The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-25
SCOTT E. CHESNUTT AIRS
 SOME UNIQUE VIEWS ON
 BARBERISM AT CITY HALL
By RICHARD F. LUssIEis
What is "Barbarism 2"

 afternoon Scott E. Chesnutt. the we'll known Shakespearean scholar, art eonnoisseur, sartorial authority, base ball umpire and chicken fancier. de lvered himself of few thoughts con- cerning the continual outbreaks of "Barbersm' at the city hall.
 Scotty was in his element. It was balmy afternoon. Second avenue, be- tween Nineteenth and Twentieth streets, was a maze of colorful frocks, trim ankles and pretty faces. Neither Scotty nor his audience of one missed anything despite the weight of the sub ject under discussion. MT. Chesnutt. in a natty blue serge, blatant orange tie, derby set at a rakish angle, crimson carnation, face wreathed with a happy smile and showing distinct signs of delft tonsorial attention, leaned back on his cane and started a me lodious buzzing:
 KNOWS BARBER
 q know the fellow quite well,' be- gan the Beau Brummel of Second ave- nue, in reference to Commissioner Arlie Barber, and am very friendly with him. He means well. There is no question about that. His sincerity is never questioned. He is like maiden intentions"
 But of what benefit to Birmin gham is fBarberism?'" questioned the re- porter.
 My dear young man. said scotty, in a tolerant tone, "in speaking of re- formers one omits the word benefits. There Is such thing benefit to anything in particular while a reform CT is in the saddle, until that afore- said reformer is reformed. Reforming reformers should be the desire of ev- cry patriotic citizen. Deliver Birming- ham from the particular brand of re- formers that now blur the horizon of our civic future and we would pro- gress forward with a jump.
 "I will tell you what 'Barberisrf1' has done for Birmingham by quoting a well known travelling man. This gen. tleman recently entered a hotel in At lanta and slamming down his suitcase on the floor he said: Here l am-froln the joke town of the south-now, laugh, durn yer, laugh This travelling man had been so abused with jibes on the road in regard to the antics of my friend Barber that he actually dreaded to register as being from Bir- mingham because it provoked so much amusement at his expense.
 A BUTT FOR JOKES
 Now, I have no reason to doubt this feeling about Birmingham in oth- CT cities of the south. The New York papers have made Birmingham a butt for all their jokes since a bridge was stolen sometime ago. Of course, MT. Barber explained how the bridge was stolen-but that does not prevent peo- pie laughing. And laughing at a city is the surest way to ruin 1t.
 "I am a Birmingham boy-raised here. educated here and I love every cloud of smoke from the furnaces or this district-as it spells prosperity I have been in politics and know the game from A to Izzard. I have heard the old aldermanic form of civic gov ernment cussed up and down this ave- nue. I have also heard it boosted Has strongly.
 The city commission has also been cursed and boosted, But in all my exper- fence where the man of the street hollers crook and after or he is the best man in the world have I ever witnessed such a remarkable phenomena as marked the advent of Arlie Barber on the city com mission Somehow or other when Bar ber's name is mentioned men will in- variably grin-sheepishly if they have voted for him, and in the T told you so' manner if they are not voters. Now, I've heard George Ward called everything from crook to prince of men. Jim Weatherly, who is the most brilliant man on the board, is cursed as politician who is always looking for the main chance. And John Hornady and James Truss are criticized because of their silence. but no one has a sheepsh grin for any com missioner except this fellow Barber. It is really too bad. He is the only public official I have ever heard laughed at" MT Barber is going to talk on the streets to give the people his message" said the reporter.
 "Oh, I knew he had a message" replied Scotty ''as he is suffering from pub lico dementia.' You will remember in the Harry K. Thaw murder trial that Dolphin Delmas stated that the young Pttsbur- ger was suffering from dementia-Ameri- icana, but Arlie Barber is victim of .publico dementia.' In other words. you newspaper boys have turned his head with too much publicity
 'It Is easy to get the bug. Take a re- former like Barber for instance, who for wears has been tsSking but who is not noticed in the newspapers. Suddenly he is elected to office and reporters flock around him drinking in the verbal pearls of wisdom that fall from his lips as the new defender of the peoples rights Im- agine Mir. Barber at home sitting by his fireside where after years of perusing only what the other fellow had said he now reads in glaring headlines what Arlie Barber says. Think what glorious men tai panacea that is-to see reflected be- fore him such gems of thought. such as: Barber Attacks the Standard Oil or Barber Says All Newspaper are Crooked and knowing that at that very moment thousands of people are reading the same article and probably saving | That fellow Barber must be a cat on wheels Of course. that is not exactly what the readers say but in MT. Barber s homage of Arlie Barber. in newspaper