The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
.ENSLEY MAN FAVORS THE GREATER CITY Justice Demands That EnSley
 Be Taken In CAPT. BOYD WRITES LETTER Says Several Suburbs Are Individually Opposed to Going In Which Are
 Certain to Be Made Part of
 Greater Birmingham.
CAPT. BOYD WRITES LETTER
To the Editor of The Age-HeraId:

To the Editor of The Age -Herald
 The directors of the Chamber of Com merce. or Commercial club, recently in dorsed without a dissenting vote, the Greater Birmingham bill which includes Ensley, and treats each and all of the suburban towns exactly alike.
 In the Greater Birmingham election held January 6, 1908, both Pratt City and North Birmingham voted against going into Greater Birmingham, so that, even if Ensley were to vote the same way, it could not be cut out of the new bill under the doctrine of majority rule without also leaving out both Pratt City and North Birmingham.
 The King bill cannot be re-enacted with It's former boundaries and population be- cause Ensley has very recently forestalled this by extending its boundaries toward Birmingham, so as to include Fairview, Osceola, Oak Crest, Crews and Compton stations, all of which, with a population of perhaps 2000 or more,' was included in the former King bill; and since this exten- sion Ensley Is nearer the city hall in Birmingham than Pratt City or East
 
 In the case of cities like Atlanta Nash vile, Memphis and even old Mobile, the principle of majority rule Is determined by the settled areas of practically con- tinuous population and not by political subdivisions, such as wards, precincts or adjoining municipalities. And under our general law 1t has long been the rule in incorporating towns to run the lines so as to include the settlements and a majority vote of the entire, and frequently sparsely settled, areas, incorporated and proposed town or village. The settled area of Bir- mingham and suburbs extends from East Lake to Ensley and from North Birming- ham to West End and the referendum of the old King bill was based on the prin- ciple that 1t was a settlement or district majority rather than the fluctuating ma jorities of purely political subdivisions such as wards, precincts or towns. The old King bill, instead of following the natural areas of population, blanketed Ensley on the north with Pratt City, and following the Ensley boundaries on the south and southwest, extended half mile or so nearer Bessemer than Ensley does, thereby circling populous district to in clude a thinly settled territory farther out.
 Ensley is a workingman's town and a majority of the workingmen of Ensley will be found to favor Greater Birming ham with cheaper money and more of it, a 5-cent car fare like East Lake enjoys, and the abolition of the Ensley street tax. The 5-cent fare can be obtained after con- solidation by differentiating the city li cense on and 10-cent lines. At best, Ems ley, North Birmingham and Pratt City are all in the same boat. Is the anti-E -EnSleY movement the doom of Greater Birming- ham? A palpable discrimination always calls for a good explanation, and if 1t be right and fair and just to annex Pratt City and North Birmingham, Gate City and Central Park, and yet exclude Ensley. then those specially interested who favor such a seemingly indefensble discrimina- tion, ought to be able to give some reason for asking the legislature to enact an ar bitrary discrimination into law. Yours very truly. ROMAINE BOYD.
 Ensley, April 24