The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-09
Forum Of The People
Az 10 Hale County, Route
To the Editor of The Age- Herald
 Please permit me space to thank

your most Iaudable .er10rts 1o iniiuense . state highway commission to perform as the voters wished it to perform when the S25,- 100000 bond issue was voted upon ana car ried Your editorial insF Sundays issue (March 2) under the heading sAlabama s Highway Crisis" was well written and to my mind the reasoning and Aoge Sot It was in- disputable. On the. oppdsts page rom .1e editorial page was wefl-written article showing the detour that the highway com mission plans to make in Hale county. Your editorial was in every, way calculated to 'Dack up the opposition to this detour and It ana the article headed, 'Causes of the Stir, voice the indignation which believe most or the people of this county feel towards run ming a road from Greensboro to Newborn Tn: stead of running one through the center or the county 'by the most direct and feasible route" as the amendment voted upon d. rected. 'v'-t ,a,1i $ ,.
 Another point in question is this: The commissioner court of Hale county has gone on record twice as recommending a north ana south route through the center of the county sand the federal engineer sent to survey the matter of route for Hale county has also recommended. north and south route. The . route that the highway commission has an snounced it is going to give us goes in an easterly direction and does not follow any main course of travel. Thus far your ex- cellent paper and agree perfectly, but an S~~~~- to me to contain slur and misstatement of facts in the case so great that it behooves some one to make a correction. The article in question is under the caption of "Hale Countians Split Over Roads" It quotes five gentlemen who own property along the route that has the approval of the highway commission as agreeing with the .commis- sion. Quite naturally they do so, but you will find that those who, do not own prop erty along either of the proposed routes can not in fairness recommend any route except the one that runs north and south and goes through the center of the county, along well-traveled route that would serve the ln- terests of the most people. t-.. ..
 What I most object to in this article is that paper of the standing of The Age Herald would publish an article containing a slur upon lady who did carry around a petition calling for a road which would run through the center of the county in north and south direction. The lady in question was "a former resident of Birmingham" and is now prominent in civic and club work in Greensboro" but the statement that "inci- dentally it (the road) would pass by her place. Is absolutely untrue and implies false motive to the lady in question. Incidentally she did carry around a petition to which she secured many signatures, but your correspondent failed to state that the numerous other good citizens of this county also carried around copies of the same petition and secured sig natures of the majority of the voters and property owners of this county to the same some others carrying around the above peti- tions were: Inge Seldon, Ed Gewin, w. c. Pickens, l.. l.. Sampsell, Jim Compton and o. B. Willis and there may have been others I know of these.
 In this day and time newspapers are such powerful influences for good and for shaping public opinion that believe it is their policy to give the news as it is and not in any garbled shape as your correspondent gave 1t. To anyone not familiar with the situation in this county who may have read the article in question it might appear that the lady mentioned was carrying around petition to have a road run by her place, whereas she was only one of a number of public spirited citizens passing around such petition to have the state aid road run through the cen- ter of the county so as to benefit the most people ln the county, and the people of the state who travel through this county.
 It has been told that interests in Selma who aided in securing the appointment, of Commissioner Suttle (who has voted to have a main highway ,detour several miles to pass his place) have brought their influence to bear to make him vote with MT. Rogers, who has his own reasons, favoring the New bern route. This is hearsay, but the fact remains that MT. Suttle has voted with MT. Rogers to run the road via Newborn, al- though a majority of the citizens of this county favor a road through the center of the county running north and south, and all though the only times that the commission CTS court of Hale county has recommended a route it has each time recommended a north and south route through the center of the county l do not own an acre of land and am not financially interested in any property along either of the proposed routes and would only come on to the north and south route just where it would run into the town of Greensboro. S
 w. R. "WITHERS.
 Greensboro, Ala, March 4, 1924.
 The Age-Herald has already published a communication correcting the statement that the road asked for in petition passes by the property of lady who helped circulate such petition. This newspaper desires to print only the facts, and welcomes all information in support of that policy.-Ed Age-Herald. fDr. DOwell Praises OratOrical Contest To the Editor of The Age-Herald: :'
 have read with a great deal of interest the full page announcement of the National Oratorical Contest which The Age-Herald is sponsoring in Alabama and for which, you have appropriated such liberal prizes. kThe rules governing the contest, the subject mat ter of the orations and the emphasis you place on the art of public speaking are not only desirable within themselves but will of necessity have a most wholesome and stimu- lating effect upon the secondary schools of the state, as well as make it possible for students to attend college who otherwise might be denied the privilege.
 We are pleased to note that those who win these scholarships are to have the privilege of choosing the institutions of higher learning they are to attend. I would especially com mend the wisdom and public-spiritedness of The Age-Herald in placing it's stamp of ap- proval upon phase of training that has too often been neglected and which in the light of the new emphasis you are giving must inevitably result in better speech and higher