The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-02

be defeated in order to punish the city commissioners. You won't punish us You'll punish yourselves. The city has nothing to do with equalization of taxes. The legislature and the board or revenue does that. We as your servants have made this deficit in fill- ing your wants. Now are you going to try 10 punish us by shaping yourself Tn the face? Equalization of taxes is coming, I'm sure of that. but it has nothing whatever to do with the bond issue
 Speech by Bowie
 Tt is good to have an election like lhis, said Mir. Bowie .fn which there are no candidates and which the people decide on a matter of principle and poll icy.> 1t Is good for democracy, it Is an experience out of which we come better citizens. able to make a better town.
 If the people of Birmingham defeat the bond issue they will simply be giv- ing instructions to their city commits sioners that they want no more street repairs, that they want no school im- provemerts. that they want no public no better police and fire pro- lection. no better sewers, no better lights, no better parks and playgrounds and sim liar things Not as many children as should are now attending our public schools. Che big reason Is because there is no room for them. If the bond issue is defeated there will be less room for them, for there will have to be retrench- ment there as well as elsewhere, tuition fees will have to be charged at the High school, free textbooks will have to be abolished. You simply will be saying to your commissioners Place on the doors of our schoolhouses a card reading no more school children wanted here
 Iar. 1r 4f...a Tas owes less on her bonded indebtedness than any other city of her size in the United States?
 And this bond issue won't increase the debt of tho city We already owe it The bonds will merely give us 30 years more time to pay debt which now is due and to reduce the interest on it from to , per cent actually saving money. It will permit this interest to be paid out of the sinking fund and release that much from the general fund, which, on ac- count of the present character of the debt, has to bear the interest.
 What Suburbs Get
 T know there are some who believe the suburbs are not getting square deal, but do you know that the actual figures show that the suburbs are each year receiving s100,00O more in improve- ments than they paid into the city and that old Birmingham is paying Slo0, 900 more than it receives?
 'The tax rate in Birmingham is the lowest of any city in the United States its size. That rate will not be affected by the bond issue. The only way to change it is for you to change it your selves through the exercise of your own votes. We are now living on a tax rate of mills, made by the state constitu- tion adopted in 1875 when Birmingham was a town of 5000 people. The average tax rate of the cities of the United States is TIE mills That's what's wrong here. Our income has been too small for our development"
 MT. Bowie explained how Birmingham was run at a lower expense than any other city of it's size. but still piled up a deficit because of it's small income. He spoke of how the legislature was now at work and without doubt would equal ize the taxes and remedy this situation He related how the bond issue, if adopt ed, would release a million and a quar- ter dollars in Birmingham business cir cles and bring prosperity and new life to business conditions.
 MT. Sbley stated that Birmingham was TOW going through her growing pains" like the child which developed too fast He related how small the town was when he came here 27 years ago, stating that the citys growth had been so fast that the efforts of its city government to keep up from time to time had brought on ssgrOwing paina"