17 MAY 1945, Page 22

I Saw a City. By Norman Tiptaft. (Cornish Bros., Birmingham.

7s. 6d.)

ALDERMAN NORMAN TivrAFr has been a member of Birmingham City Council for twenty-five years. He was chairman of the Civil Defence Committee from 1938-41, Lord Mayor 1941-42, and chair- man of the Reconstruction Committee from 1942-44. The last words of the first chapter of this, his most recent contribution to the study of local government, are : " The new world will not come by somebody else pushing a button. It will only come as we accept our responsibilities, public as well as private, collective as well as individual." The last words of the last chapter are : "Not until we have both [a live electorate and competent representatives] will the worth while city of the future be achieved." Those two quotations indicate the tone of this bracing, hard-hitting, argumentative little book about home building, town planning and reconstruction written by a man who knows a good deal about the matter. Mr. Tiptaft wants to see Birmingham.a fine city in a fine country. He believes that the best results will be achieved by a judicious combination of public and private enterprise, backed by the constant and intelli- gent vigilance of the individual citizen. All who are in sympathy with his aims will find in his words a stimulus to good citizenship.