A Tale of One City | Page 3

in
the comparatively unprogressive days of which I speak, but a new race
of more advanced and energetic men were dissatisfied with the sluggish,
stagnant state of local government, and they felt that the hour had
struck for the inauguration of some large and important improvements.
Such was the state of affairs about the year 1868.

II.
ENTER MR. CHAMBERLAIN.
The present position of Birmingham and its improved appearance in
these later years are largely attributed to the work and influence of Mr.
Chamberlain. To him, certainly, the credit is largely due. At the same
time it is only fair to say that he was not the first man who had

discovered that Birmingham, some thirty years ago, was, compared
with what it should be, in many respects lagging behind. Other persons
had been impressed with the idea that the town, in a municipal, sanitary,
and social sense, was not advancing at a pace commensurate with its
commercial and material progress.
To go just a little farther back for a moment, it must be recorded that
Birmingham, in a political sense, made a great step forward when it
elected Mr. Bright as one of its members of Parliament in the year 1857.
This served to focus the eyes of the country on the midland capital, and
from this date the town became a new centre of political activity. The
great meetings addressed by Mr. Bright were not regarded as mere
provincial gatherings, but they attracted the attention of the whole
nation. The proceedings were no longer chronicled merely by the local
press, but the London daily newspapers sent representatives to furnish
special reports of our new member's speeches. Indeed, the interest and
excitement at these political gatherings was often feverish in its
intensity, and for many years Mr. Bright's visits to Birmingham were
red-letter days in the history of the town.
Mr. Bright, however, not being a resident in Birmingham, took no part
in its local and municipal affairs, and the man was wanting who would
come forward and energetically take town matters in hand. Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain was the man, and the time was ripe for him. He was
known to be smart, able, and energetic, and also to be imbued with
decidedly progressive ideas. Further, he was justly credited with having
a lofty conception of the real importance and dignity of municipal life
and the value of municipal institutions.
In the year 1869 Mr. Chamberlain was elected a member of the
Birmingham Town Council, and he began to make things spin and hum
at a pace which literally soon reached a pretty high rate. His example,
and possibly his persuasion, induced several of his friends and
associates to become candidates for Town Council membership, and in
a very short time he had a strong and influential following, made up of
men of energy, substance, and good social position, who soon began to
overpower and make things more lively perhaps than pleasant for the
anti-progressives in the Corporation. In Israelitish story we are told that
a new king arose who knew not Joseph, but in Birmingham a new
municipal kingdom arose that knew Joseph and trusted him.

The changes that soon began to take place were enough to take away
the breath of some of the nice, complacent, arm-chair, "Woodman"
members of the Town Council. If the preceding rulers of the
Corporation had been a trifle too parsimonious in the matter of
expenditure, Mr. Chamberlain and his party soon began to make
amends for any trifling mistakes or past errors in the way of economy.
In a very few years the town had a debt, I don't say of which it might be
proud, but of which it very soon felt the weight.
When Mr. Chamberlain entered the Town Council the municipal debt
stood at some £588,000. When he left it, after about ten years' service,
the debt had mounted up to the neat and imposing sum of £6,212,000.
Of course, there were very valuable assets to place against this heavy
indebtedness, assets which are likely to improve considerably in value
as time goes on--that is, if the city continues to progress and prosper.
Still, a good many people were not a little alarmed at the big figures
that grew on the debtor side of the Corporation accounts, but more
persons applauded the spirit, courage, and enterprise of those who had
taken the reins of the town into their hands.
When Mr. Chamberlain and his friends had fairly got hold of the Town
Council ropes, they set to work in strong earnest. Sanitary
improvements were promoted. The principal streets and their lighting
and paving were improved, and the general appearance of the town
quickly presented a change for the better. Trees were planted in some
of the chief thoroughfares. They