The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-08-06
Isms In the South.

lsms In the South.
Business men in large cities in my
part of the country are expressing So
prise that a statewide prohibition wave
has struck the SOUTH" said J. w. Fra
zier of New York, land that cities as
large as Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta and
Birmingham are technically dry
But those of us who recall facts of the
last 40 years understand the south's ten
dency to catch all the isms' that are
sprung on the country. l remember when
greenback-ism had many adherents In
the south and most everybody remembers
the free silver craze; how it came and
disrupted the national democratic party;
then came the anti-railroad-ism, and now
prohibition has come to further weaken
the party of jefferson, jackson and Grover
Cleveland.
When Germany, France, Italy and
Great Britain go dry then expect the
United States to abolish the manufacture
OF whisky and beer and not until then,
and one thing is sure: While there may be
a temporary decrease in the liquor traffic
In the ism states. we will not have wide
spread prohibition that actually prohibits
SO long as the manufacture is permitted
by law.
The history Of prohibition In the United
States dates from a few years before
the civil war. The wave soon spent IT.
self and only one of the dry New Eng
land states, Maine, has retained its pro-
hbition law. The people of Maine put
~,
will probably remain there for years to
come. although it is a notorious fact
that blind tigers are very much at home
in that state.
Prohibition Maine is not a progressive
state. 1t has many natural resources and
should be populous, but 1t is not. Its
population in 1850 was 5ss, 16s. In 1900 1t
was only 694, 466-a small growth indeed
in 40 years. Maine has no large cities
as cities go today, Portland being the
largest with only b0,145 in the last CEN
sus No, I am not in the liquor busl-
ness, but 1 would say, keep up your pro-
hibition in the south If you wish to get
in the Maine class which stands for slow
increase.
IT am not as familiar with Alabama
as I am with Georgia, and would not
make a guess at what the people here
will do about prohibition four or five
years hence, but I would be willing to
bet that Georgia will be wet again in
less than four years. Alabama was a
me-too state in railroad rate regulation,
following Georgia's lead. ana 1T was a
me-too state on prohibition. When the
reaction comes in Georgia, will Alabama
follow? But the strange part of it all
is that there should have been any consid-
cradle number of men In any ambitious
southern city willing to try a fanatfcal
experiment that has proved worse than
failure in other states.'
Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic.
Good progress is being made in the
construction work of the Atlanta, Biz
mingham and Atlantic railroad between
Pelham and Mulga-a distance of 2S1s
miles, said Alex Bonnyman. general
manager and chief engineer. las stated
recently. the tracklaying could be COM
pleted in few weeks, but as nine bridges
have to be erected. including the viaduct
at Bessemer, it will require several
months for the contractors to finish their
work.
Il greatly regret that statute In this
state, known as the clrtilass law, pre-
vents us from building our line from Bes-
semer into Birmingham. That law has
already been explained in the columns of
The Age-Herald. 1t is a law inviting
right-of-way hold-ups and as soon as
the attention of the receivers was called
to 1t they decided to abandon their plan
of completing the line into this city.
While we will have the choice of several
roads in making future trackase ar
rangements between Bessemer and Bir-
mingham, we are prepared to spend the
money and build our own line. and hav-
ing made the financial arrangements we
would, OF course, prefer operating our
Birmingham trains over our own tracks,
but this curtilage has blocked us.
One would suppose that Alabama
wanted to encourage development In
stead Of retarding it.
Southern Railway Traffic.
Samuel H. Hardwick of Washington,
passenger traffic manager Of the South
ern railway, and John L. Meek OF At
lanta, assistant general passenger agent
Of the same road, spent part OF yes
terday in Birmingham. Mr.. Hardwick
came up from Montgomery, his old homo,
and left last night for Memphis.
Railroad traffic is steadily improv-
ing" said Mr.. Hardwick. I'VE are having
good passenger business on the South
ern this summer and the outlook for fall
traffic is very bright indeed. Prospects,
are really splendid.
During my visit to Montgomery rode
in an automobile through the cotton
| country within radius of 30 miles OF
the capital. and was agreeably surprised
at the condition Of the crop. Cotton IS
now looking nne. Right around MONT