The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-05
Arrests for Drunkenness h. crease Every Month Under
 Prohibition Laws
AFTER FIFTY-SIX YEARS
 STATE MAY ABANDON IT
Records of Metropolis of Maine Show Appalling State of Affairs-Well Known Man Writes
 Impressions.

To the Editor of The Age Herald:
 l have now been in this city two days, and beg leave to report that the liquor laws are violated fagrantly. Notwith- standing the fact that Maine has now had so-called prohibition 56 years. still the question Is agtated, as you will ob- serve from the daily papers which I have sent you.
 l call your attention to the prohibition address delivered in this city on Sunday night by MT. Libby. one of the most prominent prohibitonists of Maine and resident of this city He does not claim anything good for his city, neither does he critioise the constituted authorities state or local. His wall is Law Law Law Not state. but federal law. The state has amended the liquor law of this state 62 times, yet it fails to prohibit, and now it's advocates of this state advoc- cate that the federal government take a hand at legislatng morals in men.
 You will observe that MT. Libby is not content with a federal law which will prohibit interstate transportation of liquor, but he wants Congress to prohibit liiC uSt bl lIt liidiiS lO iilCi hlhi tf bhoNih5 the truth about the working of the so- called prohibition laws.
 You will observe furthermore, that the same tactics are adopted here as else where by prohibitionists namely. resort ing to houses of worship to make their addresses.
 l have examined the police records of this city and find that the arrests for drunkenness and drunken disturbances in this city during 1907 have increased 122 per month over 1906, or more than four per day, and MT. Pennell, the sheriff of this Cumberland county, and Mir. Water house, the chief of police of this city both attribute that terrible increase to the Sturgis law enacted in this state. In other words, both of them state thtt the more law they have the worse conditions as to temperance are.
 It might be well to state what the Sturgis law is. It empowers the governor to select any number of state marshals to inforce the liquor law. Those mar shals are given plenary powers of search. They have absolute authority over the local officers and the local officers may be removed If they fail to use every pos sble effort at the inforcement of that law.
 Before the enactment of the Sturgis | law the city of Portland was operating under the "Pennell law" That is to say MT. William Pennell, a clean, forecful and most intellectual gentleman of Bruns- wick. of this county, some five years ago openly advocated certain restrictions for those engaged in the liquor business in this county. For this city he advocated that only 35 saloons should operate. and that they should close at 10 o'clock sharp and that they should close on all legal holidays. It Is true that the "Pennell law" was In plain violation of the con stitution and other state laws of Maine, but it was enacted to meet to condition which the regular law failed to meet and for four years 1t operated successfully, so far as the moral conditions of this community were concerned.
 When the Sturgis law was enacted MT Pennell could no longer carry out his town law" because the inforcement of the state law was taken out of his hands and placed In state marshals, and as he had no authority to offer immunity to those engaged In the liquor traffic under the "Pennell law things ran riot in thls city, and today there are more than 300 places in this city where liquor may be obtained.
 No one in this city attempts to attribute the present state of affairs to the con- nivance on the part of the sheriff or chief of police for they have both been vigilant and have secured more convic- tions for drunkenness and drunken dis- turbance and violations of the Maine liquor laws than any of their predeces- sors.
 It might be well 10 state further that MT Pennell has been elected sheriff three times, every time a democrat, in this rock-ribbed republican county, and he has been elected by the votes of some tt.o Ian, .at.t otf fi1a ru of the county. His successor was a min ister of the gospel who was ayowed advocate of prohibition. His adminlstra- ton was a perfect failure, several of his deputies were charged and convicted of graft by standing in with those violating the liquor laws, and the min ister sheriff died in office.
 It took the people of Maine more than 90 years to be worked up to the point of enactlng the Sturgs law, which is a dismal failure, and 1t is my candid opin- ion that the people of the south will never tolerate such a law. But granting that they would tolerate 1t, the question is: Do we want 50 long years of such agitation?
 MT. F. W. Dixon of your city has known me 10 years and / MT. John F. Williams and Judge John Hurst Miller have known me several years and not one of them ever saw or heard of my taking a drink of liquor. In fact 1t would not matter to me personally if there was none made, but I tell you candidly that prohibition is the greatest farce I ever saw, and I have been placed in a position 10 actually see the working of the so-called prohibition laws of Maine and Kansas during the past ten days. Not only does 1t fail absolutely to prohibit but 1t Is breeder of fntemperance of the very worst type, and 1t teaches the people in general to lose all respect for law, which in my opinion Is the very worst lesson the people of any community could learn No man can be happy or make a good citizen who experiences a dread when the grand jury convenes. Neither can a man attain the height of good citizenship who feels in his own mind that the law of his~ ~own state is being openly violated in his community.
 I have given Sou just few of the facts relative to prevailing condition in Cum berland county, Maine. after experi ence of 56 years. The population of this county is about 10000, while that of Jeff fsrson county, Alabama, Is more than 2500Uo But the population of cumber- land county is an old one in the main, while that of Jefferson county is com paratively new, that is 1t is a cosmos politan population most of your people were born and raised elsewhere and, therefore, 1t would be far harder to at- tempt to inforce prohibition on the people of your county than this. . candidly be- lieve that prohibition in Jefferson county would increase drunkenness five 10 ten fold and two years experience of 1t would lower the morals ef your county