The age-herald., 1901-11-20
Birmingham; Its Present and Fsmture.

the new cities of the West the regulations cn this subject are very stringent
 
 In New York reform of immense significance in this regard has been firm ly established. A state law has given power to q tenement house commission to examine and condemn all rookeries that arc unfit for human habitation and to have these torn down in order that the owner cannot draw any revenue from the property until he shall build houses that are up to the requirements of public decency. It is a well known fact that a much higher rate of profit is obtained from the rental of the shabby tenements let to the poor than from the better class of dwellings. The cupidity and greed of some property owners will therefore induce them to deal in rocker ies as a sure means of high revenues The community must step in end pre- vent this rank abuse of the privileges of citizenship, and raise the standard as rapidly as possible in order that the slum may not become a chronic and spreading ulcer in divers parts of the growing city.
 Birmingham with it's large percentage of negro population will be obliged to look after this phase of it's immediate and future development in order to protect llStil llc consequences OA neglect. The negroes. as a rule, are not very provident their earnings are small, and they are compelled to live in rented quarters. They cannot protect them selves against the exactions of unscru- pulous landlords. and any demand which they might make for improved surround ings would be laughed at or ignored. My opinion, therefore, on this important question-whwich can be only hinted at here-is that the municipality should es- tablish regular standards both as to houses and grounds for the accommoda- tion of this class of renters. Up to date bubilding ordinances should be passed and all landlords forced to comply with their provisions Many of the tenements which now disfigure portions of the city should be condemned and torn down. They are not only a great detriment to the appearance of the city, but they are constant menace to it's health, and tremendous impediment to it's moral well-being.
 There is so much to praise and to ad- mire about your city that I almost feel that these criticisms are invidious. But, on the other hand, I am certain that should do neither the city nor myself justice If I left these things unsaid. You i know what a poor opinion we all have of a slovenly man or woman. The stranger is similarly impressed with a slovenly city, or with a city which is slovenly in parts The erection of new stores, ware houses and public buildings; the putting in of sewers and water pipes; the paving and curbing of streets, and other i'm provements that are being carried on in city that grows by leaps and bounds, are sure to cause debris and wreckage enough But these signs of confusion and disorder are always regarded with leniency because they are the badges of action of progress.
 Not so the noisome rookery which in- fests the air at monday. Not so the streets overgrown with weeds, the fences broken and rickety, the sidewalks out of gear or the filtered and dirty yards that tell the story of idleness. unthrift and too often of degredation.
 | It is sad fact that these phases are discernable in nearly all American cities, | and that in one form or another they are l found in most of those of Europe. Some of the distinguished British visitors to | the Pan-American Exposition at Buff | falo this year have complained bitterly of the slovenly and unsightly sections of | that great city. They are, indeed, re- proach, but civilization in the Western world has not yet found any method to entirely suppress them. We must go to the Mohammedan cities of Asia, such as human hive of many thousand dwellers without a feature which corresponds with or resembles our slums-where there is not a public drinking place to be found and not one den of vice.
 Now is the time for Birmingham to set her pace for all future time A resplend- ent destiny is opening up before her. | She has the culture, the enlightment, and the taste to surpass anything yet done on this continent in the way of city build ing The wealth necessary for her task will come in an ever-fowing stream Will she advance as whole or only as a l part?