The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-25
WeakIey-O'NeaI Debate A. though Vigorous Proved
 Disappointment
EVERY CITIZEN ALREADY
 HAS HIS MIND MADE UP
Prominent Men of the County Who Are Interviewed Are Almost Unanimous in Belief That Col
 bert Is Among Defenders.
HUGH w. ROBERTS.

' HUGH w. ROBERTS.
 e.feld, September 4-Cspecial )--Here B Jllow some expressions from well-known people of Colbert county;
 Maj. J. R. Crewe; "In Colbert county the amendment Is A dead letter. The people will defeat 1t almost to 1''
 E. M. Ragland. editor of the Sheffield Standard: Tt is a certainty that the
 amendment will lose in Colbert. The vote against 1t will be heavy pr. c. B. Ashe: "It is my opinion that the amendment will lose easily in Col bert county"
 l John H. Peach. attorney favorng
 prohibition: T believe the vote of the cities will be against the amendment,
 and that the contest in the rural districts will be close There should not be q large majority for either side.' k. H. Craig, commercial agent of the Southern railroad, and leader of the republicans of Colbert: ''The amendment will lose in this county. The republican vote will go almost solidly against it."
 Judge F. B. Almon; You may say for
 me that the amendment is doomed to defeat in this county, The vote will he i considerably larger than to against the amendment"
 Judge J. N. Nathan: "The amendment has no earthly chance in Colbert eoun- 1 ty. It will lose by large vote"
 Carmichael Questioned
 T. J. Simpson: "The amendment will
 be defeated. I am in the probate office
 and have opportunities of inquirlng con tl.
 good from every beat save Riverton, Sen
 ator McWhorter's hon- town. It is prob
 able that the amendment will win there
 The voting strength of the beat is l about 25
 l M. s. Hansbrough editor of the Tri- l City Daily: 'The fight will be close in 1 Colbert, and I would not make predic- 1 ton I favor the adoption of the amend | ment" l w, F. Puckett. superintendent of tho ] city schools: While I favored prohibl-
 ton and believe now that the laws 1 against the sale of liquor should be en- forced to the letter I do not believe l that it will be wise to insert the amend-
 ment in the constitution" Before the opening of the O'Neal- Weak l ley |ebate yesterday A. H. Carmichael. | speaker of the house. was asked If he.
 thought the amendment would win in 1 Colbert. He said:
 "I believe it will be ratified in this coun- l ty by about 600 to 40O." Do you sincerely feel that way asked
 Judge Nathan, who heard, "or do you
 make that statement because you hope it 1 will carry?"
 q sincerely feel that the amendment | will win was the answer, q am surprised reioined T. J. simp-
 son, flor practically every man in the
 county feels certain that the amendment
 will lose. The friends of the amendment
 hardly hope to carry this county
 Colbert County Safe.
 The only significant feature of the de- l bate here yesterday was the positive as- ] surance that the line Is already drawn i between those favorng the amendment
 and those opposed.
 Yesterday the anti-amendment people l gathered to the right of the speakers i stand. The amendment crowd went to the left. When O'Neal scored there were 1 lusty cheers from the right and no sound ! from the left. When Weakley scored the i cheering was from the left, and noth- l ing was heard from those on the right. | l the women on the left discussed fall 1 styles, and that during the speech of l Weakley the men on the right spoke of l crops and the future greatness of Shelf 1 field.
 So Weakley, it is positive, won no votes for the amendment in Sheffield, and 1t is
 equally as true that O'Nea won none. i But from all that could be gathered from i the leading and representative people tho l defeat of the amendment is very cer l tain in Colbert
 1 As a matter of fact very little was 1 said in the debate which might under the l most favorable circumstances change a 1 vote. ONeal dealt with many subjects | a great variety-and he handled each in | such positive language and such fiery l tone that during the reply of Weakley the l greater portion of the time was con-
 stunned in answering the criticism. It i was only at the very end of the former
 chief justices reply that he touched on 1 the meat in the cocoanut. It then 1 that he rushed to the crying need of his 1 second section of the proposed amend i ment.
 During the debate Judge Weakley stated 1 that the present prohibition laws would 1 be preserved with the amendment in the | constitution. But he did not state, in any way or at any time, what change i or what improvement, or what material
 benefit the amendment in the constitution would bring about.
 l Debate Was Disappointment 1 The debate was disappointment Tn 1 spite of the fact that Sheffield, Tuscumbia l and Florence lie so closely together that l the trio could be covered with the palm l of A hand. no more than 600 people gath | cred to hear the learned speakers talk | and the speakers were a former chief | Justice of the supreme court. and the
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