The daily sentinel., 1909-12-01
People Refuse to Heed Radical Lead
ers and Administer Decisive and
Overwhelming Defeat to the
Statewide Movement.
STORY OF TUESDAYS ELECTION


chagrined the most radical and
rampant leaders, this tells the
story of the refusal of the people
of the state of Alabama, at the
election on Tuesday, to surrender
personal liberty and to give away
to the demands and desires of
radical leaders who have thrown
aside all consideration of con-
servatism, In their mad desire
to embody in the constitution of
sovereign state the most rad
ical prohibition Legislation in the
history of the country.
The constitutional amendment pro-
viding statewide and everlasting pro-
hibitlon and carrying with 1t all man
ner OF radical regulations. was de-
feated In nearly every county in Ala
bama. following campaign almost
unequaled for bitterness. The cleo
ion was admittedly fair one and the
people of Alabama simply repulsed
the amendment by mighty major
ity. Election day feeling ran high
all over the state and there were
numerous personal encounters
jefferson county, in which is To-
Gated birmingham, the largest dry"
city In the nation, was made the CEN
ter of the great fight and this coun-
ty, including the city, gave over 900
majority against the radical amend
ment. In fact the amendment carried
in but three counties.
Judge s. NJ. Kley, author of the
prohibition bills and who was an
avowed candidate for governor and
who hoped to ride into that office on
the wave of prohibition, was the lead
er of the radical prohibition forces.
Governor Conner gave his influence to
KEYS campaign. The two United
States senator's, all the congressman,
the leading newspapers and many of
the best known private citizens of
Alabama fought the amendment. The
prohibition forces counted on the
rural communities and small towns
carrying the amendment through yet
the country vote in nearly every part
of the state went heavily against the
The statewide, radical prohibition
bill and amendment submitted to the
vote of the people were passed by
Legislature elected on local option
platform.
Alabama rs local option state.
L ne state nave
it plain that they believe each town
and community should be permitted
to decide for itself whether 1t shall
be dry" and as n result of local cp-
tion elections community after COM
munity in that state has gone dry"
However the people of that great
Southern state were not in favor of
the radical leaders to use the power
of maiorities in dry" communities
to make other communities that had
voted wet" to become dry against
their wishes by the aid of the un-
American statewide prohibition law
and Tuesday the movement got it's
death blow. Thousands of men and
women who favored local option or
in other words favored the permitting
of each community to vote itself
dry" If ii wanted to do so and who
voted in local option elections to
lake their communities dry" oppos-
ed this radical and unreasonable
Statewide" movement on which a
number of reformers hoped to ride to
high offices.
1t was an election of national i'm
portance. II proves that radicalism
cannot yet make the majority of the
people in any great state of the union
surrender their personal rights and
liberty.