The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-29

make all reports Of ther work. | At very well attended luncheon at the Gold Lion tea roonfs yesterday the committees in the public library cam paign for ss0,OoD for books, reported total subscriptions amounting to SSs2S 2S. The total for the two days work of the cam paign is now well over ,0a and while it is not as large as the general cam paign committee had hoped for. at the same time they are delighted with the success which the committees are hay ing.
 A little saleswoman who Is familiar figure at the library. where she spends much of her spare time reading and studying. yesterday came into the library offices and said she wanted to give 30 cents a week to the institution as her subscription for the next two years, pro- viding she was not out of work during any of that time. That will make a total of $52 for the subscription of this humble girl and some of those who learned of her generous donation wondered at the S5 and s10 subscriptions from business men and merchants, whose incomes are inn mense compared with the girl who do- mated $52.
 Workers Give Most Many of the committeeman reported yesterday, however, that the best sub scrptions are being received from the
 working people. such as booklSeepers, clerks and department heads. Machinists are giving well. one man of this pro- fession stating yesterday that he was often helped out on some difficult job in his profession by referring to tech nical books at the library. Attorneys are proving good subscribers also, it being stated that the profession of law and the details of business are b, aHaling so en- twined that it is necessary for an ac- tive attorney to have at his command fund of information where he can look into the details of almost any business. Talks were made at the luncheon yes terday by Robert Ewing. pr. Henry M. Edmonds and others. several additional letters have been received by the library officials from school associations and club officials and literary society officials in dorsing the library campaign and mak- ing subscriptions.
 Reports of Committees
 The reports of the committees yester- day was as follows:
 R. w. Ewing, S659; J. E. Shelby, s46 Brooks Forbes, s53 .25; w. B. M. Robin son, s2Sl .50 ullman improvement society, SIT 25; Woodlawn. sl11.75; Ensley, s225 50; Hale Tarrant, $6S: Sid Bowie, slS2; John Sibley $293; Oscar Turner, $33i; M P. Messer, slSl 50; A. M. Taylor $67; R. A Mullin, S9o; H. M. Beck, $227; ]. H. Finder, $67; John Henley, Jr., $S5; Bert Jacobs, $23S.
 No reports at all are expected from the suburbs until today or the latter part of the week.
 This letter yesterday was given out by a committee appointed to represent the pastors of city:
 Letter From Ministers
 "To the Citizens of Birmingham: On Sunday, last, mention was made of the $50,000 canvass on behalf of the Bir- mingham public library, from nearly every pulpit in Birmingham. The minis ters of the city have been asked by the committee in charge of this canvass to state their reasons for believing that the religious forces of this community should get in back of this movement and help This letter is a result of that request
 Tn the first place, we believe that there is a very definite connection be- tween the education of a people and their righteousness. On the other hand, we be- lieve that there is a close relationship between the Ignorance of people and their sin. The churches of the city and the honest men of the city and the good citizens of this community are all united In saying that Birmingham shall be made better place is which to live We are all united in endeavoring to do away with centers of crime and disease We realize that crime is often the child of poverty, and that poverty is the offspring of ignorance. We believe that a good library, freely used, will enighten the people concerning methods of proper liv- Ing, and will bring to people a knowledge of life that will make crime a thing of the past It is no accident that as we ministers go to the jails to visit, and sometimes relieve the unfortunate, we find the prisoners almost without ex- ception, ignorant men. It Is a simple fact that the more libraries we have the more enlightened do the people be- come, and it is a truism that enlight- enment means an end to crime. There fore, we ministers believe that a good library, so managed that books would have wide circulation among all classes Oi ptoDlt, WOuiu Dt ol more value Tn putting down vice and all organized crime in our community than a platoon of police.
 Among the cities of this land, Bir- mingham enjoys CD an unsavory record in regard to crime. Deeds of violence and murder are of such common occur renee that they are scarcely noticed The seed from which all such violence grows is the enlargement of self, and the dsre- gard of the rights of others. When a
 lrns to see himself not as an iso- lated unit of life. at war with all other units, but as one member of a great com munity bound to his fellows by ties of mutual obligation and fellowship, vio- lence no longer holds any attraction for him. And it is utterly impossible to make men realize their true place in the world. except by means of education. Teach men literature; teach them his- tory; teach them of the sacrifice and struggles by means of which our civili- zation has come to us, and you teach them at the same time to live so that this priceless heritage may be handed down to succeeding generations unsul- lied by lives of sin. untainted by preju- dice and passion. In this work of edu- cation: in this task of uplifting men by teaching them what better men have