The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-26
VOTE ANO" TO SAVE
 GAR SYSTEM, IS PLEA 0F CITIZENS
BaileS, Harrison and Brewer Discuss Jitney Bill At
 West End

Tuesdays issue at the polls pri- i marily is not an attempt to dis criminate against the jitneys, but it is an effort on the part of the think
 ing citizenship Of Birmingham to
 save its street car system from ulti-
 mately being scrappod, and as a con
 sequence outlying suburban property
 from becoming a dredge on the mar
 ket. Birmingham. without a street
 railway system, would cease to grow
 and eNpand, but stagnate, and finally
 witlout adequate transp ,rtation fla
 cil5ies would offer TO inducement to
 htmeseekers and would take the
 downward grade.
 1 That, in substance, was the con ; sensus of opinion as expressed Satur-
 day night by three prominent Bir-
 mingham citizens to residents of the West End community in one of
 series of meetings to defeat the jit-
 ney mems ordinance at the polls i Tuesday.
 | Speakers were George Lewis Bailes, Commissioner William L. Har-
 riscn and Senator Walter Brower.
 Mir. Bailes acted as chairman and in-
 troduced the speakers. first, how
 ever, outlining the situation as the
 most important that has faced voters | J Ss i West End, now one of the city's
 most important and substantial resi-
 dential sections, ultimately will be-
 come mosquito pond, once the street
 railway company ceases operation"
 Mir. Bailes said You know that and
 l know it. As a member of the citi- | zens' committee l have gladly given my time to the campaign against this jitney ordinance. and despite reports ! to the contrary, without a dime Of
 Birmingham Railway, Light and l Power money. To face the issue ! squarely, it's good bye street rail- way Transportation once the jitney owners ordinance becomes effee- tive" Mir. Bailes said
 Urges Heavy Vote.
 "Underestimati ting the importance
 of the issue, and taking it's defeat as
 matter of course is one thing we
 must guard against. Let me assure i you that the jitney men will muster
 their entire strength for the election Tuesday and it behoves every think i ing citizen to make it a point to be
 at the polls and cast their vote l against this measure, else Birmingham soon will be in the same relative con dition as Newark, N. J.. where street car wheel has not turned for months and where, according tC' the newspapers, greater business sta gna- l tion has resulted than from any one
 cause in the history of that city," the i speaker stated.
 ] Continuing. MT. Bailes touched upon
 the issue from a moral standpoint. He
 said: "No small importance should be ! attached to the moral issue involved i in this question. When the city
 forced the Birmingham Railway,
 Light and Power company to pave i certain streets, there was an undis- lputable agreement that the company | should have exclusive privilege of hauling passengers over those streets.
 Is it fair to break that agreement?' l Efforts of the city commission to
 regulate jitneys and the fallacy Of | further like attempts were explained i by Commissioner Harrison. Regard | ing the proposed plan of paving to be carried out by the utility company, MT. Harrison said: "The street car l company received no iota of benefit from paving between their tracks. i They do not feel like paving when ! they Know fun well that they are opening up traffic for jitneys. Still the city requires that they do it, and
 pay for it in the public interest. Is ! that not uNIalT COnnpellLlOH. JllHeN ;
 do not pay one cent for paving Bir
 mingham's streets. yet they use them
 to the disadvantage of the street car | company.
 ! O o o
 Not Defending Utility.
 ! q hold no brief for the Birming- ham Railway, Light and Power com pany We all know they are not 1 without fault. but can we say the jitney helps this situation? Does not
 it antagonize 1t? The street car rid ling public, according to figures, rep
 resents so per cent of the city's popu- lation who feel that they should | have lower car fare. There is no hope for that as long as the jitney re- mains in operation. The city is DOW i erless to force any agreement with 1 the traction company as long as they remain in the hands of receiver, and there they will stay until the iitney is abolshed.H he stated, Commissioner Harrison said that
 the jitney, as a public servant should : come under the same restrictions as the railway company. He stated the present city commission had no un- kindly feeling toward the Jitneys at the beginning of their term. on the