The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-10

Mr. Pierce says that his depart ment has met with great deal of opposition in tho state. but he is proud of its record, and that 1t has decreased the sale of liquor S31-S per cent since 1t began operations in Alabama. His statement follows:
 At this late hour, after so much has been said and done, will you permit me to make a statement in writing about the Tidmore killing by federal officers While attempting to serve search warrant on infor- nation and belief that the wagon contained contrabsnd whisky in vio- lation of law?
 First. l want to state that above all, l suspect that l regret the unfor- tunate affair more than anyone Tn the state, unless it be the little widow of the deceased. l have re- gretted the occurrence from the be- ginning. 1 was the first one to call In the reporters the following morn ing and advise them in full a com plete report, just as I had received 1t from the agents themselves, that being all that I knew about the tragedy, and all that I know now, with the exception of certain volun- tary information that has come to me from outsiders and what the local press has printed.
 T want to state in defense of my self, that l have been quoted and 'nisQuoted' almost daily in the press. l have been quoted as saying certain things to certain reporters, when as 8 matter of fact I had seen neither of them, or talked with them over the phone on the days certain ar tlcles were purported as coming from me.
 Sorry for Attitude
 'I- made complete statement of sli the facts knew as stated above, and this statement was published as given out by me, being the first story printed. The following day l was asked to make another statement, and advised the reporter, who will bear me out that l had no further statement to make, that I had told all that knew in my original state ment, and that further statements would have to come from the opposi- tion. Since that time I have re- mained in the background so far IS I was concerned. have never att tempted In any instance to silence the press. although I did make the remark that 1t appeared that I was being unduly quoted, etc. have at all times had pleasant dealings with the reporters of the local press, hav- ing at all times assisted them where could. and have been pleasantly treated by them, and am now indeed sorry to even think that the man. agement of any of the papers could feel. If they do.' that personally would uphold any wrongdoing My position being that the courts at the proper time will see that justice Is done, and that the case should not be tried in the papers; then, too. would be ungrateful to the cause that I represent, and to the unfor- tunate men attempting to enforce that cause, should or any other branch of the government give out to the public that later on might be used against the q cused as evidence against them"
 "As the general public knows, it has been an uphill fight to enforce the national prohibition statutes in this and all other states. At the same time l am proud to be able to say conservatively that-.at theA present time there exists decrease in the
 
 of 33 Ia per cent over the condi- tions existing in Alabama during our undertaking to stamp 1t out in Jan uary, 1920, less than two years back. with small force in the whole stato of less than twenty agents. During that time all our men have been ex- ceedingly conservative, acting under instructions from - this and higher offices to take every available chance before resorting to forceful methods toward the execution of this law NVo have been successful, until this sad and unfortunate case, notwithstand- ing that we have made many sacri- fees heretofore. And we appreciate the kind expressions of sympathy ,oming from ladies heading the moral organizations, and other good citizens who do not believe that our efforts should go unnoticed, and who know that the writer regrets that any life should be taken by anyone charged with an oath to enforce the prohi- bition or any other law.
 Other Cases Cited
 Tn this connection I want to say that thIs. does~not have one thing to