The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-24

license of .$2OO to the city There are five of this industry in the city. And competition in soda water alone would | seem potent here as there are several clean and very accessible founts that beckon the thirsty.
 l Yet the violator of the prohibition i law Is a cautious man indeed. He does not send from his place a cus- toner who would make a spectacle of himself. There Is nothing about the Talladega blind tiger that would make 1t at any time a prima racie violator of prohibition. There have been a few caught by officers. Mayor Oliver has announced an unalterable policy of soaking these offenders no less than $100 fine and sentencing them to sixty or ninety days on the streets. Solici- tor Marion H. Sims is firm in his in tention to never make terms with law yers for defendants. Lawyers here understand that if more than one case stands against their client for violating | the prohibition law there can be no plea of guilty to one in consideration of the rerpainder being nolprossed This is noslonger an experiment with the solicitor as it Aas been tried only to prove the firmness of that officer. Heavy Fines Imposed. 1~o lcSS SyhpdtHetiC with the DlfnQ tiger Is Judge c. K. Miller. of the city | court. In all pleas of guilty as well as convictions he has given heavy fines and three months imprisonment. The jury in this country Is not disposed as in some others to discredit the prohibi- tion law. Solicitor Sims declares that whenever he made out a case he did not fear for the result with the jury. It Is his opinion that Juries are so dis appointing in prohibition cases because of the weakness of the law itself. He ventures that if there was a rule of law that would permit of evidence in case that other sales were made by the defendant the corroboration would strengthen the mind of the juror, eliminate all doubt as to the guilt of the offender and send him te jail
 "The average jury" said Mir. Sims 'is not inclined to convict man on the testimony of single witness who might say he bought whiskey of the defendant. The juror. in my opinion. has not very exalted opinion of a witness that would patronize a blind tiger. We encounter always the diffi- culty of the defense attacking the character of the states witness This Is not calculated to encourage good citizens to appear before grand juries in behalf of law and order Then. too. the state is bound under the rules to that testimony which bears on the specific sale in question:
 Although Probate Judge J. E. Camp has no Jurisdiction over misdemeanors and does not come in direct contact with the violator, he says that crime has been greatly reduced in Talladega county by prohibition. He says 1t is the best thing that ever happened to the county and city.
 Crime Not Decreased.
 Sheriff w. R. Middleton Is unable to see any decrease in crime throughout the county as the result of prohibition He says that he jails about as many as he used to jail during open saloons. Much fewer cases of drunkenness, however, come under his observation
 Mayor Oliver has taken an especial interest in the enforcement of the pro. hibition law and he admits the trying nature of his job. His police officers of whom there are four on the lookout have landed few violators of prohibi- tion-enough to put $700 in fines in the city treasury He confesses. too. that violations must be going on that cannot be touched or ferreted
 Probably Mayor Oliver Is without an equal In the state for forethought in this prohibition emergency It Is not believed that another city pilot was so quick to grasp the situation as to raise revenue in anticipation of the saloons departure. Yet this Is what Mayor Oliver did.
 When in the latter part of 1907 he could see that the vote of the country would sound the deathknell of saloons in Talladega, he accepted the verdict before 1t was really at hand. He fore-s saw that the sudden departure of the saloons would on January 1. 1908 de- prive the city of no less than $7,300 licenses. He proceeded therefore, with his council to make ready before. the gulf was reached. And when the fiscal year started October 1, 1907, be- fore the election on prohibition, the enterprising Mayor and Council had readjusted the license schedule of the city. raised the privilege taxes through a range of 400 per cent, and the col lector was authorized to rake in the new amounts.
 Show of Wisdom.
 This show of wisdom on the part of the municipal officers was mistaken by the Prohibitionfsts. some of them. for an interior design. Mayor Oliver had to stand the abuse that he was raising the licenses to prejudice the election. It was charged that he was against prohibition and was using his prerogative to defeat 1t. He has by his subsequent conduct disproved the charge. He has the credit now for prudence and sagacity. He was just one notch ahead of the municipalities that waited until the saloons were voted out and then devised ways and means of filling the hole in the treas ury.
 Figures compiled from the record er's docket show that arrests for drunkenness by the police during 1908 were only forty-six as against 547 during 1907 or the last wet year. This shows a reduction of about s3 yer cent in this character of offense. Residents of the city affirm that they are will ing to swap little business or revenue for the peace and comfort of the town.
 Some business men say that they lose trade on account of the absence of the saloons. It Is caused by an in- crease in the trade of the cross roads stores or the village shop where the farmer can now go with as much in ducement as if perhaps he came to Talladega. On the other hand many business men declare that the loss on this ground Is small as the substantial customer will come always to the place where he can get the bargain and