Birmingham state herald., 1897-07-08

The following report was read at the
 regul2r meeting of the city council last
 night:
 a,. Birmingham, Ala, June 1, 1897.
 To the Honorable Board of A1dermen In presenting to you this my first semi
 annual report desire, in the beginning, to congratulate you upon the close atten- tiQn, thoughtfulness, wisdom and zeal yau have exercised in your official capac- ? ity. The position of alderman is not an enviable one Elected as you were to . manage the affairs of a municipality ap- ] parently on the very verge Of bankrupt : cy, you accepted the onerous position without remuneration or the hope thereof save that reward which comes to all pub , lie servants for an honest and faithful performance of duty, the endos Sement of
 critical public. 1 COZ gratulate the peo- 2 pie of your respective wards, that they 2 made no mistake in selecting you to 2 these offices for 1 can truthfully say, and the figures on the books will bear me out in the assertion, that you have guarded carefully the trust imposed upon you. Of course you cannot expect to escape the adverse criticism of all men. Sometimes men differ in their views on public ques- : tions. It will always be so, but you can B only act as you have thus far done, for 2 the best advancement of community in terestS.
 , Municipal government-its principles, 4 purposes and mechanismS-should mo- a where receive more attention than in a growing young city like Birmingham, ? in which the health. wealth and happi- : ness of its people depend so much upon 2 the successful administration of munic- : ipaI affairs, hence the responsibility ,, which rests upon you is not of idle mo- e ement No agency can more surely tend
 to building up or regeneration of town . life than an honest, economical and act i've administration of the municipal gov-- ernment and nothing will more certainly rstard community prosperity than careEE leaS, extravagant or indifferent adminis4s tration of city government.
 , FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. ; You entered upon a discharge of your duties with full knowledge of the inabil- : ity of the city to pay its current expenses < and fixed charges, and with a thorough
 understanding that the low ad valorem : tax rate, limited to one-half of one per
 cent by the constitution of the state, cou- . pied win an ambitious desire and purpose on the part of some of your predecessors : to. permanently improve the city at heavy costs and expansion of its credit, . had brought it to the very verge of bank : ruptcy You were also cognizant of the fact that in 1895 the administration then in power entered into a contract with Messrs Steiner Bros, under the terms of which they were to cause to be withheld annually for five (5) years one-haH of the bond interest, and under a subse- . quent supplementary con tract they were rto~ o~cause to be withheld s5,250 additional interest annually Your annual bond in- terest on total debt of S1,610000 amounts : to- $95. 100. Of this amount $52, 800 is be-
 ing withheld annually for five years from date of contract in 1895. The amount of
 these coupons withheld and drawing in-
 terest is $101600: and this sum will be in-
 creased by $20, TOO by the end of this year.
 Hence you will observe that you are pay
 ing per cent on these $101 600 past due
 coupons, and that the. amount is increas-
 ing at the rate of nearly 5000 per month.
 A casual glance at these figures will
 cause alarm in the mind of any one who
 is interested in the growth and develop ~rf1snt of your city, and there should be
 an earnest seeking after remedy or re-
 lief If 1t be not found, bankruptcy is
 sure 10 come to us with all of its attend
 ant evils. There is a possible remedy
 and only one-and that is increased con-
 Stitutional power of taxation. The mo-
 mentous question with which we are now
 confronted is not so much 'fhow shall we
 go forward?" but "how shall we retain
 that which we alrsady have?" Upon two
 occasions a constitutional amendment to
 allow the mayor and aldermen of Bir-
 mngham to increase the rate of taxa
 tion for municipal purposes was submit
 ted to the voters of the state, but both
 times the proposf ion failed to receive
 a majority of the votes of the people.
 This failure was due, in a measure, to
 inaetion on the part of the administra- ~tfon in power. The citizens of Blrming
 ham, by a large majority voted for the
 amendment, they being vFaliy interested
 asathe burden bearers as well as bene-
 ficiaries, but voters throughout the state
 were, hot interested, therefore withheld
 their yetes.
 History shows that no proposition to
 amend the constitution of this state was
 ever successful. This truth may have
 a tendency to discourage you in an ef-
 fort to successfully carry through the
 NOW PROPOSED AMENDMENT. Notwithstanding a popular demand for
 a constitutional convention that the or
 ganic laws of the state might, in meas : ure, meet the demands of the people the . last general assembly declined to sub 2 init the proposition to hold such con- slvention to the voters of the sate. You tfavored the proposition and urged 1t srthrough your representatives and conl- slmittees, that your city might find relief }sfrom the danger which threatens 1t. Failing in this, as you are aware, the general assembly acting under a sugges- tion and request from this administra-
 tion, passed an act again submitting to
 the people an amendment granting the
 city of Birmingham The right to levy a
 rate not exceeding 1 percentum ad va ejorem, the extra rate thus allowed to be. eueed exclusively to pay interest upon ,your bonded debt, and to establish Blinking fund to meet the principal at ma