The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-28
PERDUE EXPLAINS
 ISSUES AT STAKE

Former Alderman Graham Perdue, discussing the bond issue, said
 'I favor the bond issue because I am convinced that existing conditions and the best interests of the city require it. The deficit with which the city is con- fronted. calling for the bond issue, has been accommodating for 20 years Or more under the antiquated and loose methods of the aldermanic system of govern ment. In the beginning of this new era in the affairs of the city. all past mistakes should be corrected as eX- peditiously as possible and should be remedied by methods which are ap- proved by business judgment and fore sight.
 According to the statement of an expert accountant, the first day of De- cember will show the deficit of the city to be approximately the amount asked for in the bond issue, and no one has seriously doubted the truth of his statement.
 'Included in the bond issue is an ap- propriation of $45,O00 for the erection of new jail on the Southside This feature of the issue should be met with universal approval The building of this jail will be a step forward In the direction of prison reform in Birming- ham, about which we have heard a great deal during recent months,
 AL llTSL SlSuls IL IHiSll dPPCol tllot the commission should have estimated the deficit only to the first day of July, the beginning of the fiscal year. and that the amount of the bond issue should have been fixed at the sum which will 'exist as deficit at that time. In order to understand this 1t must be borne in mind that the taxes for the year 1910 had been spent be- fore the commission took charge and ho+ fha ta 1Q11 do mol hpcOmp due till the first day of December. So from the first of July to the first of December, we have 8 period during which the income from taxes and li censes amount to comparatively little, period during which the estimated ex- penses of the city will exceed It's income by nearly half a million dollars. This period has been cared for in the bond issue; for otherwise, it would be neces- sary for the city to negotiate another temporary loan in order to meet cur rent expenses and thus there would have remained with us a deficit of probably several hundred thousand dollars.
 Tt should be the policy of the city to avoid temporary loans and to live within the limits of its income. The necessity for temporary loans should be eliminated, and the bond Issue means no more deficits and no more temporary loans under ordinary condi- tions. It will place the city on a firm financial basis from which the com mission should be able to establish and maintain it's credit at the highest stand ard of excellence.
 That the future growth and devel- opment of the city will amply Care for 1t, cannot admit of doubt; and the vast majority of the voters of Birmingham will cooperate with the commission in it's endeavor to solve this financial tangle Let the commission be given fair chance and let the commission idea be illustrative of & practical and unchallenged success in our midst.
 Thus far 1t has shown a business like policy of reduction and retrench- ment, and it's conduct has been such as to warrant the confidence of the publics It's straightforward policy should arouse confidence and be per suasive in causing one who may be in doubt to vote in favor of the measure. The entire deficit of the city should be placed behind the commission, giving 1t an unobstructed pathway along which to fulfill it's mission of good government
 "The financial policy of the city has been wayward long enough. The pro posed bond issue Is the clearer way"