The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-09

poses for the co feet Of highway here
 toforo used by the public for through traffic. Had the viaduct been construct ed there would have been no traffic
 on the former grade of First avenue for the length of the viaduct. Second avenue is public highway east to Thirty-seventh street. Before many
 years traffic on First avenue will de- mand an additional outlet by way. of Second avenue and Thirty seventh
 street. This does not mean that Sec
 ond avenue travel will pass over the
 ss railroad tracks at grade (mentioned by MT. Hardne) but it does mean q viaduct or a subway or some other form of grade separation.
 At any rate. anyone who really puts the interest of the people foremost would never consent to make the rail-
 roads present of this valuable high WAY. It should he retained by all
 means, as all other highways
 now on-should be retained for the
 public good. Furthermore. all highways row encroached on by corporations | should be recovered for the use of the ,people'
 An Illuminating Statement l There Is another very Illuminating
 statement in the Harding article. He
 says that the contribution of other
 cities fhe names the citiesl to the cost
 of viaduct construction Is 29.2 per cent
 of the total cost the abuttinR dam
 ages. probably, being included In the | cost-and the respective states and counties contributing to this percent l age
 "In the case under discussion. Br- minghanl--without assistance from the
 state and county-would have paid 4o per cent of the total cost including estimated abutting damages. The city engineer estimates--from
 official estimates of viaduet costs in other cities--that the average eontri-
 button is 11.5 per cent
 | On this basis. if we include estimated | abutting damages (S100.000). the city could ! contribute upward of sGo,000 to the cost of l the proposed vaduct Is this not ample
 even liberal--when the city's finances and | the great relief to corporations. is consd- I cred? The railroads. by the viaduct--this may be strange news to some ndividuauls l will be benefited and tAcrc will be four of them to divide the expense among l themselves. The corporations are--well | solvent. The city is not
 ''rhe commissioners are trustees of the publcs property. The railroads were
 here. MT. Harding contends, before the l great city existed But when the rail- roads got here they found these streets | duly stamped as public highways and ded- l icated to the public use--to which all theif | franchises were made forever subori- | nate
 Now, l challenge Mr Hardnc-or any one else representing the publc-to oh-
 tain from the public well authenti- 1 cated demand of the city commissioners | that they accede to the requirements or 1 these corporations The commissioners | have no desire to override the people. put l for the present at any rate, we will await l some further assurance that Mir. Hard
 ings voice is really the voice of the l people.
 | "Viaducts are necessary. But to obtain l viaducts, it is not necessary that the city | surrendered property of q value not to be l estimated. The city will have viaducts- | unless the people fly off a tangent
 or go on false trail. or heed the siren 1 lisps of few individuals.