Evening star., 1909-04-12
Opinion Of a Manufacturer.


prohibition upon the business Of Birming-
because the enforcement Of the law was
eoincident with the financial depression
that followed the panic of October. 1907.
There had been considerable falling-off
in trade and a decreased demand fol
houses and apartments. A great many
vacant. but he did not think it would
be fair to charge that against the pro-
hibition law when the financial depres-
sion undoubtedly had quite as much to
do with it. He does not think that prohi-
bition has had any appreciable effect
upon public order or crime or poverty.
He said that it Is just as easy for a
man to get a drink OF whisky or beer
in Birmingham today as 1t was before
the prohibition law was passed, provided
apparent falling of in arrests for drunk
enness and disorderly conduct might be
attributed to the reduction in wages and
In the purchasing power OF people who
are in the habit OF getting drunk and
creating disorder
There are more blind tigers in Birming-
ham today than there were bar-rooms
before the prohibition law went into ef-
feet" said Mr.. Mcqueen. Anybody can
get whisky or beer at the hotels and
restaurants. There Is not a business block
in town without saloon, running as a
soft drink place. A good many of. the
blind tigers have been pulled and the
owners arrested. The police always have
somebody before the court, but the of
tenders are seldom punished or convict
ed"
Several other gentlemen repeated what
Mr.. Mcqueen had said as a matter of
opinion, but they could give me no def
mite information.
On the other side, w. B. Ward, mayor
of Birmingham for four years. native
of the city. and democrat, who has been
opposed to prohibition from the start. ad-
mits that the passage of the law and the
closing of the saloons have had bene-
fetal effect upon Birmingham in every
from which the subject can be consid-
cred.
Says Law Is Enforced.
Il was opposed to the passage of the
law" said Mayor Ward. but when it was
passed it was my business to enforce it.
and have tried to do my duty. Law Is
law, and the mayor of town has no
right to decide whether law is wise
or unwise. He is sworn to carry out the
that are passed by their representatives
to govern them. and l am convinced from
what hear that the prohibition law has
been enforced more strictly In Birming-
ham than in Mobile, Montgomery or other
towns in the state. No person has been
the application of the law. We have
arrested every boot-legger and the keeper
of every blind tiger that we could de-
tect. and we have convicted several of
them. and punished them by fines and i'm
prisonment. The penalty for selling liquor
in this town Is 500 fine and $50 days I'm
prisonment at hard labor. The mayor
has power to pariCn or to commute
sentence. and tremendous pressure is
often brought upon him when white
man is sentenced to hard labor. Never
theless, between ten and fifteen white
men have been sent to the mines for
running blind tigers. and for other viola
tions of the prohibition law during the
last twelve months. You can get their
names and their exact sentences from the
clerk of the court.
1T is difficult to get a jury to sentence
white man to the mines. They will
not often put on the labor part of the
penalty. because they believe 1t to be ex-
treme. and they say that SO many peo-
pie are violating the law without being
arrested that 1t Is hardly fair to be SO Sc.
we're with one who is unlucky enough to
be caught.
Decrease in Arrests.
are disorderly $25 for the first offense
$50 for the second. and so on. but
the number Of arrests has fallen OF In q
remarkable manner since the prohibition
law was passed." and Mayor Ward hand.
ed me the following comparison Of the
| number OF arrests during the calendar
years 1907 and 1908 for oflenses which
may be attributed to liquor: