The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-08
Ullman, Cunningham and Woods Speak to Large
 Audience
ULLMAN DEPENDS
 CITY COMMISSION
Declares That Utterances of 0ppo- nents of Bond Issue Do Not Jibe With Their Actiivties-Tells of
 Commissions Accomplishments

Monte U1lman, Dr. R. M. Cunning ham and Jack Woods addressed the peo- pie of Avondale at Griffins hall last night on the bond issue at one of the best meetings since the campaign started several days ago. The crowd was large and it appeared almost unanimous for the bond issue. It was predicted by oiti- zens of the community that the issue would carry by very large majority.
 ''I like to talk and argue about a thing when there is something to argue about" ," stated MT. Woods, one of the well known labor leaders of the city, but in this bond issue question there is but one side to the argument.
 Many people think the city's money comes from some vague source which there should never be any deficit in the city treasury. But the citys meney is your money for it is from you tax payers that it comes and in the same way the city's debts are your debts. for it was in your interest they were con- tracted.
 People Spent Money
 'After all, it is not the city commits sion which has made the expenditures which have caused this deficit, it is the people of Birmingham. Time and time and again delegations of our citizens have gone to the city hall and demanded streets and sewers, and schools. and fire stations and lights, and sprinkling and so on; the debt has been contracted at your request and now to refuse to pay it would be no less than dishonesty, and the act of a thief. The only ques- tion is shall it be put off 90 years time and our interest reduced from to , per cent, or repudiate it. If d merchant con tracted debt and then went into bank ruptcy merely to avoid paying it, would you not say he was about as near q thief as he could be? And yet that is what the opponents of the bond issue ask that you make the city do
 The circular being distributed by the opposition states that Birmingham is grooming under a bonded indebtedness when as a matter of fact the bonded indebtedness of Birmingham is smaller than any other city of it's class in the United States. It merely demonstrates the character of the arguments advanced by the anti-bond issue crowdr
 MT. Woods went into the particulars of tax equalization, stating he was strongly in favor of it, and told the story of how Birmingham had grown to be the won der city of the world on a tax rate of mills fixed by the constitution of 1875 for villages and when other cities had tax rates whose average was 171a mills"
 Defends Commission
 Monte tllman strongly defended the city commission. pointing out the diff ference in the works of the commission and the old aldermanic board and mayor.
 Here we have an organization op- posing the bond issue they say, for pa- triotic reasons" he began. "rhey state they are not fighting the commission and vet they do everything they can to make the commission failure; they say they system, and yet they are doing every they do not ask you to repudiate an hon est debt, and yet they are doing all they can to get you to do that very thing
 He recited some of the accomplish ments of the commission, telling of how bank was compelled by the commits sion to refund to the city money made in an improper bond deal with the sub urhs just before they came into Greater Birming ham, scheme which had been matched under the aldermanc systems; how the city had compelled real es- tate company to give deed to 10 acres of North Birmingham park after all of tt but 12 acres had been sold for lots by the board of aldermen: how the Bir- nningham Railway, Light and Power