The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-03
TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM

I O OOL IL lI1jL hOD1IG-h
 The recent discussion of the need for new city hall has again directed public at- tention to a subject which becomes more and more pressing. Any citizen who is fa- miliar with conditions at the city hall and at the county courthouse is impressed with the urgency of more appropriate and more adequate public buildings to keep pace with the rapid growth and expansion of the city.
 The flimsy construction of the present city hall makes it fire menace. If flames should ever get under good headway in this building there is the possibility that the spread to adjoining property would cause disastrous conflagration. This menace also hovers over valuable city archives and records in the engineering department which could not be replaced. The public library on the top floor makes the thought Of pos sible fire too tragic even to contemplate The entire building is badly arranged for the purposes 1t was built to serve and con tributes much to wastefulness and ineffi- cency in carrying on the public business.
 The county courthouse is not so dangerous from the aspect of fire hazard, although this building, too, houses records of incalculable value to this community around which the most careful safeguard should be thrown. A beautiful building in it's early days, the courthouse has been remodeled and re- arranged and patched until it is grotesque travesty as the countys emblem of law and justice. The dark and forbidding corridors, the cubbyholes used for offices, the incon- venence of location of various branches of county service in relation to others, the spectacle of important and vital public ser wants housed in basement quarters, consti- tute a condition of which great county such as Jefferson should be ashamed. Every floor has its own peculiar odor-all unpleas- ant. It is real trial for men to be com pelled to spend day in the building, to say nothing of the dshcartening experience for women who work there day in and day out, or even those who must visit the structure only occasionally on urgent business. h. stead of inspiring respect TOT law and jus tice the entire atmosphere and surround ings are of the opposite tendency. A new courthouse is even more urgent than new city hall.
 Assuming that these needs are now very widely recognized and appreciated, the ques- on~arises of providing new structures. If the city commission and the board of reve- nue were called upon to do all the work in connection with the erection of these build ings, it would constitute the largest task ever undertaken by a Birmingham city and county administrations Such task might call for neglect of some of the important routine duties of the two commissions. If concrete plans and proposals were laid be- fore these bodies they could pass upon them, accepting those contributing to the desired object and rejecting those found imprac- tcable, each commission with view finally to submitting to popular vote the program most acceptable
 The suggestion perhaps would not be taken amss that the board ot revenue and the city commission cal to their assistance the services of group of patriotic and pub lic-spirited citizens to make a study and survey of the whole situation in order to make recommendations to the city and county. Each commission could pick a group of say, five citizens, the ten chosen to con stitute public building referees for this spe- cifc piece of public service. The personnel should be such as to inspire the confidence of the whole community, as it would if made up of persons of vision, independence, dis interested and unselfish,. whose civic pride and patriotism are unquestioned Birming- ham has many such citizens who would gladly give the necessary time and effort to study of the problem. After a careful survey they could make their recommends tion to the city and county, and the city commission and board of revenue could then be guided by their own judgment and the reactions of public sentiment, as ascertamea by ballot, in taking such measures as seemed best.
 This plan would have the advantage of bringing before the legal bodies definite pro- posas as basis for action. It would relieve the authorities of the mass of preliminary detail and would at least mark the definite beginning of public service of imperative urgency.
 SWITCHING ALIENS