The age-herald., 1898-10-15
men want Decatur and Montgomery raise my voice against it." lApplause)
 One of Early Advocates

1 Aicn 6diil OttdluT anu I AtAisO my voice against it." (Applause)
 One of Early Advocates l Vice-President James Bowron, of the 1 Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad com pany. and an enthusiastic worker for Bir- mingham, was the next speaker. MT. Bow ron Is one of the early advocates if not the l originator of the Greater Birmingham 1 scheme.
 He viewed the question from logical standpoint, giving one by one the advan- 1 tages that would accrue. Better sewerage l system. better school facilities, better po- 1 lice protection.
 l MT. Bowron entertained no concern that the board of aldermen would take any action without first allowing full and free discussion. We as citizens of B.rming- ham could not take people by the neck and tell them they must come in. He saw no objection to submitting the ques- ton to a vote for he would not have a l business partner who would not pull with him. There may be a few pessimists, but l let them stay out until they become edu- cated
 q have great faith in Birmingham" he l continued. q expect to see, although I am turning gray, this city of 5OO,OOO in- habitants." (Applause.)
 Should be Systematic | MT. Bowron then dwelt on the several | phases of developing large city systemat- | ically, one sect on being in accord with another. Cooperation is the principle today. Don't do things in a hap-hazard way. If it were not for cooperation there would be Birmingham today. There would be no railroads and no blast fur naces. It is not sensible for lttle clump of people to build Chinese wall around themselves.
 The speaker then took up the question of school facilities outlining the hard ships to the working man because the schools were divided under d fferent heads. A laborer may have job in one suburb. He moves to another and every time he moves he must purchase complete change of books. Suburban towns cannot have as good teachers as the larger cities. No teacher would give up a pos tion in city to accept one in village. One of MT. Bowrons strong arguments was the sew craze system. No satisfactory drainage could be had with one section putting in one sized pipes and another laying a larger or smaller size. He also alluded to the beauty of a city, saying that there should be un ty among engineers in laying streets out.
 In regard to expense, he declared that whatever small debt upon a community which was now taking care of itself would not worst us in alliance The larger the liabilities, the easier handled. It is the man with small liabilities who fails. The rec ords of Dunn and Bradstreet show that large percentage of the failures are among men who have liabilities of less than $2O0o. 1t is the small man who cannot get credit. Consolidate your finances and you can get it. Every man who has pride in the glory of the city should want the truth about our popula ton known. There is not a better advertised city in America. Not a city sends it's products into more foreign coun- tries. People are often asking about us, and when they look into the directory they say is this all. "I thought Birmingham was city. Why, 1t is just a little place of twenty or thirty thousand There is something wrong, something rotten about this.''
 Mr. Bowron said that he defined the city according to the area covered by the street car lines, which included a population of 100000 He said, in conclusion:
 Leave 1t to a Vote
 q move you that this meeting respect fully suggest to the mayor and city coun- cil the application to the legislature of Ala bama for such permssive bill as will per init at one time elections to be held in the various outlying districts subuFoan to the city of Birmingham that by the joint con- sent of a majority of citizens of such out lying districts, together wtn the mayor and cicy council, the same be incorporated with at one time or from time to time, and be- come parts of said city.
 That it be further suggested to the mayor and city council that committee be at its own discretion appointed to formulate a description of territory for addition to the city limits and that such committee give all facility to residents and property owners therein to appear before it.''
 The motion to adjourn was voted down and Mir Lane arose to offer a substitute for MT. Bowron's motion
 Mp a ,es' Substitute
 In present. his substitute he com mended what Mir Bowron had said but he took issue with him upon one point. He thought that the citizens of Birmingham should vote upon this question. It we had leIt IL lo Fole ol lne peopIe as to whether they wanted to come in we would not now have had Porto Rico and other possessions. When bay he sympathized with the Red man, but he soon saw why he should be wiped out. Don't let the eaptious objec- tions of the people of these outlying dis tricts prevent the people of Birmingham from voting on the question. Let a ma jority of those who are interested rule. Don't let the question of sewering this valley be left to Avondale; give all the people who would be concerned under the new alliance chance to speak.
 MT. Lanes substitute was adopted and the meeting adjourned
  OEEIGTAT NnTE