davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
ENFORCEMENT OF DRY LAWS

In his review of the year 1924, Wayne B. Wheeler, legal adviser to the Anti Saloon League, says he is satisfied with prohibition enforcement in the United States. Arrests and prosecutions in creased during the year. Whether or not violation of the prohibition laws has in- creased or decreased is debatable question.
 Except for the figures of the prohibi- tion enforcement unit, there is no way of telling how great or how little is the respect paid to the dry statutes by the American people. Even these govern iment figures mean nothing more than that 6 certain number o. a1rests wese made, cases prosecuted and convictions obtained. They do not show if the in- creased activity of the prohibition agents and the courts has merely kept pace with an increase in the number of violations, and that the situation, therefore, is un- changed; whether the showing made by the prohibition agents indicates that the law is keeping ahead of the violators.
 One encouraging feature of the past years work is the large number of Jail sentences imposed. As in the case of the automobile speeder, the bootlegger dreads imprisonment far more than fine. In the first place it deprives him of his liberty, which is sweet, even to boot legger, and it interferes greatly with his business. If man who is a broker, a merchant, a banker or is engaged in some other legitimate enterprise is suddenly taken away from the helm of his private affairs for long period of time he suf- fers an economic loss. Often he loses his business altogether. The bootlegger's s plight is even worse. His power to make money is immediately cut off and the devoius connections formed for carrying on his business are broken.
 While some of us may not share the optimistic belief of MT. Wheeler that the wetness of the country is confined to a few localities, here and there, it is a noticeable fact that there is less talk of repeating the Volstead act than probably ever before. Politicians, who keep a finger on the public's pulse and profess to know the drift of public opinion, no longer regard prohibition as an issue in national politics. This, more than the statistics compiled by Prohibition Com missioner Roy A. Haynes, is an indica- tion that the American people as whole believe statutory prohibition has come Ito stay
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
Debt-Paying Idea A Worthy One

per cent has scraped together from one-third to one-half of all the worlds wealth In other words we have at least five times our share of the wealth when estimated on a population basis. We produce 26 per cent of the worlds food 34 per cent of the worlds commodities; 6O per cent of the worlds coal; 15,per cent |of the gold of the world; AS per cent of its silk; Al per cent of its cereals; q per cent |of its cotton; 79 per cent of its corn b4 per cent of its petroleum. We have 40 per cent |of the worlds raw materials; 36 per cent of all the railroads; 40 per cent of the developed waterpower; S4 per cent of all the auto mobiles of the world :.
 The New Year beckons to us and we feel that his smile means more gold, more corn, more petroleum more automobiles And so it does, nor would have it otherwise even though could. But what of the debts grow ing out of the prosperity we have enjoyed? rszer to those debts which are not enforce aEls in the courts of the land nor collcctable by execution. nation. let t not b. fore gotten, may stand Q lot of ruin 1t can safely pass through periods of depressinn: it. rssa test has to do with its capacity to enduta prosperity.
 New Years may hold out. everything that is bright, yet we may make shipwreck of the year if we fail to pay the debts which come to us from the past. eliminate the debts of duty, love and gratitude which we owe to God, great as they are, and urge only the debts we owe incident to our free institutions. All this great material prosperity which amazes the world has come to us under the institu- tions which our fathers formulated for us We owe debt to those fathers; we should be ashamed to celebrate New Years unless ws vowed. to pay 1t now and hereafter. We must keep the faith our fathers gave to us, pre- serve the institutions which they established and under which we have prospered; and cease not to instil into the young of the land a sense of loyalty, love and veneration for the principles which have made our republic the envy of the world.
 We owe a debt of love and gratitude to every institution in America that is seeking to train our young aright; to all the thou sands of benefactions that minister to sui fering, signing, shining humanity; to all the causes, religious or social, which are teaching the real idea of democracy, which is nothing more than the brotherhood of man. Our be- lated answer must be "yes' to Gains far-off cry, "Am my brothers keeper?" Not that any one of us would make of another a slave believe ourselves children of the self-same God and of the same glorious republic. God gave Jus freedom fraternity and prosperity. We are His trustees. In the new year we should spread the light of charity and democracy among the nations of the world. We should not enter the new year flippantly, but rather we should pass over its threhold in a solemn mood, glad, of course, that God has given us opportunity, yet sobered by the realization that of him to whom much has been given much shall be expected.
 Copyright, 1924, by 21st Century Press.)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
A Helpful Example To State Courts

courts. and of the taxpayers money, should resnlt in considerable relief to litigants and Judges alike. And the contrast between the reasonably efficient procedure in Federal Courts and the slow technical, anticipated nrocedure in the State Szibunals should not fail to point the proper N&'ral to State Leg slatures
 The initiative in framing rSssssa of judicial procedure and practice should ha given to the courts and each State Legislatu-S should limit itself to revision of rules that rS the light of experience appear too drastic or pro- ductive of injustice.-Chicago Daily News.
 TO THE POINT
 Slander travels farther than compliments.
 At best, the music teachers business is scaly.
 Gambling is its own reward-any way you look at, it. Charity sometimes begins at home and ends in tke almshouse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
HARRISON FOR UNDERWOOD

Senator Pat Harrison gives out state ment in support of Senator Underwood's s Muscle Shoals bill; and. it is remarkably forceful exposure of the claims of the water power people, and equally strong lin showing why the manufacture of ni- trates at the plant is the foremost issue. The government has already expended $80, ,000, ,O00 for the works designed for the manufacture of nitrates, while but $45, 900, 900 has been devoted to power development; and this, says the senator, marks the governments estimate of the relative value and purpose of develop ment of Muscle Shoals. The senator appeals to his home people of the state of Mississippi, remarking that they are chiefly agricultural in occupation; that they spend millions of dollars for fer |tilizer, and that their true interest is in obtaining cheap nitrates and not in ob- taining electricity for manufacturing or other industrial purposes. This may be read as the answer to those Mississippians who, not very long ago, voiced their op- position to the Ford bid for the Shoals unless their state weBe guaranteed an equal portion of the power produced. The senator says, with positive emphasis, that what most concerns the people of Mis- sissippi is the improvement of the pro- ductiveness of the land, and that their wish is for nitrates obtainable from the Shoals; not power.
 The power people argue that the mak- ling of nitrates at the Shoals is a negli- gible proposal, and intimate that it can mot be done at reduction as compared with the price of Chilean nitrates. Sem ator Harrison meets the argument by citing the fact that when MT. Ford with drew his bid for the Shoals, there was an immediate rebound in Chilean nitrate company shares, the people holding such shares and other people wishing to own them recognizing better than the Amer ican power people seem willing to do that Ford meant to manufacture cheap nj trates at the Shoals and that his doing so would affect seriously, and perhaps disastrously, the Chilean nitrate mo- nopoly.
 Senator Harrison treats the Shoals problem in all of its phases and in a way
 to add to his reputation for statesman
 ship. Even the friends of the measure,
 and some who may be considered we'll
 versed in it, will find instruction in the
 statement and be fortified anew in their
 support of Senator Underwoods bill,
 which is distinctively a measure for ni- trate production at the Shoals.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
By ED w. HOWE

If an old custom has long survived, there is the wisdom of experience back of 1t. And nothing has been taught so long, or by so many, as that a man should, for his own selfish interest accept the rules men have adopted for convenience, safety and advance ment, and called Morals. I refer to this fact a good many times in the hope that may induce few to accept the importance of the old teaching, and better care for themselves and their country.
 There never was man entirely intelligent. or entirely moral and H. G. Wells says there never was a man who lived steadfastly, com pletely and continuously in pursuit of great tends The best a man can do, the best a man ever does, is to make his average little Tor good deal better than the average Of man. kind That is success. We are not gods, but animals One dead man is as good as another, but living man may, by proper effort, rise above the common herd And this rising above the common herd is the finest thing in life. | A man should not be too good natured. A certain gravity, reserve force, and disposition to back up what he says, becomes real man. Don't overdo polteness or good nature. Oc- casionally man must read the riot act, and riot, if necessary. Rough necks must be handled. The man l most dislike IS too amiable. And I heard a tough story about
 
 won't stand crowding. 't
 Every man who amounts to anything must have some of the Rough Stuff in him, and know something about it. A capable man can not always Smile, Smile, Smile; he must show his fangs occasionally, and keep them sharp for an emergency. If he should meet wolf (and there are a good many wolves), he must know something about them, and be able to make wolves as well as gazelles respect him.
 It's your business to watch the hypocrite, the thief, the loafer, the liar. Thus he will not harm you, but himself, which is what is coming to him.
 We have all been brought up on the story that seven different civilizations have ended in bankruptcy, and that ours will go the same way. It is said we will become so idle and eliminate, so devoted to "good times" and luxury, so dislike the real staff of life, that finally race of strong, simple men will come along, throw us into bankruptcy and slavery, and take possession of the country. And
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

old days" before the war. Here was a Moses who would lead us back into pre- war placidity and care-free existence, with low taxes and prosperity singing a duet in the national ear. Also, MT. Wilson was made the victim of misrep.. resentation that unfavorably affected James M. Cox. This was apparent in the manner in which the Republicans dis torted the League of Nations issue and deceived the American people. In addl- ton to the league controversy, the racial groups were arrayed against the Dem ocratic party, because of dissatisfaction with the Wilson policies.
 MT. Coolidge, however, comes along and wins a tremendous victory for no particular reason that anybody can see, except that he was already in office and the impression went abroad that he was a safe man to keep in the White House. Strictly speaking, there were no outstand- ing issues in the 1924 presidential cam paign. Psychology, the Coolidge myth" played an important part in the election of MT. Coolidge. Politicians try to ignore psychology, because it is an intangible thing and hard to understand, but 1t frequently upsets their best laid plans.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
AGE AND SERVICE OF TEACHERS

Out in Chicago they do some queer things, besides letting the gunmen run away with the town. They apparently have some ideas which are based largely upon wrinkles of new theories. Among the latest is the proposal to retire school teachers at the age of fifty-seven, ap- parently on the ground that they are pretty well worn out at that age and ln- capable of doing effective work. That will be regarded as heresay by many students of human nature and human achievement. At fifty-seven years of age school teachers might not be as full of nervous energy as they were when twenty or thirty years younger. But is education a matter of nervous energy or of capacity to think constructlvely? There are probably few conscientious teachers at fifty-seven who are not more capable of teaching the younger gener- ations what they ought to know than when they were twenty or thirty years younger.
 On the railroads the maximum age limit is seventy years. On many of our great railroad systems there are men ap- preaching that age who have been drlv- ling engines at mile minute ever since they could remember. They give no evi- Idences of diminution in efficiency. In the national defense high officers are supposed to be capable of efficient serv-
 ice up to sixty-four years of age. They
 are frequently at, their best when they
 are past that age. When Germany had to have the most efficient man within the
 realm to take charge of the most serious
 undertaking in the nations history
 Hindenburg was assigned to the job He
 was nearly seventy when he assumed the
 command of the German armies. When Uncle Sam needed a man to assume 6
 great job, he chose John G. Pershing at the age of fifty-seven, the same at which
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
By THOMAS R. MARSHALL,

Former Vice President of the United States.
 A Chinaman. if we are to believe informa- tion that comes to us, is not permitted to celebrate New Years day unless and until he has paid all his debts, together with any that may have been left by his deceased father. Before commenting upon this alleged fact wish to state that never was in China, and do not know the language of that nation. I merely tell the tale as it was told to me.
 If it be fact that participation in the festivities incident to the birth of new year is dependent upon the payment of debts, the Chinese must live in a most pronounced ma |terialistic atmosphere. Obligations apparently have been reduced to a dollar-andicents basis. If one owes not "cash' he starts the New Year with bang. For him the day marks la new beginning. '
 This might be a pleasing custom for Amer flea to adopt. can see its possibilities for good. But New Years day in our modern lnusiress sia jn which credit means everything probably vcu,1 be a drab holiday Many of us, no Go....t, would be denied the privilege of burning fire crackers unless we assumed the attitude of the Hoosier who, when he executed la note in adjustment of an open account, ex- claimed "Well, thank God, that debt is |paid." .s-
 To us the chubby little fellow who ushers in the new year is a fairy who comes to us bearing gifts As we welcome him we feel that the past year has become part of the eternal past and that we are on the threshold of new career. It is just as well that this lis so. l would not lessen hope or dull en- thusiasm. Optimism is more potent than pes simism. It is better to believe that New Years day beckons with smile than that it repels with frown. Courage, fortitude, hope and cheer are essentials in the battle of life. However, it may not be amiss at this season to consider whether New Years is just day on which one is to forget the past and look with unclouded vision upon the future, or whether, contrary to the Chinese view, the old year projects into the new year obliga- tions other than those which may be expressed in terms of dollars and cents.
 Joyous as we are at the close of 1924 and joyous as we should be over the hopeful pros poets in the material world, we ought not to overlook any of our obligations. Unless we pay our ordinary debts we shall suffer the bangs and penalties of bankruptcy. This we we'll know, but the knowledge does not depress us because the opportunities of meeting our ordinary debts are favorable. But what about our obligations which cannot be met by the payment of money? Do we have no debts of duty, love, gratitude, which are equally pressing and harder to meet? l have the Nation rather than the individuals who make up the Nation in mind now. We enter the new year, of course, individually and as a people. It is as people that note some general observations.
 Under our flag there dwells approximately 6 per cent of the worlds population. This
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

face of committee disapproval of their measures. A like effect would be pro- duced by supreme court disapproval, if it should be given; but why burden the already heavily burdened court with de- mands for their extra service, when con gress itself can do all that needs to be done? -..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
 Birmingham, Ala.,. Dec. 27, 1924.
Comments Age Herald Church Page. |, r1I.L Al m. A.o nn..Il.


 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 May I express my appreciation of the double page display you made on last Satur- day for Christmas Sunday. It is q most admirable feature and one I heartily approve. am a thorough believer in printers ink; for unless you can get facts before the eye of the minimizing, you cannot make much of an appeal to them, and, while have little use for the sensational methods often used, do approve of the dignified method you had of presenting the announcements of the churches
 You are no doubt familiar with what the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is doing with its Mon day issue I have often wished that some great daily in our beloved Southland would present Gods truth to the people at least once a week, as does the Eagle. You will say, "The people don't want It." Very true i; but do they not need it as does the man who is sick needs the true physicians prescrip- tion?
 As open my paper from time to time l shall watch with interest your plan and its development. The world needs the Truth, and yours is the opportunity to place truth before the minds of many whom the pulpit cannot reach Surely it will accomplish far more than long accounts of corruption, murders and divorce cases.
 F. o. HELLER. Bessemer, Ala, Dec. 24, 1924.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

Deaths of three persons with serious injuries to three others in five automobile accidents on Christmas day suggest that one of the resolutions the city author ities need to make and keep is that of enforcing the traffic laws.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

If the choice were left to me- whetnef to hsvs . free press . free government. "ouse ehooss . free prssA-Thomas Jefferson
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28
BoRAH's INTERNATIONAL VIEWS

The sincerity of Senator Borah's opin- ions has been questioned never; their soundness, often. Since he is now chair man of the foreign relations committee, however, his opinions must be considered more seriously than before. It may be that his new responsibility will sober and modify his extreme positions, but in the main it is feared that the chairmanship is now occupied by man in sympathy neither with the administrators foreign policies nor with the prevailing public attitude on such questions. In view of the overwhelming victory of the Coolidge administration at the p"'ls, it must be assumed that the public is not antag- onistic to it's policies. That fact should lead MT. Borah to a serious modification of his views in order that he may exercise his new functions, not for the sake of forwarding his own program, but in order to carry out the majority opinion of this country.
 The senator's belief that the question of war should always be referred to vote of the people is very creditable one for him to hold, but that view should not prevail upon him to evade the obliga- ton, laid upon him by his official posi- tion, to decide such question in the pub lie behalf as the law now contemplates. Perhaps some day provision will be made for referendum on prospective wars, for the world is progressing away from war policies and eventually any entrance into war may represent such profound re- versal of policy as to require popular sanction.
 To outlaw war is most desirable am- bition for the nations to possess. Pro- gress is being made in that direction. But we must keep contact with the other na- tions in order that the progress to this consummation may be orderly and uni form. Otherwise, the decision whether there shall be war or not may not lie with the. one party to the prospective conflict. It is true that it takes two to make quarrel or a war, but when one party sufficiently injures another, then the two are provided.
 The trouble with MT. Borah is that he is an isolationist, whereas peace is CO., operative proposition. Therein lies the fatal weakness in his views on our inter national relationships. He admits that such relationships potentially exist, but he counsels an evasion and not recog- milton of our international political ob- Iligations. As chairman of the foreign relations committee of the senate some thing more practical is expected Of him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

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The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-28

It is better for the average man to show him the way than to haul him to his destination.