The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-27

the day of train every To minutes.
 These trains during many hours or the
 day are loaded down with people Ihey are not people going from Birmingham
 to Bessemer, but they are people com ing from Ressemer to Birmingham. Ihey
 are not coming to court in Birmingham they are coming to trade. And one of the
 main sources of our prosperity IS the
 volume which comes over the North and
 South Bessemer street car lines.
 It has been said that we will lose the
 trade of many people coming to court if
 this amendment becomes law. The Iact
 is that our jurors are paid $2 per day,
 and our witnesses, when they get any
 thing, get from 75 cents to $l.5O per day.
 The trade of all the jurors and witnesses
 who come here simply to attend court
 from the territory affected would not
 amount to as much in one year as the
 trade of Bessemer amounts to in week
 But the argument, such as 1t is, on this
 line loses all it's force when we remem-
 Der what seems to have been overlooked
 by the other side, that Bessemer already
 has city court, covering substantially
 the same territory as will be found em-
 braced in. the new county, if one is es-
 tablished. It is true that the limits may
 be shifted somewhat, but the difference
 can not be important. Whatever the
 trade from jurors and witnesses is from
 this territory already goes to Bessemer
 under existing laws and will continue 10
 go there even if this amendment is de-
 feated
 If Bessemer should become a city of 25,- 600 or 35OOO inhabitants, instead of hav-
 ing a street car every 15 minutes be-
 tween the two points we would have one every five minutes, and the trade which now goes to enrich our merchants would be increased three-fold. The idea that the people of Bessemer would quit having commercial and other business dealings with the people of Birmingham simply because the town grew in importance and a new county was established is contra dicted by all experience. Not only would our merchants, our hotels, our skilled physicians our architects and business men generally get increased business from there as the town grew, but our wholesale merchants would do the same. The fact is that the establishment of a new county would not affect the court question nor the trade question one iota, except as Bessemer grew so would our 1 business relations with 1t grow.
 The reason why the people of Bessemer and that vicinity want new county is | not to get a court, for they have 1t al- | ready It is to get the convenience of
 
 | at home, to have a court house with a | probate judge, a clerk, a sheriff, tax | assessor and collector, county treas | urer and superintendent of education | right in their community where they l could go to their own court house and l in 15 or 20 minutes transact business ] which would require them from three to four hours to transact if they had to 1 come to Birmingham It is true that they ~s~~--r and can get back in an hour, and If they l could get their business attended to | promptly it would require another hour. l The same thing might be done without | any expense and with loss of not ex- | ceeding 16 minutes time If they had e l court house of their own.
 l It is next argued that imperial Jeffer- l son Is a great advertisement for Bir- l mingham and that if 1t is dismembered {, it is bound to affect hs in the eyes 1 of the world Let us examine this prop | osition for a moment The county of Full l ton, Georgia, in which Atlanta is located, 1 has 174 square miles. Yet the popula- | tion of the city of Atlanta is prob | ably double the number that could be l found within the present corporate Him. | it's of Birmingham. The county of Jeff | ferson, Kentucky, has only 3n square ! miles against 1069 for Jefferson county. AlaDafn2, yet tnc city oi houiSVHio' "iiSH l is located in Jefferson county Kentucky. 1 has four times the population of Birming- i ham. The county of Suffolk, Massachu- | setts. in which Boston with nearly a million inhabitants is located. has a | souare miles. The county which con tains the exact territorial limits of St
 Louis city Missouri with over three quarters of a million inhabitants, has si square miles The city of New York
 extends oyer parts of five counties. Kings
 county. ip which Brooklyn Is located, has