The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-24
Day For Voting

campaign has closed, and today a question of far reaching concern will be decided at the polls. Surely no prohibitionist of, ordinary observation expects to win "dryb victory.
 The real question is, shall we have regulated saloons or shall be have dispensaries? Some prohibitionists will be consistent and vote No" on the proposition Shall the manufac- ture and sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors be permitted in Jeffer- son county, Ala. 2" and stop there, but on the advice of prohibition lead CTS the rank and file will vote on a second proposition, If permitted, shall the sale be by dispensaries or private dealers, under a license ?" They will vote for dispensaries.
 Indications point to a decisive ma jority for the sale by private deal CTS, that is to say, for the open sa- loon strictly regulated. A large vote is expected. The larger the vote the better. Also the larger the majority for high license and regulation the better it will be for the business in- terests of the Birmingham district as we'll as for the moral conditions of this community, for it will mean, viewed broadly, stability and de- cency.
 If some of Jefferson county's prominent citizens are found on the dispensary side, an overwhelming majority of them are outspoken for saloons. The liquor traffic as we had it in Birmingham four years ago was unregulated and the dive was so of fensive as to make prohibitionists for the time being of many men who were ordinarily liberal in their views. But prohibition has never been a good thing for Birmingham. It has hurt. Those who considered the sit uation superficially thought they saw an improvement in morals. There seemed to have been less drunken ness during the first year of prohibi- tion, but blind tigerism has increased and it would be hard to imagine worse conditions than we have now.
 If Senator Morrow's dispensary plan had been adopted, it is safe to say there would have been no urgent demand for saloons at this time. His plan provided for the sale of beer and light wines at retail, but for strong drink to be sold only in dispensaries. A dispensary system of that kind was advocated by The Age-Herald, and by many citizens who will vote today for the regulated saloon. AS between the dispensary. as provided, and the high licensed saloon, both regulated by the Smith enactment, the latter is far preferable, and under a first class excise commission, which we are certain to have, Birmingham will be, in all respects, a model saloon town. The saloon opposition organ ization has stressed the bad condi- tions of other years and sought to confuse the real issue. Speakers and writers have ignored the character of the commission that will be in charge in this county, harping all the while on the past,
 Jefferson-sounty, with a population of nearly a quarter of million, is not only the largest county in the state, but the majority of it's citizen ship is progressive. Birmingham, which contains more than half the population of the county, is proverb- ially progressive, and will give an overwhelming majority in favor of the open saloon.
 All will be glad when the election | is over. In the meantime The Age Herald's last word in the campaign is, Let's have big turnout at the
 polls."