The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-06
Full Vote In Birmingham Is
the Thing Expected to
Turn the Vide
HISTORY e TIE BILL
TO Be VOTED ON TO-DAY
5irminsham's Registration Consider
ably Larger Than Outside Terri
tory, Although Suburban Pop
ulation Makes Best Show.

night 1t will be known whether Greater
Birmingham is to become a reality, or
whether it has simply been a dream of u
great city coming into its own. AT 8
o'clock this morning thu polls within the
proposed greater city will be opened and
the taking of votes will begin.
What will it be? AT the Greater Bir-
mingham headquarters all is smiling con-
fidence about 1900 majority is what we
are going to get" is the report given out
there. According tD a straw ballot taken
on several groups of men this prophecy
is correct. No less than a dozen diff
ferent groups of men were polled by one
man Saturday and Sunday and the result
was invariably large majority for Great
er Birmingham. As an example a group
of 1S men, who happened to be in a
corner cigar stand, were polled with the
result that four men could not vote,
one man was undecided, one was against
and seven were for Greater Birmingham.
The man who announced himself against
Birmingham is not a property owner.
Workers at the Polls.
The polls in Birmingham proper will
close at o'clock and those in the out
lying territory will close at o'clock.
All The stores in Birmingham will close
at o'clock this afternoon and give
their employees a chance to get out and
work at the polls. Several hundred men
have allied themselves with the campaign
committee and declared their intention
of being at the polls wien they open and
to work all day for Greater Birming-
ham.
The two aldermen from each ward in
Birmingham will be present at the voting
place in their respective wards and will
take charge and organize the workers
into an organization which will rope in
every voter and see that he casts his
ballot for Greater Birmingham. There will
be a voting place in each ward in Bir-
mingham, and one in each of the diff
ferent corporations. The endeavor has
been made to have the poll in the most
convenient place possible in every part
of the territory.
A fair day is what the campaign COM
mittee is hoping for. A heavy vote in
Birmingham is wanted, for there is hardly
any doubt as to Birmingham being solid
for a population of $4,000.
Even Break in Suburbs.
An even break in the suburbs at the
best is what the campaign committee is
expecting. The city officers in nearly
every one of the outer corporations are
against Greater Birmingham, and they,
of course, have their folloWings The
street cars handling the traffic to these
suburbs have been where expressions on
Greater Birmingham have been made
most frequently during the past week.
Scarcely one of these cars makes a trip
without a group of men discussing Great
er Birmingham. The subject has been
handled from every side, and it is ex-
pected that nearly every voter in the
outer district will cast his ballot.
With solid vote from Birmingham the
fate of the greater city does not hang
in doubt, for Birmnghams registration is
heavier than the outer district despite the
excess in population in the outer terri
tory.
History of the Bill.
ton is being held has had fight for life
that will go down in Alabamas history.
Jere C. King, one of Jefferson county's
representatives and a resident of Glen
Iris, which was not in Birmingham at
the time of his election, conceived the
idea of legislative enactment which would
arbitrarily take in all of the outside
towns. This was directly opposite to the
Smyer bill which Birmingham had been
trying to get passed for long time.
The Smyer bill was drawn up by f. ].
Smyer and backed by the Commercial
club, Board of Trade and other organ
izations in Birmingham A great effort
was made to have it passed at the Feb
ruary term of the legislature last win
ter but failed. Another session was held
during July, and in the time intervening
between the February and July terms
King drew his bill up.
At the time 1t was predicted that the
bill was a forlorn hope a vision and a
brainstorm. That it would ever pass the
house was regarded as joke. Genial
Jere King stuck to it with bulldog
tenacity, however, and on the opening
day of the July session filed his bill in
the house. On the same day he was
called to the deathbed of his father, and
was away from Montgomery for n week
THE King bill is dead was the report
sent out from Montgomery after this.
Then at one of the night sessions King
succeeded in having his bill brought be-
fore the house, and after an eloquent APP
peal the house passed it with a large ma
jority. Everyone was surprised, but still
predicted that the senate would turn it
down.
King started a gum-shoe campaign on
the senate and kept on smiling. The bill
came before the senate and the dignified
senators split even. Then itw as that
threw himself into the breach and broke
the tide, casting his vote for Greater Bir-
mingham. Before the senate passed it,
however. a compromise had been made
by which the arbitrary taking in of the
suburbs Was eliminated and the question
tire district affected to vote on it as a
unit This was readily agreed to, for it
was generally conceded that Birmingham
was unanimous for Greater Birmingham
The King bill also had two companion
bills which provided for the government
of the greater city. These bills also pro-
vided that there should be fire depart