The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-25
NEW YORK WRITER ANALYzES ALABAMA
 PROHIBITION LAWS
Louis Seibold Points to h. cOnsistencies-Says State Is Through With the
 Saloon

SdlOOn { Louis Seibold, the political writer of the New York World. who visited Bir- mingham recently, wrote the following in recent issue of the World regard ing prohibition in Alabama: Air-tight as is the prohibition law of Alabama. there are a few loopholes in 1t of which enterprisingD citizens have E not been slow to take advantage.
 An inventive resident of Geneva county recently made a satisfactory still out of a garbage can, with which he produced substitute for whisky q that was lacking in purity and flavor, but made up for it in "kicking' quail ities.
 The Alabama dry law Is supposed to be the most drastic of any on the statute books yet it is singulariy in- consistent and comes nearer provid- ing a solution of the liquor problem by exemption than any of the others yet devised. It not only prohibits the man. ufacture and sale of alcoholic bever- ages of any sort, but it bars advertise ments and signs relating to liquor, the 2 shipping of it and possession
 I Yet the same law permits resident to distil or brew for his personal use any liquid or cordial to the extent of X five gallons year, if the food and fruit products used are grown on his own land. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that great many resident of Alabama a who do not entirely approve of the
 bone-dry state law or prospective fed eral amendment to the constitution are preparing to manufacture their own booze from home grown products.
 The law against professional distil1- ing is about as drastic as phraseology can make it. It was passed only a few
 weeks ago at Montgomery, and >was
 drawn by Judge s. D. Weakley. a former attorney of the Anti-Saloon
 league, who was made deputy attor- hey general for the purpose. The bill prepared by Judge Weakley and put through the legislature seeks "to sup press the evils of intemperance; to re- ; strict the receipt, possession and de-
 livery of spirituous, vinous, matted, fer ! mented or any other intoxicating or prohibited liquors and beverages"
 The only exemptions to the pro- < visions of the act are alcoholic bever
 ages used for medicinal. sacramental i and scientific purposes and, in case of a actual necessity, by physicians. A re- markable feature of the law is that it compels the immediate sentence of of lenders by trail judges upon the judg- E ment of jury, obviously intending to prevent the pigeonholing of indict- < ments, which practice prevails in other 2 States.
 s REWARDS FOR IMPORTERS # Another feature of the Alabama dry < law that is even more extraordinary is
 that it authorizes law officers to con- fiscate all appliances and material used in the manufacture of alcohol, and di-
 rects that "the owner of said distillery E. or plant or any person permitting the I same to exist on his premises, shall 8forfet to the state of Alabama all i property used in connection with said p illegal plant together with buildings 4 and lots and parcels of ground consti s4 tuting the premises on which said un-
 lawful act is performed or permitted, as and said forfeiture may be ordered sold
 and the proceeds applied to a fund for law enforcement"
 $ Under the law enforcement act 8 bounty of $50 is set aside for any
 sheriff or person making an arrest for violation of the liquor law. A detail ! of this extraordinary proposition is that person whose property is seized is prevented from instituting replevin Proceedings to recover.
 ~ Penalties accompanying the Alabama
 dry act provide for one to five years in
 prison and from $50 to $500 fire or
 both.
 | The Alabama dry law, incidentally. makes it unlawful to sell or give away extract of Jamaica ginger for beverage 1 l purposes, because Jamaica ginger has | proved very popular as substitute for the real thing since 1915, when the statute curtailing it's use was put into
 effect. An analysis of some of the -Ja-
 maica ginger extract sold in the state revealed that it contained as high as 80 per cent alcohol.
 f ONE BAKERS SIDE LINE
 The proposal that the state confis-
 cate--property used for the manufac-
 ture of alcoholic beverages is now be-
 fore the courts in a test case, the de- l, tails of which are interest A property N owner leased lot in Birmingham city
 to a baker. The baker conceived the idea of operating an amateur still as side line. Fermented liquors bearing close resemblance to beer and fair imitation of moonshine whisky were traced to his establishment The sleuths, ambitious for the $50 |; espionage reward raided him. The baker himself was sent to jail. and the state authorities, acting under the |iSWeakley law, confiscated the prop erty. An investigation developed that the owner did not know anything about the operation of the still, but that made no difference to the courts. |s A lot of citizens who regarded this provision of the act as handed outrage. rallied to the defense of the property owner, and the principle in- volved in the confiscation of his |siproperty is now being threshed out in court.
 The intelligence of Alabama is more greatly concerned over the principles in this remarkable proposal sane l tioned by the legislature than in any post-mortem discussion of prohibition. There are contradictory conditions in l both, The business men and produc- ihg elements in industrial and agri-
 tural enterprises, heartily indorse the opinion of the leading men in other
 southern states that I visited.
 They are unalterably opposed to the
 saloon They believe that the driving
 out of the corner groggery in the cities
 and the "doggeries'' in the plantation
 sections. which were held to be re-
 sponsible for most of the offenses and
 crimes committed by negroes, has not
 only increased the efficiency of the la-
 bor element. but has conduced to a
 healthier tone to the state.
 A comparison of statistics shows with
 unmistakable clarity that prohibition
 in Alabama has caused most marked
 decrease in crimes. An inquiry of
 prosecuting attorneys. jailers and po-
 lice officials in Mobile, Montgomery,
 rmingham,-Huntsville and one or two
 small towns in Autauga county fully
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