The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-09

very best town in the country, and all
 mat We need Is just to believe it strong " enough and certainly nobody will be
 apie to gainsay us. Of course I will
 not deny that business has been some
 what quieter than usual during the past
 year, but that is general, for the whole 1 country has passed through a panic. l Duns report of the Birmingham district
 Tor the first five months of 1908 showed
 Sa Failures during that time with total l liabilities of $39s, 400. four of them being Tor amounts over $20.000. For the first
 nve months of 1909 the total number of l failures has been only 8, just a little
 over half the number as for the same 1 period in 1908, with total liabilities of
 SlSs'sOo, considerably less than half, and
 only one failure of over s20,00O. So you
 can see that things are getting better l all the time. l do not believe there are | going to be many more, if any, failures
 this year for the very good reason as 1 illustrated by the story of Mike, the | driver, and his friend Pat. Mike was l driving heavily loaded wagon when com ing to street corner he found it neces-
 sary to halt in order to permit a funeral
 to pass by. While watching the funeral | procession pass by Mike remarked to his 1 companion that he would like to know the
 exact place where he was going to die
 Fa1th,' says Pat, "and what good would | that do yep "Shore," answered Mike, and l would niver go near that place."
 That is the way it is, gentlemen, with
 our business men, the experiences of the
 strenuous times of the past year have
 shown Us just where lies the pitfall, and place."
 Value of Office Buildings. l Another encouraging thing. and one
 which believe will be source of ad- | ditional prosperity to Us thls fall is the completion here or four splended new | office buildings. The owners of these | buildings must have tenants, and they are going out after them, and they are going to get them. This will mean the | location In Birmingham of number Of high salaried office men, managers for southern headquarters of large concerns, selling agents, etc., who will spend money in Birmingham not only for the rent of their offices, but also for rent of homes, and who will greatly increase the trade of our merchants in filling their daily re- quirements. These office buildings will mean as mush to us as several new in- dustries.
 In Conclusion.
 In conclusion, gentlemen, wish to thank not only my associates in office and the committees, but every member of the Board of Trade for the support accord ed me during the year and l earnestly bespeak for the Board of Trade and every other organization which like 1t 1 stands for the betterment and upbuild- ing of greater and more prosperous Birmingham your continued hearty sup port.
 l believe that it has been true that we have been individually too prosperous in years past to feel the need of cooper ative effort or to be willing to join to fIa f..lIz hot tion which certainly makes for the great CT and more enduring prosperity of city. I believe that this is one of the valuable lessons of the year and l know that during the past year and especial ly during the past few months there has been a signal increase in the spirit of pulling together for Birmingham" of talking for Birmingham and in cooper ative effort and enthusiasm which will most certainly mean much for the fu- ture of the greatest and best develop- ment and prosperity for our city, our county and our state
 Gentlemen, I thank you
 Report on Greater Birmingham.
 Here is tn e report of the Greater Bir- mingham committee by Chairman J. E. Shelby: Your committee on Greater Birming- ham appointed several months ago beg to report as follows:
 Inasmuch as the King Greater Bir- mingham bill has been declared uncon- stitutional, and inasmuch as it is the desire and wish of great majority of the people of Birmingham and it's
 environs as evidenced by their vote
 last January to the effect that the municipality be enlarged to include adjacent territory in large city which woul1 more surely command the atten- 1 ton and respect of the world a city with central government 60 that it's perfect health. tine uniformity of it's schools, the continuation of it's sewer age and drainage construction, street and other desirable improvements might be consistently and uniformly ex- tended and maintained, your committee, in cooperation with like committee l from the Chamber of Commerce., has | been actively and energetically at work | in an effort to bring before the public and to have enacted a new bill which l has been advertised and is known IS the King Greater Birmngiham bill' and which includes all of the territory embraced in the former bill with the addition of Ensley and Wylam As
 before stated, this bill las already been advertised, and Is now before the peo- 1 pie, and Is considered the most inn p2rtant issue in the campaign now be- | ing waged in Jefferson county for the 1 election of representative to fll the vacancy ot pr. LoFelady. resigned. Your l committee believes that tie man who
 stands as all obstacle to the success
 of greater city will not likely be will
 ing to acknowledge his lack of con-
 sideration for his neigh hor and his
 Eeigilb or's family, nor his lack of the
 enterprise and progressiveness neces- l sary to build up a large, prosperous l and famous city such as Birmingham | will surely become if she IS becked 1 up by her representatives to the legisia- | ture from Jefferson county and by Ter citizenship in general. Therefore, .your i committee, for obvious reasons be- | lleves and recommends that the Boa: I | of Trade exact q definite statement from the candidates now seeking elrc :. tipn to the legislature as to where l they stand on this Greater Birmingham rn
 bill. We believe that vote for Great :
 CT Birmingham means a desire for every
 advantage to be had from more per
 feet school system, better police an fire protection and sanitation from tic
 use of our great sewerage system not | to be had in any other way. Your coni-
 mittee, therefore, wishes to impress
 upon the Board of Trade the great sig
 niicance of casting tl7eir votes and us- the legislature of a man who will sup | port this Greater Birmingham hill | Moreover, we recoilinre nd that our every | influence be wielded upon the other rep
 resentatives from Jefferson county to