The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-28
CANDIDATES FOR
 MAYORALTY REPLY
Their Answers Satisfactory to
 Mercantile Committee
VIEWS SET FORTH FULLY
o'BrIen, Drennen and crlttenden De- fine Their Positions, But Ward En- tered the Race After Committee
 Had Propounded Questions.

The replies of the candidates for mayor in the approaching election to the six l questions asked by the joint committed
 from the Board of Trade, the Wholesale and Retail Grocers associations and the Lumber Dealers association are printed | for the first time today. The questions
 were printed In The Age-Herald several
 days ago. but are here reproduced, and below them are the answers in full of
 three of the candidates. George B. Ward
 having announced too late to receive a
 copy of the questions:
 L Are you in favor of municipal owner
 ship of the water works? Yes.
 9 Are you opposed to giving the pres
 ent water works company the right to
 extend meters to private residences? Yes.
 3. Are you in favor of extending the
 corporate limits of Birmingham? Yes.
 4. Are you in favor of having cleaner streets? Yes.
 5. Are you in favor of an equitable dis- tribution of the burden of taxation? Yes. G. Are you in favor of a city ordinance forbidding any alderman or other city of-
 hcial from using his office for getting
 contracts with the city for firms Tn
 which he Is interested or with which he
 is connected, directly or indirectly? Yes. The answers follow;
 Frank p. o'Brlen. Frank P. O'Brien-Answer to question
 No l. favor the construction of mag
 nificent water works plant by the whole
 district, if after careful investigation, the
 sanitary commission determine that 1t Is feasible. l mention the sanitary commits sion, because you gentlemen will agree l with me in saying that the present body
 is composed of as fine business talent as can be found In the south, if after
 careful investigation of the matter on
 business principles by these gentlemen in their Judgment 1t is to the interest of
 the city to own its own water works I would heartily support any measure look ing to that end, but my individual opinion is that the county should join the city
 in the erection of a plant sufficiently
 large to make the great sanitary sewer
 a success The successful operation of
 that great work which is to benefit the entire county, will require great quan- tity of water, and I do not think he city alone should bear all the burden. ?. I believe our public utilities should
 be forced to live up to their contracts
 with the city. Under the present contract the Water Works company cannot force meter in my house unless I ask for it. favor the present contract so far as 1t relates to meters.
 | B. am heart and soul for greater Bir- | It.. energy I possess in an effort to accom- l plish that end.
 1. As cleanliness is nigh akin to Godli- ness, if elected to office I promise extra exertion in that direction.
 1 5. I hold that the expense of conduct | ing the affairs of the city government should be equitabiy distributed, and that no particular class should be taxed to | tighten the burden of others. According to my analysis of the situation, cer-
 tain class of citizens are subjected to double taxation.
 | 6. Answering query No. 6, I beg to call your attention to the first plank in my platform printed sometime since I fa-
 vor an ordinance that will prevent the
 mayor or any member of the board of
 aldermen from selling goods to the city | orss to be a party to any contract in which the city Is interested I favor the
 avoidance of the occasion of evil as well
 as the appearance of the same. Mayor Drennen. I w M. Drennen answered all the ques- | tions in the affirmative and enclosed the I following:
 70 T1fx mingham and of the resources of this district depends largely upon that con- centrated effort which will result from the incorporation of contiguous suburban towns Into this municipality. favor and expect to urge legislation looking to this | end.
 | Water works should, in my judgment, always be the property of the municipal
 ity and will bend every effort to obtain l the proper legislation enabling us to pur-
 chase CT build a system of sufficient ca-
 pacity to supply the largest needs of 1 Greater Birmingham. In addition to ca pacity, it must be constructed to supply l the best and purest water possible to ob-
 tain with the latest and most approved methods. It must also be managed so as to supply water at the cheapest rates possible to the consumers.
 | M. H. Crlttenden.
 M. H. Crittenden-1. Many cities of l the size of Birmingham own and operate
 their water works system successfully, | and to the interest of It's citizens, and If
 feasible favor the municipal ownership
 of our water works system, but this ques-
 ton will be submitted to the qualified
 voters of the city as per the action or 1 the democratic executive committee, ana
 shall use my earnest efforts to carry