The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-10

election regulations provided in the bill.
 MT, Murphey of Geneva offered an amendment to the amendment which | made the election provision more specinc. | Both amendments were adopted without
 opposition. the sense of the members being to get the bill squarely before the house before making any fight.
 Two other amendments were offered by | Mir. Smith, which provided that an cleo
 ton cali be held only upon the applica- | ton of 45 per cent of the qualified voters. instead of one-third of the qr ali- | fled voters, and that the law shall not | become effective until after laws provid- | ing for regulation shall have been passed. These amendments were also adopted. The speaker of the house upon the | adoption of the several amendments to the bill, offered his dispensary bill as a | substitute to the Parks local option bill. | Judge Almon, after his bill had been read by the clerk, gained the floor and | spoke for his bill He said that the | liquor question was one of the leading questions before the legislature, and asked 1 that the matter be calmly and dspas- | sionately considered by members of the 1 fouse. He spoke of the amendment fight
 brought on by the last legislature, and said he had never thought the amend | ment was a wise provision. Judge AL
 mon also spoke of the Montgomery con- ] vention at which local option was incor- l porated in the party platform.
 The speaker said local option evidently | meant nome rule," although opinions on | the subject varied. He said that there | had also been much discussion relative l to the party platform, which was also much misunderstood.
 | He said he had been willing to stand
 with the members from the three or five | large counties in the state, as he wanted these counties to have the relief which | they sought, but that the bills affecting these larger counties had been withdrawn, and that his aid had not seemed to be wanted | He declared that he did not favor the 1 Parks bill and that he never would; tha, he had not introduced his bill until the
 Parks measure. which affected his own
 ,county, had been offered.
 | Good of Dispensaries
 Judge Almon then spoke for dispensa- ries, declaring that they could be decent l ly operated; that they could be so con I ducted as that women might enter them l without criticism.
 Did you ever hear of a dispensary l town going back to the open saloon?' 1 asAed Judge Almon. Nor he cried, you never did and you never will.'
 | He said that the dispensary would take whiis..y out of politics in the state. An other advantage offered by the dispen- | sary, according to the speaker, is that social drinking would be destroyed. Hc said he did not believe there were more than 20 or 25 men in the house who would stand on their feet and say they would like saloons re-established in their coun- ties "Will you, then. pass bill which
 will affect the whole state; which will
 make strife among fathers and brothers;
 which will restore the open saloon to the
 state? 2" exclaimed the speaker. That will be the condition of affairs if you pass
 the Parks bill"
 He said 1t had been intimated to him
 that if he~lnsisted on his dispensary bill
 the steam roller process would be ap-
 piled to him. He declared he did not
 know what was meant by the steam
 roller'' process, but that whatever 1t meant he intended to do his duty. Judge Almon spoke nearly an hour, and
 during his address was. frequently ap- plauded by the gallery, which had been
 crowded since early in the morning. The next speaker was MT. Pitts of Dal-
 las. MT. Pitts began his speech by say ing he had friends and relatives on the
 other side, and that he did not care to hurt anyones feelings by inc remarks ne should make,
 He said that when the democrats of the
 state incorporated local option in the
 party platform, there was nothing for
 Alex Pitts to do but fall In line.' He
 said he loved his party. and that he had
 been taught from childhood to follow
 the mandates of the party platform. Speaking of the last legislature, he said it was almost a shame to have been q member of that body.
 Compliments Mallory He spoke warmly of MT. Mallory of
 Dallas, declaring that he was the great est hero that ever lead party in any
 county in this state, and that he had voted for him.
 MT. Pitts then launched into discus sion of the party platform, asserting forcefully that he would stand by the platform as long as he lived. The plat form had called for local option. and that 1t was the duty of the members to follow the dictates of that platform. Mir Mulkey asked MT. Pitts if he in- terprcted the platform as meaning to allow the open saloon in all counties in the state?
 T do not" said MT. Pitts, but l do
 mean that the platform provided that the question should be submitted to the
 people. in order that they might decide the matter" MT. Pitts said he had not
 taken drink in 20 years.
 At this point the speaker was frequent ly interrupted, several members of the
 opposing side asking him questions He replied to all of them with fervor, and
 often drew applause by his bright re- 1 plies MT. ,Pltts spol,s for 30 minutes.
 and was followed by MT. H. P. Merritt of Macon. prohibition leader in the house. Mir. Merritt said the prohibitionists in the house were facing the liquor ques- | ton not because they had brought them. but because they were forced into the | fight. He said that every man in the house was under q solemn contract to his | constituency. and that according to that contract no one should vote to repeal the present statewide laws.
 | He said that he had voted for the con- | stitutional amendment. but that at that | time he had thought 1t was a mistake. | Pass the Parks bill and you will make 2 greater mistake than the last legislature did in ordering the special election on
 tho amendment proposition" said MT. | Merritt. f-s
 l The speaker declared that the laws upon | the statute books should be given a fair trial He said that Governor O'Neal in
 his message to the legislature had de-
 clared that the state needed rest from the l liquor agitation and that the impending
 measures were offered in the face of the l governor.
 He said the liquor question was no