The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-09
PROHzBII7ON LAW
 MAY CLO OSE "A SCHOOL

pronte rom all 0yo >in0tftutf0no iu tno county went to the public schools of ths csuntyr IL wss iproratsd sccord- ing to the. lschool csnsus. This gsvs Jsspsr and Carbon nm. s'ths iarrsst municfpAiitiss. .good shsrs of. the .Sso,- 900 annually received from the dispen- sarfss. Of courpe. they, also rot some of the sixty per cent. that was retainr cd by the towns Tn which the dispen- saries were located. M
 Now: when prohibition went into sf- feet. January ], 1908. throughout the county. the dispensary revenue was not missed very much. Each school had q fair surplus from the fat of four diapensafy years. With this they 1s0z-os without apparent embarrass- ment. But the pinch came in the ssc- ond year.. The surplus of the years, of plenty was exhausted. No longer the general school fund from the State and the one mill special tax was supple mentsd by, heavy dispenssry income. Carbon Hili authorities ran aground last week. I was in conversation with the Mayor of Carbon Hin, Tuesday. and he told me that the school there would probably have to close the next day because of the lack of fundss to continue. The last dollar had been dts bnrsed that could be legally disbursed for school support. Ths-school was trying to continue through nine months when 1t had gone but a little more than six months. An industrious eifoft was made to collect subscriptr ions for continuing the school. but 1t proved to be- . slow process. Unless the subscription scheme met with un- usual success, the schools of Carbon Hili. with an snfollment of more than 500, have probably by this time shut their doors. jsf
 JssIef sehsels h Need ef Money.
 Much the same situation prevails at Jasper. Wednesday visited that cation in session. They had convened for the special purpose of discussing ways and means of continuing the schools Their fund. was exhausted about the same time that Carbon Hill ran aground They could not resort to the county treasury. They had drawn their last cent from that source. excellent system of schools at Jasper as we'll as at Carbon Hill.
 Cne4 of the most commodious and beautiful school houses in the State Is situated at Jasper and its people have always boasted itsfsupericr edu- cationai advantages. This made the school board of Jasper very proud. For this reason the board decided We'd nesday to raise enough money by pop, ular subscription to carry the school to e full commencement It requires ss.E0o more and they are determined to- raise this amount before the teach ers' salaries are due. But they will have to resort to other revenue next year as they say they cannot expect the people to subscribe regularly to the schools.
 Lang Contra diets His Superior.
 That prohibition has not kept liquor from the miners reach was the testi- nony of Superintendent Lang, of the Galloway Company.s mines at Chicka- saw, two miles east of Carbon Hill He went so far as to contradict his supe-- rfcr first quoted. and gives it as his opinion that more booze is being drunk under prohibition, than when the dis peneary ran, He sees the evidence of the drinking though he did not care to point out the source. Some of the men order 1t by express, of course. but says Mir. Lang, evidently some wifdcatters made periodical visits to this vicinity and their agents sell 1t to the miners. The superintendent also said that there was more drinking by the miners in their houses than previously.
 Judge Thomas L. Soweli. or the Walker County Law and Equity Court, presided over most @ef the trials TOT violating the, prohibition law. He is commended on all sides for his effec- tive psinishmsnt TOT the offenders, of whom this county has had their share. The judge in most eases adds hard labor sentence to heavy fines. Judge Sowell says he has not seen any de- crease of crime generally on account of prohibition, or, to be exact, his docket has shown no material relief since pro- hibition went into effect .s,1rss.
 There cannot be any doubt that drunkenness in Jasper and Carbon Hfll has sharply diminished under prohibi- ton. The express companies, of course. haul big quantities. of liquor to both towns. Yet this amount is smau as compared with the heavy iispensary sales .f+, ,t Ae. 2 Y
 ! With all the financial disturbance caused by prohibition in the two towns discussed. with the pinch for school money. and. with the sober second thought of the thousands of voters there has been. no tidal reversal of oISnion to hurt the cause of prohibit ton, It could not be reasonably said that WalkeY county. with another vote at this time, would re-establish either dispensary or, saloon. So. far the people seem to be content to swan the heavy revenue for the apparent moral Improvement. The change of sentiment if if is 10 come. must come later Rut If there Is to be civic progress mean while there must be tax raise. either of the rate or of valuations.