The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-09
KETT|G'S REASONS
 FOR OPPOSITION
Member of Governors Staff
 Against Amendment
CHURCH AND STATE DAN GER
Well Known Business Man Thinks Amenders Have Failed to Show Necessity for the Constitu-
 tionaI Provision.

N. II. helllg, WnO discusses the amend ment in a letter to. The Age Herald, is one of Birmingham's foremost business men. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce a few years ago and has long taken an active interest in all move ments looking to the upbuilding of this district He was a Conner man when Governor Conner ran for and was elected railroad commissioner. and again when he was a candidate for the office he now holds. MT. Kettig Is a colonel on Cover nor Corners staff. His letter follows: To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 I believe that we are in the midst of a crisis. the outcome of which is awaited with anxiety if not with doubt. It be- hooves all of us who have the future of Alabama at heart to ponder seriously and calmly as to our duty, and the stand we should take in the approaching election November 29, 1909.
 It should be the duty of every man and woman to speak openly as to their con victions regarding the grave questions in- volved in the result of the coming cleo ton. A free press and free speech are es- sential to advancement Passion and i'll temper should be controlled and reason should be the guide.
 Let us consider some of the questions involved in order to enable the voters of Alabama to reach such conclusions as their reason and conscience can ap- prove.
 Some of the arguments advanced by many favoring the amendment are, in my humble opinion, far-fetched and illusive, hence calculated to make some people lose sight of the principles involved. It has been argued that our prohibition laws should be further safeguarded by sur rounding them by constitutional wall.
 We already have as many or more pro- hibition laws than it Is possible to en- force, and the most ardent prohibitionist has, as yet, shown no good reason why they should be inserted in the constitu- ton.
 The only intelligent reason 50 far ad- vanced Is the purpose to drive liquor from the homes," and as this is denied by the amendment leaders, there remains no excuse whatever for having the election except the ambitions of crtain politicians who hope to profit thereby.
 Should the people of Alabama be dis rupted and divided on a fallacious Issue simply because certain men have an itch for office?
 That the amendment Is unnecessary is privately admitted by some of the leaders. The most serious danger, however, is the threatened union of church and state. It is inconceivable how minister of the gos- pei can descend into the mire of politics. The greatest Minister the world has ever known was confronted with a similar proposition when the Pharisees attempted to ensnare Him into politics. When asked if 1t was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, He replied: Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods" What mighty and glorious example for the political parson in Alabama to follow. The statement has been made on the stump that there are some $500 churches In Alabama and that each church will furnish at least 10 votes for the amend ment.
 While 1t is true that the membership of the churches today are opposed to union of church and state, the danger to be seriously apprehended lies in the fact that designing and ambitious politicians under the cloak of religion and morality will seek the aid of the church for their political preferment.
 The fathers of our national constituS tion seem to have had grave apprehen- sion of the possibility of a union be- tween church and state. They were stu dents of history. They must have had
 
 lasting 200 years, destroying a million lives The whole of Europe and a large part of Asia were vast battlefield. They read of the Spanish inqufsition, the Mas sacre of St. Bartholomew, the Thirty Years War in Germany, the struggle for civil anud religious liberty in England. lasting quite 200 years. The persecution of the Dissenters and Puritans by the Church of England and the persecution of Dissenters in New England by the Puritans. They must have recognized that there was a possible danger for such or similar occurrences taking place in our country, hence they wrote into the constitution a decree divorcing church and state.
 The convention that formulated the con- stitution of the United States was born amidst strife and contention; large and conflicting interests had to be reconciled. No one question excited greater attention than that of religious freedom. Among the many speeches then made the one by Mir Iredell of North Carolina seems to indicate the fear and apprehension the fathers of the constitution had. He said, "Every person in the least conversant with the history of mankind knows what dreadful mischiefs have been committed by religious prosecutions; under the color of religious tests tho utmost cruelties have been exercised. Those in power have generally considered all wisdom centered fin themselves; that they alone have the right to dictate to the rest of mankind, and that all opposition to the tenets was profane and impious-ft will be fatal indeed to find at this time, when ex- amples of federation are set even by ar bitrary governments, that this country so impressed with the highest sense of liberty should adopt principles on this subject that were narrow, despotio and illiberal."
 The question may now be asked why this fear and apprehension? Is there such a danger to be feared now7 In all honesty, I think there are conditions at present indicating as much. The partic- ipation of the church as a church fin politics is to be feared because of the possible sad consequences. Any student of history well knows of the rise of "Know Nottingham" in 1854 and 1855 It rose to the dignity of national party; its candidate for the presidency in 1858 was Willard F'ilmore it's slogan was down with the Roman Catholics and foreigners
 The better sense of the American peo- ple prevailed and 'Know Nottingham was defeated. Behind the novement were lot of politicians; remnants of the whig party and large number of the Protestant churches. True 1t Is. the churches washed their hands or sought to do so. Their battle cry was Put none but Americans on guard" parallel inr as it were the cry, of the amendists that all opposing them are consorting with gamblers, barkeepers and the liquor interests.
 The amendment is superfiuous and un- necessary. It should, and I believe 1t will be defeated. w. H. KETTIG.
 Birmingham, November 8, 1909.