The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-23

Birmingham it is preposterous to talk or cutting up Jefferson county. l certainly am opposed to 1t. There never was more foolish idea than that two counties can do more than one large one. Jefferson now completing a fine system of roads, a fine sanitary sewerage system, and ready
 to jump in on a water supply, is ready to
 go on and accomplish greater things than
 two counties could do in an age. In the interest of the state the amendment
 should be voted down.
 Ewing Gives His Reasons. R. w. Ewing, president of the Board
 of Trade, said:
 "There seems to be a strongly grow 1 ing sentiment among the business men in opposition to the proposed new 1 county amendment, and it seems that l the more the matter is studied and un derstood the more the people are going
 to be against any change in our con stitution in this regard. The last con- stitution. which was adopted after a long and strenuous campaign, seems to cover the bill, and permits new coun- ! ties where 1t Is shown that they are necessary.
 "One of the principal arguments which is being advanced for the new county amendment, it seems, is that i it will place the matter in the hands
  i when they want a new county, but the advocates of the measure who argue l this overlook the fact that while 1t places the matter in the hands of one set of people it deprives another set l of people any voice in the matter at l all, for the proposed new emendment 1 provides that only the people within
 the terr'o ory from which the new coun- l ty is u be formed shall have any
 1n in Q = lished counties which will have blocks of their territory sliced off will have
 no voice at all in saying whether this i shall DC done or not. 'The Bessemer end of Jefferson l county has most certainly been liber- ! ally dealt with in the past, and those
 who are posted say that they have had
 even more than tn cir proper share ol l the expenditure of the county funds, es- l pecially in regard to the matter or | roads.
 1 'The fact that Birmingham is located l in this end of the county has not cost
 the county any more money, but rath . l CT the reverse, as the county spends
 no money within the city of Birming- l ham, but the municipality takes care
 of it's own Improvements and debts. l "If Birmingham gets, as she has c 1 chance to do if everybody works to- i gether in this county, a sub-treasnry l located here, it will benefit all of the l surrounding territory and the entire 1 state. It would certainly make against l the possibility of getting this sub ] treasury if we should slice down the 1 size of our county.
 1 "The same may be said in regard to l the possibilities of obtaining large in l vestments of capital and of getting a I larger and handsomer government | building. If the business of the coun- 1 ty increase within the near future as
 it has in the past, the government can l doubtless very easily be brought to
 make a larger appropriation for our | county which would be much more I beneficial to Alabama than would smaller appropriations for two smaller 1 counties.
 '1f the sentiment against this move | ment continues to grow in the next 10 days as it has in the last 10 the
 measure will certainly be defeated by
 the vote of the people on November 8. .