The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-02

federal building in New York beginning Tuesday. Former Judge Franklin Fer riss of St. Lous will hear the evidence as special examiner. The government will oe represented by Frank B. Kellogg of St. Paul and c. B. Morrison of Chi cago. It was expected that number of leading officials of the Standard oil com pany would be required to testify, but MT. Kellogg has said 1t is possible that to the books of the company, in which
  ings bank deposits, if divided equally among all the people of the state would give each person S6.14. By similar division each person in Ohio would receive s9.42.
 By similar division of the deposits in the savings banks of the prohibition state of Maine, each person would re- ceive $S0. 77-quite a striking instance of the financial ruin wrought by prohi- bition!
 The Convict Question.
 Much is being made of the leadership of certain great industrial corporations in the fight against prohibition. The argument might be illuminated if the heads of these big concerns would con- sent to tell us how many of the con- vcts they work are in duress on ac- count of whisky, and what this convict labor costs in comparison with free la bor
 "The leadership of these gentlemen would be made vastly more effective, too, if, after declaring the necessity of the saloon to their business, they would quit declining to employ the victims of the saloon.
 "The argument of the necessity of the saloon for the purpose of municipal rev enue is the big stick of the saloonist. When he f1ourishes that argument is expected to be at an end.
 Birmingham gets $112,0O0 annually from saloon license. The tax rate cannot be increased, so a deficit of s112OOO stares the city in the face. What are we go- ing to do about it? Well, for one thing, we will have to give in our property for more nearly what it is worth.
 Raise in Tax Values.
 Tax values in Jefferson county have been raised recently $13.00O, GOO. Of this I am informed by an official that in the city of Birmingham the increase is about $S 100000. an increase that will yield the clCy additional revenue to the amount of $SO,OOO.
 And, again, the distribution of $75000o of whisky money Into the legitimate chan nels of trade. and the natural increase of values because of the elevation of the moral tone of our citizenship, will speed ily make up for the loss of the saloon license.
 After all. that $112,000 municipal reve- nuef rom the saloons comes pretty high, since the business of the community is taxed S750.000 annually to produce 1t. Is that all it costs us to get $112OOO revenue from the saloon? Hardly. We are asked to vote an issue of bonds of S5O0,000 to enlarge our court house and iail in order to take care of the victims of the saloon The cry is incessant for more judges and police officers. Gentle men, the saloon does not pay it's way. The revenue it brings us costs too much. We would better go down in our pock- cts and dig up the s112,O0O we get from it. for it costs us annually many times that much indirectly.
 More Than Economies.
 But the whisky traffic Is more than an economic problem. It stands indict- ed In every community where 1t operates for a persistent and pernicious political activity that makes 1t the chief menace to our civic life. We can have no cleo tion in which the saloon ring does not seek to dominate the issue in it's inter- est. It has been ever its policy to own and to intimidate the public officials. We have had in Birmingham within the past year ample evidence of the danger from the saloon as polltlcal laclot' With undisguised design together with the gambling element with which 1t is indisso,ubly joined, 1t reached forth its hand to take charge of our entire munic- ipal government. How near 1t came to succeeding should put every good clti- zen to thinking.
 "The saloon has always followed the policy of controlling municipal govern ment in it's own interest. It will never change its policy. We will have to light if in every city election so long as it Is in our midst. The only way to eliminate it from politics Is to wipe the whole bus mess out.
 Grandstand Playing.
 "We have had our city council jockey ing and grand-stand-play for whole year between the fear some members have of the whisky ring on the one hand and the rising storm of prohibition sen- tlment on the other. And yet the license stands at $500 Oh, no-the saloon has no influence in the politics of Birming- ham! If you think it has, l hope you will take the trouble to look up the re- ports of the meetings of the city council for the past few months and see how little of the time of that body has been given to the saloon in comparison, for instance, with that which has been de- voted to the city schoolsl
 Tired of Situation.
 "As a citizen of Birmingham, am tired of it. l want our city fathers to have an opportunity to consider some- thing else besides whisky. I want this whole obtrusive, arrogant. domineering business taken out of our politics. We would as well make up our minds to one thing-we must whip the saloon out of ex- istence now or fight it over and over In every municipal election hereafter.
 Too Big a Question.
 '"rhis is too big question to be con- fined within the circumference of a silver dollar. It has a social bearing to which sober thinking men cannot be blinded. To the southern white man. all problems are dwarfed in comparison with that of the presence of millions of black people who must live and work out their destiny side by side with us and our children Only God knows how we are to make the adjustment of racial relationship. The fu- ture looks dark to the most optimistic.