The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-05-15

There is no question but that the city
 was right, MT. Underwood immediately
 recognized that fact, and proceeded to
 try. He encountered difficulty after diff
 ficulty, for many sodisant watchdogs
 of the treasury feared that Birmingham
 was preparing to open pork barrel or
 engage in a wee bit of profiteerins
 There was only one way to overcome the
 opposition The government must come
 to Congress and declare that Birmins
 ham needed more money to buy a site
 which would serve the needs of the fu
 ture.
 Before the government could take such action, the government must go and see for itself So the treasury department dispatched representatives to Birming-
 ham.
 These gentlemen saw, first, that the
 federal building (stir in seryice), was
 even at that time inadequate. They
 studied figures and facts and, incden-
 tally census reports, and reached the conclusion that Birmingham was grow ing as rapidly as any other city of the
 United States.
 Next they visited the site which the
 government could have purchased for It's
 $200 000 and in imagination, placed there on as ample structure as could possibly have been built with that appropriation which Congress would eventually author ize. It was then their duty to compare , Birmingham's probable growth with the facilities which that building would at ford.
 They reached the conclusion that with in 10 years Birmingham would be as | "crowled" for space in it's new building as it was then in the one it possessed. Returning to Washington, they made report. With their report, MT, Under- wood went to Congress. He asked for l $1, COG, 900 with which to build a building and buy additional ground. When the public building bill was approved, March 1, 1913. his request was granted and Bir- 1 mingham's postof1ice made certain. But the fight was by no means over. The bill carried money sufficient to build q building commensurate with Birming- hams importance. The treasury depart
 ment has an unyarying plan by the op- eration of which it authorizes construc- tions not by relative merit or relative need, and not by lot. but in rotation The treasury department like every other department, and everyb body, is al- ways behind. It was way" behind at , that time. A hundred cities were ahead of Birmingham, And the cost of ma lerldl Was, udS py udN, increasing. Ana, to cap the climax. the following year. Europe became embroled in war Thereafter hourly, it seemed, the cost of everything entering into construc- tion increased. in many instances, dou-
 bled. It was evident, therefore, that with the available money, the Birmingham building, in accordance with original plans, could not be constructed.
 There was only $l,OOo,O00 Of that sum $lSo, ,000 had been expended in increasing the size of the site Eight hundred and fifteen thousand dollars remained That sum, in 19l3 would have been available In 1915, however, it was short almost half a million dollars. MT Underwood was face to face with a problem Should he proceed on altered plans with the
 money he possessed, or should he suffer great delay in an effort to get more
 money?
 He decided to proceed. In the first place, he knew that Congress moves always as slowly the mlls sS the gods grind And he knew that in normal times it was exceedingly difficult to get more money for a project for which large sum had already been appropriated And, fuctherfore, he knew that on ac- count of the war and the probability of
 the United States becoming involved, it