The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-28

| that with temperance established, we can l look forward to increased property values 1 and to better citzenship-the accomplish ment of both of which are, l think, sure
 prophecy. This will fill the deficit in our
 treasury; will make every future of the
 state, both citizen and property, more se- cure and more prosperous. The deficit in l the treasury will come in December and 1 will last until the first of January, and will come again next year perhaps llt- tie earlier and will last until the tax collection returns in January. l will tide
 over the deficit by the method used by
 my predecessors in the same contingency,
 and I feel confident in assuring you that
 no harm will be done the finances or the credit of the state.
 The Prohibition Law.
 call your attention to the fact that at | the extra session when you were newly
 returned from the people where prohibi-
 tion had been widely discussed. of your
 own initiative and by overwhelming
 majority, you enacted the statewide pro-
 hibition law. That statute has been l found inadequate of enforcement. The
 evasions of the law have been many and
 apparently easy. In some places
 open defiance of the law has l been manifest and the so-called | blind tiger Is abroad. You should not shoot tigers with blank cartridges or
 bird shot. It only tends to make them
 more vicious. It Is within your power
 to enact laws suppressing open. willful 1 violations of any paMicular law. It Is l within your power, and 1t is your duty | to the state to enact such statutes as | will enable the state to carry out the | execution of your statewide prohibition l law. In the violation of your prohibit
 ton law it has almost come to the point
 when you must determine for the people | whether whisky shall dominate and con
 trol the state, or the state dominate and l control whisky, I assure you that the l open, persistent despite of any law en- genders serious conditions, and you had
 better never have touched the prohibit
 tion question unless you make the penalty 1 for violations prompt and sure.
 l One of the worst features of the pro- hibition question Is that the saloon in terest and the beer and whisky manu- l facturers outside of the state have in-
 vaded our state with paid agents. with
 money for debauching purposes, with dec | larations that you and all prohibitionists
 are fanatics, and they have attempted
 to yoke the whisky interest with our
 supreme court and the judiciary; and l have tried to engender fight on the courts
 by the prohbitionlsts. By false alarms l and spacious pleas they have tried to 1 enthrall our business interests. In their greed for profit they have overlooked | the fact that any sane man knows that l none of their contentious can be true | They seem to be utterly regardless of what you know is the vicious effect on our 1 people. In some sections of the state 1 the debaucheries and violations of the l whisky seller are alarming To stop these | law and order leagues have been formed | It Is a sad state of affairs when a num- l Der of citizens have to form themselves l into a law and order league to secure l the enforcement of the law.
 You have provided adequate funds for l the payment of a sufficient number of l state officers to maintain order and pre-
 vent open violations of law. It Is within 1 your power to compel these officers to l discharge their duty in carrying out fully
 the mandate, as well as the spirit of the 1 law, or to give place to those who will. Many of our officers are conscientiously 1 discharging their duties. and they deserve l the highest commendation.
 i Nothing can so weaken the flores of d 1 state as a condition of lawlessness en-
 gendered by neglect. carelessness, or con 1 niyance of public officials paid by the pub | lic to discharge their duty, and sworn to l do the same. As lawmakers you can do no higher service than to enact a statute l that will establish method of quick ar
 raignment and trial of official delinquents. 1 It is certainly less injurious to the body | politic' for a citizen to violate the law and make dollar by it, than for an officer of
 the law, by connvance, carelessness or 1 graft, te allow violations of the law
 simply because of supposed individual ad- | vantage, or because of the claim that pub | lie sentiment in the community is against I the enforcement of the law.
 You should establish a statute that
 would make it difficult for an officer of 1 the law to discriminate in the execu-
 tion of the law. Commercialsm in man 1 is bad; in a woman more so; in a town. city or nation still worse: and If the off | eers of the law commercialize themselves, l anarchy is drawing dangerously near l Certainly, the people. whether property
 owner, citizen, or lawmaker should get | together as one man and say that this 1 shall not be.
 Constitutional Provisions.
 I again put it before you to enact 6 l constitutional provision for the division of counties and also for biennial sessions I This is the second extra session of the | legislature you have had, and from your l experience and the experience of the state , 1t is clear the quadrennial sessions arc I not well for the best interest of the peo- l pie. The legislative department of --e government has always been nearest to l the people and most protective of their l interest Alabama is the only state in the | union that has quadrennial sessions of the | legislature.
 {, There is general demand throughout I the state that the people be permitted to | vote on the question whether or not they | will amend the constitution so as to place prohibition article in the organic law. My purpose in ernbodying this proposition | in the call is to give You an opportunity to I allow the people to pass on this very i serious matter. When you enacted the statewide prohibition law, I take 1t, you did not intend 1t to be ephemeral-a stat ute of day Undoubtedly you intended revolution in the relation of our state | to liquor, and the law was intended to fix 1t so that Alabama would never again
 have saloons or liquor licenses. Prohibit l ton should be so disposed of that 1t will not be recurrent at every election, and a disturbing factor in the politics of the state. I believe you could render no greater benefit to every business interest of the state than to enable the people to settle this question once for all time. , If it could be written In the constitu- ton, agitation would stop. The liquor interests would realize that they could not exploit their wares in Alabama. Pro-
 hibition is not an experiment. In the