The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-10

AL~A ELL, IL lOOkS llhe Iueie IS AW0V other prohibition melee in Bir-
 w mingham. Tom Mcdonald is talking about it. And John sibley is talk ing about 1t.
 There are two sides from which to view this prohibition question. One is the al- legged moral side; the other is the real moral side. The latter side is the business side. It is likewise the thorough and conscientious side. It is absurd to say that you can have prohibition in a town the size of Birmingham. There are blind tigers on every side of us. They are on street corners, and in alleys, and they are walking the streets with bottles in their pockets. The mean part of it is that boys can now buy whisky here for twenty-five cents flask, and they drink it-all of it-and get drunk. It is nasty stuff. It Is poison. It is stuff that dealers pay eight or ten cents for and sell for twenty-five cents half pint bottle. That Is the reason we are having all these fights and killings and shooting scrapes It Is poison that goes to the brain in a moment and makes a man beast.
 There is no such thing as prohibition. A great mistake was made in forcing 1t on Birmingham. I do not believe in all the saloons and dives which had been here heretofore
 The saloon element once ran riot with this town But I do think that 1t would be far better to have a few legitimate sell CTS of liquors wines and beers in the business centers of Birmingham than to permit the nasty traffic which is In vogue at the present time.
 The liquor sold here now in the soft drink stands, and the alleged private houses, and the corner groceries would make a rabbit fight bulldog. It Is pois- onous It is so poisonous that 1t brings forth from the body which it permeates the most vicious spirit which could be created.
 Much better would 1t be to charge the highest sort of license; limit the number of saloons; safeguard them and require them when they sell to sell pure and un- adulterated liquors and beers
 One hears of few crimes in England or its possessions from the sale of liquors because it is regulated.
 The unfortunate part of prohibition in Birmingham is that it has made so many criminals here. The town is as full of lqiuor as it ever has been. I am told that anybody who wants a drink can get it here at any time. Boys even buy it on the streets, and one sees them everywhere about In doorways at night asking their friends to have drink from their bottles.
 Much better would it be were Brming ham to regulate the liquor traffic than have the absurdity which exists today.
 But whether or not Birmingham has prohibition or regulation of the liquor traffic, the town and the district is going ahead. From a business point of view 1t don't make much difference one way or the other. The iron and coal business is too important to stop for an instant on account of the people who like to delve in politics, whether 1t be on the prohibition question or the tariff or the guarantee of bank deposits or the postal savings system or any other question which might make much of the men who advocate it enthusiastically from the stump.
 There is too much of the real stuff here which is to be developed and which is being developed for those who have a grasp upon the soil and it's products to waste time with those who want to talk and meet, and talk again. The coal and iron companies are going ahead. Mer- chants and other business men are going ahead. The good people of the town are going ahead. These people are the people who want law and order They want their employees and customers good and sub stantial citizens with big families about them and friends near them. They want to build up this district as an industrial and Christian community. They want to develop what they have and to make every one in the Birmingham district a prosperous, a contented and an honest cit izen.