The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-10
STILL QUARRELNG
HieDoN REPLIES TO SOLICITOR
 HEFLIN.
gaxs selicitsr Who Ncl Pressed So axmny, Cases ought fe Sweep Around Ills Own
 no0F.

E
 Birmingham, Dec. s.--(special.)--- Sheriff E. L. Higdon today gave out . lengthy reply to the recent card -oi Solicitor H. P. Hefiin, in reference tc the mol pressing of a number of casef growing out of the recent coal miners strike in this district. The card of ths solicitor given out a few days ago was rather spicy and fntimated that the matter of fees guided the sheriff strong ly in his. conduct of business. The sheriff today announces that the fees being Accepted by him was in accor- dance with the laws and that he wat not doing anything more than former sheriffs had done or others to follow would do.
 The sheriff cited some. of the incl dents connected with the cases which were mol pressed. The sheriff says that there was something like $40.0e0 tied up in honds in the cases and when the mol pressing was done this amount was released. He asked the question if Il was not possible that the soltcitor might be connected with the releasing of this amount. The controversy between the sheriff and the solicitor is not coneiud- ed, it is believed, and some sharper questions are likely to be propounded and answered by the two sides.
 Among other things the sheriff says in his card:
 .rhe amounts. of fees I collect is prescribed by law Compensation re- ceived for extra deputy sheriffs during the strike seems to be- a great worry to the solicitor. It Is his big club to knock with and he goes even further and misrepresents some facts. He says l draw from the county $5 for every man arrested for any offense and put in jail and S3 for every man who makes bond before going to jail. Every law yer in Birmingham with the excep- tion of the learned solicitor. and any citizens who knows anything about the working of the courts. knows that when am arrest Is. made, for any of fense. returnable to the coroner or a justice of the peace, if the rarty is nor convicted that the sheriff does not on- ly lose all his fees but the expense of capturing the prisoner and railroad fare, in bringing him to jail to trial.
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 The public remembers the awful state of affairs that existed during the strike--how armed bodies < of men marched from one section of the county to another in. defiance of the law, how men were murdered, passenger trains fired into, passengers forced to leave the cars. homes with innocent women and children blown up with dynamite 8uQ4 pHF4OuSf OIner crimes COmbnlttS0.t 2
 T sincerely hope we will never have another strike Tn this county or any unlawful assembly of armed men, but as a warning to all classes. that law is supreme. contend that even minor offenses, under those conditions, should be prosecuted.
 Tt Is true he draws as much salary for mol pressing cases as he does for prosecuting them. leave 1t to the public to say which requires most of his time. And while the money con- siderations do not interest him, (but he always gets it) the taxpayers are very much interested ana expect him to sometimes think of them when he is piling cost up which they have to pay, including his salary. when he should mako the guilty pay or work out all the cost. .;t .3 A-i
 4solicitor Hefiin attempts to make the public believe my efforts in getting certain cases trkeA Ln stlke courts wa ich he, has moi prossed, is a money con sideration- He has no more right to make this charge against me than I have to say that he was interested in. the distribution or more than S40.00O that was deposited in the banks for bonds for these cases, which he mol pressed. This money could only be released by his mol pressing or trying the cases and by mol pressing them the money was immediately turned lose to be distributed to someone. but not one single dollar of 1t goes to the county