The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-27
THE MuNrcrpAL srTuArroN.

Aldermen have announced. and others will doubtless enter the field. The prf- mary comes of in April.
 It Is. therefore, the duty of all citi- zens to be considering the demands of the situation, in order that they may select their preferences carefully, that they may not make pledges hastily. It Is matter for congratulation that in several wards citizens who are deeply concerned for the welfare of their local government have been organizing to secure the candidacy and election of the best equipped men. What the few have done. all should be doing earnestly. alert iy, energetically.
 The municipal situation is serious enough to require the brain and time of some of the best business men in the city to put things in order. Affairs have been allowed to run along in an easy. indif- ferent sort of way. until there is need of strong men at the helm.
 In the first place. the financial affairs of the city need the best business talent, O0ts nA thsC 1AdyVt 0IAC0 UA0 AAA tAlG Council. The bonded indebtedness of the city is large. and this has made a. heavy interest account. The running expenses have been steadily increased for years past. In addition there was a heavy loss of ready cash through the Morris Bank failure, The net result is that the cityis treasury has been by no means easy for a long time. Necessarily public Improvements of all kinds have been practically suspended. Incidentally the streets are not being improved, or kept up, as well as the public demands, as we'll as the development of the city re- quires.
 In the next place, law and order are not by any means maintained as they should be. The Police Department has for years been the football of politics, and this is largely because it's head for many years past, Chief Gerald, is one of the shrewdest politicians in the city. In order to save his own head in every municipal campaign, he has found 1t necessary to throw his force of men into the campaign. It has been a common thing to hear of officers begging friends for votes to save their individual heads. A political police force is pound to be more or less ineffective, and there can be no dispute about the result in Mont gomery.
 Two evils are conspicuous in Monrgom-
 
 constantly remarking upon them They are the boldness of many of the bar rooms ,and the activity of gamblers. Doubtless the laws regulating the liquor traffic might be improved, but there is no use of improvement .n laws, if there is to be no improvement in administra- tion. Poor laws firmly enforced will work out better results than the best monly talked of that there are some of the worst dives conceivable in some parts of the city, that many of the bars violate the law on Sundays and election days with impunity. Now &nd then some unfortunate or recalcitrant may be caught and fined, but It is the exception and not the rule. It is said not to be the business of the police force to play detective and to get evidence in such mat ters. The result is that they seem to shut their eyes to things that many other people see.
 So 1t is in reference to gambling. Now and then some unfortunate who is feeced makes a TOW. Then there are some ar rests, and great stir is made All the gamblers are run out of the city for a week or two, but pretty soon they quiet ly crawl back and resume business. The police don't see them when they return and don't watch after their operations. There is no steady, firm, determined, sys- tematic enforcement of the law.
 The underlying cause of this general condition is the indifference of the bulk of the citizenship to their responsibilities. If a city's government is bad, 1t is be- cause the people don't care to make it good. It is no better than they want 1t to be.
 There is but one remedy for these evils, and that is for the bone and sinew of the city to rise up in a grim cetermina- ton to elect officials who are competent and willing to administer the city gov ernment ably. firmly and decently. Mont gomery should get out of her cd ruts in Birmingham has done it. and 1t was a much harder task there than here. The liquor laws are enforced there ,very day in the year, and gamblers sneak about in awe. The police force is out of politics there, and there are men at the head of the city government who are free of en- tanglements. who believe laws are made for the purpose of restraining evil doers in every practical way, who think that police officers are paid to watch for all sorts of violation of the law and to do everything possible to bring the gull ty to punishment.
 What has been done elsewhere can be done here. If our citizens make up their minds. CANDIDATES SHOULD BE MADE TO DECLARE THEMSELVES AS TO THEIR POLICIES AND PUR- POSES. If the right men are not out, they should be brought out There is no necessity of saying yes to every polite affable gentleman who may seek the support of his fellow citizens. Citizen ship is a responsibility. and carries duA.es. These duties have been neglect ed too much in the past; they cannot be