The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-19
MORE MUCK BAKING
BIRMINGHAM NOT YET. FREE OF
 ITS TEETH.
City Council Has Problem as Who win Fay Attorneys Employed in the Recent Investiestion of
 Graft Gases


 Birmingham. Dec. 1s.-(Special)- J. Some how or other. indications do moi point to Birmingham being free from the undertaking for some time to come.
 And the County of Jefferson Is now following along and will likely furnish some gossip too.
 In municipa. affairs, it is learned that. an investigation Is being made by some Aldermen as to Wi will pay the bills of the attorneys who were em- Dloyed in prosecuting the two Alder men against whom charges of having concealed interest in land deals which had been made or were about to be made One of the Aldermen states that inasmuch as Birmingham employs an attorney and also an assistant that there was plenty of legal assistance without having to go out into the mar ketffor others, and that the city should not bescalled upon to pay for the hire of two men.
 Mayor George B. Ward returned to his desk today after being absent from the. city on fishing expedition in the South. So far. no bill has been pre- ssnted tof the Finance Committee for the amount of the pay to be given. the attorneys who prosecuted the two Ai-
 
 ignation. while the other one has been practically whitewashed by the board, There is considerable feeling expressed in the majority faction of the Council against the Mayor and the investiga- ton into who pays. the two attorneys who were employed Is sure to follow If the city Is called upon to pay the bill. Nothing has been said as yet as to the bfll of the two attorneys.
 -A being sharpened as one of the Alder men, member Of the minority faction, Is considering pushing charges against Aldermen and he will go into the courts, if necessary with impeachment proceedings Alderman Klotz. who was charged with having a concealed financial interest in a land deal made by the city. theSpurchase of lot for crematpry purposes in particular. can be -re-eleeted in primary in his ward. More than $50 voters signed a petition which went into the Council proceed- inEs tlifs week asking for the reten- tion of. the Alderman and expressing confidence in his future work as rePf resentative of the ward in the board.
 Other rumors are to De beard and 1t is not improbable that Before many more days shall have passed away the gossips will be busy. There Is to be no further meetings of the Council thls year, provided the President does not summon the mem bers for a special ses- sion. So far. there is nothing in sight to warrant a special session
 As to the County affairs, there has been so much cross correspondence be- tween the sheriff and the county solic- itor and so many charges brought against one ahother that an investiga- tton will undoubtedly be made by the next grand jury into the records of , both men. the sheriff for certainty.
 In his card given out today by SheF- if E. LG iHigden, in answer to the strong accusations of the minority members of the grand jury which ad- journed finally this week, he answers squarely all the charges made against him and invites an investigation into the representations Of the men who were on the inquisitorial body and who he terms are personal enemies of his The answer of the sheriff today was full of ginger.
 The, next grand Jury will have many facts presented in the premises. so 1t Is learned now, and the people of Jeffer- son County &s we'll as throughout the state w4li leatn much of the great job, the one that pays almost as much per .annum as does, the Presidency of the United States.