1t is virtual repudation by those elements of the pop ulation who were responsible for the making of the stringent sumptuary laws of the agent who has faithfully endeav- ored to enforce those laws
 Certain 1t is that the sporting classes, and all who desire a more liberal inter- pretation of the laws, as well as those who think 1t would be wiser to remove all these vexatious enactments from the statute books, regard the defeat of Aus tin as a victory for themselves. And yet it is scarcely to be doubted that Captain Wier will be as earnest as his predecessor in enforcing even the most obnoxious or the city ordinances so long as they re- 1 main unrepealed.
 A careful inquiry into the causes which have led to the overthrow of the chief or police, whose course and character have been so highly commended by a large percentage of the population of Birming- ham, brings to light some interesting | facts
 Some interesting Facts. First of all many of the rank and lie. l and some of the~ subordinate officers or l the force. have been secretly or openly opposed to the methods and aims of the chief from the start; and because or tnis antagonisfin these men have given him only half-hearted support and eo-opera- ton in carrying on the business or the department. The work of raiding gam bling dens and suppressing the sunday liauor traffic has devolved largely upon the chief in person and the detective l force in citizens clothes, because the uni l formed men have steadily evaded thus disagreeable service.
 A man about town who Is intimately &C., ouainted with the workings Of the de-. l partment told me that some men on the l force were so antagonistic to the cnle1 that they would not interfere with crime or criminals so long as he was in on1ce.
 asked the chief about this phase or the matter and he told me that a good deal of friction had grown out of his l radical methods of trying to enforce the letter of the law, and also as regards his strict rules relating to the conduct or I men on the force.
 Policemen Should Furnish Example.
 q hold" says Chief Austin, that police officer should be an example or l sobriety and moral conduct. The rules against tippling have been risidly eh- l forced. But the constant tendency or the 1 department to become bone or polltlcal contention has had the effect to relax l discipline, and to produce persohal ahi- mosities"
 Suppose you had 1t all to do over l again. chief, would you be disposed To pursue a different couse?'
 "No. I said when l took the office that would serve so long as l could perform l my duties in accordance with my con l victions These are the same now as l they have always been. that the laws must be enforced without fear or favor, l and with no regard to my personal feei- ings or interests. You ask what practical good has been accomplished by the raids on gaming resorts. l admit that the results are not very apparent on the surface, but they exist none the less. A locomotive engineer, who had always been opposed to me, came to me lew days before the election and said: I am going to vote for you because you broke me of being gambler Before that nearly all 1 earned was lost at the gam ing tables of Birmingham, and now my earnings go to provide comforts for my l family.
 This man had been taken in raid and the lesson sank into his heart and saved him from ruin. Scores of young men have been saved in similar man ner The rude shock and the danger of publicity brought them to their senses, l and they resolved to sin no more.'
 A Single Effort.
 Here is a man who has been making a faithful effort almost sngle-handed to break down a great evil; to protect the misguided young men of the com munity, and to stem a lawless current | which, in all modern communities, is ready to rise to flood as soon as vigil ance is relaxed.
 He Is voted out of office either because 1 the people who made the law have changed their minds or because an actual majority of thos4 who registered for the primary never approved them.
 But Austin remains a notable person. ality. whose future is regarded with in- terest by friends and enemies alike. l He intends to remain in Birmingham, 1 and to go into business here. He has been l a resident of this district since his fourth year. removing hither with his | parents from Butler county when Bir- | mingham was beginning to appear on the 1 map of Alabama.
 His father, D. W. Austin, was one of | the first policeman of the village, and acted in capacity of jailcr, so that the son came naturally by taste for police | duty. The chief was educated in the | public schools of Birmingham, and at | Howard college, and at an early age be- | came a deputy under Sheriff Truss. In | this office he saw good deal of active l service in the capture of criminals. and had hand in unraveiing the mystery of the awful Hawes tragedy. Sheriff Truss 1 the chief says. undoubtedly lost his life