The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-29


 was merely carrying out the interstate commerce law, completing delivery Of consigned goods.
 
 mans instinct for drink. All these make up vast army, whose evils pervade the entire social body, so that when the guns of prohibition are turned on "the violators of the law" behind these criminal vioiat- ors are seen hosts of our brothers and cousins and fathers and friends, who are backing the criminals by their agement of the use of liquor.
 Shoot Into Own Ranks gro kill the nefarious business we must shoot into our own ranks; into our own homes as well as into the ranks of the ayowed followers of Baal To prohibit at all we must not only be firing into our own ranks all the time, but We must keep up an endless system of espionage, and raids and informations and indictments and prosecutions. In fact, the whole pow CT of the community in the execution of the criminal laws the whole power of the community, morally, spiritually. phys ically, must be executed by all the law abiding people, all the time, to keep the evil from the surface.
 .tTo stamp it out altogether men and women must learn how not to drink. They must learn that it is immoral to drink; that it is as much a crime to drink as it is to sell a drink. Meanwhile, what are we going to do about it? If you and could agree on the practical results of prohibition in cities, representing as we do different types of well behaved and orderly minded citizens, we would vote the same way. But you honestly think prohibition prohibits, or could prohibit under an honest administration of the law I don't, and 1 am honest as you are.
 Laws in Canada
 "In Canada, where the laws are en- forced, where in Winnipeg out of 529 in dictments for liquor violations there were 524 convictions, they don't even try pro- hibitlon. They have the best system of regula tion l know of. Ths liquor is kept out of sight and it is conducted as de- gently as the trade will permit. But Americans of the United States have never been great on law enforcement. We teach the doctrine that government Is an evil and the least of it the better. Our statesmen have proclaimed this for 100 years or more. We are jealous of power
 in our governments and have hedged them about so, that for every forward move- ment there is at least an equal backward movement. The state judges have no au- thority over the juries. The governor cannot legally direct legislation through the legislature. Our officers seem to be conscious of their lack of final author
 ty. The juries do not feel any reverence for the law such, but allow them- selves to be surveyed by the tommy rot of lawyers, or by silly clap-trap appeals to sympathy. Murderers, rapists, bur glars, embezzlers and lawbreakers of all kinds, hardened criminals, escape through the large open meshes of the legal net, and the people seem to acquiesce. How can you enforce prohibition laws, under state of socty which habtually lets all law go unenforced? If the great crimes go unpunished, how can you punish the little ones. If offenses known and rec ognized everywhere by everybody as crimes are ignored, or treated lightly and loosely by all officialdom, how can you enforce laws directed against a practice which a large element of the people do not regard as any crime at all, but who regard the law itself as an invasion of personal liberty?
 
 My advice is that the good people of each community go to work to lodge more power In their governments, es- pecially the local government, with the right of recalling unfathful servants. Make the government more efficient by striking out archaic and needless restric- tons on the exercise of legitimate gov- ernmental powers; elect few officials and place the whole responsibility of gov -..l,.a IL out incontinently if they play false to their trust. Make the people obey the laws, by working np proper lawabding sentiment. Preach and teach everywhere, | all the time. that it Is wrong and dis | graceful to drink any intoxicating liquor l as a beverage and practice what you | preach.
 "It may be that in Gods own time and | by these means we may reach the good day when we won't need prohibition law. but if we do, the little we need | can be enforced well as the laws pro- hibiting other recognized crimes. q want to say further that no man on earth knows to the very bottom of his soul the evils of liquor any better than l do. l have had to contend with it in many, many ways, and in my most intimate life l know how self-deceived people are who think they derive pleas ure and benefit from drink. often inn agine what a deightfuly different and noble world this would be if all mankind should blot the stuff out of existence. Now, perhaps, you can understand how it Is that l simply vote wet as choice of evils A vote for prohibition l regard as a vote for an evil, as we or this county work it. I regard It as greater evil than vote for some form of regulation and my hope Is that ulti- mately we can regulate 1t as well as Cam ada does. and that in the meantime, and for all time. we will endeavor 10 teach ourselves and each other to loathe the very name of the thing. In short, T. hate the whole. business, liquor, prohibition, regulation and all Why don't the peo- pie stop drinking it. or as Sam Jones used to say, Why don't you quit your meanness, men?' Very truly yours, JAMES WEATHERLY." Letter Which Caused Statement The letter to Mr. Weatherly which brought forth the foregoing was as fol- lows:
 Birmingham, July 25. 1911. Hon. James Weathery, Board of Com missioners, Birmingham:
 Dear Sir-My esteem for you persona ally and my respect for your ability and high official position induces me to ad- dress you in regard to your written state ment. In this statement you express in the clearest, most concise and strongest language the truths concerning liquor and the saloon. but | am at a loss to under