The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-12
Plenty Of Whiskey
 and Beer in Mobile

Much of the majority ig in the very na- ture of the case. It is @ cosmopoli- tan community, on whose streets prob ably every language under the sun Is daily spoken. It Is the only. seaport town of the State. Many of the lead ing business men are descendants of the Spanish, French and Irish. In many of these beings may still finger the strong Catholic feeling that accom- panied men of Britain to this settle ment when Cromwell stirred that na- tion to mighty strife.
 Resent the Reputation.
 Leading men on the anti-prohibition side resent the reputation given the city in some parts of Alabama that 1t Is lawless place.
 We are liberal" they declare, but not lawless. Who ever said before prohibition came that we were law less lot? Was more immortality and anarchy charged against us before pro- hibition came? Surely there was no epidemic of crime. there was no un- usual moral turpitude in the acts of our citizens as a whole. Because pro- hibition does not prohibit here Is no reason why we should be charged with open defiance of the law"
 Those words contain much of the sentiment that is impartially gained by a visitor. While the spirit of the liberals is a big factor here, 1t Is rec ognized on all sides that no little or the anti-prohibition sentiment develop ed by way of resentment. More than half dozen men who endorse prohi- bition by local option say they are un- alterably opposed to the methods of Statewide. They say they were led to believe by the present Govrnor that local option was the plank of the Dem ocratic party. One of them says he ex- acted the promise of the Governor that local option should be the method so far as Legislation was concerned.
 When, therefore, statutory prohibit tion was forced upon this class of vot- CTS, they were sorely disappointed. It created a hostile attitude to the law when 1t took effect. It contributed to the preponderant sentiment against prohibition. And, as even a prohi- bitionist told the writer. wherever the officers of a city feel that the law is unpopular with the majority of the voters, there is little hope for the en- forcement thereof.
 One political observer made an un- expected comment on this phase of conditions. He said that by slow and careful methods of cultivation enough sentiment could have been created in favor of prohibition to carry the meas ure by a vote of the entire county.
 Tt was all a mistake, said Rev. Edmonds R. Bennett, rector of the Trinity Episcopal church. statutory prohibition was wrong because 1t lack ed the moral support that is needed to enforce it. It will never do in Mobile It was a great pity. we could see conditions as they were. l was one of those who tried to stop the measure at Montgomery. All those who knew my stand on this issue will tell you that I was prohibitionist but only unless Mobile were given a chance to vote on the proposition. Mat ters were only aggravated by State wide prohibition. I had well posted men come to me and say before statu- tory prohibition sprang into existence that there was a strong chance of pro- hibition carrying in this county if they would have let us vote on the ques- tfon. But it Is too late now"
 pr. Bennett probably stands alon' omone the clergy in his outspoken DO sitlon on this question. He is knowi