The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-06
DR SAMUEL ULLMAN
 ON LOCAL CONDITIONS
Writes to Mrs. Robert H. Pearson uro- ing the Women to Start
 Crusade.


 At the request of Mrs. Robert H. Pear son, whose recent article, Some Him dranees to Greater Birmingham" contin- ues to be widely discussed, pr. Samuel Ullman has in a letter to Mrs. Pearson. called attention to many existing evils which he believes can be reduced to a great extent by personal work of the women of Birmingham. Dr. Uiiman's letter which is printed in full may prop erly be divided in relation to the subjects therein discussed under four heads. viz: A plea for simpler life in society,
 The underpaid women in Birmingham shops.
 The Sums of Birmingham.
 The "Boss' in politics.
 Dr. Ullman never calls public attention to local conditions until he is himself satisfied on every point, that is, he knows the conditions which he discusses. lie does not make a single statement that investigation will not substantiate, and he presents the facts from the view point of a deep thinker, whose great ana eroading sympathies are not re- stricted within any set bounds.
 pr. Ullman's letter follows:
 Birmingham. Ala, Nov ?, 1904 My dear Mrs. Pearson:-
 Your valued lines of yesterday to hand hasten to reply. but fear that the re- quest you make to give my views or any other suggestions will take me far atleid possibly beyond the province of your subject, Greater Birmingham
 IT We were to restrict ourselves to the limits of the subject, the fear of being chargea With being narrow or provincial could be sustained. We cannot deny That our city is regarded by the state at large as It's Mecca" Not so much from the religious viewpoint, but rather from the educational, the progressive and the social elements we strive for. Hence, when we labor for Greater Birmingham" as interpreted by you. we also set an example for the state; yea, for the south land.
 The subject therefore becomes of great CT import and possibility. if treated along these lines, but to confine ourselves a little more to things at home to further your endeavors to make our city an ideal city, and thus set an example for our state, we should plead for a simpler life in society, in order to be able to give more time for service" None can do this better than the women of your club
 Any one observant of our local condi- lions cannot fail to see, that our sales women in our mercantile establishments and in our offices are generally much underpaid, as well as oyerworked the large majority receiving weekly wage of not more than from three to five dol lars. How far these paltry dollars will go to feed them and dress them becomlngly you can better judge than myself.
 Hence, in many cases the underpaid be- come the victims of the "tempter' and thus glide into that path, from which there is seldom possible return. The good women of Birmingham can help them by personal service, by protest to employ CTS, this is large field Much agitation is being made to repress the saloon. No doubt there is much danger in it, but in the opinion of many not near so much as the shanties in our alleys. the hot houses of vice and crime. Who is he who has ever protested to our property holders for building them (thus harboring the vicious) to get revenue. I know of a number of these shanties that rent for $7.50 a month for one room and kitchen tenanted by five or six persons What the filth and moral atmosphere must be you can readily imagine. These shanties are our sums. They furnish a majority
 
 laundresses and chamber maids Who can doubt the fact that they must be sources of infection moral and physical, to our beloved enc. This is a work that our club women should address them selves to. The charg1 that the thought less and selfish may make of being prud- ish or Puritanc must not deter. Let us work for purity, though it requires much patience and perseverance. We should never forget that "noblesse oblige."
 One cannot accentuate too strongly the danger of the boss in politics and his ma chine; also he is strongly entretnched and his appeal to the tnoughtless receives a willing ear, and sad to say, often ap- plause. He is a menace to the perpetuity of our commonwealth. He is the progen- itor of the mob and the father of Judge Lynch" The majesty of the law Is mock ed and outraged by juries and the local military. as was the case at Huntsville.
 It required the courage of that peer less heroic soul, Judge Jones, to sound the danger that overlooks us all. Yet on the heels of that arraignment one of our political leaders, an asprant for con- gressional honors, sought to poison the minds of his audience by appealing to their prejudice, with the cry of negro