The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-06
LIVE WEEKEND GOSSIP
 FROM THE STATE CAPITAL

Montgomery, June 5.-(special) )-Ala- bama. in the opinion of thoughtful men, has taken during the past week one of the greatest strides forward in the mat | ter of law and order that have ever been known in the south. Nothing that has come to pass can compare with the irn- peachment of Sheriff Frank Cazalas of Mobile as bolster to the officers of the law to break up the nefartous work of the mob.
 Better Public Conscience.
 Once upon time the people of the state winked at certain election methods, but at last they became such a stencil in the nostrils of good men that they were stop ped Indications are that this condition has come again in feeling of horror for bloodshed by the cowardly practices of the mob. One sheriff says: We will have nothing else to do. If we let a mob take a prisoner we lose our jobs and are dis graced. The law is so plain that no one can make mistake about it.
 Work of Long Time.
 The action of the supreme court is a result not of the fight made on cazalas so much as of movement begun away back when the constitution was made, it being seen then that to make q sheriff do his duty in the matter of lynch law he would have to be subjected to i'm peachment by a tribunal removed from the influence of his home county and the feelings that existed among those from whom the mob was made up. A convic tion on the very first trial under the law is good testimony to the wisdom shown.
 Others Worked For It.
 There was an influence along this line further back even, and outside this pe- culiar channel since. Than the late Gov ernor Seay there was none more ardent for law and order. He worked for it and urged its importance upon the people early and late. Of like manner was Thomas G. Jones, twice governor and now federal judge. He stood all the | time with his life and his energy for the majesty of the law. And he not infre- 1 quently, as a soldier of the state, put himself in the way to get hurt for the keeping of the statutes.
 Other Convictions.
 While there have been no other sher- l ifs to feel in this way the heavy hand of the law in the terms of Gov. William D. 1 Jelks, members of the mob were sent to the penitentiary for taking the law into their own hands, in defiance of order, and this executive did not hesitate to send troops on every call to protect prisoners, no matter what the offense Governor Jelks helped to build the public senti- ment that applauds the decision in the l Cazalas case.
 Cunnjnuham in Line.
 And while in the chair for Il months | Dr. R. M. Cunningham supported every movement of Governor Jelks along this line. Soldiers were used when needed, and all a sheriff had to do was to ask and he got all the help he needed A mil | itary company in one of the largest coun- ties was put out of business because it did not respond promptly to a call of this kind under Governor Jelks, and the sheriff of the same county escaped impeachment ] trial only because there was at that time no law to make effective the constitu- | tional provisions
 | Oates Had His Nerve.
 When William c. Oates was governor, back of Jelks and others, he exhibited his courage. mob threatened to take 0 man from the jail at Montgomery. | Sheriff Charles Parks was told by Solic- itor Tennent Lomax that he must protect | the prisoner at all hazards. Lomax then reported the situation to Governor Oates, who ordered soldiers to report to the sheriff with loaded cartridges and ready f to shoot And the governor was on hand oback the sheriff up. That mob has never shown up yet It is well that 1t did not. for it would have been depleted by bullets.
 Another Story Like 1t. 1 One day two or three years ago negro tried to assault little girl and was caught Thinking him in jail, mob formerd about the bastile that night. ] Jailer Nat Waller notified Judge William H. Thomas, then of the criminal court. These two, with deputies, among them George Lamar, one of the bravest men in all the state, and policemen, eight In all. kept the crowds back. They simply | said that while their lives might be sac rehced they would kill several members of the mob beforehand. Nat Waller, who 1 weighs $50 pounds, stood at the rope he had thrown about the jail yard, with two big pistols, and talked so no one could misunderstood his meaning
 Took In Leader.
 paper hanger stood on a box and taunted the crowd with the fear to go in and get the negro. He had just come | from Atlanta, where bunch Of negroes | had been killed. Out of all patience at ! last George Lamar went out and told the | fellow to shut up. when he loiueou ASe'- mar calmly knocked him off the box, grabbed him by the collar and dragged 1 him inside the jail, while the crowd stood | and gaped in open-mouthed wonder. Fret ty saan the crowd left, and it is well they | did for there would have been bloodshed that night if it had not.
 And There Are Others. | An the story might be carried on much further. Not a governor in many years has desired anything short of law and | order, and if told, the state might pre- | sent scores of stories of unheard-of bravery on the part of officers to Keep mobs from doing their work. Sheriff | Smith of Jefferson filled an alley with ] dead men to protect a man who murdered his own wife and babies. and Sheriff Full l ton of Madison had to be overcome with the fumes of ammonia before mob