The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-09

this league was organised . subscription | of 70 could not bs raised for any pub willing and ready to contribute liberally. Organized effort. with ccnfdence in your | undertaking. Is all that is necessary to sccomplish much in the way of civic or 'In my city with 2 population of Ssoo the noble and patriotic women have cone and are doing grand work. Two years ] dss on9sn ss sns ciety. the msmbers including some of our most prominent women They elect ed President and Secretary aad then them few Ideas as to their wark. This ] Society in the course of sew weeks 1 had contracted for : handsome woven wire fence to be pla god around oakwo began aGitatins planting howcrA ever- greens ard trees in tue yarls. nf tie. property owners. This had ifs cR>:t. for | In less than two weeks the entire c.ty paired and whitewashed. houyss terAint- | ed sidewalks put down and a general spirit of improvement WAS manifest. Not only this, but this Society pur- chased over a hundred beautiful ehadc trees and had these planted In Llot of ground that was purchased For new cemetery. The ladies have cont ,t.I Tor | fence at a cest of $150 to 1s riaced around this enclosure. Tn. money was secured by lectures. suppers and tubiic subscriptions. For eneoura9 ssn:nt. possi- ply. to some one prescnt. must say that this Society aid more to stimatate en- terprise and encourage town pride than l | any other factor in my city. Many of us know. no doubt, how these | Improvement Associations are organis:d. They have the unpleasant as we'll as the pleasant slde They ere discouraxed as well as encouraged at times. However,.
 with the right spirit. determination and | | persistency success will crown the efforts
 Of any organization. T will give you the story of one that vas very. very successful after 1t seemed
 all ehorts had failsd. Two ladies talked
 call in their friends and organize an I'm
 provement Association. They sent out | quite a number of invitations. but whep
 the time arrived the two ladies were the | only pers0ns present. They sat down and
 talked the matter over and were. of course, very much disappointed. One of the ladies who had gone to the house of the other. on her way home met soei-
 who said: Whsre have you been?' We'll.
 she told her story. We'll. what did you dor inquired the reporter. Do? We
 didn't do anything Wen. what did you and said how mean 1t was that those people didn't come So she went on her
 way home. The next morninz fhere vas
 q most glorious account of that meeting
 
 other notice was sent out and the next
 time they had a very large meeting.
 "We know that some If our most active ] and influential organizations spring from
 small number that attend the League or , Improvement Association discourage you. ' It is not the numbers that accomplish . do the work. Some of our most prosper ; ous cities. have. no doubt organizations l with large enrollment of membership 3 but if you will investigate closely. yo,, : will find only a few who are active and
 are willing to bear the burden of re- sponsibility. When it comes to doing a r good work. with that enterprising spirit : that instiils confidence. renews energy, of cities and towns YOU will find in every T town only a few to encourage enterprise. g Be zealous and earnest In your work and n that you are striving to make your city e "Take the beautiful city of Thomasville f Ga. as an index of what can be done by t tation for being one of the prettiest s healthiest and best governed cities in the f South. Only few years ago 1t was noth c ing but a wilderness. an unclean. dilapi- p dated place. The change was made by r organization. The Thomasville Improve e ment League was organized and in the # course of a few years 1t gained a repu- tation of being one of the handsomest cit 2 les in the country.
 l. What has been accomplished in Geor
 gia town can be accomplished in an Ala o bama town. We need more energ, }, thrown, into our city councils and civic d organizations: we must take more inter. 't est in beautifying our streets and by or l. ganized effort put our municipalities in 5 perfect sanitary condition. We need men r at the head of these organizations with q a strong will power and deternljnation. d The power of municipal organiza tion | is unlimited. The Magic City of Birmins 2, ham. with its boundless . resources resources and and rolling mills its factories and hundreds 2 of other industries has become great be- U cause of its active and public-spirited ''Montgomery. the beautiful and historic capital of our beloved State, with rep ' utation of being the most cultured and 7. refined city in the South. with it's enor-- y nous wholesale trade. that has given it ' the distinction of being the metropolis of ;. Alabama, recognizes today that Its pros- ' perity is due largely to her municipal cr- n sanitation. Not only these but every n Ing the substantial wave of prosperity V has active Leagues and lmprovsment As 7 | sociations.
 If there be a Mayor present who fails a a to give municipal organization the prop r CT consideration, then I beg of him to il return to his city and encourage his en- i terprising citizens to organize and go to Il work for the upbuilding of his city. To
 me the citizen that Is ready at all times l. to sacrifice time. pleasure and money 8 that he may be able to perform his duty D as citizen, is close kin to a martyr, the i most patriotic of all men. It is always i much easier to die for ones country than Q | to live for 1t. The head-long gallop. the = desperate burst up the hill side, guided s by the colors that break out again and n again through the smoke are sustained e and made easier by the sense of personal | struggle, of great sacrifices public v lily recognized. You cdn find ten e men ready to assume the bur e den of war to one who is will I ing to study the Constitution of his own = country and to test for himself the e paramount incentives to civic govern
 ment Happy is the man who can take | contentedly the duties of citizenship as they are carved out for him and pre-
 sented to him by others. fear great
 many of us lack that essential factor
 in political development-municip pat
 riotism.
 ''The remedy for municipal misgovern-
 ment lies In the awakening of the re.