The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-12
THERE IT WAS TRIED
 iwIH MUCH SUCCESS
ofIIeials wptking 0ut ths, Revenue Prcblem.
psss1iasisa sssas ss Have wsrkea ssne Gssa |. r.se.I.ssa. Hut wlsksy !. nss.s niss.lly
 ssIA Hsweyer.
, nY CHAs. L. HAROLD.

xuScaiooga, April .1l--tbpestAf. )--- Ghe story of prohibition in Tuscaiooss County involves much dispcnsary his-
 The temperance subject in this city ana county is inseparable from the dis- pens&ry practice. Here. 1t might be said, is the nest of the dispensary the- pry, Here h was tried with the best elements of success. Here lives the ureatest champion of the dispensary stiiat Alabama may boast--Hon. Frank 6 Moody. State Senator.
 s There are many--some claim q ma 5ofity---who believe strongly that the dispensary. maliKned as It. is on all soides. is the modern. practical solution of the liquor traflc They have culti- swated the Idea through long days of euiscussion on the hustinGs. and in the public print. The dispensary propa- Uanda thrived probably more in Tus- caloosa County than In any other county of the State. They voted on 1t once as against the saloon. and here was q healthy. ajorfty cast in its fi- xor The result of tfis vote which came back in the early part of the present .century--back In isoi--was to no town or precinct. The local option dispensary idea prevailed which al- lowed any incorporated town to elect the dispensary whenever its board of Aldermen should think it suitabis.
 January 1, 1so2. witnessed the be- xinning of the Tuscaioosa dispensary, an instftution which ran uninterrupt- edIy for six years and proved so ex- emplary in its revenue production and drink reduction that 1t was copied by score and more of towns and citiee 1n Alabama Its success gave courage and enthusiasm to Senator Moody who already had much of them. Each year that the dispensary ran in this city the net pro6ts grew. Each year 1t seem ed that drunkenness waa reduced. The Police Court figures showed this fact The dispensary. by this record. added to it's friends both among the temper nnce folk and among the tax-payers as class.
 But it was not on the revenue pro- ducer that Senator Moody based his hope He recommended the .dispensary ward in progressive movement to- wards the final goal of prohibition. He hammsfed for progressive. temper < aI1ce on the stump and in the news papers. He worked strongly in the J.egisiature for Statewide dispenaary His efforts bore fruits in q lesser de- gree but in many places that device for regulation of the liquor traflsc wal
 Even in the prohibition campaign oi the fall of 1907 the indomitabie cham. pfon Of disp6nsary worked for con. finuance of the dispensary in TuBca. fooaas He spoke out plainly on tht subject By some he was misunder. stood but he did not 4falter in his re. sfstance to prohibition. He believed heartily that absolute temperancs should he approached by gradations that appetites which he'd existed for . generation could not be uprooted in q day, and that there should be . ia. pering to temperance rather than q lusty leap In the dark. Of course all know tho result of that fall election in 1907, how prohibition came. from she rural districts up to the corporate limits of Tuscaloosa with a majority which lay over the big city majority For the dispeusary enough to blot out Ehs pet institution of the city.
 TPeRA of Opinfon.
 Tn anafyzing the trend of opinion bJ gee of ballot counts, one should re. member one anomalous fact. Prohi Dition, say reliable local citizens. re. ceived many votes from those who ir sahe battle of the dispensary agains Che saloon voted for the latter. wher asked why this was SO. these citizens explained that the saloon adherent, hated the dispenssry more than. thaJ hated prohibition. that they voted fol prohibition because only bv dispiacins the dispensary in this way could tn, saloon ever hope to revive. They chai. len@e in support of this claim that afJ