A Tale of One City | Page 6

been at least thirty per cent. Yet the
owners had no redress.
Of course it usually happens that when large reforms are effected the
noble work is done at somebody's inconvenience or cost. It is the
inevitable result, and people who are not sufferers shrug their shoulders
and complacently remark that the few must be sacrificed for the benefit
of the many. It is delightfully easy to be philosophical and even
philanthropic when our own pockets, feelings, and interests are not
concerned. The last new great Improvement Scheme would, of course,
be a great thing for Birmingham; it would also shed a considerable
amount of glory on its authors; it would likewise put a good deal of
power into the hands of its administrators, and not a little money into
the pockets of professional men. If some few persons had to suffer in
order to bring about such splendid results they must try to be patriotic,
noble citizens, or else grin and bear their discomfiture! Those, however,

who were despoiled of their businesses, or who found their property
seriously depreciated, were not likely to be consoled by such buttered
comfort. They raised their voices in impotent protest, and denounced
Mr. Chamberlain and all his works.
We do not hear very much of the Artisans' Dwellings Act now, but any
towns that contemplate adopting it should profit by the experience of
Birmingham, consider its full scope and meaning, and count the cost.
The city of Birmingham has applied the Act in connection with its last
great Improvement Scheme, and it now remains to be seen what the
results, in a commercial sense, will be. The present and succeeding
generation, at least, will have to pay off some heavy obligations in the
next sixty or seventy years, and then the city should he immensely the
richer for its enterprising policy. I say it should be, and probably it will
be, but there is a fair-sized "if" to be considered.
It seems to be taken as a matter of course that Birmingham will go on
developing and prospering in the future as it has in the past. And it may
be fairly presumed that it will do so. This, however, must not be taken
exactly as a matter of positive certainty. There are some indications that
there may be a pause in the material prosperity of the city by and by--a
limit to its progressiveness. If so, the enterprises of our authorities may
not prove so advantageous as has been reckoned upon. Partly owing to
high rates and the cost of carriage, manufacturers are removing
factories outside the city, and in some cases, where they have a large
foreign trade, nearer to the seaboard. If this exodus continues and
increases it is easy to see that the effect will be to diminish the
population, and this in time will affect the value of property. The
manufactures of Birmingham are, however, so numerous and so varied
there is reason for hope that any circumstances that may apparently
show a standstill condition will only be temporary, and that in all
general revivals of trade the city will participate.
Whatever may happen, we know the city in the middle of the next
century will come in for a fine heritage of reversions, and it is fair to
presume that posterity will greatly benefit by the Improvement Scheme
fathered by Mr. Chamberlain. In the meantime the citizens--at least,
those who bestow much thought upon such matters--shake their heads
at the load of debt Birmingham bears upon its shoulders, and chafe at
the high rates. It is, however, pointed out to the malcontents that they

live in a healthier place than Birmingham used to be, and, further, that
the city, owing to its improved character and appearance, attracts more
visitors, and this increases local trade.
Of this latter fact there can be little dispute. The new order of things has
led to a new and, in some cases, better class of shops being established,
and these attract a better class of customers. At one time residents in
the adjoining counties looked down upon Birmingham shopkeepers,
and would say rather contemptuously that they never "shopped" in this
city, but went to Leamington, Cheltenham, or London to make their
purchases. But we do not hear so much of this now. On the contrary, I
have heard of people--even aristocratic people--who actually say that
they now, for many reasons, prefer to "shop" in Birmingham rather
than go to London. Of course this is not an ordinary circumstance--for
Birmingham has not yet a Bond Street or Regent Street; still,
exceptional though it may be, it indicates a change of feeling and
shows that, in one sense at all events, Birmingham is on the rise.
The increased number of large and important shops in central