The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-01
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS


 sit down and take stock and resolve to turn over new leaf.
 | If you have arrived at that state where you are no longer touched by the thought of the dying year. or thrilled at the thought of the birth of the New Year, you can skip this column, for it will fail to interest you.
 | had rather make lot of new resolves | if broke every one of them than to be too indifferent to care to attempt to 1 change for the better. I have more re- | spect for dear, weak old Rip Van Win | k'e. who made promises only to break them, than I have for the man who is so far gone that he hugs his pet weak ! ness to his bosom and does not care to ! make an effort to get rid of it. | But I am not thinking at this hour so | much of little personal weaknesses that handicap LIS in the race of life as I am of | the bigger things which hold us back from playing our full part in the pres 1 ent conflict as men. Let's cut out any thing that is harmng ua not merely for selfish purposes to furtner our individual | careers, but to add extra strength to the city's, state. or nations needs because we are in every way fit to take on ex- 1 tra burdens.
 Have you not seen it time and time again when some quiet man under the call of duty rises out of himself and ac- complishes great things because his city l or his country has need of him. We look on in wonder, and say to ourselves, "We didn't know it was in hirn." We have seen recently many such transforma- tions take place under our very eyes in which men who seemed merely to be drifting, took hold of the oars, and began to pull strong and steady to land some good thing for the public's good. It's the case of mans finding himself.
 
 If man can find himself, city can do the same thing. have seen this city grow from an overgrown town. I have seen it so busy that it had no time to ! help outside affairs which needed it's CO., operation. have seen it SO taken up with it's own selfish interests as to be deaf to the cry which came to it to have a part in humanitarian schemes for the general good of the country. have seen it so self-centered that every man was busy getting what he could and keeping what he got. But this city has at last found itself.
 In the past we spent much time in la menting the fact that Birmingham was unable to land anything for herself. We had not yet had the courage to face the fact that we had first to learn the art of pulling together among ourselves before we could expect to go out into the open and get something big for the city, It took a number of failures and disap- pointments to make us see the true con- ditions within our own borders. It was at last learned that we had not devel- oped a civic consciousness.
 But little by little it began to dawn upon us that we were losing prizes on, account of the lack of team play. Too many of the players wanted to star. And then the same old crowd always wanted to go to bat, and challenged the right of any new player to get into the game. There were cliques within cliques. If you were not one of the in- itiated you were left out in the cold. A man who visited Birmingham to start a worthy enterprise was frankly told that his scheme was all right. but that he had interested the wrong people in it. He then asked an old-timer if there was ring in Birmingham, and when told that there was, replied: Well, it's good place to get out of, and I'll get while the getting is good Now, ring is a good thing if it takes in enough. I want a ring here in Bir- mngham that will include every man. woman and child who wants to help make Birmingham q better place in which to live, and do business. I thank the Lord that it's getting bigger every day. Even our civic organizations are begin ming to realize that it's best to work in double harness instead of singly. And the Rotarians and the Kiwanates are
 
 to put over good things for the entire community. The churches are more united than ever and the fraternal or ganizations are living nobly up to their names.
 The dying year, the old year, the year 1917 will go down in the history of Ala bama as the great year in which Bir- mngham found herself. She found out that selfishness did not pay. She found out that altruism did. She learned the blessed truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and when city makes the discovery it works as great change in its life as it does when it takes hold of an individual. Service was the keynote of the Masters mes sage. and the true servant is coming in to his own as never before. The Magic City has learned the lesson of service.
 
 A year ago you could hardly go to public meeting unless some one asked, | What is the matter with Birmingham?'' How the answers varied. The papers discussed it, the ministers preached about it. the civic bodies gave out the 1 ories. the merchants admitted it. It was | laid at the door of this and that until crepe wac the order of the day. Then some one, I believe it was Hill Fergu- | son, proposed that we never propound