The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-11
.C|TY'S MUDDLE IS RESULT OF SYSTEM WHICH IS WRONG Walter Moore Says Any Corporation Must Have
 Head to Succeed PREDICTS VOTERS
 WILL MAKE CHANGE Says Outside Capital Is so Afraid of Birmingham That Invest
 ments Cannot Be
 Secured

"These are days when people are be gining to ask more and more seriously what is the matter with our city govern mene?" said Walter Moore yesterday MT. Moore was for many years an alder man of Birmingham and has always beer well informed on Birmingham's municipa problems.
 People find that if there is not ont thing the matter there is another. There Is always some kind of turmoil whics keeps our dirty linen out on the line fol the world to see.
 The real trouble is just what I have contended ever since the present form oI government was inaugurated The city has no head. No business in the world can prosper without a head. It is abso. lutely necessary in every enterprise fol somebody to oe boss-by this I near somebody with authority to act and who is responsible for his acts.
 How can the people of Birmingham expect to get any results at the city hall with five bosses pulling against eact other? Did anybody ever hear of any business or corporation putting five bosses in charge with equal authority? It is simply preposterous.
 'The system is contrary to our form of government. What would our fore fathers say to government which com bined all executive, legislative and judi cial authority in one body of men, nc two of whom can agree on anything or when they do agree make mess ot things? Suppose such system were ex- tended to our county, state and nation It would be a reversal to the very thins from which the makers of our American constitution were trying to escape.
 Tt cannot make for anything but in- efficiency in our city affairs and the mud. dle things are now in is the best illus tration of it.
 We have reached a point where our inefficiency and incompetence are recog. ized abroad and it is like pulling eye teeth to get anybody with any money to invest in Birmingham now Starting with bad city government system we have gone from one extreme to another until now we do not know what to ex. pect next. When Gully Exum was in of flee there were less than 15 votes cast for the socialist candidate. When Glenn. ent Wood ran he got about 1900 votes Then Barber comes along and gets 7OO or 5000. The voters have been struggling from one thing to another blindly, try. ing to correct things and get some ac- tion-some efficiency of some kind, some. where They have pushed it so far thai capital isAabsolutely afraid of us. If out. siders are willing to come in and invest their money, just as soon as we finc we have them hooked so they can't get away, we stick a knife right in between their ribs. What encouragement is there for anyone else to come in?
 Things are so bad now, however. that people will soon come to their senses is my prediction. Instead of going from radcalism to socialism and every other kind of ism they will go to the root o1 the trouble and acknowledge frankly that they can't get results from five bosses who embrace among themselves in truly Gligarchic fashion all the executive, leg islative and judicial authority in this great city.
 Tt has been a pretty bitter dose the people of Birmingham have had to take during the past few years and it may be that they will be willing to swallow still more of it before they demand a change all around. But the change is coming You mark my words. They will not put up forever with something which is fundamentally WrOng"