The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-01
STATE TO FIGHT FOR VALIDITY DE
 BLUE SKY LAW
State Securities COnlmis- sion Will Continue To
 Function
tsTArE CAPITAL BUREAU,

to the effect that the Alabama blue
 sky law" is nyalid, the state securi-
 ties commission will continue to func-
 tion as heretofore, it was asserted
 Thursday by A. c. Patterson, presi-
 dent of this commission.
 Judge Fort rendered this opinion in
 the quashing of grand jury indictments against Preston Orr, Ross A. Skinner
 And James T. Driver. officials of the
 bankrupt Preston Motor corporation of
 Birmingham. The judges main ob-
 Jection to the law was that the words
 speculative securities" contaiued
 therein were too vague.
 Mir. Patterson stated that he re-
 garded the case as of sufficient impor-
 tance to keep Captain William O. Oates, executive officer of the securi-
 ties commission, at Birmingham to
 prepare an appeal from the decision of
 Judge Fort to the state supreme court.
 Section of the Alabama blue sky
 act" was cited by Mir. Patterson to
 prove that the whole law is not bad by
 reason of defect. The section reads as
 follows: 8sa ..9
 Should the courts declare any sec
 ton or clause of this act unconstitu-
 tional, then such decision shall affect
 Ouiy tue ctCtAOH UE LtauSC tO QtCAaIcH
 to be unconstitutional, and shall not
 act"
 It was further stated by Mir. Pat
 terson that the whole securities law
 had been rewritten by the code com
 mission and will become part of the
 law when the new code goes into effect { May 1, 1924. !s. H Hearing In Birmineham.
 The Alabama Public SerSice com
 mission in an order issued Thursday
 set Tuesday, February 19, as the date
 for hearing in Birmingham thefpetition
 of the citizens of Russeliyille for q
 new and adequate passenger depot at
 their city. The hearing win Dc held
 in the Birmingham Chamber of Com
 merce building. The respondent is the
 Northern Alabama Railway company
 CIeburne Stills Smashed X
 Fourteent stills were yielded to raids
 ing squads in Cleburne county and a
 similar number of outfits were bagged in Shelby county, according to reports
 received Thursday by Walter K. Mic .Adory, state enforcement chief. State
 and federal men worked together in
 Cieburne county, while in Shelby, state,
 county and federal forces all had a
 hand in the game Of . the Cleburne \ county stills three were of 60-gallon capacity; one of 150-gallon capacity, H and 10 of 100-gallon capacity. Also I ,S10 gallons of beer and 36 gallons of l whisky were destroyed. Three white
 men, Arthur Smith, George W. Smith
 and Will Donaldson were arrested on 8 charges of distilling.
 Four of the Shelby stills were of
 3o0-gallon capacity. two of 500-gallon
 capacity. two of 200-gallon capacity. il one of 50-gallon capacity, two of 400- N gallon capacity, two of 700-gallQn ca- N pacity, and one of 250-gallon capacity. Two light cars were also captured, | along with 10,550 gallons of beer 25 gallons and five pints of whisky. Five men were arrested for possessing stills, ethece .fRErd rdistilling, six for violating the .the.t$non Jaw.
 Dogs Head Sent In. G The state Pastor ! labora tory re
 ceived for examination ThufsdaE the k head of dog sent fin by T. ys$Bloyd of Abbeville. No humans have been bitten by the animal.
 C0nfers With Abercrombie. Milton Fairchild, of the character education institution of Washington, D O., was in conference Thursday with Dr. J.iW. Abercrombie, state su- perintendent of education.
 Game Law Convictions. The following convictions were re- ported Thursday to the state conser- yation offices:
 Limestone--A. c. Dilehay, hunting without permit; Arthur Smith, hunting without licenses; Poet McElyea, hunt ing without license; each fined $1o and costs.
 Green-wiif Allen, fined $10 and costs for hunting without license and same amount for hunting without per nit; Dr. M. B. Cannon and Will Webb, hunting without permit; each fined $10 and costs.
 Clay--J. b. Crow and Paul Cross, hunting without license, fined $10 and eosts.
 Bank Clearings Jump. Bank clearings in Montgomery for January were S540, ,961 04 greater than during the same month of last year, ac- cording to records of the Montgomery Clearing House association. The total for the first month of this year was SS. .41S, ,463.6 .65, compared with $7,S77,- 60261 for the same month of last year. The increase for January was not as great as for December, December showing clearings of $5S9, ,957 .39 great CT than the total for the last month of 1922.
 To Name Whites Successor R. B. Evins, chairman of the state democratic executive committee, will name the successor of Hugh White as secretary of the state democratic execu- tive committee to serve until perma- nent secretary shall be elected by the committed. Mir. White advised Chair man Evins of his resignation yester- day, stating that his duties as special assistant attorney general in charge of litigation of the public service commits 2 sion are demanding his entire time. Rules of the state committee give the chairman the authority to name a sec retary pro tenn. Mir. White was elected at the organization meeting of the state committee, succeeding Ira Champion, who had been elected a member of the committee. Retain land Office Montgomery's federal land office will he retained. Congressman J. Lister S Hill of the second district today wired E. E. Winters, land agent, that the House of Representatives again voted 5 against the abolition of the office and \ that the decision is final. The depart ment of the interior had recommended i the abolition of large number of land z offices and Montgomery was in the list; Corporations Qualify
 The following domestic corporations 4 have filed qualifications with Secretary * of State $. H. Blan, through the offices
 of their respective probate judges:
 Colbert Hotel company, incorporated,
 Sheffield, Colbert county; W. H. and * Charles Martin and J. B. Logomarsino, & incorporators. Authorized capital x S100,000, all paid in; hotel business, U lntn .--------