The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-11
Percy Vigorous Tn Reply
 To Former Sheriff Higdon
 Regarding Recent Speech
Reterates Charges That Hgdons Administration of Sheriff Office Was Disgrace to Civilized Community and Waiv
 ing His Legislative Immunity Challenges Him to
 Disproves Charges In Courts of the Country

j, Representative Walker Percy, who
 returned to Birmingham last night
 from Montgomery. after reading the
 E. L. Higdon. wrote out the following
 signed statement
 Referring to Colonel Higdon's arti-
 cle in the News of the 10th in which he
 complains of my criticisms of the con
 duct of the sheriffs office under his
 administration and states that made
 these criticisms at a time and place
 which constituted m privileged in
 law so that he could not sue me for slander, l now say as I stated on the
 floor of the house of representatives
 in Montgomery that deputies under Hig- don's administration arrested some of
 the best men in Birmingham for the
 trivial offense of drinking in viola
 tion of law. and in response to their re-
 quest that they be allowed the oppor-
 tunity of making bond, which Higdon' s
 deputies knew they were well able to
 make, the answer was given that they
 would not be allowed to make bond
 until they had been taken to jail , That these men were marched through the streets of Birmingham 10
 the county jail like common felons
 that these men having been arrested
 for bailable offense it was the sher- | ifs duty to have promptly accepted bail; that his conduct in marching them
 to jail before accepting bail was a
 shameful and an outrageous abuse and perverSion of his power and was done
 for the sordid and unnecessary pur- | pose of collecting the iniquitous turn
 key fees.
 'As to the raid on the red light dis +r;A o1,z %1..+ r.r.1 under E. L. Higdon raided the segre- gated district In the city of Birmingham and that scores of wretched, fallen wo- men were dragged in the night from the places where they resided, under the acquescence of the city authorities to the county jail; that although in many cases good bail was offered it was refused until after they had been dragged to jail; that this was done for
 the sordid and contemptible purpose of collecting the same miserable turnkey fees; that the conduct of the sheriff's office in this regard constituted Q shameful act of oppression, wrong and injustice and was prompted by the characteristic desire to gather the last dollar in fees and not by any desire to root out the social evil
 "I further charge that E. l.. Higdon collected thousands of dollars in fees which he had no authority in law to collect and was guilty of an impeacha- ble offense in so doing. And I further charge that Higdon's administration of his office revealed the uttermost depths and possibility of iniquity Of the fee system of Alabama, and was a disgrace to a civilized community. The facts which have been stated are known to all of the thoughtful and well in formed men of Birmingham, and have aroused intense dissatisfaction with system of laws which have made such wrongs possible.
 This statement is made so as to waive any privileges protecting my statements as member of the legis- llature and I challenge Colonel Higdon to test the truth of these charges by an action against me in the courts of
 the country as he stated he would have
 done had not my Montgomery utter- ances been privileged. .. .a.s | "WALKER PERCY"