Birmingham state herald., 1896-12-03


 Nineteenth street and~Third avenue. It is simply a question of fssufterance.
 Marked improvements and betterments have been made in the equipment and road bed of nearly all the street railroads entering the city, and in the main the city and the companies have had pleas ant and harmondous relations
 . GENERAL.
 While not in the legal limits of my duties. have done what little I could during my term of office to further the following undertakings which seemed to promise general good for the city:
 Steel making, Warrior river canal. cot ton factories, music festival, Presbyteri- an council, Mardi Gras, summer festival, auditorium Florence Crittenton Mercy Home, Excursion company. Peoples Bath company, manual training in pub lie schools. new telephone and water works company.
 What. little aid may have been to these was done outside of my regular office hours at the city hall. or during official leave of absence granted by the board. E
 SUGGESTIONS.
 In addition to and supplcmenting the suggestions made in my annual report in 1895, and to which reference is now made. the following strike me as desira- ble and as such. respectfully refer them to the incoming administration.
 A reformatory and work farm is abSo- 1utely necessary to remove the burning shame and outrage of confining together and working together on our public streets, boys and men convicted of first or minor offenses and who are too poor to pay out.
 1 have long since determined for myself that such a farm worked by the women who are nov utterly useless to the city and the boys and men described above, could be practically made self-sustain- l q, ly needed in the North and South High lands and should be provided, if the in- suranee- companies are willing to lend helping hand.
 The North Highland boulevard now SO well under way should be most earnestly and vigorously pushed.
 The sanitary sewers of Eighth alley, Alley H, Powell avenue and Alley r, should be built without further delay. The health of q city can stand no nalncing or hesitation as to its rigid preservation.
 new charter is urgently needed. l would respectfully suggest that com mittee of fifteen representative citizens, irrespective of party or creed, be formed to aid. the new judiciary committee to prepare such a charter and then present the same to the legislature as the conl-f bined wish of cur citizens. Among many other things. this charter should provide for the taking into the city limits, the territory lying east and west of our cor pCrate lines tor a distance or at iedst a half mile more.
 Also conference should be held with the town of Avonda1e with the view of consolidating with this city. All thlS must inevitably be done sooner or later necessi ated by the need for sanitary sewers and police protection if by no oth- CT cause or reason.
 Once. relieved, under the assessment law of ofsimprovement from the fear of other bond issues there seems no reason why these outlying but thickly popu-s lated districts should not be taken into the city. This is plainly the trend of all municipal centers of population in order to better protect life and property. This outlying territory is built up and is sustained by Birmingham, and should reasonably bear it's Just share or the ma iflte nance of our municipal burden. f4
 Under the assessment law all perma- nent streets, alleys, sewers, etc.,, ulti- mately built in this new territory would be mainly paid for by the territory thus acquired. q @ q
 Four fn6urted police officers with Q combined police and fire alarm station in ANondale and another in Elyton could. easily afford the police. and fire proteo7 tion'needed.
 A reel in each place would be all that was needed for a long time to reasonably protect against fire. Much valuable pub lie park property could also thus be gained ~la s--
 Another needed change is, to provide by charter that the county treasurer shall receive and. collect ct one time, all taxes, state, county, city, school, etc, and then properly separate and pay over to the proper treasurers their legal amounts. As 1t is now, combined with the vexatious and iniquitous flee sys- tenn" payment of taxes is to the aver age citizen an apparently never ending irritating task, and few if any of our most watchful people can keep track of all the dates, places and fees. The new license ordinance should pro- vide for the forfeiture of licenses under certain penalties, and after proper trial. In this way questions like gambling, Sun day selling of liquor, rate of interest charged by loan companies violation of contracts, etc., might be promptly and legally handled.
 If asked for by the Mercy Home, a lib eraI donation of land by @ long lease lands to aid in establishing a permanent home for these children and unfortunate women.
 This Mercy Home is one of the bright est, most useful and most blessed works now carried on in this city, and should be generously encouraged and strength ened whenever and wherever possible.
 Trusting that the new board may be so constituted as to work harmoniously together for the right upbuilding and prosperity OF the city, I am, Very respectfully. 2" J. A. VAN HO0SE Mayor. Alderman Kettig moved that a commit tee of three be appointed by the mayor to canvass the returns oflithe election in the usual way Carried.
 The mayor appointed Alderman Meade, Parker and Gillespie. The boxes were opened in full view and the returns call ed out Hon k. J. Lowe said in Fifth ward the managers had set aside twenty five votes they did not count and placed them in an envelope These votes were for Williams and Bennie. He said that it had been agreed that a committee should pass on these votes and report to the board. This was accepted by the board. After several minutes the com mittee reported through former mayor B. A. Thompson, giving M. M. Williams IS and Sinclair Bennie 12 of the 25 votes. MT Williams declared elected alderman from the First ward.
 The canvass of the returns was the same as appeared in the tabuiated state ment which appeared in yesterdays State Herald.
 Alderman Gillespie, ip making the re- port of the committee said there were several irregularities found, that several howe. contained no nAll lists. and that