The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-29
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

that it is the rage on this side of the At lantic to measure things by size. just stop long enough to watch the way your own mind works when speaking of your native land, state, county or city. hear it every time we show a party os visitors over the district; it runs like a refrain through the talk of every local man who is pointing out our industries to the group under their chaperonage. And am not a whit different from the rest of my fellow townsmen, for I am as guilty as the guiltiest
 
 We are all reaching for big things, we covet the biggest office building, and so we say that the Brown-Marx is the big gest'i in the south. We pass the First ! National Bank and tell our guests 1t is the biggest one in the state. We sit in the lobby of the Tutwiler, and when we get a chance to put in an oar we inform , our friends who have hardly gotten the dust of travel out of their eyes or off their clothes, This is the biggest hotel 5 this side of the Mason and Dixon line"
 I mention only few of the biggest things which can be credited to the Magic City. Any number of other things will come to your mind, but as this is not to be a booster story, will not catalogue the things we lead all others in. I'll just wait for the Chamber of Commerce to is sue a bulletin on the subject, and it will ! be really surprising to know how modest we have been as chalmers in comparison with some of our sister cities. I got on this line becausas America is now passing through a period of emu q meration, and every city in the land is on the tiptoe to show the biggest" gain in e right overpowering topic of conversation t here in Birmingham. It's heard at every t public meeting and the papers have d stressed the need of seeing to it that s every man, woman and child be counted. = for there is an undercurrent that if a s certain city should be able to find more e noses within it's borders, somehow we y might have to face some unknown ca- tastrophe.
 
 am not the first one to speak of the = obession of "bigness' which is upon us S The census reports do have much effect n on the status of our American communi. : ties, for they are the final word about the q growth of our cities. This is why Bir- }. Imingham, and Atlanta, and Memphis. ana r Richmond, and Nashville are so eagerly fr,o1 hula xyiI , give them their numbers for the next ter F. wears We can all recall the time wher ', Philadelphia and Chicago were battling < for second place. The west at last tri f umphed over the east, and so Chicago became known as a 'live,' while Phila . delphia was spoken of as a Sleepy a town.
 e But sat down not to stir up any nor,
 effort to boast of mere "bigness," but t' lspeak a good word for the small town.
 know that it has been the fashion in ou . comic papers and magazines to poke ; lot of fun at the small town man. ant
 some have even gone so far as to pre- tend to be able to diagnose small tow 's soul" even though the person supposed s to possess it may inhabit city whici le is noted for it's "bigness.'' It's a stat n of mind, so they say. It signifies an ur
 ter incapacity for grasping the big thing le of life.
 Is Now, before some of you who may hap If pen to read this turn up your nose a at small towns. just hark back to the tim when you passed your life in one. Som :, of you can go back past even the towr ,a for you were brought up on farm. I re
 member once hearing a preacher wh was castigating the sins of the city, aI
 peal to all of those who came from tn he lcountry to stand up, and more than hal a of the business men and social leader
 rose to their feet.
 I know that the trend for years ha ' been to the city, and that at least tn oi towns and cities hold more people , " America than the country, and many St in the shifting of the population gres n danger, both economically and moraA 'iN to the land, but it is not now my purpos ns to pursue the subject. Evolution has bee I'll a big word in the mouths of the at III vance thinkers for some time, and col
 sequentIy I'll use it, and perhaps g
 credit for being scientific
 
 Let's study the genesis of the growth ter towns and cities, or rather let's strip u as; whole subject so that we can see the ev att lution at work, and what do we find: Is we some great mystery known only to pr Ia, found economists Not by jugfl in Simply stated it means that towns gro of out of the country trees grow Up o his of the soil. I know most town folks r for sent the idea and a large part of the cou re- try people dispute it. but the fact reman are tLat the age-long fight between count es. and town is simply foolish .
 I thank God I was brought up in t .s loveliest of towns. the beautiful Eufaul situated on the bluffs of the Chattaho
 chic, and from it's hills could cat
 elimpses of fields and woods and stream e" It's true that I have lived much in | great cities of America and Europe. D
 can appreciate Plutarch of old. VI wrote: But for me, live in a little tow 'a lwhere I am willing to continue, lest iiS should grow less.' If every one cot
 Ireach the sage's conclusion and stick his nome town" believe that the wht
 Icountry would be better. for it wou