The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-19
The Dispensary Law Should Be
General-Local Option the
Right Principle
THINKS SENTIMENT IN
STATE FAVORS PLAN
Believes Revenue From Dispensary In
Jefferson County Would Be rs Much
rs 100000 n Year-Could
Be Conducted Honestly

w. d. Jelks, former governor of Ala
bama and now president of the Protec-
tive Life Insurance company, was yes
terday asked for an expression of his
views on the solution of the liquor prob
lem in Alabama.
THE legislature should. in my opinion,
at its coming together, provide statute
defining a dlspensary,' said Governor
Jelks, "a well-thought-out general law on
the subject which the larger cities could
invoke; this If we are to have local option
as a principle. This statute should pro-
vide what revenue should go to the state
and what should go to the city and the
county, and, infinitely, how the dispensary
should be conducted | emphasize the
statement thai the statute alluded TO
should be a general law, and, under it,
division of the income should be made,
that there might be no jealousy between
the city and the county, and no jealousy
between the country counties and the
larger towns. / have talked with hun
dreds of men in this city and elsewhere,
and so far as / have talked, none OF
them want to see again licensed saloon
in any city in this state, if they are to be
of such character as those we were wont
to have. Now and then a thoughtless
man suggests a bar and provides some
ideal way for its conduct. The bars are
not ideal things, nor have they been in
any stage of the worlds history, nor
will they ever become so.
| IF "a man shall say, I believe in local
option he has no right, | take it, to de-
mand more than that his people be al
lowed to buy whisky and he cannot set
up that they are entitled to buy it from
man who personally, makes money
out of it. 1t is doubtful if any man, how
ever astute he may be. can successfully
present one reason why licensed saloons
should be reinstated anywhere in Ala
bama.
| whether wines and beer should be al
lowed dispensed in cafes and hotels is a
complicated question 1t may be worked
out, and probably can be. The Hon.
Frank 8. Moody of Tuscaloosa has given
many years to the study of this whisky
question He is, perhaps, easily the best
lnlOII1tu IldH Oil tlt SubJttt III thi9
state, and the people of Alabama might
do wEll to accept his judgment on all the
matters connected with a provision for
dispensary. Most of our people look
upon him as their great temperance lead
| er, and he Is so in deed and in truth. He
is the father of the dispensary idea in
this state, and the dispensary stands
| for temperance.
1.-THE net income of a dispensary and
| its branches in this city would be an
enormous amount. | would say that its
profit would likely aggregate $1,0O00O0 in
one year. This is, of course, loose as
sumption | estimate so highly because
of my knowledge of what dispensaries
have profited several communities in this
state The argument that some part of
the dispensary money will be stolen does
not deserve any attention at all Some
parts of our tax moneys are stolen, but
we do not, therefore and because of it,
dispense with any of our tax gatherers.
Besides, a dispensary can be conducted
honestly I think they were so conducted
in every city in this state where they
were located, and I do know 1000 men
in Birmingham could be named to run
dispensary and all of its branches with
out robbng the city or the county or
the state of one dollar. Honest men.
really, are not scarce as some people
seem to assume. l have had much expert
ence with men, and I think that | can
speak from a knowledge of Them