The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-28
By RALPH II. SILVER

~ 'tEhhH - ~ EN-
Tuscaloosa, May 27.-(Special)- )-Tonght
at Elks' hall in Tuscaloosa, the Univer-
sity Glee club gave an elaborate and beau
tiful concert to an immense audience
Il is stated that the present Glee club
is one of the best the university ever
had
The principal social events of the day
were the lawn party to the commence
ment visitors by Mrs. Ellen Peter Bryce
and the commencement cotillion tonight
by the l.. Z. f. s. Much interest is cen
tered in the meeting of the board of trus-
tees tomorrow, and the commencement
address by DR.. kirkland.
Alumni day in all its glory swooped
down on the University of Alabama to-
day. and tonight has left the little city
of Tuscaloosa almost breathless. With
ideal weather conditions the day has been
one continual round of commencement
events, and tonight the University of Ala
bama revels in the baseball championship
of the S. l. A. A. after a double header
baseball game this afternon in which VAN
by score of to l.
The whirl of events began this morning
with the meeting of the alumni society
with the transaction of much important
business, and later a powerful address TO
the alumni society In Morgan han by City
Commissioners James Weatherly of Bir-
mingham on observations on Commits
sion Form of Government This after
noon at / o'clock, Governor O'Neal was
the principal speaker at the alumni ban
quet and voiced many important state
ments regarding education and school
laws IN Alabama.
Two prizes were announced in the law
school today. j. o. Morris of Tusca-
loosa won the Judge j. j. Mayfied prize
for the senior law class on an examina-
ton on Evidence" The prize is a set
of "Mayfields Digest"
II. u. Feibelman, a bright young law
student of Mobile, Won the w. B. Oliver
prize of $25 on Law Thesis"
The address of Commissioner James
Weatherly of Birmingham this morning
is consederad here to have been one of
the abest eXhortations on commission
form of government ever delivered in the
state. Mr.. Weatherly arrived here this
morning and will return to Birmingham
tomorrow.
Mr.. Weatherly handled his subject of
government of the modern American city
in a heart to heart way that met with
much favor with his audience. All who
know the genial commissioner of Bir-
mingham know well his delightful stage
presence and power of expression and
oratory. While the larger part of his ad :
dress was very serious indeed, statements
of his life and experience as one of the
first commissioners of the Greatest city
in Alabama, yet many times his inimt-
able wit and humor came tn the front
and a ripple of laughter would spread
over the audience.
After some two years city commits
sioner of the great city of Birmingham" "
began Mr.. Weatherly. II have come to
the conclusion that | have but three
qualifications. They are first some little
of that quality known as honesty There
are some who even deny that. AS the
second qualification | believe that I have
some common sense, and as the third
qualification l have excellent health.
Takes Out Egotism
ct is remarkable to experience and
realize the ability of public office to
take the egotism out of a man. | have
never made single move officially as a
member of the commission cf Birmins-
ham. but what there has been the great
tually resulted in successful ieferendums.
But that is one of the good and prob
ably the best quality of our new govern
ment. When there is criticism and OBJ
jections then you have made the first
move to successful self government of q
community and the servant who is the
victim must learn to take it philosophic-
ally. When these things occur, ! say It
shows that the people are awake to their
rights, they know what is going on, they
are watching for their interests and the
interests of the community and they are
going to call you down if you do some
thing which they know to BE- a mistake,
and | wish to say that they look at mat.
ters from point of view which cannot
be secured by an official of the city and
which gives them broader and better
and safer understanding of the issue
which may be in question
There Is great uprising all over
the country for better government.
Commission government is merely an
effort to place a larger share of the
governments operation in the hands
of the people who are governed. Some