The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-22
Representative Citizens Ex- press Opinions Regarding Needs of the City and County in New Laws
 
JUDGE ABERNETHY WOULD ABOLISH ALL
 JUSTICES COURTS
Sevier Thinks School Taxes Should Be Applied at the Source--Ellis Mccormack Advocates Estab-
 lishment of Dispensary
 in Jefferson County

Birmingham in a financial sense is sick--very sick-and needs. first of all remedy.
 That in brief was the comment of score of prominent men when asked by Age-Herald reporters yesterday:
 What should Birmingham seek at the. hands of the legislatures"
 At the present time, as Is known. local people are interesting themselves In securing blessings for this city and county. Some remedy will be devised whereby Birmingham will not longer through necessity run behind in a financial sense at the rate of 5000 per day,
 K In addition there are other needs more. or fewer courts, adequate and yet capitalized taxation, changes in the bill Which created for Birmingham gov ernment by commission, abolition Of certain departments created by the legislature in last. session and the like.
 The following interviews touch upon these subjects and give an insight into what the legislature will be asked to do for Birmingham:
 Judge H. B. Abernethy of the court Of common pleas, a widely known and recognized authority on criminal con ditions in the city and county, says that one of the most needed laws for this district is the establishment of a court with as many divisions as nee essary that will have Jurisdiction over all misdemeanors and in all civil cases where the amount involved is under $500. Judge Abernethy states the es tnhlishment of such a court will prove kf irn h h1A county He first proposed to abolish all Justice of peace and inferior courts in Greater Birmingham the Ensley court excepted, and substitute therefor court or courts of criminal and civil procedure whose Jurisdiction as stated above.
 He contends that court of this character would tend to depopulate the county jail and stimulate speedy trials: that it would relieve the congested dockets of both the criminal and civil courts and that it would save the state aud county thousands of dollars in cost of the administration of justice. He cays 1t would act in a large measure to deter crime by insuring a speedy trial and corresponding increase of conviction for he states many acquit- tals are due to the laws delay"
 That court similar to the one I here suggest Is one of the crying needs of the city and county. so far as the administration of justice is concerned is admitted by almost every person con nected with the law and it's machinery said Judge Abernethy. 'fThe cost of run ming our county courts is enormous, as is the cost to the state of feeding the prisoners in the county jail. Too much of the valuable time of our two crim- inal judges is taken up with the trial of petty and insignificant cases, which. ~E fl.,k &LA.r Lrxr- 1..<. time to devote to the trial of the more serious cases. This could be remedied by the establishment of such a court as I suggest. The same rule applies to the civil courts, but they are not near so costly Every civil court is way behind on it's docket, by reason of many suits involving small amounts being filed.
 ''I am merely giving a brief outline of the proposed court and at a later day will be glad ,s give all the details in full. I am aware that 1t may be neces- sary to make changes in the plan I sug- gest but at any rate in my opinion a court of this kind would make for prog ress in the administration of justice and would prove satisfactory to all parties concerned"
 l.. Sevier: 'I think one thing is imper- ative, and. that is the arrangement of the school tax so that Jefferson county will get her taxes for her schools and Birmingham taxes that she pays for her schools. As 1t is we are growing here and our school facilities are not great enough to care for our own people. In the meantime, we are giving some of our money, or quite an amount of it, to schools in other counties and cities. It seems to me that the legislature should correct this without fail"
 Sidney F. IAzarus: "we should have an equalization of taxes. The legislature should arrange the system so that there would be a fair assessment They should fix it so we wouldsknow when. where and to whom to pay our taxes. I am deeply interested in seeing some equalization scheme worked out whereby we would get fairer distribution of the money we pay for the operation of the government" Carl F. Wittichin: Without hesitation I would say in my opinion that the tax system in this section should be arranged equitably. As 1t Is the poor people and