The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-02
Insists That Jail Should Not Be Removed from Its
 Present Site
COVENANTS MEET AND
 EXCHANGE SOME JOKES
Board of Revenue Will Probably De. eide Not to Submit the Question of Removal to the Voters
 of the County.

Judge Dan Greene comes back at Dr. John w. Stagg's conversational interview | of Wednesday on the jail removal ques- tion with q hot reply, in which he insists that the jail remain where 1t stands. A very amusing incident occurred last night when the two leaders of the fight met face to face. They passed tibes through each others ribs at lightning speed, but all in friendly manner. Judge Greene had just finished giving his views. and when pr. Stagg was asked for an in terView he stated that he would wait and see In this issue what the judge had to say before replying.
 In the meantime while the discussion is going on, the Board of Revenue is doing little thinking of It's own. A meeting was held yesterday afternoon when the question was discussed, and it is probable that some definite action will be taken today Several of the members propose to leave the matter of removal off the ticket entirely and decide that them selves. In fact, the majority have ex- pressed themselves in favor of reconsider ing their former action.
 Here is what Judge Green had to say; "Dr. Stagg has played in almost every role since he has been living here. from being authority on baseball to locating Vulcan. and I must say usually credit ably, but he still shows himself a yer sate artist when he poses in the dual role of interlocutor and end man in manner that would make Al Fields or Lew Dockstader look to their laures "The good doctor elects to be facetious about this matter, and Is so busy en- l toying his own witty remarks and ap- | plauding his own humor, that he fails to l see that he has not given one single pub | lie or economic reason why the county | jail should be removed from it's present | location.
 1 T really must apologize to the public l for appearing in print on this subject, l for my sole object in going before the
 Board of Revenue was to present them
 some facts in regard to the conduct of
 business between the jail and the crim- inal court, and not to dictate to the board nor influence public sentiment. I leave that to Dr. Stagg. It seems, though, 1 was unfortunate enough to spit on Dr. l Staggs side of the path The trouble l however, is that fellow can't spit at all without getting on pr. Stagg's terri ! tory. for he not only occupies both sides of the path, but the outlying territory as l we'll and whether the question is how | to make the 'Barons win ball games, or | who shall be Mayor, or where Vulcan l shall be located, or how to entertain 1 guests at a dinner. or shall freight trains | run on Sunday. or any other question where the public may be interested, 1t l te ,.x1fe. e.Z,tn l who must always tell us how best it :, may be done So much has this gotten to l be an accepted fact. that 1t is said that | some time ago citizen telephoned The | Age-Herald to stop his paper, and when | asked his reasons for such an order, an- [ swered that two whole days had passed and pr. Stagg's name had not appeared | at all.
 | q don't blame Interlocutor Stagg for | putting his hand over his mouth-he , would have been Justified in laughing out. Taking Dr. Staggs article. and elimn- l atlng his would-be witticisms, some of
 which were as hard to comprehend as my 1 eloquence was for him to discover, we 1 fin not one single reg son why the jail | should be removed except that Dr. Stag2 | and Father Cover desire 1t, and for that
 reason the membership of those churches ! favor it. Doesn't this establish the i truth of my assertion that the desire to
 
 and that arguments based on the per
 sonal desires and wishes of those own ! ing or interested In property immediate l ly surrounding the jail should not out
 weigh public convenience, public econ | omy and public safety?
 | Tt Is not a question of whether or
 not we shall have a new jail and addi- l tional courthouse facilities. That matter | is settled for both are absolutely neces- l sary and one, no more than the other. | but Dr. Stagg proposes to move the old 1 jail from it's present location to some ! point in the country. I know not where, 1 and gives us his sole reason, apart from | the personal one. that it's present loca- l ton makes crime the most prominent thing in Birmingham, and when the fal- | lacy of this argument is shown and his 1 house of cards torn down he seeks refuge !, in a vaudeville performance that would ] be very amusing If we understood it all, 1 but it can never be made to overturn | facts or meet arguments.
 1 "A reading of Dr. Stagg's article indi-
 cates that there was one preacher who l did not wait to ascertain the facts. which ! would give the preachers of Birmingham l an opportunity to make fools of them f selves. To some people opportunity pre-
 serves itself at times only, while others | never let the opportunity escape"