The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-08
TUSCALOOSA BEGINS HER INFRINGEMENT Closed OiSpenSary DepriveS
 City of Much Revenue FEAR OF BLIND TIGERS Recent Campaign Was Conducted for Most Part on High Plane, Although There Were Some Outbreaks
 of Fanaticism.
FEAR OF BLIND TIGERS
BY HUGH ". ROBERTS.

BY HUGH w. ROBERTS.
 Tuscaloosa, October 7-(special.) Jon ac- l count of the blow struck business inter est in Tuscaloosa by the voters of the 1 country beats of this county, the outlook, as viewed by business men, is blue and 1 wholly uncertain.
 Were it not for the fact that the natural 1 advantages of Tuscaloosa make any per manent injury practically impossible, the commercial backbone of the city would 1 be broken. As it is, the business men l of Tuscaloosa are fearful that the exten- | sive improvements already begun will have to be in part, if not wholly, aban- | doned.
 l The accuracy of this statement is un- l questioned when it is remembered that
 the annual revenue received by the city I of Tuscaloosa from the dispensary con- l ducted here has been between $20,000 and 1 s25,OO0, the average being $23OOo. The total I profit from the dispensary has averaged l $3S,0 ,000, of which the city got 60 and the | county 40 per cent.
 It has been the report here that on &C., count of the unequal division of the dis pensary profit many of the country vot- | CTS aimed blow at Tuscaloosa proper by casting the anti-dspensary ballot.
 However that may be. it is a fact that
 the city of Tuscaloosa is fast adopting a
 retrenchment policy. Already one meet
 ing of the City Council has been held,
 and at it was decided to cut off con- l siderable number of lights, dismiss one l policeman and reduce the street paving to
 half Just what will happen when the
 meeting of this week occurs is prob 1 lematic proposition, although it Is the 1 policy of Mayor Faulk to keep the ex-
 penditures of the city within the limits of
 the income.
 Dispensary Was Model. Another matter which arouses the re- 1 sentiment of the business men of Tusca- loosa is that the dispensary of this county has been for years the model one of the
 state. It is admitted by the strongest
 prohibitionists that the dispensary here
 was conducted on as high plane as pos
 sibe It was learned that drunken man is the most uncommon sight, and that l the record of the police court will show
 
 l ragned for intoXcation. Considering the
 fact that Tuscaloosas population ap- l breaches the 10000 mark, and the addi- | tonal fact that 1t draws from the popult- l ton of the entire county, the above record l is worthy of special notice. A prominent l gentleman of the city stated this morn l ing that drunk man, other than negro
 or a man from the country, was seldom, II
 ever seen on the streets of Tuscaloosa. l fa in l enue, causes the business men of the city l to regret exceedingly the action of the l country voters in the recent election. The uncertainty as to the future has | caused d halt in business affairs. The l city has been spending about $20,0Oo an- | nualy in street paving. This Will be l cut in half It is a question as to | whether or not there will be other cur
 taiments of the police force, and the
 dimming of other street lights. Real 1 estate men are hestating about opening | new tracts of country, one of this class | stating this morning that he would await 1 until next season before putting new lots l on the outskirts of the city on the market 1 It is reported that the street tax of | the city will be raised, possibly to NO, | and that the tax on real estate Will be | increased In addition, Tuscaloosa derives | a revenue from the waterworks of the
 
 | lars annually.
 Fear of Blind Tigers. It is a serious question, with the men | desiring above all other things law and | order as to whether or not the county 1 will be flooded with blind tigers" The l hills of the county, seemingly arranged | by nature for just such practice, are l Being gazed upon with anxious coun- 1 tenances Judge Henry B. Foster of the i county court stated this morning. how ever. that he did not fear promiscuous
 manufacture of illegal whisky on account l of the peculiarly severe laws or the | county. By law, it is so arranged m | Tuscaloosa that any man found gully of | manufacturing or selling whisky lnegaliy l cannot escape punishment simply by pay ] ing a fine but must serve a term in the nenitentiary According to the opinion or I Judge Foster few men will run such a | risk even for the large profits which ad- l mittedly blind tigers will be able to reap. 1 Other citizens, however, believing prohl- l bition q spur to crime as compared to | the excellently regulated sale of whisky, doubt the ability to gain conviction when l perjury is easily accomplished, and such | a severe punishment awaits the defen- l dant Indeed, it was stated today that | this severe Tuscaloosa law was framed \ for the indirect purpose of defeating pro- hibition whenever 1t raised its head
 Some FanaticaI Outbreaks. A general investigation brought to light the fact that the campaign, as a whole, | was conducted in Tuscaloosa on hign
 plane In part, however, there occurred | the fanatical outbreaks and spiteful acts
 which every earnest man, it matters not | his politics abhors. For instance, 1t Is a fact that Senator Frank s. Moody s body was buried in effigy on the other 1 side of the river, and tombstone placed
 at the head of the grave. The we'll
 known temperance record of Senator
 Moody, dating back some 20 years, caused
 the cultured prohbitionists in the county to regret the affair very much. There Is | no better known man in Tuscaloosa coun- | ty. or the state, in fact, than Senator | Moody, whose strong arm against the | open and unregulated sale of whisky has been repeatedly extended. In fact, well i informed Tuscaloosa citizens believe that | had Senator Moody not championed the | cause of the dispensary, which he be- | lieyes right, and thus got himself off the l crest of the wave which Is sweeping the | south he would have made strong can | didate for governor to succeed the pres 1 ent chief executive.
 | While business men of Tuscaloosa be- l lieve the present marvellous development | is temporarily impeded. it is fact that 1 the Druid City is too solid and on too l firm foundation to suffer any perma- l nent injury Tuscaloosa. the we'll posted
 citizens believe, will continue to grow, l though slower and less spectacularly than | at present Right now Tuscaloosa is