The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-01
Manufacturers and Jobbers Hold Important Meeting and
 Issue Address to Voters
NOR TERN STATES FOUND
 ALL THE TRIALS FAILURES
The History of Prohibition In America Shows 1t Has Failed to Prohibit and Caused Increase In
 Immortality.

Manufacturers and jobbers met in conference at the Hotel Hillman yester- day afternoon for the purpose of dis cussing the effect of prohibition in Bir- mingham and the Blrmingh am district. The meeting was largely attended. Among those who spoke were Vice President F. II. Crockard of the Ten nessee- Republic companies. President J. c. Maben of the Sloss- Sheffeld com pany, vice President Guy Johnson of the Alabama Consolidated and a number of wholesale business men. All the speak CTS strongly deprecated the prohibit ton movement and declared that in stead of helping the morals of the com munity 1t would lnjure every business and moral interest in the Birmingham district.
 After the conference the following was issued for publication:
 To the Citizens of Jefferson County.
 Will you follow the lead of the con servative men who have made Jeffer- son the imperial county in Alabama and NOit lol u DTOpeI ItE ulallbn ol lnt whisky traffic, which, after centuries of experience, has been adopted as the only practical solution of this VeXed ques ton in all the large cities of the old and in the new world? Or will you fol- low the lead of Brooks Lawrence, a citizen of Ohio, who does not own a dollars worth of property in Jefferson rOl,t n, ttato which means blind tigers" law break CTS, perjurers, and finally, disaster to our progress?
 Thomas Jefferson, the eminent states man, says you cannot suppress the sale of whisky; therefore, the best solution is to regulate it's sale. The experi- ence of the world on prohibition has demonstrated the wisdom of his wordn.
 Brooks Lawrence, the gentleman from Ohio, says you can suppress the sale of whisky. If so, why didn't he do it in Cincinnati Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo (his home town) or some of the other large cities of his own state of Ohio. in stead of coming down here to Birming- ham? Ohio tried prohibition once and he can't fool them again.
 Many of the ablest and most devout men in and out of the church, all over the world, have tried to find solution of the whisky traffic. and in England, Scotland, Canada. in the United States, and wherever it has been tried, they have had to come finally to a regula- tion of it's sale as nearest a solution.
 Why will people with moral and financial interests at stake deliberately join movement for prohibition that breaks up families, churches and com munites to gratify the whim of vision aries In the face of the fact that 1t has proven worse than failure where ever 1t has been tried? Will people ever learn from experience?
 If the experience of others Is worth anything, read the following article and see If you can eonscientiously vote for so so-called prohibition, even on moral grounds:
 History of Prohibition In America.
 During the colonial days nearly all of l the colonies from Maine to Georgia en- acted, at different times. laws prohibit ing, In various ways, the manufacture and sale of liquors. These laws were un- iformly disregarded, and were productive of numerous evil consequences. So im possible was 1t to enforce them and so great were the abuses growing out of them, that they rarely remained upon the statute books more than few years. Such experiments were repeated from oI, til towards the revolution, when they were given up.
 The colonial experience with prohibitory laws so impressed the people that during the first seventy years of independence little or no effort was made in the direc- ton of prohibition.
 Between 1850 and 1860. however. there was a revival of prohibitory efforts. and laws were enacted in various states for bidding the manufacture and sale of in toxicating liquors.
 Maine adopted prohibition in 1S51 and still has it on her books, but 1t has never been enforced. and in the towns and cities of that state the open saloon is as fa- milar and public as in any state os the union. The United States government last year issued GAS federal tax receipts for the sale of liquor in that state; a much larger number per capita than in the state of Alabama, where it was lawfully sold in all but twenty-one counties.
 Vermont followed Maine in 1852 by the adoption of prohibitory avs, and kept them continually on her statute books for half a century. In the effort to enforce these laws severe and unusual punish ments. search without warrant and denial of trial by jury were resorted to. the ac- cused was forced to testify against hIm- self. the courts became prosecuting oi- icers and a process of injunction was adopted ruinous to innocent parties. Three convictions were allowed for d single offense, and informers were stim- ulated by fees and shares of fines-and al to no purpose. fntemperance and con tempt of law steadily increased. In 1902, at the end of fifty years, the report Df the United States commissioner of inter. nal revenue showed that one United States license to sell liquor was issued for every 120 voters In the state. In the fall of 1902 a movement was naugurdted looking to the adoption of a license system. The campaign which terminated in the overthrow of prohibition was Tn many respects remarkable. Arrayed on