The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-20
IN HOTEL LOBBIES.
The Richmond ylrgInIan

per and am against prohibition as 8
statewide system, have read it not only
with considerable interest but with rea
pleasure" said member of Birming.
hams Virginia colony. 1T is a bright
newsy paper and its editorials are wei
written. After reading the prohibition
press of Alabama last fall during the
heat of the amendment campaign it is a
decided relief to find a paper representing
the Anti-Saloon league conducted on a
high, fair plane. In Alabama the papers
that champion constitutional prohibition
! were as rule SO narrow as to tell their
readers that nearly all of the good peo-
pie We're for the amendment and that the
anti-amendment side was made up to a
very large extent of whisky heads Not
a few of the amendment papers, indeed
tried to convey the impression that no
good men were to be found in the ranks
of the opponents of the amendment The
Richmond Virginians policy during the
statewide prohibition fight in the vir-
GINA legislature was calm, honorable and
straightforward. 1t did not garble facts
or twist statistics to carry its point. In
short from the prohibition point of view,
the Virginian has been admirably edited
from the start.
But day or two ago found this in
the Richmond Virginian's editorial col
umns, which rather surprised me in view
of that papers clearheadness as well
as fairness:
f. ID. McSwain of Chicago, a travel
ing man, recently passed through Bir-
mingham and The Age-Herald, in its no.
tel gossip, published an interview with
him. We have no idea who Mr. Nc
Swain is, but this is what he said, in
part; at strikes me that what the south
needs most is immigration. good class
of immigrants such as are now settling
IN Canada and the northwestern part of
the United States might be induced to
settle in the south if proper and patient
organized effort were made. Prohibition
under local option is doubtless a good
policy for such sections as contain large
negro population; but it would be next to
impossible to attract and hold the better
class of foreigners who know how to till
the soil so long as this drastic statewide
prohibition is the states policy."'
1.-The Virginian adds, Isn't it funny the
various arguments they use against pro-
hibitionT 1t then goes on to say that
the observations of the Chicago man,
however, do not tally with the fair and
intelligent report on the operation of
the prohibition law in Alabama written
for the Virginian by Birmingham gem
tleman and published in a recent issue
of that paper. 1t points out that it's
correspondent was on the ground and
| then concludes that 1t is fair presump-
ton that he knows more about the stua-
ton in his own state than a Chicago
drummer, who CHANGED to be passing
through.
Now, as to that fair presumption
| the Virginian is, / think in error. I have
been voter for 30 years and have been
studying men and measures ever since
became of age. 1t often happens thai
the man on the ground, especially if he
be a partisan, is incapable of seeing
things as they are and of relating facts
so as to carry the truth and nothing but
the truth. No matter how sincere he may
be, If he is a partisan he usually has
dust in his eyes, particularly when 1t
| Soiles 10 STATISTICS. ana, by the way,
Disraili hit the truth when he said there
are three kinds of lies-lies DIN lies and
| statistics.
| LAS a class commercial travellers are
noted for the intelligence with which they
look on. They are in the nature of things,
keen and accurate observers of political
conditions, and it is safe to say that
| Mr. McSwain, in his observations, mod
estly presented, was quite right. What
| he said about the effect of drastic state
wide prohibition is Just what thousands
of temperate, intelligent and patriotic
| Alabamians have been saying ever since
| last fall. At any rate, 1t is a pretty
good rule TO go slow. on discrediting a
| drummer's testimony. One more word
| and I am done. A few days after prohi-
btion went into effect In Birmingham
Under the local option law in January,
| sos. a well-known railroad man, whose
business is that OF drumming" met
me in the Hillman hotel and said: Il
10 not mean to criticise the people of this
community, but l was greatly surprised
10 see Birmingham dry Prohibition is
The sign OF a small town-not the sign
of a big city"