The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-27
WHERE THE BLIND
 TIGER FL0UR|SHES Experience of Jackson, Missy
 Points a Moral ANY ONE GAN BUY LIQUOR Jaokoon Has Prospered, But condi- tons Behind the Scenes Prompt
 Citizen To Tell What
 He Knows.
ANY ONE GAN BUY LIQUOR
Jackson. Miss. october 25.

Jackson. Miss. October 25. Editor of The Age Herald.
 In view of the fact that the citizens of Birmingham are to vote in a few days on the question of whisky or no whisky, wet or dry, I am sure that Jackson $ experience along those lines will be of interest if not benefit 10 the voter who happens to be on the fence-and there are always d great many such in every community.
 Eighteen or 20 years ago Jackson voted dry and her eight or ten saloons closed their doors Two years later there was another vote and Jackson went wet" Two or four years later there was t'.lrd election and the city again went dry , The city proper voted largely in favor of the continuation of the sale of whisky under high license, the license at that time costing 5000 each, and other eX- penses of publication, etc., ran thes cost of securing a license to retail ynous and spirtuous liquors to something like s2Jc0 The saloon keeper was under police pro- lection and surveillance He was bound to close by 12 o'clock at night, all Jay Sunday, and he did not dare to permit those under 2l years of age on the inside of bis premises.
 Under these strict regulations there was very little trouble with the saloons, and the schools received the benefit of the license. But the country was jealous of the town and when the opportunity came to knock out the saloons the country vote was almost solidly against the safe of whisky no matter what the regulations might be.
 Possibly now that the city has more than quadrupled in population since the last whisky election was held some ten or 12 years ago, the city would outvote the country and restore the saloons and a heavy and very acceptable revenue 70 the city. But no effort to get mp pc tition has been made in years and the matter has never been put to the test since the city voting strength grew large enough to overbalance that of the coun try. And then, the city is prospering without the saloon revenue. though taxes are now, and have been for several years Is mills on the dollar for the city prop erty owner while the county pays about half that.
 Now for the effect--for the results of prohibition;
 In the first place it never prohibited, and that is the strongest argument in
 
 Another strong argument Is that under the present dry" state of affairs the blind tigers have fiGurished like green bay trees.
 Another is that any boy, from b years old up, can purchase the blrd tiger whisky just easily as can man; Sunday as well as other days.
 Another most serious objection to pres ent conditions is that the stuff sold by the blind tigers costs twice as smuch as good whisky should and used to cost, and it kills at 10 rods, being the cheapest and vilest stuff that can be bought from the wholesale dealers in cities bordering on Mississippi.
 It is safe to say that there are not less than one hundred places in Jack son today wh ere whisky may be bought at from $1 50 to s2 per quart, and which does not cost the dealer moIs than $2 per gallon. Most of these joints also sell cheap article of beer at 20 cents. and they are all getting rich. There are men in Jackson who have made tn ousands of dollars off the illicit sale of whisky, some of them retiring with competency. They are caught now and then and handled by the courts, but it is no trouble for them to pay their fines of $50 to $500 and get back to work the same day. 1T one has ever been landed in the peni- tentiary the fact has not been made known. The little fellows break into the county farm preserves occasionally, but hardly ever.
 At every term of court there are scores of cases against the blind tigers, but it is seldom that one is punished