The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-24

cover the raising of a huge flu
 He declares that no attempt to rail- road any one has been made, and that the state has taken every possible step to insure fair trails. The alleged con duct of state officers in obtaining con fessions is denounced as being untrue and unworthy of the substantial citi- zenshlp of the county. His statement in full to The Age Herald follows
 Fl desire space in the columns of your valuable paper to reply to the article ap- bearing in Sundays paper under the headline, Tuscaloosa Mass Meeting Charges Bows Railroaded," as I hope to show that there is no basis of fact to support such serious charge.
 NO BASIS OF FACT
 There has been no attempt to railroad anybody in this investigation. The state has attempted to expedite the trial of these cases by every possible means that 1t could legitimately appeal to, and will continue to do so because these are ex- traordinary cases. Never before in the history of the country, so far as 1 am advised. have soldiers on duty, charged with the preservation of law and oruer been charged as these men stand charged
 Tn order to insure the men absolutely fair trial. the state did not resist their motion for change of venue but prac- tically consented to the cases being trans ferred to another county where. there was no soldiers, no strikes no labor union or no coal operator, so far as l am ad- vised Does that look like the state wanted to railroad anybody?
 They have been given nearly 10 days to prepare for trial by the court. How much more time does an innocent man need? :? Is there any necessity for the guilty be- ing given any more? Must the courts of our state, the states counsel and all other state officers rest under the imputation of 'raifroading" someone because they at tempt to have prompt trials? This mass meeting failed to say anything about Baird being worse than railroaded.
 PLAYING FOR TIME
 The great weakness in the adminstra- ton of the criminal law in this country is the delay incident to it's enforcement. Every writer of repute on the subject is unanimous to the effect that time is the greatest criminal lawyer that experi- ence has produced" It seems that this mass meeting desires to have the accused avail themselves of this very important factor in the trial of the case in addi- ton to the brilliant battalion of counsel already employed.
 When the mob at Bay Minette was ap- prehended, they were given much less time in which to prepare for trial than has been allowed by the court in these cases, and one suggested that those men were being railroaded. Why all this hue and cry from Tuscaloosa?
 Let's see. There is a reason. Tusca- loosa people are shrewd. They are intel roc of ingenious. In political maneuvering they are past masters and in moulding public sentiment they have long been regarded as most powerful They know when their boys are in a bad fix, and nobody in the world knows better how to extricate them from situation of that kind than Tuscaloosa folks. If they cant do it. it can't be done.
 .,These accused are represented by bat talion of lawyers. According to reliable reports, F in all, eight from Tuscaloosa. two from Hamilton, one from Jasper ana one from Birmingham, have already been retained in their behalf. These gentlemen are able and experienced, and know bad situation when they see it. It is therefore reasonable to assume that among so much wisdom and ability, some one has discov- cred the jeopardy and peril of the men that have been indicted.
 RAISE FALSE ISSUE
 ''If that is true, and it has been made known in Tuscaloosa, it would not be diI- ficult, in city of so much wisdom ana learning, to find citizen who sknew that many a guilty man had escaped because his friends had been able to raise false issue and raise a smoke screen that eff fectully blinded the eyes of the people, and that one of the best things that could be thrown out would be to raise a cry that somebody was being raflroaded
 '.The smoke screen has been started. It has taken the form of a mass meeting and resolutions As an agency for the cre- ation of propaganda calculated to produce a public sentiment favorable to the ac- |cused it can not be beat, but the thought ful citizen should stop and ask himseif this question: Why would the state want to railroad these men?' And when he does. let the wisdom of Tuscaloosa county