The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-08
THE BIRMINGHAM CITIZEN.


 of the Anti-saloon League In this State. The Citizen is principally de- voted to the interests of the prohibi- ton cause.
 In the June issue of The Citizen a ridiculous attempt is made to distort the position of The Advertiser on the prohibition law. and to create preju- | dice against this paper. The Citizen contains a two-page review of Mir. Haroid's recent letters to The Adver- tiser on the working of the prohibi- ton laws. Its headlines were as fol- lows:
 PROHIBITION IN ALABAMA Receives Its Greatest testimonial
 Fro@ geresr.s ons of TSs Tss sMssSnssss McnsEcm Ad cry Advertiser.
 Down the State seekins. Adverse Con; His Statements Is Glowing Testi- monial For Prohibition"
 In The Citizens predatory paragraph are found the following statements: The Advertiser has been the persist ent enemy of prohibition and fts atti. tude has In no small measure rendered every community very much more diff. fcult than 1t would have been. Mr. Harold began in Birmingham. the ne- set 1t should be stated that there was a measure of fairness in the corres- pondence. sufficient to preclude any s ns Ispoa a dS o nG fsr ss S s s: went. The only probable criticism ee- ing that sometimes there were oondi-
 ons Tsry mues more to the success of prohibition
 It will be seen that in both these extracts there is 6 distinct tone of bit. ter enmity for The Advertiser. This paper is represented as sending out a correspondent with the motive of seeking adverse conditions It .s spoken of as the persistent enemy" of prohibition. Its attitude is declared 10 have rendered the enforcement of the prohibition law more dificult. In an other place the paper is called "a fa- natical opponent of the movement" Throughout the two pages are numer- ous slurs at this paper.
 The Advertiser has heretofore called attention to the narrowness and intol- erance characterizing so many of the prohibitionists in Alabama. T. is not surprising, perhaps, in the light of the foregoing quotations from their or gan. probably penned by the State superintendent of the league. He 's doubtless going about over tie State making similar utterances,
 The Advertiser has attempted several times to make the prohibitionists un- derstand its attitude in this matter. and there is really no excuse for such inaccurate and unjust statements as The Citizen makes.
 This paper has not been a per sistent enemy of prohibition laws" has not been "a fanatical opponent" and has not sought to render the enforce ment of the prohibition law "yery much more dificult." Nor did 1t send out it's correspondent to seek adverse conditions.
 In the campaign for the enactment of the prohibition law The Advertiser was just the opposite of fanatical and persistent. It was very moderate. con- servative and dignined. We opposed the laws enactment because we believed 1t fundamentally wrong in principle. and because our observation was that 1t was exceedingly difiicult in practice. We expressed these opinions in q dig nined way. and let the movement fol- low its own course.
 Since the enactment of the law and since 1t went into effect. The Adver- tiser has not opposed 1t in any way. On the contrary. 1t has several times said most positively that the law ought to be enforced. We believe that all offi- cials should do all fin their power to enforce 1t. Frankly. we don't think they can enforce 1t in many places. simply because such a large proportion nf people are against 1t that tho juries drawn will not convict. But tho effort ought to be made everywhere to en- force the law. Then if the people any where through their Juries nullify the law, the oflcials' records will be clear.
 Finally, The Advertiser did not send out Mir. Harold to seek adverse con- ditions- He was instructed to seek the facts, the truth, the whole truth, and to write precisely what he found; to give both sides where there appear ed to be a difference of opinion. And there Is every reason to believe that Mir. Harold honestly tried to carry ont his instructions. The best proof that he did so lies in The Citizens own ad- missions at the close of its article It says:
 If these articles from MT Harolds pen were not so voluminous we should like to print them all, as there has been no stronger endorsement given prohibition in the State of Alabama than these expressions printed in the columns of the most fanatical oppo- nent of the movement that we have in the State of Alabama.
 It's splendid addition to the already large volume of testimonials prohihi- tIon has produced.
 So The Citizen has been forced bv the internal evidences of Mir Harold's articles to admit that he was fair and honest. This conclusion also demon Nr.t.o ha