The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-05
EUGENE 1. BROWN
 ON D|SPENSAR|ES
Believes That Revenue Is Sole Argument in Favor
 of Innovation Here

 | l have recently read in the columns of
 The Age Herald and other papers vari- ous interviews and articles with reference to dispensaries and saloons.
 It seems to be theE desire of both the papers and the people to ascertain which system of dispensing liquors will come nearest solving the whisky question for | us.
 | To this question l have given much thought and study. and while l am aware l that many of your readers will regard the results of my investigations as preju- diced feel that the matter is an intense I ly serious one to us all, and that perhaps
 I may be, in measure, justified in writ | ing this letter.
 I I am frank to say that to this question there is and never has been an absolute satisfactory solution It is an evil which
 we all recognize, and the only phase Of the subject which we can consider is
 whether or not it can be eradicated, and 1 if not. how can it best be regulated and | controlled.
 | Quite number of our best citizens hold that dispensaries for the sale of whisky and licensed hotels and cafes for the sale of beer and wines offer the best solution. There are several arguments Cat least theoreticaD in support of this idea, but | to my mind the only one of real force is the quetsion of revenue, and l ann quite sure that it blinds us to the evils and | drawbacks of the system.
 | We are today in Birmingham infested with a large number of blind tigers which 1tta la11t l city. l believe that it will take more l than sheriffs and police officers, even | though backed by public sentiment, to | run them to cover
 | To eradicate evils like this, public sen
 timent must be permanently aggressive | in organized way, and aggressive or 1 ganized public sentiment is temporary, | both in nature and in action. We have | evidence of this in our recent law and | order leagues, organized for the purpose I of enforcing prohibition.
 l I believe that 1t is true that we learn
 but little in this life except from our | own experience or the experience of
 others. No city, as far as I know. even
 near the size of Birmingham, has ever
 made a success of dispensaries for any
 length of time and large city has
 ever successfully gone from prohibition | to dispensaries. When the change has
 been made the almost universal rule has
 
 looms.
 | do not believe it possible to do away with blind tigers and the illegal sale Of whisky by dispensaries, even though aid ed by cafes and hotels licensed to sell beers and wines.
 It seems to be true. however. sad 1t may be- that men individually and col lectively will insist on buying whisky by the drink and If they cannot get it le- gally they will get it illegally. I believe that strictly regulated saloons with H.
 cense of say $250O, and the number linn
 ted to from 50 to 75 is the best solution
 we can now hope for.
 have always held that in order to per
 manently improve the whisky business il
 Is necessary to elevate the character Of
 the men engaged in the traffic. Unless
 this in some way is done all efforts to-
 ward permanent betterment will most l surely fail. To my mind there is only one way of doing this, and that way is to re- ouire in all cases that the business must l be owned and controlled by the person running it.
 The most important regulation, there fore should be that if any one to whom a license has been granted should have financial aid or backing from either peer or whisky interests, that his license should be forever barred.
 l In this way a mans own capital would | be at stake, and he would not be likely to risk 1t by violating the regulations under which he Is required to conduct his business.
 The regulations should be very strict,
 very clear and plain. and their enforce | ment should be in the hands of com
 mission composed of three of the city s
 best men. Under this system you will find that the business will be conducted | as decently 1t is possible to conduct II. | You will also find that in every saloon | xx,tIl a own personal and financial interest will require him to run down and destroy blind tigers. l am sincere in stating that I would not go back to the saloon conditions
 which obtained here prior to 1907. Notii- ing by me or any one else can De saiu in their defense. The memory Of ther | existence, the recollection of their sin, bring to me nothing but shame and re- eret. but hold that there was no more excuse for those conditions then thah there Is for prohibition and dispensaries now: neither condition is either. neces- sary or wise. We have had too much agitation and bitterness on this subject, and our ac- ton now should be carefully and cour- | ageously considered with the sole object | in view of finally settling. as far as 1t can
 be settled. this sorely trying problem. I believe that if dispensaries are estap- lished in Birmingham, either with or | without beer and wine saloons. that the illegal sale of whisky will not be ma terially diminished. believe that condl- tions will become so bad, and the pubic morals so contaminated. that at the en1 of four. years, or as soon as an eiectioh
 can be held. the prohibition leaders, ever on the alert to siege on disappointment
 and unrest, will come forth boldly from
 it's hiding. and with loud acclaim cham
 pion the peoples cause. They will point | to our system of open saloons prior 10 I 1907 and to it.: justly charge failure and | crime: they will point to our dispensaries l and beer and wine rooms, many Of them brothels except in name, and call on men | and women to crush them out of ex-