Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-11-28
Fight for Prohibition Now
 Nearing Chmax m Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala, November 27. The fight between those who favor the amendment of the the state con. stitution in the interest of prohibition and those in opposition closed today in a whirlwind finish and Monday the peo- pie will vote for the rejection or ad0p, ton of the amendment. The campaign has been one of the hottest Alabama ever experienced and has attracted the attention of the entire country for the reason that the resultiS expected to prove more far-rtaching in its effects upon the national temperance movement than any election held in recent years.
 The production is being freely made that if the constitutional amendment is defeated at Monday $ election the doors of Alabama will be opened to sa looms within three years. The defeat of the temperance laws under which Alabama has become one of the 'dry- est states of the union, and little doubt is felt that the downfall of the measure will be followed by an en- getic campaign for control of the next legislature, to be elected in 1911. The fight will be carried before this body, and the argument will be. used that the people are tired of drastic prohibition laws and that this feeling of diSsatis faction was manifested in the election wherein the prohibition amendment went down in defeat.
 If the amendment is adopted it will seal the fate of the saloon in Alabama for years to come-probably for all time. It is, therefore, a fight to the death so far as the saloon interests are concerned, Without the amendment in the constitution they could sit by quiet. ly and wait for a favorable opportunity to launch a fight for the abolition of the rigid prohibition laws. With the amendment in the constitution the task would be practically hopeless. Not only would they have to get a majority of two-thirds in the legislature to have a vote upon the removal of the amend ment, but they would have to go before the people and obtain it's repudiatiOn in a popular electioin.
 The result of the contest cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. Today the anti-prOhibitionists are loud ly pToclaiming that they see victory in sight. The fact that number of lead ing citizens throughout the state who were formerly numbered with the pro hibitionists have taken an active part in the campaign to defeat the eonstitu- tional amendment leads those who have borne the brunt of the fight against SO-called radiealism to believe that the turn of the tide has come. They see, or profess to see, the the strong opposi- tion to constitutional prohibition, a breaking away from the movement which has swept Georgia, Tennessee, Al abama and other states into the pro hibitjon column and which has made many parts of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and other western and southern states close the door against the saloon.
 While admitting that there have been many desertioins from the ranks, the prOhibitiOnists express confidence in' their ability to carry the amendment and assert that they have made more than enough converts from the OppOsi ton forces to offset the votes of those who have gone to the other side. They hold that the fight is one of the "saloOu or no salOon,' and tacitly admit that prohibition in Alabama stands or falls with the amendment.
 In the effort to abolish the liquor traf fife Alabama has gone to legislative ex tremes seldom or never before witnessd in the war on the saloon, and it is upon this fact that the prohibitionists base their hope of a reaction. If this reaction develops, it's effect will un- doubtedly be felt in other states where the temperance movement has been making progress, and its influence, it is believed, will be to check the move ment. If, on the other hand, Alabama indOrses its prohibition laws by writing prohibition in the constitution, then it will give new courage to the temper ance forces throughout the country and other states will no doubt bring for