The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-21
Not Fighting For The Present Gen
 eration.
Nc Reason to Feel Discouraged Over Present situation, as Men Raised Under old saloon system
 wnn Always Drink.


 an eloquent appeal for the men of Montgomery to have the courage of their convictions, to. quit being cow- sards. and to fight for the enforcement sof law.
 I pay no more attention to the little liquor dealers, the saloon keepers of community than do to a kitten. The big liquor interests of the country are the ones to fight. These interests do not intend that the South shall remain dry; they do not intend to give up their annual tribute of $40o,o00,000 from the South You men are becom- ing timid you are becoming towards! It means death to the nation. the State idea firmly fixed in your minds, the spirit which animated your daddies in the sixties should swell your hearts and make you fight for your convic- tions and stamp out this evil"
 Following this utterance at the City Auditorium last night. Mir Wright stated that the phrase which was fraught with more danger to this coun- try than any other was personal lib- erty."
 "A man violates the law. and he does it in the name of personal liberty! The night-riders violate the law, and assert their right to personal liberty. Wherever personal liberty is higher II there you have a state of anarchy. Personal liberty under the meaning of this republic means the liberty of a civilized man, and a civilized man al- ways lives within the law of the coun- try"
 On account of the inclemency of the weather Sunday night the mammoth mass meeting which had been planned by the officials of the Law and order League of Montgomery and to which the night services in the churches of the city gave precedence. proved to be somewhat of failure as to numbers, but huge success as to enthusiasm.
 George G. Miles, President of the 4 Law and Order League of the city, pre- sided at the meeting and introduced MT. wright as a man not unknown to Montgomerians, as a man who had been one of the principal speakers in the Affort to bring about prohibition in Montgomery County before the State Jaw had taken the fight out of local hands.
 nGr. wright said. In part:
 'My friends, it has been a pleasure for me to come to the Capital city of Alabama. I am glad to come back to your city after two years, to ind 1t a saIooniess city. You haven't cleaned 1t yet, but you have worked wonders. You are enforcing prohibition in the capital city of Alabama better than I thought you would in the limited time. But to incorporate the great law Is but the beginning of the contest. You are met here. as elsewhere. with the great" est problem of enforcing the law.
 Don't Feel Discouraged.
 Now there's nothing to feel dtscour- aged about You are dealing with generation of men taught to drink un- der the old saloon system. you are go- ing to be troubled with the enforce ment of this law until this generation living today is dead.
 But we are not fighting for the present generation. but the generation to come; for our children and grand children.
 "When you men once get this idea firmly fixed in your minds, that you are building for future generations, the gloom over the enforcement of the law vanishes. Men who have been taught to drink under the saloon sys- tenn are going to drink until they come to the grave. Men taught to violate the law under the old saloon system. are going to violate the law to their grave. Reconcile yourselves to him Don't fight the man who drinks. but the man who sells"
 At this point in his speech mr. Wright sat down in a chair, pulled up his coat sleeves, and used the conVer- sational tone which he employed to great advantage at the old theatre two years ago. Ills audience, remembering the tone and chair, applauded for some Q. minutes.
 Since Alabama went dry, you have put out of existince 5000 saloons. Now 1t is a question of but a very short time when there will be an unbroken chain of States from the Gulf of Mex ico to the Great Lakes outIawing the saloon. The old South blazed the way, and 1t has swept across the whole con tinent. Indiana has gone three-fourths dry. ohio is two-thirds dry, Tenness~s jhas a Statewide prohibition, and Ken lucky has the greater part dry.
 '"rhe only trouble with the average prohibitIonist Is that he is a little preiudiced There isn't spot in the whole South where progress is not be- ing made towards the enforcement of this prohibition law. No matter that Georgia people tell you that saloons are wide open in Alabama, and Ala bama people say the law Is fragrant ly violated in Georgia. Don't believe it. We become discouraged because we believe everything We hear. tell you that the conditions in my State are 100 per cent better at present than they were twelve months ago.
 Trust Responsible.
 My friends, fix this firmly in your
 
 local men, for you could crush him rwlthin an hour. but from the men who head the big liquor trusts of the North, Northwest and Middle West. When the South went dry this liquor trust lost S2,O00.000, an annual tribute paid by the people of the South.
 The saloon in your city is not a local saloon. It Is an agent of the big liquor trust. Three-fourths of the money which it receives Is sent to Bal tImore. Cincinnati. St. Louis. Milwau- kee. Now when you have driven out their saloon--not your saloon--the Nouor trust is trying to break down your law that they may again levy their tribute.
 Alabama has always been practi- caIly a non-liquor producing State Do you know that you have paid to Balti- more, St. Louis, Cincinnati and the great liquor trust an annual tribute of S400, 900 OO0-a tribute made in the South from Southern resources? We have cut this tribute out, but the great liquor trust, using as their agents the old saloon element, are trying to null 1ify the law of both Alabama and Georgia.
 This great liquor trust Is hand in hand with the government to force the South to pay this tribute. for although A State has passed prohibition law,