Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-07
MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL Fifth Avenue Pavement Order Rescinded. THE MAYORS SUGGESTIONS Resolution Unanimously Passed Fayoring a
 Constitutional conyen-
 ton.

held last night.
 The mayor and entire board of alder
 men were present except Chairman Gray, 1 of the finance committee, who left for l Calhoun, Ga, yesterday afternoon in an-
 swer to telegram stating that his moth
 CT was dangerously i'll.
 The mayor read the following com- l munication:
 | COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR E | To the Honorable Board of Aldermen. l Gentlemen--Under resolution adopted | by you at your last regular meeting, the
 matter of the proposed constitutional | convention was made @ special order l for discussion at this meeting of the l board. It is hardly necessary for me, | to call your attention to the importance | of immediate action upon this subject. l No city or community in the state Is I more vitally interested than the city of
 Birmingham. Financially, so deeply in l bonded debt and temporarily carrying l the burden, with the assistance of its | creditors, the only hope of this city seems to be increased power of taxation. | believe each member of this board agrees 1 with me in the proposition that an equal | ization of taxes, is most necessary to the | maintenance of our credit and the proper l administration of the city's affairs. and 1 that the present "dragnet" known as our | license schedule, imposes an undue bur den upon every branch of business in the city, and that this must be imposed | in the absence of power to place equal l burden upon real estate owners. In this | city, this does not mean necessarily high ] taxation. It does mean equal taxation. I, therefore, recommend that the board 1 at this meeting, pass suitable resolutions l urging action by the state legislature, l looking to the calling of a constitutional l convention, and that the said resolutions 1 be referred to your legislative committee l to take in hand and join in the effort l Of the people of the state to re-arrange or | re-organize their organic laws.
 l would also recommend that your leg 1 islative committee at once suggest and | propose an amendment to or revision of 1 your present charter, and go before the | general assembly, and work for the en-
 actment of such laws as may be innmedi- | ately necessary to the proper govern 1 ment of the city | l respectfully recommend that your 1 finance committee immediately prepare an ordinance or resolution making apprO-
 priations for the year for each depart ment of the city government, and that 1 they do not exceed these appropriations without special action of the board. In 1 this way the city can better prepare itself l to live within its income.
 i The financial stldngency of the times I has caused a great deal of poverty and suffering in cur midst and daily appeals are being made, and have been since my l induction into office, for aid to the suf- i ferers. No appropriation has been made
 for their relief. The only appropria ton | for charity in 1896 being $25 per month 1 for the mantenance of the mercy home,
 and the authority which has been given l the mayor. to issue charity tickets for the 1 transportation of paupers from our midst.
 In view of the fact that the United Chari- 1 ties has been recognized, and that a 1 number of good women and active men 1 have taken hold of the matter with the l determination to render all relief possi- l ble in thoroughly organized and sys- 1 tematic way, would respectfully reeom- | mend to your honorab ble body, an appro- 1 priation of $500 per annufn towards this 1 worthy institution. l would also recom- l mend that the issuance of charity tickets l for transportation, come to the mayor 1 only through the United Charities or its l proper representatives, and that the cost | of this transportation be charged against l the appropria ton of $50 per month, be- 1 cause the United Charities is better pre- l pared than a direct representative of the | city, to investigate the merits of each l application for such relief. I am reliably | informed that there is a good deal of suffering among the colored people of the 1 city, who need medical assistance on ac- l count of neglect.
 l I, therefore, recommend that you select | as assistant city physician some worthy l colored doctor to look after such cases as may be brought to the attention of the | mayor or the United Charities, who may l not be permanently disabled, and who may be raised to health and usefulness 1 by immediate attention. This colored l physician might also assist in the care | of sick colored prisoners, under the direc- l tion of the city physician.
 | I desire to call your special attention l to the condition of the city prison. There l Is need of new cooking range and kitch- 1 en fixtures, and the city physician rec l ommends and urges the necessity for | some means of furnishing hot baths to l the prisoners during the winter months. l My attention has also been called by the. 1 physician in charge to the inferiority. l meagreness and unhealthfulness of the ! fresh meats furnished the prisoners. On l the date of the 9th I made a personal in- vestigation and was informed by the l warden that a contract exists for fur l nishing by one of the butchers by the market fifty pounds of this inferior meat l per day for the feeding of the prisoners. | The supply consisted of absolute refuse, | trimmings, bones, hearts, etc, and did l not appear to consist of as much as fif- teen pounds of actual meat. I ordered | the market clerk to make thorough in-
 l spection, weigh the meats and reject that
 :, which was unfit for use. recommend | that the contract be rescinded and some | other arrangements made by the commit l tee on police and sanitation for furnish | ing fresh meats, @i
 l The prison is in need of new glass in 1 some of the windows, and thorough 1 whitewashing.
 On the list of January. finding it lr1eces- | sary to collect as rapidly as possible the | assessments for the last construetedlsan- l itary sewer appointed MT. c. F.Doughit 1 to take charge of the matter under the 1 direction of the city engineer and the l city treasurer, and to push the collection as rapidly as possible, devoting his en- l tire time thereto. st@s | I also appointed MT. F. M. Gardner to l assess merchants' tax for 1897, finding it
 would be impossible for the clerk to leave his office to perform this woEk. Con- 1 firmatien of these appointments to the | respective offices and the compensation | therefor, Is in your hands, and I ask for 1 some action thereon at this meeting. | Upon my recommendation, the market l committee has withheld the appointment | of janitor for the market house, and | the former market clerk has performed these duties to this date, for the reason | that upon investigation and by consulta- l tion with the health department, find ..