The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-27
NO SPECIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE WILL BE CALLED NOW l.. B. Musgrove Not to Be Given Chance to Act
 as Patron GOVERNOR GIVES MILD LECTURE TO "BRECK" Makes Counter Offer to Join in Plan to Have People Decide on
 Ratification of the Dry
 Amendment
By FRED H. GoRMLEY

Montgomery, January 26.-(Special.) Governor Henderson has declined pofnt blank to call an extraordinary session of the legislature for the rnti- fication or rejection of the prohibit ton amendment and to charge the ex- pense to the account of IL. H. MusgroVe of Jasper and associates.
 In a. letter put into the mail Saturday night, the governor said the present legislature elected three years before the amendment was submitted by con gress. and at time when there was nc such issue, had no moral right to con slider the subject. He also delivered curtain lecture to MT. Musgrove, in which he compared the government Of today with that of the Roman empire, IS cen turies ago, when it was common prac- tice ito place the legislative and mill tary branches of the government at the behest of the highest bidder
 MAKES COUNTER OFFER
 Governor Henderson declared that there might be some reason for an ex- tra session if the time limit were set to expire before a legislature in regular ses- sion could pass on the amendment, ana suggested that if 1t is desired to remove the issue from the contest for members of the next legislature, he would join MT. Musgrove in movement to have the state executive committee submit this question to the people and let them say whether the amendment should be ratified or rejected"
 VACANCIES ARE MANY
 The governor answered MT. Musgrove's statement that an extra session coulo remove the question from politics by de- clarins that 1t would be necessary to call special elections in one-half of the counties to fill vacancies and that this would bring the issue into the state campaign which would precede the spe- cial elections
 ANOTHER REASON
 "You present as another reason why your request should receive favorable consideration, and that Is that we are not at present living in any ordinary age, under ordinary conditions,' saio Goveror Henderson. "The mere fact that d request such as you have made should for a moment be seriously con templated by number of citizens il sufficient of itself to convince one tha these are, indeed extraordinary times Such methods as you have conceived, al time when the world is struggling in the cataclysm into which 1t has beer plunged, for changing our organic law ! is sufficient to cast a doubt upon ouI sincerity when we exult upon the su- periority of our government. 1t has been the proud boast, as I have thought of every American citizen that our sys- tenn is the grandest conception of gov. ernment that has ever been conceived by the mind of mep That any consideraple number of citizens should desire and be ready to change that system makes us tremble as to what may be the future o1 this great government"
 TEXT OF HENDERSON'S LETTER Governor Ienderson's letter to Mr. Musgrove declining to call the legisla- ture into extraordinary session for the ratification or rejection of thep rohibi- ton amendment follows:
 January 2s. 1s1s "Hon. L. B. Musgrove. Jasper, Ala. Dear Sir: Acknowledging receipt oi your letter of the Fist relative to call ing the legislature into extraordinary session for the purpose of acting upon ar amendment to the federal constitution submitted to the states by a resolution of Congress on the 2Sd day of Decemb CT 1917.
 .The proposed amendment reads as follows:
 1" Section 1. After one year from the