The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-03
LOS ANGELES FROM 1O2,OOO
 ID 28O,OOO IN SEVEN YEARS
MT. Edmonds Points Out Wherein Many Southern States Are Pursu- ing a Short-Siehted Policy.
 Absence of Team Work.

question of the districts development and pointed out facts and mistakes. He said; ''It is sometimes a good thing for the people to get out and see what the rest of the world is doing. Here in the south we have been so well satisfied with our selves that we have failed to realize how much greater things we ought to be doing than we are doing. Birmingham and other southern cities are making rapid progress, it is true, when compared with the past but that Is taking a wrong view point. from which to study our advance ment.
 "The question is what are we doing as compared with what other sections and other cities are accomplishing? In order to make study of this phase of the situa- tion, I sent one of our best men out to the Pacific coast some weeks ago to in- vestigate the development of that section in order that the south might learn by knowing what others are Accomplishing. In material advancement the Pacific coast is beating us. With comparatively few natural advantages such as the south en- joys, entirely across the continent 3O0o miles away from the center of wealth and population of the Atlantic seaboard, the leading cities of the Pacific coast are simply marvels, from whose broad minded men we ought to be able to learn les sons.
 An Example.
 Take Los Angeles, for instance. In 1ooo ;t bod o ,,opuIa tinr of h0 000 If had a wilder boom than Birmingham, and a collapse which threatened its advance ment; but it's people didn't lose heart They didn't stop to mourn over losses, but simply worked the harder to accom- plish great results. And what are the re- suits? Well, by 1900 Los Angeles had doubled it's population, and had 102,00O in- habitants. That was pretty lively growth, but that was only start. With pop ulation of 102,000 seven years ago, Los Angeles now has fully 2S0000. In seven years it has almost trebled it's population Its bank deposits exceed $l00,000,000 and about ten days ago it voted bond issua by ten to one of s2soOO,oOO for new water supply.
 Everything else in Los Angeles is mov- ing forward on the same gigantic scale Its people have faith and to faith they add works. Los Angeles is almost wholly result of pure grit, of the work Of men of broad vision and boundless energy united for the creation of a great city. Think of what the same men could have made of Birmingham If Los Angeles had Birmingham natural resources and advantages, it would even now be city fo 500OO0 people or more. But Birming- ham lacks Los Angeles spirit of co-opera- ton, of boundless faith in the future, or otherwise it would long ago have secured a cheap water supply ample for all future industrial needs, and l am not at all ger tain but what it would have dug, at it's own cost, instead of waiting on the gov ernment, a canal to reach navigable river transportation. And then Birmingham lacks some of the spirit of cooperation of Los Angeles and other western cities.
 Birmingham Knockers.
 70, I know the people here nominally work together, but go to New York or elsewhere and you find that many of them are pulling down each others properties. There is scarcely an iron property in the district that has not been damned to east ern capitalists by some Birmingham man. One man praises his property but criti- cizes his rivals, and his rival criticizos somebody else's so and so 1t goes, until New York has heard every property In the hu bickerings and jealousies have worked im- mense harm to the whole state, and made outsiders believe that there is little, if anything, really good here. These facts are facts. so what is the use of not say ing so It will do us good to see our own mistakes, and we all have our share. Now. if Birmingham would put aside all individual jealousies, all jealousies of other places and unite in such a spirit as has made Los Angeles the marvel that it is, you could astonish the world at the rapidity of your development.
 If Pacific coast city, with compara- lively few natural advantages can grow from 900 population to 80,0O0 in seven years, and could vote by an overwhelm- ing majority, $23,000.000 for new water supply, to be brought 100 miles or more. what could not Birmingham accomplish with it's absolutely unequalled advant- ages? The possibilities here are simply lmitless and their full development needs only faith and work-faith in the city and faith in its people, coupled with team work, where every man recognizes his individual responsibility to give the very best in him to the betterment of his own city and own state. To do this, 1t g necessary to look outside and see what others are accomplishing, to get a broad view of the worlds advancement and see whether we are keeping pace with 1t or not. The self centered man or commun- ity can never do much We must catch the inspiration of seeing what progress others are making. and thereby be stirred to keep pace with them.
 Regarding Capital.
 "Then if Birmingham and Alabama and the whole south would match the prog ress of the Pacific coast, or even of New England. which has taken great indus trial spurt in the last year or two. they must make the outside investor welcome. and make him feel absolutely safe as to the protection of his capital. Just as the whole country in times past looked large