The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-04
For the Good of /
 The Community

CITTING around the lunch table at business club O few days ago eight 10 men, representative ot the business industrial and professional life of Loui vile discussing the present situation and the out look for the future in their respective lines
 Like every other community in the country, Louis vile is suffering from the relaxation following the signing of the armistice No building operations nave been begun; industries running on snort tune; thousands of men are out of employment; houses and apartments scarce the demand far exceeding the supply.
 From general discussion of conditions they turned to suggestions for speeding up the revival, which everyone present believed will come sometime thls year.
 ..Why not start it now?" of them asked "Around this table are representatives of practically every line of endeavor in the cty-the merchant the manufacturer the banker the lawyer, the doctor the contractor We can do it if we have the will"
 Further suggestions and discussion led to the for nation of corporation with $25O,OOO TOT the pur- pose of building apartment house.
 Tn offering the suggestion its proponent sad: .swe can form stock company with $26OOOO capl- tal divided into shares of $10 $25, and am con fdent that enough men in Louisville can be interested in the proposition to make it easy for all of us
 "Labor is clamoring for employment; material men are complaining of no market; unrest is beginning to he felt The situation may become serious Tn short time unless start is made towards rev1vlng pus mess and industrial activity The building of such structure at this time will give employment to large number of men, open a market for thousands or dol lars worth of lumber, brick, plumbing materials ana other things that go into the construction of buildings of this character.
 %hofxx nJ1ftI enernrise will hearten the tid sffen the backbone of the hesitatng and feel confident that before the foundation is laid other buildings will have been started
 "In view of the high cost of materials and labor this may not look like good investment and it IS possible that we may never receive any dividends from it, but the indirect results will help all of us we start something others encouraged by our action, will fall in line and in short time everything will be going full blast"
 The argument appealed to his hearers; the corpora ton and plan of operations agreed upon before the little party dispersed, and the building will be un der way this month.
 What was done in Louisville be done in Bir mingham.
 All investments do not pay direct dividends; some of vour best investments may pay direct dividends but they yield other profits that perhaps mean more to you and to the community than of those that paid large direct money dividends &rS
 Every house built in Birmingham adds that much to the greatness of the city; gives employment to few more men; creates demand for material; puts money in circulation and helps business generally in all nes
 Every house built in Birmingham increases the value of Birmingham property, provides home for one or more families and adds to the prosperity of the city,
 The owner of a large industrial plant does not sus- pend operations every time business gets little dull His organization represents large investment to him. To suspend operations means its disorganiza- tion the scattering of his employees and disorder and expense when the wheels of his industry begin to turn again.
 Long continued inactivity in building operations will compel carpenters brick layers, metal workers, paint CTS and other artisans to seek employment elsewhere, SO that when their services again needed they not here.
 Many of the larger operators in Birmingham continuing their plants in operation, though they are temporarily sustaining loss, merely for the pur pose of keeping their organizations together against the time when they will be needed. In the long run these operators claim it is economy to follow this policy.