"The Development of the South means the Enrichment of the Nation." F 206 . S846 Copy 1 MOTTO: Business, no Politics, no Sectionalism. es Third Semi /Annual Convention THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION mmm XX HELD IN XX The City of New Orleans, La, LIMARY'OF CONGRESS, DECEMBER 4, 5, 6 and 7, 1900. «ccived JUL26 1901 • DIVISION OF DOCUMENTS. \ Note — The engraving of Marcellus E. Fost page 173, should have been upon page 133 in connection with his remarks. / DIES OE T(e Tfiiri snufwii Copi Souf^ern f aauetrlai flseoGiar (ELD B THE CUT OF HEW OBLEHHS, LB. leiiir i 5, (, i s 'OPFICERS. H. H. Hargrove, Presidents W. A. Hemphill, First Vice Pre** Shreveport, La - j I _ Atlanta, Ga^ N. F. THOMPSON, Secretary, New Orleans, La. V ICE PRESIDENTS. Hon. J. C Bush, Mobile, Ala./ Hon. Frank Hill, Little Rock, Arlc Hon. John P. Coffin, \ C. F. Huhlein, Lake Buftler, Fla. Louisville, Ky. Hon. Sidney Story, Hon. A. H. Longino, New Orle.ans, La. Jackson, Miss. Tom L. Cannon, ^ St. Louis, .Mo. Hon. D. A. Tompkins, Charlotte, N. C. W. B. Smith Whale y, i Col. J. B. Killebrew, Colu imbia, S. C. Nashville, Tenn, Hon. J. W. Biggins, j Waco,'} Tex. B. F. Johnson, Richmond, Va. M. -(H. KLINE. Philadelphia, Pa. STATE OF LOOII1. Louisiana joins her sister Southern States, in calling attention to- iler wonderful and Undeveloped resources — believing with them, that there is to be found a fruitful field for investment and exploitation.,, in agriculture, manufacturing and commerce, Louisiana has 45,000 square miles of territory, or 28,000,000' acres of land. The Mississippi River splits it in twain with far the larger portion upon its western banks. Along this great river, its many tributaries and outlying bayous, are found the alluvial lands of the State, some 19,000 square miles in extent — the greatest body of alluvial lands in the world, and protected against overflow by a splendid levee system, supported by State and Nation. The opinion prevails abroad that Louisiana is all alluvial, a low lying swamp, but the fact is that much more than half, or 26,000 ; square miles are uplands of varying character, consisting of bluff,, prairie, oak and hickory uplands, long and short leaf pine flats and hills, the latter rising as high as 500 feet in the northern part of the State. This great variety of soil admits of a great variety of crops,. The products grown are sugar, cotton, corn, rice, potatoes, tobacco;,, oats, wheat, sorghum, jute, ramie, hemp, grasses, clovers, alfalfa and! all the forage crops and vegetables, oranges, lemons, mandarins, olives and grapes. Of her 28,000,000 acres of land but a little more than 3,000,000 are in cultivation, yielding last year some $90,000,000, distributed as follows: Cotton and by-products . . ■ $36,000,000* Sugar and Molasses 35,000,000 Eice and by-products 7,000,000 Torn, Oats' and Hay 10,000,000' Fruits and Vegetables, Live Stock, Etc '. 4,000,000' Total $92,000,000' This shows an acreage production of $30.00, the largest value acreage production of any State in the Union. The alluvial lands of the southern half of the State are largely devoted to the cultivation of sugar cane, and its manufacture into &ntrar and molasses is the chief agricultural industry. Half a million Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, le are engaged in the production. Nearly half a million acres of land are devoted to the cultivation producing some 3,000 pounds, of sugar and DO gallons of molasses per acre; half a thousand sugar 1 houses convert it into merchantable products, yielding annually some 316,183 long tons of sugar and 29,335,144 gallons of molasses worth $3-5.;jOQ0,0O0. This country imports something like 83 per cent, of the, sugar it consumes. Yet no less an authority than Dr. W. C. Stub'bs, Director of the Louisiana Experiment Stations, says Louis- iana lias sufficient land suitable to produce all the sugar necessary for consumption in the United States. There is great room here for expansion. HOX. J. G. LEE, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of La. "Bordering the Gulf coast, extensive orange groves are culti- vated with great profit. Other tropical fruits are raised there and rice fields are found along the rivers and bayous, while exten- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 3 -"give truck farming adjacent to New Orleans gives profitable em- ployment to thousands and furnishes New Orleans and the northern markets with choicest vegetables. The remainder of the alluvial lands from Central to North Louisiana are devoted to cotton as the main money crop. These lands produce a bale to 1^ bales of cot- ton per acre, and lint of superior quality. Corn, peas, oats and hay are also raised here for home consumption. On all the alluvial lands of the State, well drained, the prince of forage crops, alfalfa, "is successfully grown. Yielding from five to ten tons per acre per annum and selling for $10.00 and $12.00 per ton. While rice was formerly grown almost exclusively along the bayous of the lower Mis- sissippi River — latterly the prairie lands of Southwestern Louisiana "have become the rice section. Here the uncertainty of "Providence i\ce farming" has given place to irrigation, and thus the rice industry of Louisiana has been revolutionized, capital has erected enormous pumping plants on, and constructed great irrigating canals from, the close lying bayous into the interior, and large crops of rice are now annually harvested. More recently, a large number of 8 and 10 inch wells have been sunk, which, by the aid of proper pumping plants, are irrigating each 80 to 100 acres of land. The^e wells are multiplying daily, and by their use lands remote from streams, or 'whose topography prevented economical flooding are brought into cul- tivation. There are now nearly 400 miles of canals constructed, irrigating about 225,000 acres of rice, while there are some 300 artesian wells "which will irrigate in the aggregate, 25,000 acres. Yielding annuaih' about 2,000,000 sacks of rice more than the combined crop of Geor- gia and the Carolinas. Implements and machinery common to the wheat fields of the West, find use in the rice fields. Lands that sole? for $1.00 per acre ten years ago now command $20.00, $30.00 and $50.00 per acre; lands too that will grow from ten to fifteen sacks of rice per acre, worth $3.'00 per sack. It is estimated that 20,000 people from the North and West have come into this section in the las! fifteen years, and they are prosperous and contented. There are many thousand acres yet available for rice in this section, and room and welcome for many thousand more people into this, the most pros- perous section of the State. This section also produces fruit, corn, some cotton, oats, hay, peas, potatoes and vegetables for eveiw market. Upon the ''bluff"' lands of the State — 5,000 square miles in ex- tent — both sugar cane and cotton are produced as money crops. This soil is a fine silty, clay loam, somewhat rolling, drains well and is very fertile and very lasting. They produce a bale of cotton, twenty tons of sugar cane and forty bushels of corn per acre. Tobacco, cigar-type, hay, potatoes, oats, peas, vegetables, fruits, melons, and other forage crops are also successfully grown. On the remaining lands of the State, embracing the long leaf 4 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, pine flats and pine Kills, the good oak and hickory uplands, some 18,000 square miles in extent, a general system of diversified farming; •prevails. Nine-tenths of the rural white population of the State live there, own their farms, and do their own work. The general, character of the soil is gray and red sandy with yellow and red clay ?andy sub-soils — natrually productive and wonderfully responsive to intelligent fertilizing. The average new soil will produce from one- half to three-quarters of a bale of cotton and twenty-five to thirty bushels of corn per acre, which yields may be doubled by the appli- cation of 300 pounds of commercial fertilizer. Cotton is the main money crop of this section, though fruits, melons, vegetables, cane syrups and poultry produce a large revenue. DR. AY. 6. STUBBS, Director La. Experimental Station. These lands lie mainly between the Ouachita and Red Rivers, and are known as the hills of North Louisiana, some of them rising as Held in New Orleans, December 4-j, ipoo. 5 high as 500 feet. On these sandy soils, fruits of excellent flavor, melons of superior sweetness, truck products of splendid quality are produced in superabundance. It is here also that the finest type of bright leaf tobacco is pro- duced, rivaling in quality that of Cuba, (so said by experts of North Carolina and Virginia.) No section of the country can grow a greater variety of crops successfully. Besides the crops mentioned, -•corn, peas, oats, wheat, barley, rye, hay, sorghum, all the forage crops, sugar cane, upland rice, sweet and Irish potatoes, peanuts, chufas, artichokes, strawberries, melons, vegetables, peaches and ether fruits are raised. DAIRYING AND STOCK RAISING. While dairying and stock raising are receiving considerable atten- tion in the State, they have not reached the large proportions that the natural advantages of the State justify, for the nature of the soil and climate are favorable to both. Our soils, unaided, will supply native grasses to maintain stock •nine months of the year. Alfalfa, and the great variety of grasses, clovers and forage crops so successfully* grown on our soils; our short winters, requiring shelter and extra feed for only a few months in a year; our numerous watercourses, creeks, branches and springs, fur- im" string an abundance of good water at all seasons, all conspire to make Louisiana a most desirable location for all kinds of stock raising. In addition to ample pasturage and luxurious forage for cattle raising, fattening cattle for market, has superior advantages. Cot- ton seed meal and hulls from our many cotton seed oil mills ihe rice bran, polish and shorts from our rice mills, and cheap mo- lasses from our sugar houses, provide the most economical feeding rations anywhere obtainable for cattle feeding, and thousands of cattle from Louisiana and other States are annually fattened and shipped to Northern and Western markets. TRUCK FARMING. Truck farming in Louisiana requires more than passing notice. Thousands of dollars are annually brought to the farmers of the State by this business. The lands adjacent to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Shreveport and Monroe, and lands along the I. C, and the Y. & M. Y., the T. & P., the Kansas City Southern, the Y. S. and P., the Iron Mountain and the Fort Jackson and Grand Isle Railroads, produce annually thousands of crates of early vege- tables, potatoes, strawberries, cantaloupes and watermelons. > Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention? TRANSPORTATION. The State has 2,500 miles of railway, reaching all parts of it. Many of these are trunk lines and most of the remainder have suck; connections, offering outlets for our products to the North and East.. There are nineteen railways now running and others building. The State has a Railroad Commission with absolute power and control over fixing rates on railways, steamboats, express companies, etc. Add to this our many miles of navigable streams, and but few States of the Union can surpass the transportation facilities of Louisiana. There are nearly 4,000 miles of navigable streams reaching every parish in the State except three, with some 1200 miles of Gulf coast bordering on our southern limit. The mouth of the "Father of Waters," finds its outlet here, connecting the State with the immense territory stretching from the Appalachian to Rocky Mountains, and outward with every port of the globe. CLIMATE. The climate of the State is ideal; summers are prolonged, but proximity to the Gulf insures against extremes of cold and heat. The prevailing winds in summer are from the South, cool and moisture laden, always assuring comfort. Sunstrokes are of rare occurrence. The thermometer at New Orleans seldom reaches 98 degrees, while it frequently shows 100 to 105 in northern cities, ac- companied with sunstrokes, by the score. Likewise in winter the thermometer rarely goes below 20 de- grees in the southern part of the State; 15 in the northern part, with an average respectively of 53 and 45, while in the North it is not uncommon to find it that many degrees below zero. Neither - in summer nor in winter does it ever get so hot or so cold as to pre- vent outdoor work. RAINFALL. Louisiana is especially blessed with an abundant rainfall. In the southern part of the State the average annual rainfall is 70 inches and in the extreme northern part it is 45 inches. By way of com- parison the maximum rainfalls of the following States is submitted: Louisiana, 64 inches; Oregon, 49 inches; Missouri, 48 inches;. Kentucky, 46 inches; Texas, 45 inches; Indiana, 44 inches; Illinois,, 43 inches; Ohio, 41 inches, and Kansas, 38 inches. ■ Held in New Orleans, December 4-/, 1900. 7 HEALTH. Perhaps no State in the Union has suffered more than has Lou- isiana on account of ignorant and adverse criticism of its health, when an examination of health statistics would have shown the con- trary. The health of a country depends largely upon its geographic situation, its topographic character and its climatic conditions. In these respects, the conditions for good health are favorable for Lou- isiana. The highlands are naturally healthful, while the low lands are made so through good drainage and the use of pure drinking water; pulmonary troubles, tuberculosis, do not prevail here like in States North and West. The white death rate per 1000 from 1886 to 1897 for New Orleans, was 23.46; for New York, same period, "it was 24.44; "Washington, 22.76, and Boston 23.46, and this record "without a system of sewerage for New Orleans, which she now has. In New Orleans in 1897 there were but six diseases causing death, while in San Francisco there were 20; in New York, 19; in St. Louis, 10; in Chicago, 9, and in Boston, 25 — thus showing New Orleans heir to fewer diseases than the cities mentioned. For the care of the sick and wounded Louisiana is provided with a Charity Hospital in New Orleans, and one in Shreveport, with four private similar institutions in New Orleans. EDUCATION. Louisiana provides a splendid system of public schools in all the parishes of the State, with terms of six to nine months, while all the towns and cities are provided with free high schools. For higher education and industrial training > the State has its State University and A. & M. College, the Southern University for colored people, two normal colleges and two industrial colleges. TIMBEB RESOURCES. Louisiana is abundantly supplied with vasts forests -of pine, cy- press and hardwood timbers. There are 28,300 square miles of standing timber, and estimated 25,000,000,000 feet of standing pine timber — board measure — and nearly that much of cypress and hard- wood timbers, consisting of oak, gum, hickory, poplar, cotton wood and ash. In the forest is abundant raw material for all kinds of lumber and wood manufactures, while the cotton fields are invit- ing to cotton manufacturing. Two large cotton factories are in oper- ation in New Orleans, and others projected. Shreveport, Monroe and New Iberia have in course of construc- tion $100,000 cotton factories, while there are eight or ten more '4owns of the State projecting such factories. With her agriculture, 8 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Louisiana must have manufactories, and her great abundance of raw" material will accommodate a variety of them. New Orleans is the chief commercial City of Louisiana and of ihe Southwest. She is the natural gateway for the export and im- port trade of the Mississippi Valley and Latin America. New Or- leans has a population of over 300,000. The largest sugar, rice and cotton market in the world, fifteen miles of river front, more than six miles of wharves, and over 210 miles of paved streets. The Marine Dry Docks now building by the United States Gov- ernment for this port will be the largest in the world. For the year ending July, 1900, her exports increased 32 per- cent over the previous year. Imports increased 47 per cent. Ves- sels entered and cleared at her port, 3,097; tonnage, 4,646,064; in- crease of 17 per cent. It has the largest coastwise business in the Union. $14,000,000 is being expended for sewerage. A splendid street car system of 160 miles. Tor maps of the State and printed matter relating to the State's resources, apply at the Louisiana Exhibit at the Pan-American Ex- position, or to J. G. Lee, Commissioner of Agriculture and Immi- gration, Baton Rouge, La. lings of 1(11 mini siN-Mii Oonveniioaof TQe Silip Industrial Association. The morning session of the first •day was called to order by President H. H. Hargrove, of Shreveport, La., at 10:30 A. M., Tuesday, December 4th, 1900, at Tulane Hall, in the City of New Orleans, La. President Har- grove, in opening the proceedings, said: "I esteem it a distinguished honor, and feel it a great pleasure, to call to order the Third Semi-Annual Con- vention of the Southern Industrial Association — a body composed of pa- triotic business men, whose labor is the expression of love, and whose aim is to build up the waste places and utilize the neglected opportuni- ties of the South. "I believe this gathering will serve as a flashlight to the South, pene- trating unto its uttermost borders, and illuminating elements of wealth practically untouched and hitherto -comparatively unknown. "The expert industrial and com- mercial electricians who are here, will erect for us a pyramid of light during the next four days, which will dispel every shadow of darkness that may have hung over the South in the past, and reveal with more than meteoric brilliancy, the blessings which are in store for the Industrial South in the future. We shall dis- cern from that light the accumulated wealth of centuries lying at our feet, and inviting us to enter in and pos- sess it, for the enrichment of our- selves and our posterity. "I believe that every member of this body has come to aid in making this Convention what it seeks to be for the South, and hence you will aid the officers in their respective duties, and grant them the indulgence they will need to guide its deliberations aright. "After the opening prayer of Bish- op Sessums, I shall turn over the morning programme to Hon. Sidney Story; Chairman of the local Com- mittees of Arrangements, and Vice- President of the Association, as the addresses of welcome and responses are under the auspices of these local committees. "I congratulate the South and the City of New Orleans, on the great industrial awakening which this Con- vention indicates." (Applause). Bishop Sessums then opened the proceedings with prayer, beginning with the prayer from the Episcopal Prayer Book, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord," followed by the Lord's Prayer and the prayer for those in authority, concluding by in- voking the Divine blessing on the Convention in the following terms: "Almighty God, who knowest our in- terests before we ask and our ignor- ance in asking, bless these Thy ser- vants who are here to promote the interests of industry and the material prosperity of this land. Teach them that this life consists not only in what a man possesses but in the knowledge of Thee, the only true God, and that true wealth is in the righteousness of a nation. Teach them to multiply the opportunities for toil, to lessen hunger, and suffer- ing and so to advance the cause of material progress that this nation may not fall into luxury, but rise 10 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, both in moral and intellectual devel- opment. Bless these Thy servants in ennobling and elevating commerce and making it a benevolent rela- tionship between man and man, and to promote harmony and helpfulness between all sections of the country and all classes of citizens. Strength- en, God, their allegiance to Thee the only King, and accept their ser- vices in the hastening of the com- ing of Thy Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord: "The Grace of Jesus- Christ our Lord, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us now and forever- more. Amen." PRESIDENT HARGROVE. "Gentlemen of the Convention: "We were invited at Chattanooga last May to meet in the City of New Orleans. The speaker who put in nomination this city was Mr. Sidney Story. (Applause.) His labors have been long and continuous to get ready the elaborate reception which this city has tendered our visiting brethren. These speeches will be most appropriately delivered under the auspices of the Arrangements Committee of which Mr. Story is Chairman, and therefore, I turn the meeting over to Mr. Story at this time." (Applause.) Mr. Story, in assuming the gavel,, said: "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: I would be un- appreciative indeed did I not take advantage of this opportunity to ex- press my deep sense of the honor and pride I feel in having to preside over the deliberations of this imposing Convention. A Convention the dis- cussions of which are destined to play an important part in the bear- ing of the commercial energies and activities of this great country, and the elucidation of the problems which will be brought before you are des- tined, I believe, to be seed sown in fruitful soil to germinate into a vast - number of lucrative enterprises. "I desire briefly to welcome my fellow delegates, those who are here and those who are to be here with us during the session of this Conven- tion, representing over twenty odd States of this great republic, and I will now introduce to you a distin- guished fellow-citizen, who, in the* name of the people of this common- wealth, will bid you hearty welcome. It gives me pleasure, gentlemen, to introduce to you Governor Heard of Louisiana. (Applause.) ADDEESS OF WELCOME. BY GOV. W. W. HEARD, OF LOUISIANA. Governor Heard then addressed the Convention as follows: "Mr. President and Delegates to the Southern Industrial Convention: "The pleasing duty has been as- signed to me of voicing the sincere welcome that the people of Louisi- ana are proud to extend to you on this occasion, which they regard as the beginning of an era of unexam- pled advance for the Southern coun- try. They va.lue highly the compli- ment conferred upon them by your progressive organization in having selected their promising metropolis for its Third Semi-Annual Conven- tion. They observed with approving interest your initial conventions at Huntsville and at Chattanooga, and they were impressed with the convic- tion that the plans which you for- mulated for the promotion of all the Southern industries were well and wisely laid to enlist into harmonious co-operation the manufacturing, agri- cultural, commercial, railway, river and maritime, and the financial and educational interests of the entire country, in the upbuilding of these interests, and in the development of the infinite and marvelous resources of our Southland. "The States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisi- ana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Tennes- see, Texas, Virginia and West Vir- ginia, embrace a territory of no less than 900,338 square miles, an area four and one-half times as great as France with her 39,000,000 of inhabi- tants, who boast of a wealth and power of the highest rank among- the great nations of the world. With— Held in New Orleans, December 4-f, 1900. in the territory of our Southland, the one hundred and seventy-five millions of Prance, Germany, Austro- Hungary and Great Britain could be easily accommodated with homes and fields of labor. Yet, this more than imperial domain had only 12,128,078 inhabitants in 1860, and 13,752,600 in 1870. Considering the abnormal con- ditions which have impeded Southern progress since 1860, the recent census of 1900 discloses a very gratifying increase. According to this census, the population of the Southern States amounts to 27,577,346, which exceeds by 4,385,476 the population of the en- tire Union in 1850, which was al- ready a great nation at that period, and is but 3,866,745 below the total population of the Union in 1860, the year which preceded the outbreak of the Titanic war between the States, which must be accounted as the greatest war of modern times. "In its Northern and Central tiers of States, in addition to, cotton, the South possesses all of the agricul- tural and mineral productions of the Northern and Western States. The same thing may be said of several of the Gulf States, where, besides cotton, rice, sugar cane, and in the southernmost regions, the tropical fruits, are produced in abundant quantities. The entire South pre- sents superb advantages for stock and sheep raising, truck farming, fruit culture, and many other indus- tries. Its forests are comparatively untouched, though its lumber indus- tries are developing immense wealth for the lumbermen. Its bays, coasts and rivers, abound with bivalves and fishes of every variety. All the South- ern States offer unrivalled natural advantages in inland or maritime navigation, and their geographical lo- cation opens to them boundless trade possibilities with the markets of the far Bast and with South Africa, when the Nicaragua Canal, the Interconti- nental Railway, and the improvement of the Western and Southern water- ways shall, as they must, be soon undertaken and completed, with the aid of the United States Government. There are no extremes of heat or cold in the Southern climates, which maybe compared, according to lati- tudinal position, to those of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and, re- ports to the contrary notwithstandl- ing, the South can be classed with the most salubrious regions of the earth. Neither is the Southern, scenery to be excelled in. variety, beauty and grandeur. "Such is that section of the Union whose actual conditions, resources,, needs and possibilities, you are met to study and to discuss. I have said to study, because, strange as this may seem, the South is still a tierra incognita to even some prominent in- structors of the youth of the coun- try. Why, no less an educator than Channing, in his history which is used as a text book in many schools and colleges, makes the following gross misstatements: " 'Above New Orleans or Baton Rouge it (the Mississippi) Is practi- cally unnavigable by seagoing sail- ing ships. Moreover, the banks of the lower Mississippi are generally- low and swampy and offer no induce- ment to the settler. It is only at a distance of eight hundred miles from the sea that they become inviting to agriculturists.' "These are astounding: statements in view, first, of the fact that the famous U. S. Cruiser Nashville, In a moderately high stage of water, in 1898, successfully ascended the Mis- sissippi as high as St. Louis, which is situated some 1,200 miles above New Orleans; and, secondly, of ths fact that beginning at about twenty miles above the mouth of the Mis- sissippi, the lands along both banks of this river are conceded to be among the most fertile in the world, surpassing in fertility those of the famed valley of the Nile. From the point stated, these banks are but a succession of plantations of sugar cane rice, cotton, corn, and of al- most every other product of the semi-tropical and temperate zones. With the exception perhaps of the Ganges and the Yellow rivers of In- dia and China, the banks of the Mississippi have a denser population than those of any other river m the world. "This is but one of the numerous fallacious descriptions of the South- ern country by which capital, im- migration and enterprise, are di- verted from this incomparable lana. of abundance and promise. 12 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, "The elements for the South's de- velopment into one of the richest and mightiest divisions of the earth, which are common to other divisions, ;are self-evident. But, in addition, it possesses in its cotton product a re- source that, when it shall have at- tained its logical development, will ensure to the South a commanding : position over any other division. It was demonstrated during our civil war that the cotton of the South was practically indispensable to the world's commerce and comfort. The • blockade of the Southern ports raised the price of cotton to more than $1 in gold per pound. The manufactur- ers and buyers of tne Eastern States and of Europe have had almost ex- clusive command of the price of raw cotton and, to reap greater profits ifrom the cotton fabrics, they have naturally striven to continually re- duce the price of the raw cotton. Under this influence it came to pass 'that the cost of production exceeded ;lhe market price, and it was not un- til the competing demand from the recently established Southern mills arose, that the price of raw cotton began to rise and to enable the ■ Southern planter to resume the cul- tivation of the plant, which many "had commenced to abandon in part «or In whole. These developments have furnished object lessons which should not be disregarded. It is clear that if we would compel the Eastern and foreign combinations of buyers to pay better prices for the raw cot- ton, we must increase the home de- mand for it by increasing the num- "ber of the home manufactures. For their own protection, the Eastern and foreign manufacturers must hold up the price of the fabrics, since the Southern mills, located at the fields of production, can make the fabrics at less cost and meet any cut that their outside competitors might en- deavor to make. In this way. both the price of raw cotton and of cot- ton fabrics, will be kept at profit points. It follows that the South's income from cotton in the raw or "the manufactured forms, will increase "in a ratio corresponding with the in- crease of cotton factories in the South. "With a number of factories proportioned to the yield in raw cot- tfcon, the South would receive the three hundred or more millions that the raw cotton brings annually, and it would also receive the hundreds of millions that come from the cost of making the fabrics and from the profits arising from these fabrics. For the South to get from six to nine hundred millions instead of the three hundred millions annually that it has been getting, ought to be easy of accomplishment by the mere in- crease of cotton factories. The ef- fects of such increases in the South's incomes from cotton are too obvious to require description or enumera tion. Suffice it to say, that the sur- plus capital that the South would soon amass from King Cotton would develope numerous other manufac- tures and industries and attract a flow of immigration and capital un- precedented in the South's annals. "It is but too often said that home capital is lacking to establish the requisite number of cotton factories in the South, but if we consider for example, the many sugar mills and sugar refineries, the rice mills and the saw mills, that have been erected with home capital in our own State, which are far more costly than cot- ton factories, this fallacious conten- tion ought to be promptly abandoned. If we can find money for sugar mills, sugar refineries, rice mills, irrigation plants and mammoth saw mills, why can we not find money to build cot- ton factories? "Cotton can and should be re- enthroned in the South and made to wield far greater power than it ever had in its palmiest days. We can- not labor too persistently for the at- tainment of this end. With this view it gave me exceeding pleasure, at the last meeting of our General Assem- bly, to approve a bill, looking to the creation throughout the Cotton States, of a system of gathering and compiling reliable official reports of cotton production, which would de- stroy the effect of the misleading and unreliable reports which have from time to time been put forth by irre- sponsible self-constitnted statistic- ians to influence the markets, always to the detriment of the producers. I trust that your Convention will take action in this matter in furtherance of the endorsement which the Con- vention at Chattanooga gave to this Held in New Orleans, December 4-/, ipoo. JfJT: is; plan of official reports, so that all other States interested may co-oper- ate with Louisiana. "Cotton cannot be protected by tar- iffs, and it possesses by reason of its stability, enormous advantages over many other American products. In either the raw or the manufactured state, King Cotton enters as a free lance into the markets of the world. Hence, manufacturers of cotton fab- rics at the fields of production, who may also be producers of the raw cotton, should easily have the advan- tage in any competition that may arise in the price of either. Consid- ering these incontestable advantages, an ideal investment that would defy competition and absolutely ensure gains, will be for capitalists acting singly or in association, to erect in the cotton growing regions, compos- ite establishments where the cotton will be brought in the seed, to be ginned in one department, made into fabrics in another, and where in an- other, the seed will be crushed for the oil and for oil cake and meal. "The era of five cents cotton gave ample warning that the hour for an industrial revolution had sounded for the South, just as it was sounded and heeded in Japan, in 1868, when the Western Powers compelled that then semi-barbarous country to open its ports to universal trade, and with no greater reservation or protection than a nominal tariff duty of five per cent, ad valorem. Count Okuma, formerly Prime Minister of Japan, in a recent publication, describes the means by which Japan entered into the movement of successful regenera- tion.' It sent its young men abroad to be educated in the naval, the mili- tary, and the mechanical arts. It employed without counting the cost, foreign preceptors to erect manufac- tures of all kinds, ship building yards, and work shops of every char- acter, and to teach the arts and sci- ences generally. Thirty-two years of this policy have brought Japan and her forty-five millions of yellow peo- ple, to be recognized among the lead- ing industrial and military powers of the World. The development of Japan's commerce and industries is partially revealed by its official re- ports, showing that in 1868 its ex- ports amounted to but 15,553,472 yen, and its imports to 10,69^0X1 yeu£ whereas, thirty years after, in. 1898*. its exports had risen to 165,153,752: yen, and its imports to 277,532,15$. yen. n "Japan thus presents object lessons which should induce the South to en- ter as far as practicable with unceas- ing activity and resoluteness into an* analogous industrial revolution, "In the North American Review, for November, 1900, I.Ir. O. P, Aus- tin, Chief of the U. S. Bureau of" Statistics, writing upon 'A Century of International Commerce,' rightly attributes to the swift steam vessel,, + he railway train, the uses of elec- tricity, the telegraph and the new- mechanical devices, the phenominali growth of the world's commerce dur- ing the Nineteenth Century, He claims that this commerce has in- creased more than a thousand per cent., while population has increased less than one hundred and fifty per. cent. "Mindful that commerce increases^ proportionately with the number of miles of rivers and canals opened- for navigation, and with the mileage of railways, the Russian Empire has. opened for navigation no less than 18,000 miles of rivers and canals, andL» it has practically decided to construct a waterway of adequate width and depth that will enable its war and 1 commercial fleets to navigate from, the Baltic to the Black sea, and vice versa. It is likewise pushing to com- pletion the Trans-Siberian railway, which will open communications across thousands of miles of hitherto inaccessible territory between Russia in Europe and the shores of the Pacific ocean. Meanwhile, our £reat Republic has opened no more than 14,000 miles of rivers and canals for navigation, and due chiefly to the re- proachful object lesson taught hy the Oregon's voyage from San Francisco - to Cuba, via the Straights of Magel- lan, during the late war with Spain, it is yet in the throes of a hesitating consideration of the project of dig- ging the Nicaragua Canal. The ques- tion of the improvement of our great Western and Southern waterways, has scarcely passed the stage attained' by the Nicaragua Canal project, while* the project of the Intercontinental 14 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, .Railway, which would open to Ameri- can commerce and enterprise an in- comparably vaster and richer field than will the Czar's Trans-Siberian railway, is resting supinely upon the favorable report of the preliminary survey of the Intercontinental line made by a corps of United States en- gineers in 1893. As your programme indicates that these subjects are to be fully discussed, I shall be content in referring to them merely to ask: Shall our great Republic, with all its boasted wealth and progressive spir- it, permit the Czar of Russia to out- strip it in undertakings of the char- : acter adverted. to? "The deepening of the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi is a matter of supreme importance to the commerce of the entire Mississippi Valley and of the port of New Or- r leans. I trust that you will give it special attention and that you will take the proper steps to urge upon Congress the pressing need for its immediate action to provide the ade- quate means to enable vessels to en- ter the Mississippi without hindrance. "In furthering the progress of the South, the Southern Industrial Asso- ciation will further the interests of the entire country as well, since the greater shall be the value of the country's. exports, the greater shall be the balance of trade in favor of the United States. Let us bear in mind that fifty cents wheat and five cents cotton will cut very deeply into the income of the people of the United States and into the general prosper- ity of the country. No section of the Union can prosper, nor no section of the Union suffer, that the effects of such prosperity or depression will not be felt by the other sections. The East, the North and the West, should, therefore, gladly assist this movement for Southern progress, and let us trust that we are not indulg- ing in vain hopes when we expect the general government to aid us by friendly and progressive legislation, and for the capital and enterprise of other sections to help us in this good work. "While Cotton must be regarded as the South's chief and unrivalled re- source, it will be the stronger if its ^production is held within reasonable bounds. Diversification should not be discarded because of rises in the price of cotton. The sheep ranches of Texas and of other portions of the South, should strive to produce more wool, and manufactures of woolens should go hand in hand with the cotton factory. The growing consumption of sugar suggests the enlargement of the sugar cane indus- try in Louisiana and in the other Gulf States. There is room, too, for the expansion of the rice industry, whicn has become one of the leading in- dustries and resources of Louisiana, the Carolinas and Texas. Truck farming and stock raising; wood working to utilize the valuable woods with which the South is endowed so abundantly; the revival of the once gigantic steamboat trade on the Southern and Western rivers; the es- tablishment of steamship lines to open and maintain commerce and in- tercourse with foreign countries, es- pecially with the West Indies and Latin America; the erection of ship building yards; the construction of more railways; public improvements in our towns and cities; good road- ways; better educational facilities; industrial schools; and many more things that will gO toward making the South one of the greatest and most prosperous regions of the earth, we should labor to promote. "The population of Louisiana has grown from 1,118,587 in 1890, to 1,- 381,627 in 1900, showing a gratifying increase of 263,040. The industries and wealth of the State have in- creased in corresponding ratio. Now, in concluding, I desire to assure those of you who have come from beyond the borders of Louisiana, that her people not only welcome you on this occasion, but they also cordially in- vite you and all other progressive people from every State and country to come amongst them with your own and their energy, intelligence and capital, and help them to enjoy and to multiply the riches of their cotton, sugar, cane and rice regions; the wealth of their forests, of their fer- tile uplands and lowlands, and to speed the industrial and commercial march of their hamlets and towns, and of their grand Crescent City, whose slogan is for more public im- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 15 T>rovements more manufactures, and pleasure to announce as the next more trade facilities, and more pro- speaker, his Honor, Mayor Paul Cap- gress." (Loud applause.) devielle of Greater New Orleans. (Ap- Chairman Story: It is my honor plause.) ADDRESS OF WELCOME. BY HON. PAUL CAPDEVIELLE, Mayor of New Orleans, La. Mayor Paul Capdevielle spoke as follows: Mr. President and Gentlemen of the 'Convention: It has been my good fortune to be present at and to par- ticipate in the proceedings of many large assemblages, in the interest and good of the people, but I am free to say that I never responded with more alacrity and warmer feeling than on the present occasion. (Applause.) And how could it be otherwise, when I see before me so many chosen dele- gates and distinguished representa- tives from so many different States •of our Union, assembled here to- gether for the purpose of exchanging "views in a noble and fraternal way to arrive at the best conclusions to promote the best interests of our great commonwealth? (Applause.) The business men of the South real- ize that they must be practical as well as energetic. You have count- less sources of undetermined and un- developed wealth which is bound to excite the attention of capital and bound to invite the money of the capitalist as well as the money of the wage earner, and before the world you gentlemen have assembled here to-day for a noble purpose, which challenges admiration and must nec- essarily succeed. (Applause.) But, gentlemen, I had forgotten that I am not expected to make a speech, I am here to extend you a warm welcome, 16 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, which I do with intense pleasure; but, if you will permit me to digress a moment, I will recite a little in- cident that occurred recently, and which is pertinent. I have but just returned from a trip North and East. Some say I went for my health, others say that I went for recreation, but there is one thing sure, it was not for business. I received much courtesy and consideration from many distinguished men, but, gen- tlemen, no one realized better than myself that these honors were ex- tended to the public officer and not to the man. On a certain occasion, I met two large capitalists, who wanted to know what this Southern Industrial Convention meant, and what its purposes. were. I told them that after staying a few days longer I intended to be back in time to meet you gentlemen, and I did not hesitate to explain what were the objects of this Convention. Answering further questions, I said that the City of New Orleans was about to issue $16,000,- 000 of bonds to complete the drain- age system of the city, to build a sys- tem of sewerage and to secure pure water for our city, and that these im- provements would ve followed by others such as the embellishment of our parks and open spaces. I was listened to with a great deal of at- tention, by one of these great capi- talists, and when I told him that the population of New Orleans to-day had reached nearly 300,000, and that this population had voluntarily taxed themselves 2 mills for a period of fifty years — "What then, sir,' said he,, 'these people mean business. Then,, sir, your city has a future.' I re- plied: 'Sir, the city has always had. a future, but she has always had more than her share of misfortunes^ and has not yet had an opportunity to realize it, but she will now create the opportunity, the South is now moving.' He said: 'That will be due to ten-cent cotton.' 'I do not know about that,' I replied, 'but I do know that the South knows what its duty is, and the South is going to do it and to prosper.' (Applause.) "Gentlemen, I hope you will par- don this digression, but I only de- sired to show you that the people. of this country are now watching you and your actions. Now, gentlemen,, you have already been welcomed in most eloquent terms by his Excel- lency the Governor, on the part of the State of Louisiana. It is now my part to extend to you the warmest greetings from our old and grand city, which has been always noted for her hospitality, and I trust will' prove worthy of her reputation. Al- low me, as Mayor of the City of New Orleans, to bid you welcome to our midst, welcome as delegates, welcome- as friends, welcome as noble, patri- otic and progressive citizens, en- listed in the same noble cause, to- which I now pledge my hearty co- operation and tender you my best wishes for its complete success."" (Loud and prolonged applause.) ROLL CALL OF STATES. Chairman Story: The Secretary will now call the roll of States. Secretary Thompson: "Alabama." Chairman Story: Ex-Mayor C. L. Lavretta of Mobile, will respond to the roll on behalf of the State of Alabama. Ex-Mayor C. L. Lavretta of Mobile responded in the following words: "Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Southern Industrial Convention: I cannot conceive way I should have been selected in the absence of the official representative, the Governor, of the State of Alabama, to respond to the heartfelt welcome which has been extended to us by his Excel- lency the Governor of the State of Louisiana, and the Mayor of the City of New Orleans. I can only attribute it to one . reason, and that is that when it comes to the true citizenship of the proud State of Alabama, she never gives her citizens time to pre- pare themselves for a response in- set terms to such a warm and hospit- able welcome. I do not propose to make an address at this particular time, nor do I intend to speak at length of the grand State of Alabama, which is a bright jewel in the crown of States, possessed of all the quali- ties which go towards the building Held in Nczv Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. -up of good citizenship, and of princi- ples always worthy to be followed. I will not speak of the great min- eral wealth of that State, of its woods, of its iron interests, of its coal, and other produces, hut I will jsimply say to his Excellency the Gov- ernor of the State of Louisiana, to his .Honor the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, and to you gentlemen, that so far as our State is concerned, so far as our citizens whom we repre- sent are concerned, our best efforts will go out towards making these de- liberations fruitful in the present, and to do all we can to make the objects of this Convention a decided success." (Applause.) RESPONSE OX BEHALF OF AKXAXSAS. BY COLONEL JAMES MITCHELL. Secretary Thompson: "Arkansas." Chairman Story: I now introduce "to you Colonel James Mitchell, who -will respond for the State of Ar- kansas. Col. James Mitchell said: "Mr. President and Gentlemen: I was told about an hour and a half :ago that I would be expected to re- spond for the State of Arkansas on behalf of his Excellency Governor D. W. Jones, who is unable to attend this Convention. I appreciate the honor, and I shall try to say in a brief way a few things that Gov. Jones would say were he here. I am not going to make a long speech; whenever I am tempted to do that, I think of the splendid tribute that Fitz Greene Halleck paid to a speak- er: 'There is one great virtue in thy speeches, the secret of their mas- tery; they are short.' I am not ac- customed to addressing assemblages of this kind. I may say that I re- ceived a rude rebuff in iny younger days that prevented my becoming an orator and perhaps a statesman. When a young man, I had the mis- fortune 10 enter politics. I ran for the legislature and was elected, but a very brief experience satisfied me that I was not adapted to a public career. There came up two measures in the legislature, one for a loan of $100,000 to the old Memphis and Lit- tle Rock Railroad, the other a bill to provide for a road tax of 1-4 of a mill. I voted for them. My con- stituents told me they were not in favor of either of these measures, and said 'You will never get back to the Arkansas legislature,' to which 1 answered, 'I don't want to get back,' and then I had a consultation with my commanding officer at home, and she informed me that she did not think I was adapted for or would ever become a statesman or an orator, and that settled it." (Laughter and ap- plause.) "Well, gentlemen, I have lived to see the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, largely by means of that appropriation which the Arkan- sas legislature voted, develope, and though it was a long time before the company paid the money back, I lived to see 18 years afterwards that $10.0,000 principal and $140,000 inter- est wheeled into the State Treasury, and I said to myself, 'young man, that was a good vote which you gave.' I voted for the road tax, I did not get it, but I have been working for it ever since." (Applause.) "1 need not speak of the great railroad development of our grand State, of its soil, of its climate, of our enor- mous mineral wealth, as it is not necessary to detain you longer with a catalogue of the immense resources and rapid grov/th of the State of Ar- kansas. Had Governor Jones been here, he could have told you of all these things. "Now, as to the objects and pur- poses of this Convention. I cannot express them better, nor so well as to read briefly a few lines written by the very efficient secretary of this Association, Mr. Thompson, whose handiwork is splendidly illustrated by a glance 'round this grand hall. He says: 'The purpose of this Con- vention is to promote the Industrial development and upbuilding of the South. It is sought; through such a policy to induce the South to manu- facture her own raw materials, on her own soil, and by her own people.' 18 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, "These, gentlemen of the Conven- tion, are most worthy objects. The motto on the programme sent out for the delegates to this Convention, is this: "Business! No Politics; No Sectionalism." A better motto could not have been adopted. Business! I want to get one thought before you, and that is, that whatever may be the result of this Association, how- ever we may speak or resolve, the one secret of our success as a sec- tion of this great country is our own unity and individual efforts. We must pave the way in all the great enterprises which we will try to further, by putting up our own time, our own labor and our own money. 'No sectionalism,' that is a grand? thought, a grand purpose. 'The in- dustrial development of the Southi means the enrichment of the na- tion.' Sectionalism has departed in. the new and better era of good feel- ing that is upon us. Whatever de- fects there may be in this Govern- ment of ours, whatever errors there may be in its administration, the fact remains that this is the greatest and grandest country of the earth. (Applause.) "And this Government of ours with all its defects and im- perfections is the greatest and grand- est system ever devised by the wis- dom of mankind." (Applause.) RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF GEORGIA. BY GEN. JOHN B. GORDON. Secretary Thompson: "Georgia." Chairman Story: "Ladies and Gentlemen: We have with us here not only the most representative and distinguished citizen of Georgia, but I dare say in the whole country. He needs no Introduction to any South- ern audience. Tlic n,or.tion of hib name alone is sufficient to thrill every heart, but we love him because of his broad Americanism and ele- vated patriotism, because his life will be the imperishable heritage of all Americans. His name is already written on the scroll of fame, and it gives me pleasure, therefore, to in- troduce to you General John B. Gor- don of Georgia." (Applause.) General John B. Gordon of Georgia, said: "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of this Convention: It is Georgia's mis- fortune and yours, that her able and eloquent Governor is not here to speak in her name on this glorious Convention day. It is Georgia's mis- fortune, and yours, that the able son of that State, the chosen representa- tive of the Governor, the Hon. A. H. Cox, one of her foremost citizens, is not here to speak in her name. By a strange concatenation of events, you are doomed — I am very sorry for you, but you cannot help it now I have got the floor on you — you are doomed to sit here, and hear the Are of random shots as they come from a brain poorly loaded, if loaded at all. But I want to say that down lower in the human frame, in that center of human sentiment, lower than the brain, there is a fire burn- ing that can never be quenched when- ever Southern progress and prosper- ity is concerned." (Bravo and ap- plause.) "I can give you a little comfort, as I took some myself, when I read what I am expected to do. Listen to it: 'The Governor of each State in his response, or through his- representative, is to place his State in line for union of effort in the in- dustrial upbuilding of the South.' So- tbat just leaves me nothing to do at. all, Georgia is already in line. She's; been in line ever since the flag which she followed on a thousand battle- fields went down. She's there, and she is going to stay there. "Georgia in line — do you ask that? Why France might just as well have- asked the great Napoleon as his eagles were carried from field to field and his legions were sweeping over Europe, whether Marshal Ney was in line! "Georgia in line? What would you have thought of a Southern man who would have asked the great Lee if 'Stonewall' Jackson was in line in the battle around Richmond and Chan- cellorsville, or when Hooker's shot and shell were tearing through the tangle of the Wilderness? Just as Held m New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 19 sure as these great captains were in line under their banners, so is Geor- gia in line, and she is going to stay- in line on this particular programme until the light now breaking on her horizon shall have met its full ef- fulgence in the full orb of magnifi- cent prosperity. How do I know — how can you know that Georgia is in line on this pro- gramme? Why, we have got the evi- dence. Look at her condition twenty- five years ago, when, ernei ging from that dire waste of wreckage and of ashes, as she sat bathed in tears with her noblest and best buried on every battlefield of the Southland, wailing like Rachel of old, because they were not. Every dollar of her credit ob- literated, her red old hills washed and furrowed, neglected, overgrown with briars and weeds. Borrowing, bor- rowing from every quarter of the compass, wherever she could find people credulous enough to trust her. Bemoaning the past, yet hopeful of the future, looking out upon the wide and almost endless waste of ashes, from which here and there rose a grim, gaunt, naked chimney, show- ing where the comforts of home had departed. Then, turn from that pic- ture and look at her to-day. There sits in this Convention from my State, one of the foremost financiers in all this Southern land. I have heard from his lips within the last few hours, that instead of looking out now for borrowing money, Geor- gia and Georgia people have on de- posit in her banks enough money, not to speak of the unsold cotton m her farmers' hands, enough money to run the State Government, all its in- stitutions of learning, her charitable institutions, her factories, her farms, without borrowing one single dollar. Why, think about the contrast, my brethren! It is inspiring enough without any words from me or any of her sons. "Look at her as she came out of the great struggle with her railroads little else then than two red bands, little more than 'two long streaks of dust and rust, where the rails once had laid. Now, on that same track the shining rails are sending back to heaven from their bright surface the glimmers of the sunlight, while on that track are thundering day and night trains laden with her products carrying them to mingle with the- commerce of the world." (Applause.). "Look at her water power, the great- waterfalls uttered at that time their voices invoking the hand of man to harness their power to his progress, but with no response. Now, the echo comes back from her shops and her furnaces, of the falling hammer, which forges the chains that are har- nessing the electricity of her air to the swiftly flying wheels of progress- The old pineries, beautiful to us who lived among them, weird, wild and. uninviting to the stranger, those old forests only a few years since so neglected, when the only charm that came from them was that weird music, sad and sea-like, but sweeter far to Southern ears than the music of an Aeolian harp — listen now to the echo, of that strange, weird and wild music, as there comes the answer from the whizzing saw, the whirling spindle and the rattling shuttle, the one cutting the timber, and the- others converting the fleecy staple grown where once grew nothing but wild forests, into the clothing which is necessary for the comfort of all the peoples of the earth. Those old red hills, how proud it makes a man: who loves his state and his country to see these fields furrowed by the plow, guided by intelligent and thoughtful husbandry, until every drop of God's rain filled with fertil- ity is caught and held and trans- muted by this process into wealth untold. "Oh, yes; my friends, we are there, we are in line, and thanks be to God, all the South is in line; and we mean to get there, too. We are go- ing — going, where? To the front! "Now, they say that we must not have any politics. We are not going to have any. Like my brother who just took his seat, I was in politics once, but, like him, I have reformed. But, I am going to stand here and take the liberty of saying one or two- things, whether it be politics or not: In my heart, throbbing in this brain, and I may just as well say you may take them or not, but these are my deep convictions : "The South, once the weeping Niobe of Nations, sat after the war- wrapped in her veil of tears, and the- 20 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ipathos of her isolation and grief was overwhelming. But she is not there •any longer; like the great Grecian mother Cornelia, she now stands ready to point to her greatest liv- ing sons., the Gracchi, that ever walked on terra-firma, who, like those assembled here this morning, will see that this country shall take a foremost place in material pros- perity, and be supreme in every de- partment of industrial development among the nations of the earth. Why should we be behind any other por- tion of this earth or of this Ameri- can country? Were you ever behind in anything else? Did America ever produce any statesmen whose names are written higher than those which were written as Southern men? Were any soldiers ever better than ours? How comes it that in every foreign war, without a single exception, I expect I am talking too much, but I have got to say it (laughter and ap- plause) how comes it, that in every foreign war, save in the last, and it would like to have been so in this one for Fitzhugh Lee and old Joe Wheeler came mighty near getting there — but, in every other foreign war this section has furnished the leaders who have borne the glorious stars and stripes, this immortal ban- ner (pointing to the flag), to vic- tory. (Applause.) Where is that you have been behind? Point to the place! We hear so much of being rich 'befoh the wah.' You did not care about being rich before the war. I remember very well that if you took a railroad man and showed him a hillside, and told him that behind it were iron and coal, and on the other side was a large cotton field, he would build his railroad through the cotton field and let the coal mine go. Now the South has called from their long sleep those sons of Her- cules, iron and coal, and hitches them to the car of her progress. And her marble quarries have yielded up the finest of stone, even the proud capitol of this great nation itself is made more beautiful by tributes from Southern quarries. Forward, for- ward, my countrymen! "But, I had forgotten what I was going to say. There are so many ways of saying it that a fellow gets lost but he cannot miss it which ever road he takes, for they all lead to the same thing. But I am going to say now the political thing I was going to say before. The Southern people want no more whatever they wanted in the past, any confined, contracted, public policy. We want the great canal that shall link to- gether the eastern and the western oceans. We want the open door and a great big one at that. For we are coming, coming not as the brave Yankee soldiers once said. 'Father Abraham hundreds of thousands strong,' but we are coming with our millions! "Oh, ye brown peoples of the Orient, we are coming with our fleecy staple converted by our own machin- ery, our own handicraft, into cloth- ing for all the peoples of the earth. (Applause.) Open wide your doors and we promise you — I stand here on this platform in the presence of these Southern men to-day to predict that you will be glad of it some day. Oh, ye Chinese, pull the walls ye have built around you down, and we prom* ise you we will make you happy! I don't know what other people think, I am not saying this for the Govern- or of Georgia nor for anybody else, but for myself: Whatever may be deemed wise policy in regard to our newly acquired possessions, I stand here to-day to predict that the day is soon coming, is not far distant, when from Porto Rico and Cuba and from the far off islands of the Pacific, there shall come from the throats of the redeemed millions, gladsome ho- sannas, praising God for the presence of the American flag (loud applause), and for the hope which it shall brin^ of American freedom. (Applause.) Let us move onward, my country- men, let us turn our hands to every handicraft which will convert our great staple into dollars, not into the v-^lue of S40 or $50 a bale, but into $400 and $509 worth a bale. We have already gone from the highest notch reached preceding the war of 4,000,- 000 of cotton bales to about 11,000.- 000. S-ippose this had all been con- verted into fabrics here in the South, and had gone through the great canal pri ( \ through the open door into China, and had been distributed to the millions of the Orient, what would have been the condition of Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 21 these people to-day? Every bale of cotton raised on Southern soil, ought to be spun and woven on Southern soil. ( .pplause.) If you spin and weav one-half of it, you won't be bothered much more by five-cent cot- ton; no, sir, you will have a balance wheel that will regulate the price, and especially when you get the open door, there will be no end to the demand for your product. "Go on my countrymen! On my way from Atlanta to Augusta some few days since — and I have not been over the road for some time — I saw a brick building going up here, and a foundation being laid there, the machinery going into new buildings, and I said to a gentleman sitting near, 'What does all this mean?' 'Oh,' replied he, 'we are erecting cot- ton plants and factories.' 'Where did you get rhe money?' 'Out of our own pockets; every dollar subscribed by men living in the vicinity.' Don't you know that that means prosper- ity? Bless my soul! If Arkansas and Texas and these other great cot- ton States, Louisiana- among them and Mississippi, would prosper, they will not wait for Georgia to get into line, but get into line with Georgia, then we will be the richest people on the earth, do doubt about it. 'God Almighty reigns, and he is working in his mysterious way, his wonders to perform in this fair Southland. But you felt that when slavery went, that it was the death knell possibly of Southern prosper- ity, and God knoT\s that it was an awful blow, a staggering blow. The freedom of the black man was the temporary impoverishment of the white race; but God was at work; it is coming, coming all right, and when vour industries shall line your railroads, and when your very air shall revel and thrill and tremble^ as it will in a few years hence, with. the music of your progress, then will- come, my countrymen, the solution of the great problem of the races. It is just before you, and I bid you,, onward, onward, onward! I can see- in the distance great benefits to us. from the opening up and expansion of commerce, but we are not going to be content to receive the benefit without giving back two-fold or ten- fold for all the good that comes to. us. We have got something to' give, too, we have got this glorious staple of ours, the best that grows on the earth, for the clothing of the peo- ple, but we have got better than that, we have freedom and liberty, the: best government — as my friend has said — the best government that the world ever saw. We have got a civi- lization, and I want to see that old- time Southern civilization perpetu- ated until the last trump shall sound in the heavens. That civilization; which produced George Washington, Patrick Henry, old Zach Taylor, and all the mighty heroes of this land, who sprang up and grew in our midst, I want to see that civilization live and thrive under which grew the knightliest manhood of this earth and the most glorious womanhood that ever dwelt anywhere. Let us send it to beautify and ennoble and uplift humanity throughout the- earth, let us carry our material prog- ress to them, but let us hold above that the banner of free government, the banner of law and order, and the banner above it all, oh, my coun- trymen, let us float the pure, spotless^ white banner of the Prince of Peace."" (Loud applause.) 22 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, RESPONSE OX BEHALF OF FLORIDA. BY HON. JOHN P. COFFIN. Secretary Thompson: "Florida." in introducing to you Hon. John P. Coffin of Lake Butler, Florida, who Chairman Story; I take pleasure will respond for the Peninsular State. HON. JOHN P. COFFIN, VICE-PRESIDENT SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION. Hon. John P. Coffin said: "Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Convention: It is .unfortunate for me that a transposi- tion of States in the roll call should have placed me after the distin- guished speaker who has just en- chanted you with his words, and Held in r New Orleans,- December 4-7, 1900. 2$ whom you love for his personality and for his distinguished services to the South. Gentlemen, I feel hon- ored in being appointed by Governor Bloxham of Florida to respond for that State to your very cordial wel- come. I represent a State of agri- culture, horticulture, lumber, naval stores, phosphates, winter tourists and grit I may also mention that Florida has many products which are not represented in any way on this platform, notably phosphate, of which Florida exports 500,000 tons annually, besides an equal amount used at home. Kaolin, Fullers earth and hydraulic cement are also found in Florida in large quantities and are exported. "Florida is a State which has never been crushed by adversities, but has always risen superior to all trials and discouragements and plucked success out of the very besom of de- struction, and is now beginning again to revel in prosperity, which has. grown out of the ashes of disappoint- ment. What we want is people to till our soil and willing hands to pluck oar ripe and juicy fruit, and these we are getting from the best blood of the country, and we can fur- nish the settler's table with anything he may desire in grain or vegeta- ble, fish, flesh or fowl, for what won't grow in Florida you need not look for elsewhere. I feel that here I am among friends, for Louisiana is but a sister to our State and New Or- leans a sister to our cities. Born in the same aeon of time; bathed by the waters of the same gulf, warmed by the sweeping current of the same gulf stream, which seems loth to leave our beautiful shores without touching every point, we would in- deed be barbarians if we recognized not our common birth and our com- mon interests, and if we worked not side by side in promoting our mutual welfare. This Convention, however, , is more than a union of two States, it is a family reunion of the South- ern branch of the strongest family in the world — the United States of America — to which reunion our Northern brethren have been bidden for the benefit of both. Not alone does this Convention work for the best interest of the South, but the interests of the whole country are in the balances and will be weighed,, I hope, with generous measure. Not. alone is our country interested, but. in the recommendations which have been made in the past in this Con- vention and those which will be con- sidered and acted upon in the pres- ent session and in the future I hope will create such an influence that it will take unto itself, wings and cross, the Atlantic towards the East and sail across the Pacific, via the Nicar- agua Canal, towards the West and find lodgment in the entire habitable world, and change for the better the condition of all, especially our Island possessions so recently obtained. I am proud of this Convention, for though not one of its parents, I am. one of its first sponsors and mine is the first name to appear upon the; list of its registered delegates at its first session, and also at its second meeting in Chattanooga. I came to New Orleans with full faith that this - session will surpass all that has ever been done, or even attempted in the past, and that this will be the session which shall open wide the door of usefulness to our organization, and that Florida shall, with all her sis- ters, reap the golden harvest of suc- cess, which will surely crown our sowing if we but plow and sow with. a unity of purpose and a oneness of spirit, casting all weeds of dis- cord aside and sending our thought force in the same channels and with, the same high objects in view. It is the province of this Convention, as I conceive it, not only to advance- the industrial interests of the South in a financial way, but to bind the- South in closer bond of business un- ion with the North, and not only with the North, but pushing uside all .boundanes, reacn around the world. with cur unaided arms, for iv is + ime for the South 1.0 lay aside h-^ s wad- ling clrthes and assume the respons:- bilities of older garments. Not only this, but I believe that the recom- mendations of this convention should be such that our influence shall tend to the uplifting of the moral stand- ard of our people and the higher ed- ucation of the masses, both in the- ordinary branches of school work and the training of the physical beings in technical work for industrial pur- •24 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, suits. I believe that we should, now and in the future, do as we have done in the past and recommend such leg- islation as may seem wise and pru- dent and these recommendations can- not go unnoticed when emanating from a body composed of such repre- sentative men, as the delegates to this Convention. Let us not hesi- tate to apply the knife where neces- .sary, but let us remember that it is better to heal than to dismember, where healing can be done wihout dismemberment, but let us first look at whatever question we may discuss from a standpoint of strict and im- partial justice, justice between man and man and the best good of all concerned, then indeed we will be- come a power and will wield an in- fluence which shall be felt over the South, over the whole country, over the world, Vith an ever widening circle of blessing. Then the South- ern Industrial Convention will have accomplished a mission which will ever endear it to the hearts of those who share in the benefits it has coun- seled and fostered and Florida will have her part in the glorious era of prosperity which will have dawned upon the entire South. (Applause.) "There is one thing more that I wish to say. There is in South Africa a people which has been battling for home and country. The Northern papers, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and others a few months ago con- tained invitations to the Boers to come and settle in Kansas, Missouri and elsewhere, setting forth the ad- vantages of these States. Some of the Northwestern railroads published to the world the fact that if any of the Boers desired to come to this country they would provide them free homes. I understand that recently 600 fam- ilies have asked through our consul whether this offer still holds good, and an answer in the affirmative has been returned. Now, what I want .to say is, tnat the South is the proper home for the Boer, and more suited to them than the blizzard driven plains of the Northwest, and I stand- ing here and speaking for the State of Florida and for the people of Flor- ida, would say that if these Boers should come to America, Florida will give them homes free of all expense, to them, and not only homes, but the right to 'life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness,' and the right to worship God afte- the dictates of their own conscience." (Great Ap- plause.) RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF MISSISSIPPI. BY GOV. A. H. LONGINO. Secretary Thompson: Mississippi. Chairman Story: Governor A. H. Longino of the State of Mississippi will respond in person for his state. (Applause.) Gove. A. H. Longino: "My friends, do not get alarmed at this paper which I hold. Like two of the gen- tlemen who spoke this morning I too was once in politics. I learned an important lesson therein which has heen a benefaction to all the audi- ences which I have since been called upon to address. On one occasion when it was my turn to speak first I was followed by another speaker who related this anecdote. He said that I reminded him when I got up to speak of a man that got up late at night with an intense thirst. Looking atound the room he found a dirty Unused glass in which his wife had dropped a bail of yaru, and got the end of it in his teeth. He called out 'Mary, Mary; come here quick, upon my soul I believe that I am be- coming unwound.' (Laughter.) When I came here I felt that I had my little ball of yarn to unwind. When 1 heard that I was to speak to-day I took the programme and took in its scope and the objects of this Con- vention, and I felt that I was like the fellow who when he went to speak 'planted himself on the broad circumference of universality and took a crack at creation.' So last night when I went home and read the outlines of my speech to my wife she sat silent. Finally I asked her for her opinion, to which she naively replied. 'Is there no chance of your missing the train?" (Laughter.) "Gentlemen, when listening to the Held in New Orleans, December 4-y, ipoo. 25 eloquent and matchless speaker this morning from Georgia, I felt indeed that it would but De fit on this oc- casion if I should not attempt, to speak, but while he was speaking 1 could not but call to mind the citi- zen soldier of the nast and the pres- ent. I remember that the prowess of the revolutionary parties excelled all that the oldest countries could boast in their palmiest days when their power was the wonder and admira- tion of the world. I remembered that. Napoleon who triumphed over Rus- sia, Austria, Italy and Spain, never broke, an English iine, and then I thought of how the English troops that had broken the troops of Na- poleon in the Peninsular War, who> triumphed over his army at Water- GCVERNCR A. H. LONGINO OF MISSISSIPPI. lco, tint there troops undefeated else- where, were put to route in two wars by the genius of the American sol- dier. I remembered the battle of New Orleans on the plains of Chal- mette when the veterans of Welling- ton were vanquished, by the South- ern soldiers. We have listened this morning to a fit representative of that Southern chivalry, in the person of that Southern .soldier, citizen and statesman, Gen. John B. Gordon, of Georgia;. (Applause.) ... "My friends, being : galled upon to- day to respond foe, a State, which in common with otjhe.r.. States here rep- resented in this association expects- to be largely benefitted by the results- 26 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, of this convention, it will not be im- proper for me to direct my remarks briefly to some matters of public concern regarding that State. I may say in this connection that as a Mississippian I am proud of many of the facts and features that help to make her record of Statehood. Nature has been well nigh prodigal in its gifts to her of a virgin fertile soil adapted to the production of al- most everything known to any zone, with which to feed and clothe man- kind; and for the information of any who may desire to make a business verification of the character and pro- ducts of Mississippi's soil I bid them go to the great Yazoo-Mississippi delta, whose richness of soil is un- excelled any where perhaps in the world, ana whose forest abounds in all manner of hard wood, and with cotton wood, cypress, persimmon, red gum and many others. Crossing from there east is to be found as magnificent stretch of for- est, valley and plain as can be found anywhere until is reached the broad prairies of northeast Mississippi, which rival in beauty, fertility and scenery the famous prairies of our great West; traveling thence south, covering more than half the State, to the beautiful gulf coast can be seen the largest unculled yellow pine forestries, now perhaps left in the United States, and a soil which re- sponds readily and profitably to fer- tilization, and a climate comparable to sunny Italy. I am proud also of the record the State has made in the education of Tier sons and daughters. Appreciating the fact that the suc- cess of a republic depends upon, and is measured largely by, the enlight- enment and intelligence of its citi- zens, Mississippi now maintains in whole or in part by donations from her treasury a State university, an agricultural and mechanical college for whites, and another for the ne- groes, an industrial college for white girls, a State normal school for ne- groes, and ample free schools for all without reference to color, thus giv- ing collegiate, industrial and common school education free to hundreds of her boys and girls yearly. I am proud also to say that I speak "here to-day for a State whose bonded payable indebtedness does not ex- ceed in round numbers one million dollars, and though its last legisla- ture made liberal appropriations ex- ceeding those of former years, giving to her Colleges $ 272,534.00 Hospitals and other char- itable institutions. . 289,918.00 Disabled poor and con- federate verteans . . 150,000.00 Public free schools. . .. 1,000,000.00 Other worthy objects, . 397,976.00 Making the handsome yearly total of. . ..$2,110,428.00 Exclusive of the one million dol- lars appropriated for a new State house.' I am glad, however, to say that the assessment rolls for 1900 show an increase in property valuation over last assessment of nearly twenty-eight millions, and yet witti the increased appropriations afore- said and a reduction of the tax levy for the year the State has ample means with which to meet all ex- penditures, and it is confidently be- lieved that it will receive from the ordinary sources of revenue ample funds, not only for defraying cur- rent expenses of the government, but for the erection of our new million dollars State house as well, without sale of the bonds authorized by the building act. As a Mississippian I am proud of her citizenship, and may add that while she can claim but few million- aires, and no large cities, she has what is better and more important to the happiness and well rounded successes of any community, namely, an earnest, intelligent self sustaining white yeomanry, by whom in the main honesty and virtuous manhood i< honored and upheld, while treach- ery, tyranny and dishonesty in all their forms are eschewed and con- demned by public opinion. While doting, however, upon the rectitude of her citizenship, -the stat- us of her social and governmental affairs, and while true, perhaps, that no other State possesses a territory richer in resources, more varied in products, more magnificent in soil and climate or better adapted to the diversification of all manner of en- Held in New Orleans, December 4-/, 1900. 27 "terprises calculated to give to the section a many siaed and powerful development, yet the splendid advan- tages common alike to several of the Southern States have not here- tofore been properly appreciated and utilized by the application thereto -of labor and capital. We are, therefore, very far in the rear of the procession of the States in the matter of industrial develop- ment and progress. But we come now to that point which marks the dividing line be- tween the expiring century and the new one, which new era already be- gins to look more alluring in its hopes and its possibilities than the old. Let this Convention, by the wis- dom of its proceedings write it down in history that the South with this Convention begins to profit by the errors of the past, and that the States like Mississippi which have hereto- fore been tne laggards in industrial and material development shall soon take their proper places along by the side of their sister States of Georgia and the Carolinas in the manufacture of cotton and other products pecu- liar to our soil and climate, and with Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas, Il- linois and Missouri in the matter of grazing and stock raising. To that end there should be given liberal encouragement to the impor- tation and investment of capital, by offering fair and just inducements thereto, andtby protecting by law the property of corporations with the same sacredness as that of individ- uals whether of high or low degree. Progress and prosperity do not, cannot exist where a proper regard is not shown for the equal rights of both labor and capital, and respected alike by the people; the one is not likely to hunt a home, nor the other to seek investment where life and property, are not sacredly protected by the courts and the law. If the South desires to enter a new era of life ana development let it stand as it has never done be- fore for the enforcement of the law, the supremacy of virtuous, intelli- gent manhood and the suppression of hoodlumism. It can then look to the future be- lieving in the times to come and not be disappointed. (Applause.) RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF MISSOURI. BY TOM L. CANNON. Secretary Thompson: Missouri. Chairman Story: Mr. Tom L. Cannon of St. Louis will respond for the State of Missouri. Mr. Tom L. Cannon spoke as fol- lows: "Mr. Chariman and Gentlemen: I did not know that I was to be called upon this morning to respond for the State of Missouri. I cannot say that I am here to speak for the Gov- ernor of Missouri. I do not know what the Governor would say if he was here, but I do know what the great vast manufacturing and com- mercial interests of that State would say, and on behalf of these interests I am here to respond for the State of Missouri. It is now nearly fif- teen years since my active work in the cause of Southern development began. From the State of Kentucky I went to the State of Alabama where I saw more clearly than ever the pos- sibilities for Southern development. I left Alabama when it went down in wreck and ruin temporarily, and re- moved to the State of Missouri. As a result of my experience I felt, and still feel that the great future of in- dustrial development must have its foundation laid in the South. (Ap- plause.) "I will not make you a long speech nor read you a paper. I believe that the State of Missouri is in line in Southern development, having grown to be fifth in the Union in respect of its commerce, wealth and varied mineral resources, and as it pro- duces more manufactured products than any other city in the union, I think that we know something about getting into line. Twenty years ago a great railroad magnate refused to sign a contract, not granting to St. Louis the same rates of freight in 28 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, free line territory that was granted to other cities competing for that trade. There was no disposition in this t» do injustice to the City cf St. Louis and the State of Missouri. It was fair, it was just, it was rea- sonable, because at that time that section was agricultural and not manufacturing. To-day that con- tract stands, and struggle as we may we have not been able to tie closely to this section, that section, yet the proof is there what we have grown to be, and I clearly make this state- ment, that more goods are manufac- tured within the corporate limits of the City of St. Louis than in any other city, unless perhaps New York combined with Brooklyn. "I believe we meet in this conven- tion with the resolve to do certain things for the development of the South. I want to see the hog pens of the South brought to the South, the corn bins brought to the South, the Southern farmer raise the food that he eats and become a lender instead of a borrower. " I do not believe in sleeuing in the South under sheets manufactured in the North, but I believe in manufac- turing the goods of the South in the mills of the South. (Anplause.) "As I understand it what this Con- vention has assembled for is to put into practical effect these objects, and I concur with what has been said here by others in this respect. I want to see the Nicaragua canal built. (Applause.) I want to see a deep water way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and Chi- cago, so that the largest vessels can go through and return laden with the: commerce of that section. The riches, the most productive section on God's green earth is the Mississippi valley. You gentlemen here, have allowed your commerce to be lifted over the- mountains to New York. You have lost all this business because you. have neglected your opportunities. Only a few years ago Mr. Stuyvesant Fish, president of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, published a valuable pamphlet on this subject, which if you would read and act upon its sug- gestions would enable you to regain that commerce. (Applause.) "One thought more and I will close- Whatever this Convention decides upon doing in behalf of Southern de- velopment, I am here to pledge you. the honest, earnest, hearty support of the City of St. Louis, with her full ratio of men to do the work, and money to pay the expenses." Ap- plause.) RESPONSE ON BEHALF OE TENNESSEE. BY COL. J. B. KILLIBREW. Secretary Thompson: Tennessee. Chairman Story: Col. J. B. Killibrew, of Nashville. Tenn., will respond for the Stnte of Tennessee. Col. J. B. Killibrew said: "l'r. Presic'ent, and Gentlemen of the Indus trifl Convention.: Im re- sponding to the call of Tennessee I must express my regret that Gov- ernor McMillan is not present and that he was unable:, on account of pressing official duties, to attend this Convention. I am before you at his request. "From both a historic or a material point of view Tennessee must be re- garded as oro Of the fairest daugh- ters of our -Southland. From 1780. wnen he- brave p'oneers went for- •^-orrl pt>tI nolv'ev°rl a v'^to-v at King's Mountain, that practically in- sured the surrender of Cornyvallis at Yorktown, and the independence of our country, to the battle of New Orleans her name was always to the forefront. The battle of New Or- leans, fought under the Generalship of Tennessee's greatest soldier and civilian, was the most complete vic- tory of any age either ancient or modern. As long as human tongue shall utter human speech, New Or- leans, Gen. Jackson and his brave Tennesseeans will share the same- illustrious and imperishable fame. "The whole world knows and appre- ciates with what peerless valor Ten- nesseeans fought at the battlp ^ San Jacinto and so helped to win the independence of Texas. The w'^'- world knows how these same Ten- nesseeans won deathless renown on Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 29 the plains of Mexico winning victor- ies that added over 900,000 square .miles to our National domain. Not to mention the dreadful battles of the Civil War or those in the recent war with Spain, Tennessee has always performed her whole duty. When- ever and wherever the tocsin of war -has sounded, there Tennesseeans have gathered until the State has won and justly merits the name of the Volunteer State of the Union. "You will pardon me for thus ad- vertising to the glorious achieve- ments of_ Tennesseeans in the past. We are proud of them and glory in them as our richest inheritance. "In the industrial world, Tennessee has also made its power felt. Richly endowed with almost every resource in soils, timber, crops, minerals, cli- mate, water powers, navigable rivers, all indeed that go to make the strength of States and the greatness of nations, she may well challenge a comparison in these matters with any other State in the American Union. "Stand with me for a moment upon the crest of the lofty mountain chain that lies on her eastern border; gaze down upon the valley of East Tennessee, one of the most pictur- esque and beautiful in the world cov- ered with cities, towns, villages and farms and sweet farm houses em- bowered in orchards and vineyards and surrounded by stock bearing meadows and verdant pastures, all forming the center of a great indus- trial and intellectual activity. There is scarcely such another scene in America. This valley banded with iron ores on the east and west, and floored with marble of transcendant beauty and dotted with zinc and lead and copper mines and threaded by brooks and streams and noble rivers, presents the raw material t.b ot can give profitable employment to ten times the population it has at present. The people of this valley are noted for their high intelligence, their lofty enterprise and their ar- dent patriotism. Ascend for a thous- and feet the battlemented walls that bound the western side of this val- ley and you will stand uoon the Cumberland table land, filled with- some of the richest coal seams in the world. These summits of tran- quil glory, park like in their appear- ance, are charged with freshness and vitality, which produce such an ex- huberance of spirits that life itself becomes a joyous existence. "Look down from the western bor- der of this matchless table land upon the Highlands that surround the Great Central Basin. These High- lands rich in the fertility of their soils, in the majesty and extent of their forests, and the quantity of iron ores, are likewise famous for the versatility of crops and for the mag- nificent water powers that plunge in rapid torrents from elevations 1000 feet above the sea into the Great Cen- tral Basin. "This Central Basin in which Nash- ville is situated is a region of charm- ing pastoral beauty where nature as- sumes her most enchanting aspect, where luxuriant meadows confine numberless streams that flash in transparent and perennial beauty all over it. It is a region where the most highly improved domestic animals find a congenial home. Here reside also many of the intellectual men and women that have given to Ten- nessee her most substantial and en- during glory. Pass on westward until you again reach the Highlands and you will stand upon the Great Iron Belt that covers 4000 square miles balancing an equal area of coal on the east. Cross the Tennessee river into West Tennessee and you will enter a re- gion where all the bread grains, all the textile fabrics, all the fruits and vegetables suited to the latitude are grown to perfection. Tennessee has every variety of iron ore; the magnetic, the compact hem- atite, the specular, .the red fossil ores, the brown ores and the car- bonates. The phosphates of Tennes- see are not surpassed in extent, value or usefulness by any other phos- phates in the world. Discovered in the latter part of 1894 over 500,000 ■ tons are now mined and marketed in every part of Europe and America. Tennessee has 15,000 acres of wood- land which embrace 137 varieties of timber trees. With her most genial climate she has every soil that may be found in the United States. WHb almost every variety of building stone, from the most beautiful vari- 30 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, gated marble to the most solid gran- ite; she has gold, manganese, hy- draulic rock, roofing slate, petroleum, coal, iron, copper and zinc, alto- gether fifty-seven different minerals that exist in workable quantities. Indeed, gentlemen of the Conven- tion, Tennessee has all the agencies, resources and forces of an august civilization. She now makes more iron than Great Britain did in 1818. more than the United States made in 1842, and half as much as was made in 1881. She makes eight times as much iron as she did in 1872 and mines seven times as much coal. Tennessee^ though fourth in popu- lation among the Southern States, stands first in the number of insti- tutions of learning; first in scolastic attendance; first in the production of hardwood lumber; first in its out- put of rough marble and first in the number and capacity of its flouring mills. She stands second in the pro- duction of iron ores and pig iron and in the value of her live stock; sec- ond in the number of woolen factor- ies; second in the production of the cereals and second in the amount of phosphates mined. She has the larg- est inland markets for cotton and heavy shipping tobacco in the world. She has 1200 miles of navigable rivers, surpassing in this respect all the other Southern States and she has fewer mortgages on her farms than any other State in the Union, in proportion to the number of farms. The State of Tennessee, indeed, is singularly favored in almost every- thing that contributes to the excel- lence, uplifting and welfare of the human race. Let us recapitulate. Possessed of the most genial medium climate in the world that makes ex- istence, itself enjoyment and strips poverty of half its' ills; with a sur- face configuration so varied as to give to her the climatic advantages of all the states by reason of different elevations; with resources so diver- sified that she may be said to enjoy every natural gift and make nearlv every human vocation possible; with soils of an abounding fertility de- rived from almost every geological formation, and having every adapta- bility; with timber of every variety" found in the United States and Can- ada; with building stones so beau- tiful and so valuable that a demand for them for ornamentation comes from every State in the Union and. from almost every country in Eu- rope; with more field crops than are grown in any other locality in the whole wide world, and more garden vegetables and fruits than were ever grown elsewhere within the same limits; with an abundant rainfall, that assures the greatest certainty in the yield of all the numerous crops planted; with springs or, brooks, or creeks or rivers flowing through or passing by almost every country homestead in the State, watering and: freshening and vitalizing the land; with healthfulness so great that in- valids are tempted to come within its borders from both North and South, making it a health resort for the people of the North during the winter and for the people of the South during the summer; a land whose soils, topography, productions and the amount of sunshine and hu- midity are so beautifully ordered and so happily blended as to give the greatest perfection of form to all kinds of domestic animals, and the highest excellence to almost every species of vegetable life; where the- degree of cold is just sufficient to de- stroy the germs of disabling disease, invigorate the physical system, and ameliorate the condition of the soil; where the landscapes are grand, in- spiring, and beautiful; where great rivers break through lofty mountains into fruitful and bewitching valleys, - teeming with the fatness of the earth, and bear upon their bosoms the pro- ducts of the mine^ field and forestr where coal and iron, zinc and cop- per, lead and marble, clays and phos- phates, timber, cotton and tobacco abound or are grown in such quanti- ties as to lay the foundation for a thousand industries that will furnish profitable employment to millions of persons; with all these advantages, opportunities, adaptabilities, com- forts, and surroundings, Tenn . e . s ?* e is literally the garden spot of all the earth." (Applause.) Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900* 3$1 RESPONSE OA T BEHALF OF SOUTH CABOIIK-A. BY HON. JOHN C. FICKBN.. Secretary Thompson: South Caro- lina. Chairman Story introduced Hon. John C. Ficken as the speaker who would respond for South Carolina, the "Palmetto State." Hon. John C. Ficken: "Mr. Chair- man, Ladies and Gentlemen: Ow- ing to the unavoidable absence of the governor it has devolved upon me to respond to the extremely cordial re- ception which we have met with from the people of Louisiana through their governor and the honored mayor of New Orleans. This recep- tion is more than appreciated; we treasure these kind words and desire to say that we reciprocate all that they have said to us. There has been in the past, and I hope there will be in the future, ties of deep and close interest Detween this city and the City of Charleston. We have helped you to disseminate through- out the length and breadth of the land all that great staple which has gone out with its wholesome sweet- ness into millions of homes. That is one of the great aims of our city. We want to restore connections with our friends on all sides, and our del- egation has come here to take part in your aims and to stand beside you in this great undertaking. Look back little more than two decades ago at our city and look at it to- day. The City of Charleston was practically in ashes, and her vitals were burned out. There were no in- dustrial enterprises there then. We did not see the chimney of the fac- tory nor hear the hum of machinery end we had to trust to agriculture. We deserved the pity of our friends. But the very first step we took led on to triumph and success. At our very doors and around us lay mil- lions of tons of phosphate rocks which had been there for ages, but we did not know" their value. Wheo. our trial came,, when necessity was upon us, we dug down and found re- sources which restored our city to its- pristine prosperity and gave it an ambition to stand beside the cities of the country. That was our first step. But in the interior there was desola- tion still, but we kept on our march J- in the industrial procession onward ^ up the mountain until we saw a waterfall, and we began to think 'can we not use its power?' In. ask-, ing ourselves this question, we found the secret of further success.- We. have heard it said that the mills should come to the' cotton. Why, gentlemen, the mills have, literally come into South, Carolina, whole companies of them have come there with their capital. Dozens, yea, hun- dreds of mills have been erected, and now the hum of machinery is heard . in every county of the State,?most of ] the mills being owned by local capi- - tal. They are some of the best in- - vestments that can be made, and J considered desirable as such by ciii/'- zens elsewhere to invest in them. "Now, we have come down here to. hear what you have to say, amT! have listened with great attention^ to > the words that have fallen from-, the.-' lips of distinguished speakers here this morning. We have listened to these statistics and in friendly rival- ry we wish to go ahead of them. We- must keep up the fight and" have a higher ambition. We must not stop but go on, overcoming all obstacles in the way until the very highest success is achieved. Let us then have that object always before us, and let us remember that success- may best be achieved by our work- ing together. We all have the one- battle to fight, and must have the \ one victory." (Applause;.) ' RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF TEXAS. BY HON. J. W. RIGGINS. Secretary Thompson: I now call on Texas. Chairman Story: I will now intro- duce to you Mayor J. W. Riggins, of •«J^J Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ^Waeo, Texas, who will respond for JflUs State. J. W. Riggins, of Waco, - r &p0ke as follows: "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle- _' men: I .have been studying while • ttkese speeches were in progress, and j'Jia.'P® -been thinking about the big- » -gest State in the Union. It is my 1 spmion tnat if I am to be distin- .i-gsuish-ed Jar anything in this Conven- vtioffl it will be because I have made tfas shortest speech about the big- gest and richest State in the Union. at is only a short time ago that I r was notified that I would be ex- pected to respond for Texas, and, gen- i tlemsn, I have a most gratifying an- i -jatKonoement to make, I have no set ■ -speech. I will tell you why I think ' thai Texas was put at the end of ' this programme in the roll of States. : It seems to me that it was something : like this: A fellow had a yoke of ■ eattle for sale, their names being ' Tom and Jerry. Jerry was poor and 1 leaa, while Tom was sleek and fat. " Well, the would be seller exhausted ! liis vocabulary in talking about the < merits of Jerry and how much he ' wcwsld pull, "but never a word about " Tom, 'Well,' said tbe gentleman to • -wtemn "he was trying to sell them, • *ytm have talked a whole lot about Jerry, what about Tom?' 'Humph!' '•-was the reply 'Tom is fat and he can tails: Tor himself.' (Laughter.) Gen- • tlemsn, Texas can speak for herself. " I rome from a state where the farm- ■ «rs "have more money than the banks. ■ From a State wnose size the English language can tell nothing about. She dips her feet and washes them la the harbor of Santiago. She finds 'tier northern border in Kansas. She reaches out towards New York on -the east, and on the west she looks towards tne Orient. Grand is Texas. ■< Applause.) "While Texas produces one-third or -the cotton crop of the United States, y&t less than 12 per cent of her fer- tile soil is under cultivation. The territorial extent of Texas is so vast that it is almost impossible to ade- quately describe, but if you take a map of the United States and lay it on tbe eastern border of Texas, El Waso will lie in the Atlantic Ocean. Fold it and place it against the northern State line and Galveston would be as far north as St. Paul. Mr. Chairman, she is a whopper, Tex- as is. (Laughter.) Now, I think we are trying to get into line down there, and let me say that to enable me to speak fittingly on the subject to-day it would take all the brilliant oratory of a Bryan, the irrepressible and ponderous logic of a McKinley and the prodigality of a Mark Hanna, to stand here and tell you of the richness and vastness of the Lone Star State. Mr. Chairman, I have not seen you since I have been in New Orleans, and I will tell you why I have not. I have been preaching for years the gospel of home industry. Now, I walked into a barber's shop, and bar- bers will talk, you know. I asked him about the city, and he began to 'cuss' the city. I said 'hold on' hand me that towel' I wiped the soap off my face. He said 'What is the mat- ter?' I said 'No barber can shave me who talks against his own town.' (Ap- plause.) I had the same experience with a butcher once, in my part of the country. I priced a ,oint of meat, but while the butcher was cutting it he began to talk against his place, and abuse it. I said 'Stop right there. I don't want it.' He said 'What is the matter' I replied T don't like your mouth.' Why, my boy will not buy a nickle's worth of candy without asking if it was made in "Waco. (Laughter and applause.) The South will never be in line until she says, we will and must have Southern stuff. That is what put Texas in line. I remember the days of the six-shooter and the pants in the boots and all these things. But what a transformation has come about. I remember very distinctly being at a table with others, and the old woman who acted as hostess looked up and said 'Have you uns been in Texas long enough to take your coffee without cream and sugar.' Of course, we answered 'yes' and she poured it out and we took it without cream and sugar. Finally when we had all been helped she said as she helped herself and husband liberally, 'Both me and the old man take them in our'n.' That day, gentlemen, is Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 33 passed; we all take cream and sugar to-day. Mr. Chairman, are we in line? The whole country is divided into two classes, the class of bleeders and the class of feeders. Texas is trying to increase the class of feed- ers. Formerly we were a lot of toil- ing slaves paying tribute to the New England States and to the rest of the world. . Let us throw off the remaining shackles and get into line, and let us take our raw material and manufacture it ourselves. (Ap- plause.) I saw a piece in the paper a. few days ago in regard to titled noblemen coming over here and stealing our American girls. People say 'What on earth are we going to do about it?' I answer, 'Support horn© industry.' (Laughter and Applause,> Mr. Chairman, I will not detain yoia any longer. It gives me much pleas- ure as a humble citizen of tae Lon©- Star State to thank your governor and mayor for their addresses ot welcome, and Texas with the mag- nificence of her greetings comes to shake hands with you, and with a big pocketbook well filled is able andt willing to render assistance and en- couragement to every industrial en- terprise, and help bring about, the establishment of industry and the music of the spindles." (Ar>~ plause.) APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES. President Hargrove: I wish to an- nounce that I have made a departure from, the usual custom of appointing a committee on resolutions, and have instead subdivided the three princi- pal subjects coming before this con- vention, and named certain gentle- men as chairmen of these committees to prepare reports on these subjects. These reports to be submitted at the conclusion of the discussions on each speech or subject. The com- mittees can be formed by each State delegation selecting the men to be placed on each committee most con- versant with that particular subject, and notifying the chairman of their respective committees. In that way the committees will be composed of those versed in that particular mat- ter. The list of chairmen of commit- tees is as follows: Organization — Mr. Brobston. Nicaragua Canal — Sidney Story, of New Orleans. Technical Education — Chancellor R. B. Fulton, of University of Mis- sissippi. Manufacturing Interest's- or tfr^'- South— D. A. Tompkins, of Norta Carolina. Industrial Conditions in the South— Mayor J. w. Riggins, of Texas. Labor and Capital— Hon. John P* Coffin, of Florida. The Press of the South— Erwiou Craighead, of Mobile. Deep Water at the Passes— M. II Sanders, of New Orleans, Agriculture of the South— Prof. W~ C. Stubbs, of Louisiana. Immigration— Colonel J. B. Kille- brew, of Tennessee. Latin-American Trade— Leon Jas- tremski, of Louisiana. Cotton Manufacturing, — W. B*. Smith-Whaley, of South Carolina. Education— Hon. V. W. Grubbs, ot Texas. The Mississippi River— Judge N. C Blanchard, of Louisiana. The Lumber Interests— W„ CL. Boarman, of Louisiana. The convention then adjourned) until 2 P. M. TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION. President Hargrove called the Con- vention to order at 3 P. M. President Hargrove: I wish to ex- plain to you in order that there may be no doubt about the matter, the purport of the proposition made to you at the close of the morning ses- sion. It is proposed that a special report be prepared on each subject by a committee composed of gentle- men who are interested in and there- fore experts in that particular sub- ject. This to take the place of a com- mittee on resolutions. This has beecu Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, •-■arranged without consultation with this great body between myself and the secretary, therefore if there is a • desire for the establishment or cre- ation of a committee on resolutions ■on any other committee, this body can so order. Is there any motion to create such a committee? Mr. Tom L. Cannon, of St. Louis: ■I move that a committee on resolu- ~ t tions, one delegate from each State, -" be appointed, to which committee ~> all subjects not enumerated by you, " -can be referred. Seconded. President Hargrove: It is moved and seconded that a committee on 'resolutions composed of one delegate from each State be created by this body. Carried. Mayor J. W. Riggins, of Waco, e Texas; was invited to take the chair *-■ for the afternoon session. Chairman Riggins: Gentlemen of -the Convention: We are a lot of business men who have come to- gether to transact business. Let us frame the resolutions, and pass on; do not let us linger to gather the weeds, the corn or the cotton. We are ready for business. President Hargrove: I request that I be given time to appoint the committee just now decided upon. Hon. Sidney Story, of New Or- leans: I move that all debates be limited to five minutes, and that it be made an iron clad rule. Mr. Tom L. Cannon, of St. Louis: I second that. Chairman Riggins: The chair un- derstands the resolution to be that each speaker in each debate be lim- ited to five minutes. The motion was carried. President H. H. Hargrove, of Shreveport, then read his annual ad- dress which was as follows: ANNUAL ADDRESS OF H. H. HARGROVE, President Southern Industrial Association. •During the expiring decade of the . nineteenth century, the enlightened ; and progressive manhood of the South has by individual efforts " forged stupendous results par- tially formulating and exploiting aij s industrial spirit, which has inspired Jt sentiment of self-help, the Genesis of developing our resources, the foundation stone of Southern pros- perity. These individual developments, lo- cated sometimes in one State, and sometimes in another, have brought 'success and fame to the enterprises so inaugurated, and the spirit of en- deavor has proven the leaven which spreads courage and hope through- out the confines of the South. Forces, unorganized, without a trained leader and strategist, and in the face of a money stringency, fall- , ing prices, and the insistent argu- ment that no appreciable industrial development could be accomplished have nobly effected these happy achievements. The vanguard of pro- gress thus set in motion invites and urges the entire people to join in the pursuit of a glorious future in devel- oping the immeasurable resources of field, forest, pasture, and mine in that section of our country which God gave as our inheritance, and which he has endowed as he has no other part of the world with every element of sustenance and raimenc for the use and comfort of the hu- man family. This invitation was first extended in 1899, and resulted in the coming together of many of the brainiest and most prophetic sons of the South. The first meeting was held in Huntsville, Alabama, October, '99, and the second in Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, May, 1900. And again to- day, in the leading metropolis of our Southern country, we have met in a third convention in order further to prepare and plan the attainment of that position of the affairs of the world, which, with proper effort, is easily within our grasp. During these months of agitation great strides have been made in de- veloping industrial life in the South, testifying to the value of organized efforts. We respond to the call of the chieftain to fight when he says our country is endangered — we rally when the party flag is unfurled— we wage a fierce contest when the fiery Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 35 ^elements besiege us — and it would seem that, when a campaign for prosperity, which is the true mis- sion of this convention, is inaugu- rated, under its banner every man, woman, and child would cheerfully, -enlist his talents, courage, and purse. There were many of our people, who, in former years, thought that, because the United States was one of the yongest nations, we must re- main in the background with our ambitions and business affairs. With this doctorine I cannot concur, and from its continued practice dissent, for the following reasons: We are indeed a great factor in the world's every need, and to har- EON. H. H. HARGROVE, PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN INDUS- TRIAL ASSOCIATION. vest the fullness of our opportuni- ty, we should fix the price on every commodity which enters into the commerce of the world. The balance sheet, which will show how strong as a young nation we are, will be a thrilling story for the people of the South to read and digest. Of the world's area the United States represents 7 per cent, and of the world's population, she rep- represents only 5 per cent. The United States produces 80 per cent, of the world's cotton, 80 per cent, of its cotton seed, 80 per cent, of its corn, 30 per cent, of its gxain, 25 per cent 36 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, of its wheat, 30 per cent, of its meat, 30 per cent, of its iron, 40 per cent. of its steel, 40 per cent, of its min- eral products, 33 per cent, of its coal, 20 per cent, of its salt, and 10 per cent, of its wool. She has 30 per cent, of the rail- way capital, and furnishes the cheap- est railway tonnage of the world, carrying a ten of freight 100 miles for 82 cents, against that of Great Britain of $3.48. France charges $1.44 and Germany $1.28 for like ser- vice, the latter having next to the United States, the cheapest railway service in the world. The United States has 12,000 miles more railroad trackage than all Europe combined. Her proportion of the world's rail- way mileage is 41 per cent, thus al- lowing for every 400 of her popula- tion one mile of railroad track, while the rest of the world has only a mile of track for every 5500 people. She produces more gold than any other part of the world, except Af- rica, more silver than any other part of the world, except Mexico, and coins annually nearly 20 per cent, of the world's metallic money. She manufactures anually a great- er product than England, France, and Germany collectively. Her ex- port manufactured articles amounted in 1898 to $25,000,000 monthly, in 1899 to $31,000,000 monthly, and in 1900 to nearly $40,000,000 monthly. In thirty years our manufactured out- put has increased from $3,700,000,000 to $13,500,000:000. Besides all these overwhelming advantages possessed by our nation, we have a modern system of trans- portation, new and modern machin- ery, and 23.% per cent, of the world's wealth. As a nation we are 111 years old, and yet no single power can com- pare with ns in any element, except that England has a greater per cap- ita wealth, Argentine and Russia exceed, by a small amount, our wool supply, and Africa exceeds our gold output by a margin hardly apprecia- ble. This indeed fixes our status to be the superior and favored nation of all the world. Government, climate soil, mine, forest, fisheries, food, and timber resources picked from tne other 93 per cent, of the world's sur- face, could not equal us in natural, attractions. Our national . position being thus outlined as a world-power - it would be opportune to consider our Southern sectional ratio to this imposing array of resources and attractions. There are material over-mastering: facts of the South's natural resour- ces which must be studied to im- press us with our own happy posi- tion for the future. I estimate the native raw material of the South as a cash resource this ■ season, as follows: Cotton . ... $ 500,000,000 < Corn 150,000,000 ' Pine Lumber .'. . . 100,000,000 Hardwood Lumber 25,000,000 Staves 15,000,000 Cypress 10,000,000- Hog Products 80,000,000 Wheat 55,000,000 Cotton Seed 45,000,000 Poultry and Vegetables 55,000,000 Pig Iron . 45,000,000 Fruit, Melons, etc 60,000,000 Coal 50,000,000 Live Stock and Dairy . . 50,000,000 Sugar \ 50,000,000 Oats 20,000,000 Hay 25,000,000 Phosphate 20,000,000 Fisheries 25,000,000 Tobacco 25,000,000 Coke 10,000,000 Turpentine and Rosin.. 21,000,000 Wool 15,000,000 Lead and Zinc 30,000,000 Potatoes 15,000,000 Oranges .... 5,000,000 Rice 5,000,000 Peanuts 6,000,000 Total $1,508,000,000 "Besides this large amount, there are annual incomes from many min- erals, horses, mules, hides, tallow, beeswax, marble, building stones, clays, oils, lime, cement, rock, nuts, honey and wild game, representing possibly another $500,000,000 worth of native resources. Cotton and seed, the South's main resources, are this year the largest single items of raw material in the world. "The South has 2'5 per cent, of ttie- area of the United States, 33 per- cent, of its population, all of its cot— Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 37 tion and cotton seed, 80 per cent, of its tobacco, 65 per cent, of its tim- Iber resources, 30 per cent, of its •coal area, 20 per cent, of its coal ^production, 17 1-2 per cent, of its iron production, 30 per cent, of its railroad mileage, but only 20 per • cent, of its wealth, and less than 10 per cent, of its manufacturing. "Per capita and per area, we have . greater natural resources in variety, quality and quantity than any other part of our country, and yet we have only 20 per cent, of its wealth, and 10 per cent, of its manufacturing. Do not tnese three items inspire us with a sledge hammer force to com- prehend the work before this Con- vention, and therefore before the Southern people? We are not de- ficient in any raw material needed for the human race, nor in talents • or opportunities, but is it not over- whelmingly plain that systematic organization is our greatest need to develope these native latent resources to the point where they yield us the greatest wealth and commerce? "The work of agitation is impor- tant, the capacity to organize is needful, the concreting of the effort requires force and personality, all • too great for individual talents, time, or purse, and should be con- ducted by the aggregated wisdom, purse and influence of the Southern men. "I urge that a campaign be inau- gurated by each State to establish a prosperity club in every town which should have a strong official head, capable of studying the local conditions, needs and opportunities of each section, who could draw around him all available forces to secure everything possible to devel- ope the commerce, health, wealth and influence of that section. After thorough local organization of these prosperity or industrial clubs, a State convention should be held with all uniting in a great and enthusiastic effort for everything that is in sight for the upbuilding of our entire sec- tion. Alabama, Texas and Tennes- see, each have a State organization. " These State organizations would in turn take up the work of the South- ern Association. "We need a central Southern bu- reau of information of good income to correspond with every nook and corner of the South to ascertain the condition and need of each locality, and suggest to these localities a mode of procedure to secure best results. This central headquarters should or- ganize an industrial lecture touring force for the purpose of discussing and advocating at least a dozen im- portant industrial plants, to include cotton milis, cotton seed oil mills, re- fineries and their finished products, packeries, flour mills, farm imple- ments and machinery, and furniture factories, and keep these subjects be- fore the country. The central office should send monthly to the Southern press a re- port of its work, its growth, its pop- ularity, and its .success, and discuss each month some industrial need of the South. When we can manufac- ture cotton worth $50 per bale into goods worth six times its raw value, when cotton seed quoted at $15 per ton can be changed by the mills into a commodity valued at $75 — when live stock can be raised at a cost of $15 per head and converted into a value of $75 per head — when all of these facts and conditions are fully impressed on the minds of the peo- ple, they will be inspired to act with clear judgment and vigorous courage. "The comparisons with other sec- tions of our country test our sectional advantages as obvious and imposing. Suppose we compare the South with the three great nations of the world — England. France and Germany. "The population of the manufactur- ing nations of Europe represent in round figures 150,000,000 people, who buy from the United States 85 per eem. to 90 per cent, of our exports. "These great foreign manufactur- ing centers are deficient in food, fi- bres, timber resources, fuel and mine products. Great Britain is deficient in all food, and could not feed her people for 90 days from her own products. She is entirely without cotton, wool or silk, and is lacking in ores for steel and other important metals, while her coal is nearly ex- hausted. By her colonial population of 390,000,000, she has established and maintains a great system of work- shops, which have produced vast wealth for that nation. Germany is deficient in food and all fibres and Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, many metals; and while France is supplied with food, she, too, is de- ficient in fibres, metal, coal and lum- ber. "The South produces every one of these articles in great abundance, and can increase them tenfold. Why should we sell them as cheap raw material? Southern coal costs at the 'pit per ton $1; English coal costs $1.58; German $1.85; . French $2.25. The South has four and two-third times greater coal area than Eng- land, France and Germany combined. These three nations own 60 per cent. of the spindles of the world, and pur- chased last year from the South, six millions bales of cotton, worth $250,- 000,000. They purchased in addition from the South $25,000,000 worth of cotton seed oil and meal. Thus we have three great nations purchasing annually from the South $275,000,000 worth of raw products from which they manufactured a product worth more than a billion dollars. Shall we enable foreign nations to make $4 to our $1? "These same nations exported from the United States other articles which the South should furnish, to-wit: hog products, $110,000,000; beef, $100,000,- 000; grain, $183,000,000; dairy pro- ducts, $5,000,000. "The South produces as much iron as France, and more than 25 per cent, of the iron of either England or Germany. The South has 56.000 miles of railroad trackage against Germany's 30,000, Frances 25 0:0, and England's and Ireland's 21,000. and is thus ecnial to either two of them, though the South has only 4 per cent, of the wealth of these great nations. There nations manufacture more than 600 per cent, greater val- ues than the South, and hence their vast wealth and our extreme de- ficiency in wealth. "To ripen and harvest our great storehouse of natural wealth, we are in urgent need of better schooling.. A strong system of technical educa- tion should be inaugurated in every State through its common school sys- tem, and should have as its crown. a State institution of technology- Then the South through her men of wealth, should endow a great South- ern Technological University, such as. is being advocated by B. F. John- son, of Richmond, Va. "Besides all these, the National. Government should grant from its public land sales, $1,000,000 to found a Textile University to care for the' American fibres, which are now the largest single natural resource of the earth, and greater on this continent than in all other parts of the world! combined. "These much desired results will assure us a manufactured product of $8,000,000,000 instead of $2,000,000,000 annually. They will give us annual, prosperity and permanent wealth, and will enable us to establish our own export trade, operate our own shops, and build as never before our Southern seaport towns and com- merce. "These points, I believe, cover the true work, aims and objects of the Southern Industrial Association.^ "The program for this Convention has been arranged as far as it was possible, to present in every address an essential feature of the develop- ment of some one of the raw mater- ials of the South, and to have the- subject discussed by the highest au- thority—an expert — in each instance, so as to get a concreted experience before the people of the South. "No other agency has ever at- tempted a work so brilliant for the Sonth, and the task is a labor of love, and should challenge the most earnest and patriotic support of the business, brains and purse of our countrymen." (Loud applause.) THE SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL ( OXVKXTIOX BY DR. E. A. ALDERMAN. President of Tulane University. Chairman Riggins: I will now call address you on, "The Southern In- upon Dr. E. A. Alderman of duftria] Convention." Tulane University, this city, who will Dr. E. A. Alderman. Presi- Held New Orleans, December _/-/, 1900. \9 ■^dent of Tulane University, then made the following address: "Mr. President: I am here to-day at your kindly bidding, because I believe that the highest interests of a country are vitally dependent upon its economic freedom, because I have the honor to represent Tulane Uni- versity, which has seen this depend- ence and ministered to it from its birth, and because I believe that this Association is a mighty educational institution, and may be made, by organization, a splendid regenerative force in Southern life. "The Southern man who had reached manhood's estate in the bat- tle-summer of 1861 and who is alive to-day has lived in two worlds. The world of his youth was a patriarchal DR. E. A. ALDERMAN, PRESIDENT TULANE UNIVERSITY. age, isolated, individual and conser- vative. There issued from it the smallest but the alertest political force Christendom has ever known. The American Union had sprung from its brains, and had been ex- tended by the valor of its arms. Yet "it did not produce, In any just de- gree, either wealth or letters, and it did not promote in any just degree the causes of labor, immigration, in- vention, industry and philanthrophy. It was a kind of splendid but passive aloofness in which lingered the beau- tiful old ideals of courage and beauty and gracious dignity. "There was but one great South- ern question then, and this for its 40 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, treatment did not so much need thrift, scientific knowledge and the spirit of gain and growth, as it did strength of will, oneness of purpose, integrity and masterlulness of char- acter. Hence the historic forces of the time played on these lines, and there arose a lovahle and dauntless race of men, who wrought with a sad sincerity for their cause, com- promising nothing, withholding noth- ing, until the Titanic struggle wore to its end. "The world of his old age has be- come an industrial democracy, its problems no longer primitive and di- rect, but intense and complicated. The old individualism has given place to combination and capitalism, ser- vile labor to free labor, hand labor to machinery, the mule to electricity. The best products are to be raised, the best goods manufactured, the best routes to market devised. Hence, like a belated army, the . South is seeking to conquer, aye, has con- quered, a place in material civiliza- tion; its dreamers become captains of industry and its idealists lords of trade. It is a world in which the community which cannot use ma- chinery, or which does not under- stand the laws of production and dis- tribution, must become industrially servile. If the negro cannot under- stand these things, he must continue to hew wood and draw water. If the Indian cannot, he must perish from the earth. If the white man, wherever located, does not make him- self master of these forces, he must wear forever the badge of servitude. It is a world when, in six months, an army of. 250,000 men can be sent from England to Africa and the fate of a continent settled. 'A battle ship can overthrow in an hour the sovereignty of five centuries, and the Chinese empire, old as time, is melt- ing to pieces in the glare and heat of steam and electricity.' It is the epoch of the exact mind, the subtle brain, the cunning hand. I digress for a moment to say that between these two worlds there was a period of submersion in which there hung in the balance the mighty issue whether a section of the white race should preserve its standards, its homes, its governmental conscious- ness, or whether it should descend to an inferior type. At the sacrifice ofT their own highest ideals of growth,.. Southern white men born between.- 1835 and 1850 have done two mighty things. They have asserted their right to manage their own affairs, and they have created and developed,, under stupendous difficulties, mar- velous material resources. And they have done these two things so well that those of us born since 1861 find ourselves living in a new world of" friendly feeling, of waning intoler- ance, of decreasing social sensitive- ness, of industrial power and educa- tional desire. To my thinking, no generation of Americans, save tae' men who made the Constitution and the pioneers who builded the great West, deserve so well of their pos- terity as these bearers of war's bur- dens. It is a poor American who is not proud of them, and a spiritless- Southern man who does not render to them the tribute of his love and' gratitude. In short, in one genera- tion of brilliant intellectual audacity and grim purpose, the South has lost its peculiar economic distinctiveness,, and has become part of American- hope and American destiny. "Something out of the ordinary is- always needed to embody in a graph- ic and impressive way the permanent*" elements in such large social changes. The first time a just perception of* it all really bit its way into my mind was when I stood, in 1895, in the plaza at Atlanta and saw that magnificent display ranged about me- Piedmont Hills, the work of former- master and former slave. I felt as if I were in the presence of a mighty herald proclaiming to all people that the long-slumbering land, freed from- hindering tradition and the paralysi3 of war, had enrolled itself among the- great producing nations of the world. "It comes to me with dramatic force when I pass through sleepy lit- tle Southern towns that formerly dozed under their double rows of trees and boiled over in hot talk of States' rights and squatter sovereign- ty, and find them black and busy and dirty and happy, sending through the ends of the earth salable things made out of wood and iron and cot- ton and steel. "It possesses me again when I se©' in my fancy that long skirmish line- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 41 «€>f cotton factories extending from the banks of the Roanoke to the ^waters of the Gulf, and when I read the speeches and statistics of the able men of this Convention teaching me that the South has increased its spin- dles 300 per cent, in ten years; that she furnishes 75 per cent, of the raw- material, and, in spite of this in- crease, only 6 per cent, of the spin- dles, showing that the work has just begun: that cotton manufactured into cotton cloth triples its value, or into fancy ginghams increase its value tenfold. "It is well to keep in mind that there are other things besides cotton in the South. I have a peculiar real- ization of it all in my duties as a col- lege president. Letters have poured into my office from Southern young men seeking higher training and de- claring their eagerness to do any kind of honorable labor, from cutting wood to serving at table, in order to obtain this training. They have presented themselves to me seeking •such labor by the score, hard of hand, strong of face, rough of manner, but with the pitiless Scotch enthusiasm 'for learning in forming their faces. I have seen them emerge after four years with something new and rich - and strange in their faces and a new power and a new purpose in their "hands and brains to produce some- thing and to dignify labor. (Ap- -plause.) "The last impressive reminder of •the new order and the new duties is this great Conventiun here assembled in this ancient city, so well ac- quainted with grief and disaster, but now, superior to all shocks, thrill- ing with new hope and energy. Such " bodies of men representing all sec- tions and parties, standing for every "profession and every economic in- terest, do not leave their homes save in obedience to great ideas and to execute large purposes. "As it is the latest, so to my mind this Convention is the greatest of these evidences of social rebirth. "Masses of marching men shouting for favorite sons do not gather about its doors. The heat and red fire of partisanship are absent from its de- liberations, and yet it impresses my imagination as much more than these moisier things as the sun's rays sur- pass a bonfire. I see in it an un- hasting, quiet force, incarnate com- mon sense, rational purpose and clear-eyed understanding of human needs and material forces. There is no measuring what it may do if it takes itself seriously. It is a singular and startling thing that no Southern college attempts the study of social phenomena in any large, adequate or organized way. Their students approach these subjects in public life in the spirit of the empiric, the dilet- tante or tne politician, anu uo not bring to them the trained habit of mind, the trained orderliness of thought needed for their mastery. This is due to poverty of equipment, This Association may help to change that condition, and may render a great service to education by show- ing to the people how universities are their servants, seeking always to adjust scientific power to social needs. Thus the spirit of philan- thopy may be awakened among our own people, and without that spirit no great results can come. As a stunting inheritance from poverty and war, we are prone to attempt large designs with small means. Great sums are needed, and they must come from home. This Asso- ciation may stimulate every com- munity. It may set up new ideals in a thousand homes. It may set in motion and keep in motion ideas that will change permanently the di- rection of the activities of our peo- ple. "And this association may do an- other thing of vast import. It may help to bring in the era of true in- dividualism which seeks the good of the whole as opposed to whim of the unit, which strives for community ef- fort, for large civic spirit and for that persistent, concerted and ra- tional effort for large public ends, without which no enduring progress in society can be made. Men of phil- anthropic impulses are easily moved to helpfulness by the spectacle of the black race striving to fit itself for rspub'.ican citizenship unwi ely thu=t upon it. They are not so easily moved by the spectable of the white race striving to fit itself for the noble discharge of an unparalleled sociolog- ical duty. And yet that is the pivot of the whole question. The educa- 42 Minutes of Tlie Southern Industrial Convention, tlon of one untaught white man to the point where it is clear to him that knowledge and not prejudice must guide his conduct, and that for the honor of his name and country, and his posterity, he must deal with these people in justness and kindness and Christian forethought, is worth more to the black man himself than the education of ten of his own race. I believe that any Southern univer- sity is doing more to lift up the col- ored race through the broad-minded men it is training and sending into life than nine-tenths of the schools for higher education of the negro, an 1 if these universities had the means to set in operation academic forces to study and investigate and digest the great problem, instead of thresh- ing out old straw, their power would be increased tenfold. It is wise and just to help the black man, but it would be equally wise and just to recognize that the white man is the dominant force, and that he will act in the light of his knowledge and training. The white man has shown himself to possess courage and fidel- ity and self-respect and pride. He needs help in the right way, though he is too proud generally to say so. Save among the most ignorant, there is no truculence, no passion, but a high desire to do right. "Some resistless expansive ideas have gotten into the heads of the Southern people, or rather, I should say, they have simply relearned the hang of industrial life, for their fathers understood before slavery came with its dominant note into our economic system. "The South is still the land of con- servatism, of ideals, of enthusiasms, and of refusal to be submerged by the mere brute force of commercial- ism, but its leaders at least have taken to heart a few great princi- ples. "1. No civilization can ' become great in poverty any more than a man can do his best work in hunger and nakedness. There must be some leisure for consideration of the higher things of living, and this leisure comes out of skillful work. A man's or a nation's first duty is to earn bread and clothing, to build homes and cities, to keep them clean and healthy. After men have done that, then they have a tolerably fair right to enjoy the Venus of Milo or a musical symphony, and they are more likely to struggle up out of mind and spirit. Wealth has its trials, ominous and tryannous, but poverty especially in urban conditions, is half-crime and half-tragedy. If all men had some industrial skill, the tragic extremes of society would ap- proach each other, and there would be less tyranny of the rich and less sullen envy of the poor. (Applause.) "2. To grow in wealth, a people must know machinery and the organ- ization of industry, thereby enabling it to get with least cost its own raw material, to convert that material into the sxanufac Lured prcduct, End to, find the best markets, indeed, a peo- ple must know these things to keep from becoming slaves to people who do. "3. To bring about this knowledge there must be technical education in> the colleges and schools, and con- stant agitation and information! among the people away from the col- leges. Democracies move slowly be- cause they must be taught and not driven. When the Southern people' realize these truths in their nerves- and blood and bones, vivid action will follow and not until then. Our people still have the old-fashioned habit of submitting to being talked to and written at, and this agitation of tongue and pen must go on for another decade. "Perhaps this may get itself beau- tifully illustrated before this Conven- tion is over. (Laughter and ap- plause.) "The colleges will do their part. 1 pledge Tulane to continue to do its part in furnishing trained men for actual service. This great Associa- tion must do its part in teaching the great masses by gathering and dis- tributing to them the best thought on all economic subjects. That task requires organization and perma- nence. To my mind this Association should be a great scheme of univer- sity extension in economics, in the widest sense of that term, using its officers as teachers and its organiza- tion as a bureau to get economic in- formation from the best sources and to send it hot and glowing to the people through the mighty agency of Held in New Orleans, Dcember 4-7, 1900. 43:" the press. It will do great good if it simply meets, speaks and dis- bands. It will do greater good if it organizes and never disbands, but by means of intelligent officers pro- pagate ideas every day in the year and every hour in the day. "And this is my practical sugges- tion: This Association should con- sider the wisdom of making itself a permanent institution to teach the people here sound, economic ideas, and to teach the people everywhere, from Maine to Latin-America, and from New Orleans to those peoples in the Pacific, whom the great canal shall make our neighbors, our cus- tomers and our friends, the splendid virgin resources of the Southern States. "Especially is it desirable to have accurate knowledge of the South and its potentialities carried to our breth- ren of the North and West. The cry has sometimes gone up from the South, 'Let us alone! We wish to manage our own affairs!' It was the cry of exasperation of sensitive people, who had suffered much at the altruism of the remote, the olympian scorn of the doctrinaire and the cocksure criticism of the unaffected, and uninformed. But that same peo- ple need and desire substantial, brotherly common-sense sympathy and co-operation, and no people in the world will receive such inter- ference with a kindlier and more grateful spirit. (Applause.). Their cry is not a plea for isolation, but for confidence in their Americanism and in the integrity of their pur- poses. As Americans, we have a stupendous social problem to work out and we need the heart and brain of every honest-hearted American to help us in the task. It is not the solid South that is to be desired, nor the solid North, but a co-operative South and a North that sympathizes and understands. "The Supreme question of the eighteenth century sounding through all its brilliant philosophy was this: 'What are the rights of man.' It was the age of Constitutions, Dec- larations and Revolutions. The su- preme question of the nineteenth century, especially in America,, hearcs in the clack of its machines and the shriek of its steam whistles, has been. this: 'How are these rights to be made available for the production of wealth?' The United States to-day sells coal, cloth and cash to Europe. The financial heart of the world beats in New York. Lord Rosebery, him- self, declares that England, strug- gling in the front of the great race she entered upon in 1815, sees, with blanched face, falling across her pathway, the hurrying shadow of: America. The Southern States until 1870 has been deaf to this query. It has been in the eighteenth century struggling with the rights of man. through no fault of its own, while its sister States have developed types - of men who are to machinery and" industry what the Greek were to sculpture, and the Italians to art. The question of the twentieth cen- tury, already plainly heard above restless clamor and discontent, will be, "What is the duty of society in regard to the wealth it has created?' And that, as Kipling says, 'is an- other, and a portentious story.' In. the meantime, nothing remains for us to do but to learn the use of the weapons of the times and to get pos- session of ourselves and our re- sources in order that we may become - genuine, vital, sympathetic factors in the struggles and triumphs of the - new century. "There will be need for the man who sees things straight and clear and hates mere violence; who has no fear of oppression because he is strong; who cannot be deceived be- cause he has been trained and knows truth from mania; who cannot be starved because his hands have skill. When the age of moral warfare comes, and blind social forces have - wrought some tangle of injustice and unequality— the people will seek in their great need for this type of man and he will be their hero." (Loud and prolonged applause.) Dr. Alderman's address was punc- tuated with applause throughout, and he sat down amid the utmost en— - thusiasm. 33 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, DISCUSSION". Chairman Riggins: Discussion is •mow in order, and r trust that you will take up this eloquent address •and discuss it thoroughly. The chair arequests that when arising you will .announce your name and locality. Mr. V. W. Grubbs of Texas: I de- sire, sir, to emphasize a portion of that address or paper, by resolution, ^which 1 beg to have the privilege '©f reading: Resolved, That the object of the Stale In the establishment and main- tenance of public free schools and other educational institutions should "be the preparation of the youth for "the efficient and proper discharge of 'the duties of citizenship, that they •may thereby be enabled to contribute "to the fullest possible extent to the development of all the resources and ^possibilities of the commonwealth, and that any system of education which fails in the accomplishment of said object is defective and ought to be reformed. Resolved, That the great move- ment in the South for the building of factories, promotion of industrial enterprises, generally emphasizes the necessity for the education of the Southern youth along industrial lines. Resolved, That we fully indorse the work outlined by the Southern Board of Industrial Education, and urgently request the hearty co-operation of the people of the South in the promotion of a comprehensive and efficient sys- tem of technical and industrial edu- cation. The report was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. PtEPOET OF COMMITTEE OX ORGANIZATION. Mr. Edwin Brobston of Georgia: "'Before submitting the report of the 'Committee on Permanent Organiza- tion, 1 wish to pay a tribute to the eloquent paper which has just been read "by Dr. Alderman. It shows the statement recently made in the "Manufacturers' Record" to be well founded, that the South is heir to all the ages and is just coming into iter own. Hailing from a section of that State which has been particu- larly active in the development field, the State of Georgia, hailing from a. Congressional District which has in the -past ten years increased from 155,000 to more than 227,000 popula- tion, hailing from a seaport town which has increased her commerce from less than half a million dollars tn 1881) to a little less than $30,000,- 3>00 already this vear. it is needless for me to add that I am intensely Interested in the objects which we Isave met to discuss and formulate plans Tor their speedier accomnlish- ■ment. T attended the Convention "field at Huntsville, when there were a lot of papers read, numerous dis- cissions, in fact, it may be said that •we met, we talked, we adjourned. I attended the Convention at Chattan- ooga, Tenn., six months ago. We met there and a number of distin- guished people presented papers, made speeches and passed resolu- tions. Business, no politics, is the motto of this Convention. The Con- vention spirit seems to be growing. There has been a world of informa- tion drawn out about ourselves, about our own towns and cities, and there has been a spirit developed indicat- ing an appreciation of the fact that this is a great work, and that there is a greater work still to be accom- plished. To do this, however, the work has to be systematized, boiled down, and put into some definite shape for some definite end. As a result of some discussion between a few of us, a committee was formed, of wh'ch I was named the chairman, with the request that I confer with pronrnent people throughout the Southern States who were identified with industrial movements, and see if we could not present a plan. To that end also, a meeting was held last night in this city, in which some seven or eight Southern States were represented, and as a result of these deliberations, we have a plan which we are here now to present for the Held in Nezv Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo„ 45" permanent organization of this body, which report I request that the secre- tary now read. Secretary N. F. Thompson: The report of the Committee on Organiza- tion is as follows: This organization shall be known as the Southern Industrial Associa- tion. It shall be incorporated with home office, and may have an auxil- iary in each State. Its objects are to promote the industrial development of the South; to become an agency for gathering and disseminating data regarding the resources of the South; to aid in organizing and maintain- ing commercial organizations or bus- iness clubs throughout the South, and, in general, to become the me- dium for stimulating the people of the Southern States into greater ef- forts for manufacturing their raw materials on their own soil, and also seek to interest capital to invest in the South and settlers to come among us. Members. Any person can become a member of this Association who is in har- mony with the foregoing purposes, on paying the required membership fee, and is recommended by the exec- utive committee of this Association. Membership Fee and Annual Dues. The membership fee shall be $5 and $5 annual dues thereafter. An- nual dues to be payable at the be- ginning of the second year of mem- bership. Officers. This Association shall have a presi- dent and one vice-president from each Southern State, and a secretary and treasurer. The latter officer shall be appointed by the executive committee, which shall be composed of the president, vice-presidents and secretary of the Association, and who shall be elected annually. Three vice-presidents, with the president and secretary, shall constitute a quo- rum for the transaction of any busi- ness requiring action by the execu- tive committee. The executive com- mittee shall designate a first vice- president of the Association. Duties of Officers. The duties of the officers of this Association shall be to advance its** interests in all legitimate ways and aid in securing proper means to separate department of this Associa- tion when conditions will warranto the same. But nothing in this re- quirement shall operate to prevent 1 . the general work of the Association::, being carried on by the regular of- ficers of the same in fulfillment of:' its plans and purposes. The officers: * shall receive such compensation as. the executive committee shall fix. The executive committee shall pro- vide by-laws for the Association. Chairman Riggins: Gentlemen of" the Convention, you have heard: th<&- report, what is your pleasure? Moved and seconded that it fce> adopted. Mr. Ousley, of Galveston: It ap>~- pears to me that it needs some re- flection as to whether this shall be- come a permanent organization of &< few individuals, or whether it shall become a permanent representatiY<& body. I should like to move that the- report on organization now read be made a special order for to-morroTsr at 4 o'clock. Amended by John Fitzpatricfc off' New Orleans, and made the special- order for Thursday afternoon ses- sion, a number of delegates partieS— pating in the discussion. 46 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convent ion, President Hargrove: I wish to an- nounce the Committee on Resolutions ■ as follows: W. H. Kettig, Birmingham, Ala., ■ Chairman. W. W. Walton, Little Rock. Ark. Hon. John p. Coffin, Lake Butler JFla. E. B. Neal, Atlanta, Ga. - L. A. McCoy, Lake Charles, La. .. F. B. -Thurber. New York. Tom L. Cannon, St. Louis, Mo. Wm. F. Gray, Meridian, Miss. John A. Kreiss, Cincinnati, Ohio. N. B. Kelly, Philadelphia, Pa. D. A. Tompkins, Charlotte, N. C. H. D. Phelps, Chicago, 111 B. C. White, Washington, D. C. J. C. Hemphill, Charleston, 8. C. W. H. Riley, Memphis, Tenn. Clarence Ousley, Galveston, Texas. THE DUTY OF THE CITIZEX. BY M. V. RICHARDS. ''Chairman Riggins: I will now in- I'iroduce to you as the next speaker -•"Mr. M. V. Richards, Land and in- ' dustrial Agent, Southern Railway ■ Company, who will address you on - "The Duty of the Citizen." Mr. M. V. Richards spoke as fol- lows: "The growth and development of ; a country largely depends upon the intelligent effort of its people. It would seem, therefore, eminently • apropos that we discuss the duties the citizen should perform in con- nection with the promotion of the in- - dustrial welfare of the country m •general, and of the section in which he resides in particular. All should •be interested in the advancement of the industrial and commercial fea- tures of the country — there should be no minority when questions to de- velope the country arise; each and every citizen should find it a duty r£o participate in the opportunity to -.-aid in promoting every feasible move- : nrenfc,, the purpose of which is to de- '"■velope along practical lines. ; ""Time will not permit of bringing Into this discussion incidents in An- cient History, which go to show the results accomplished by the people of those periods: but the lessons taught would be the same as those JQOW. "It has been my privilege to come * In contact with many people, in many "towns of many States, and as my avocation was to aid in the develop- ment of many of those places, it has -afforded me opportunities to reach conclusions relative to the effect of -the attitude of the people upon these questions generally. I hope that I can congratulate each individual present that the opinions and com- parisons will not apply to the peo- ple of his section; but, if so, it may result in some valuable suggestions, which, it is hoped, will be speedily directed through avenues where they will be most effectual. The citizen not working in harmony with his people, in their effort to carry on a commendable movement, is the one whom we desire particularly to reach, and hence is the subject to which I request your indulgence. "If the question, What is the duty of the citizen,' had been propounded to me some years ago when I was a boy out on the then frontier por- tion of this great Mississippi Val- ley, digging potatoes, husking corn, looking after the cattle, or doing the work generally delegated to the farmer boy, I would have said in re- ply, 'Look out for yourself, and let the other fellow do the same.' Some, yes, many still cling to that princi- ple. I am truly grateful for the change in my own views. We should discard selfish motives, and must do so, if we are to be classed rmong the number that do their duty t^ the community in which they re- side. We want results, and in order to secure the greatest return for our labor, we must 'cut short corners.' dwell long on matters valuable, and be brief with those from which there are no benefits to be derived. "We live in a period full of prom- ise: success follows intelligent and honest effort; happiness awaits the deserving. "The citizen who does not appre- ciate his opportunity, or take advan- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 47 "tage of the situation, should not and will not receive the commendation of the public. "The South has reached an impor- tant era in its industrial develop- ment. Every section is favored with. . great natural advantages. As the ad- vancement and development rests with the people, the narrow-minded, selfish citizen might as well throw down the armor and leave the field; his policy will not build up; the space he occupies is wasted — he should vacate and make room for one willing to participate in all laudable movements, without inflicting pessi- mistic views on the energetic and mopeful. The citizen owes to the pub- lic a reasonable amount of time and labor, and he should give both will- ingly. If he does not, then he is a barrier of opposition rather than an acquisition of help and strength. In my native State there exists a 'poll tax' law* The citizen is assessed a certain amount of money annually, or so many days' work on the public highways. This plan secures for that State good roads, and the public gen- erally is benefited. So it should be with other public enterprises. If you desire to advertise your town or city, all citizens should most cheerfully contribute to that end. If they can- not give money, they should be in possession of a sufficient amount of public spirit to work and talk for you. It is a duty, and should be a pleasure also. Many Boards of Trade. Business Men's Leagues, Chambers of Commerce and similar organiza- tions which are established expressly for the purpose of placing the ad- vantages of the town or city in which organized before the outside world, succomb to failure for want of co- operation on the part of the citizens who should give their active sup- port. There is too much valuable work pending for such organizations to excuse the failures. I mean work along reasonable and legitimate lines; not upon propositions practi- cal in theory alone. We are here in goodly number; many of us have had more or less experience in such "work in our own section. Think the subject over. If the desired result lias not been reached, something is "wrong — it has not been organized properly, the right men are not be- hind the movement, your citizens are not doing their duty. When you re- turn home, give the question serious consideration, and I predict you will come to the next Convention full of praise for the lesson taught here to-, day. "One "can decide in a short time after arrival at a place whether tne citizens are generally doing their duty to the community. I have seen the prospector for a location practi- cally driven away from places by the citizens thereof not doing their duty. Towns are developed into cities by the citizens following their duty — towns retrograde into inferior villages through the policy of their citizens to tear down instead of build up. As stated, this is a progressive age, and, to succeed, we must keep abreast with the times; we must fall into modern ways, and it would be advisable to see if we can't improve upon present plans and methods, and thereby surpass our neighboring town. Just because a town secures a certain industry and your town does not, is no reason why you should charge the failure to the debt- or side of your town ledger and make no effort to fill in the credit side. Close the account, keep up your labor, and you will succeed. This great commercial city of New Orleans is an example. Her citizens have been and are doing their duty. They believe in New Orleans; they talk for New. Orleans! they work for New Orleans; they spend their money for New Orleans! They know the value of such action. It means suc- cess for New Orleans, and from and out of that success will flow not only indirect, but direct benefits to the in- dividual. The Southern country is fairly teeming with eligible localities, and if the citizens continue to per- form their duty, they will eventually be successful. There are numerous places in the South, growing monu- ments to the skill, enterprise and progressive citizenship of the people. While we have succeeded, are grow- ing, and will continue to grow, we can accomplish much more than we are doing, if the people will only heed the suggestions this address is intended to convey. New places will be established, and will grow into importance and wealth. Some of the 48 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, points already started will not amount to much more, unless their citizens awake from that lethgaric state and imbibe some of the spirit of public enterprise, so essential to commercial and industrial expansion. "Let us take hold of these questions with that spirit of activity they are worthy of. When we return to our respective homes, make a list of the citizens who are not doing their duty, and see if some plan is not availa- ble, through which they can be made to see that they are under obligation to lend their financial and moral sup- port to public questions and move- ments. I believe one of Calvin's doc- trines was, 'A soul once regenerated and converted is not ultimately lost.' A citizen who has arbitrarily op- posed, or failed to participate in. the advancement of his place, when once converted to a full knowledge of his duty, is generally found to be the strongest and ablest supporter of all projects which tend to advance the best interests of the public. "The progressive citizens who are doing their duty, and are continually encountering stumbling blocks sup- ported by their non-enterprising neighbors, have my sympathy. May a revolution arise in the minds of their people who have been the 'hold backs' in the development of their section, and cause them to realize their mistake. The effect will be beneficial to the town in which they live; the section will be profited thereby; the State and entire South will be speedily pushed forward along lines of intelligent and aggres- sive development. "When the citizens all do their duty, there will be infused a livelier spirit into all matters of industrial development; the South will earlier reach that position which she is so peculiarly adapted to fill— the peer of all sections of the world in agricul- ture, commerce and manufacturing. I leave with you this suggestion: Don't allow your energy and enter- prise to be weakened by any con- siderations. Your influence is far reaching, the range for the talent and enterprise of the citizen who does his duty is large in the South. "It is unfortunate that prominent personages in a community some- times utterly fail to realize that they are important factors in the failure of desired results being accom- plished, and it is my earnest hope that this important consideration may reach their understanding, and that they may consider its impor- tance. If there is any doubt about their attitude in all well established, worthy, authenticated projects, which are intended to prove of real value, it is hoped they will afford the pend- ing enterprise sufficient attention to* secure the views of broad-gauged, liberal-minded and experienced au- thorities. ■ "It was my privilege to visit a cer- tain county in the South, into which: there was practically no movement of people or capital. I found the citizens of one of the most impor- tant towns in the county quite dis- couraged with their prospect; the farmers thereabouts found no en- couragement from any source. That people imagined that any section: was superior to the one in which they resided. No perceptible in- crease could be shown when the cen- sus enumerator brought down his totals. One man was found, who» possessed the belief that the town; and county possessed merit, and was therefore susceptible of development;: he lacked money, but held in stock enterprise and hope. Alone and un- supportd by the local people, he be- gan agitating development; outside people were solicited to come andl see; they came, the local people' phophesied failure and abandonment of the work. That man was made- out of the proper material, he pushed forward, received consolation from outside sources, kept up the advocacy of the merits of his beloved county,, until finally the long cherished ef- fect of his missionary work was real- ized. The local people who so thor- oughly and honestly believed he was laboring entirely in vain, finally real- . ized that their predictions were false. They then easily believed that 'their town was the best town in all that county ; ' they took courage and supported their new faith with labor and capital. Result: Stores were improved, factories built, schools en- larged, banking capital increased, public roads bettered, and to-day that county is the Mecca for many at homeseeker and investor. That, gen- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 49 tlemen of this Convention, is the testimony furnished in support of the effect one citizen, performing his duty, can have upon his skeptical neighbors. The duty of the ener- getic citizen is to be perseverant, honest and tactful. When the citizen who has lived to protect and ad- vance not only his own interest, but also to promote the upbuilding of those around him, he will have builded a monument which will per- petuate his memory, and influence the generations that follow. "Gentlemen, my home is' at tne other end of the line. I am at the .gateway between the East and the South. I go back to my office to con- tinue along, as far as possible, prac- tical lines educating the outside world to a full realization of the fact that the South is the most in- viting field for people and capital. I have the honor to represent an in- terest whose success is dependent upon your success. I convey to you the assurance that we are endeavor- ing to do our duty, and the promise that we will persistently continue to assist the citizens of the vast terri- tory we represent in the proper de- velopment of the country. We believe the people of the South will do their duty. When we all are through, it can well be said: 'They have done their duties as citizens.' (Ap- plause.) LETTERS EEAD. Secretary Thompson: I have re- ceived the following letters from the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and the New Orleans Board of Trade: New Orleans Cotton Exchange. New Orleans, Dec. 4th, 1900. To the President of the Southern In- dustrial Convention: :Sir: Will you not kindly extend to the delegates to the Southern Industrial Convention the freedom of the rooms of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange •during their stay in our city? Very truly yours, JNO. M. PARKER, President. New Orleans Board of Trade, Ltd. New Orleans, Dec. 4th, 1900. 'To the President of the Southern In- dustrial Convention, City: Dear Sir: It gives me great pleasure, through you, to extend to the officers and members of the Southern Industrial Convention, now in session in this city, an invitation to visit the New Orleans Board of Trade at any time it may suit their convenience. Kindly announce this to the Con- vention. The badges they wear will not only secure admittance to the floor of our Board, but will also be a guarantee of a cordial welcome. Very respectfully, UDOLPHO WOLFE, President. Announcements of meeting of com- mittees was then made. NIGHT SESSIOX. President Hargrove called the Con- vention to order at 8 P. M., and on request, Hon. John P. Coffin, of Flor- ida, took the chair. Secretary Thompson read the fol- lowing telegram which he had just Teceived: San Diego, Cal., Dec. 4, 1900. The San Diego Chamber of Com- merce sends greetings and expresses the earnest hope that you will take a strong position favoring immediate action on Nicaraguan Canal Bill. H. P. WOOD, Secretary. THE NICARAGUA CANAL. BY HON. C. L. LAVRETTA. Acting Chairman John P. Coffin: "The subject of the Nicaraguan Canal, which will be discusesd to-night, is one which vitally affects the South- 50 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ern States, and one of the most im- portant and interesting questions which will come before this Conven- tion. I will now introduce to you as me opening speaker, ex-Mayor C. L. Lavretta of Mobile, Alabama, a gen- tleman who has done so much for the civic administration of his city. Ex-Mayor C. L. Lavretta of Mobile spoke as follows: "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Southern Industrial Convention: I am sorry that it was not possible for Mayor Carter Harrison to be here and address you to-night on this impor- tant subject, in regard to which I have had but short notice and can therefore simply make a few intro- ductory remarks. "I desire to thank the appointing committee for the honor conferred by them in selecting me to introduce the Great Nicaragua Canal proposition. "As I take it, the duty imposed consists in my merely presenting the subject so as to have it properly brought up for consideration before this Southern Industrial Convention. The building of the Nicaragua Ca- nal will surely revolutionize the en- tire commerce of the world and di- vert the trade of Western Europe through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea — it will make the Gulf of Mexico the Mediterranean of this Western Hemisphere. To quote from Commodore Maury, who proba- bly knew more than any man of his time as regards the subject of open- ing a passage for ships across the American Isthmus, and its benefits to the United States and the world, he said: 'It is the mightiest event in favor of the peaceful intercourse of nations winch the physical circum- stances of the globe present to the enterprise of man.' The well-known civil engineer, John Jay Williams, who surveyed the Tehauntepec route, which, in its day, was the shortest of all Isthmian routes between Europe and Asia, re- ported that the summit was about five miles long, seven hundred and thirty feet high, and required one hundred and twenty locks, therefore capitalists would not venture their money in it. Tehauntepec was the shortest, but an impracticable route, thus leaving the Nicaragua the short- est of all Isthmian routes. This ca- nal would make our nation the trade center between Europe and Asia. Facts and figures, however, appeal more to the brain of man than mere figures of speech. I desire to give a few of the principal parts of the world that will have an impetus ■ given to their commercial and manu- facturing energies. Mr. John Jay Williams has prepared a chart of the world and the distances between given points: The distance from New York to Yokohama via Cape Horn is 21,500 miles, via Suez Canal 15,530 miles, via Nicaragua Canal 10,100 miles. The distance from New York to Snanghai via Capt Horn is 22,000 miles, via Suez Canal 14,500 miles, via Nicaragua Canal 11,600 miles. The distance from New York to Sid- ney via Capt Horn is 12,720 miles,, via Suez Canal 11,230 miles, via Nic- aragua Canal 9,890 miles. The dis- tance from New York to Canton via. Cape Horn is 22,000 miles, via Suez Canal 15.000 miles, via Nicaragua Canal 10,900 miles. The distance- from San Francisco to New York via Cape Horn 18,500 miles, via Nicara- gua 4,690 miles. It is therefore seen that the build- ing of this canal saves New York over the shortest route in operation: 5430 miles to Yokohama, 3900 miles to Shanghai, 1340 miles to Sidney, 4100 miles to Canton, 13,810 miles to San Francisco. Now the distance from Liverpool: to San Francisco via Cape Horn is 18,800, via Nicaragua S,280, or a sav- ing of 10.520 miles. To-day New York is but three hun- dred miles closer to San Francisco than Liverpool, whereas the comple- tion of the Canal will put New York- three thousand two hundred and ninety miles closer than Liverpool, to San Francisco. What will this not do for the up- building of our shipping, our iron, mineral, agricultural and manufac- turing industries, for in the same or even a greater degree relatively will distances be reduced between our Gulf ports and other points, for New Orleans, which at present is via Cape Horn 18,340 miles distant from San Francisco, or only 160 miles closer than New York, will by the building" of the canal be distant from San Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 51 Francisco only 3560 miles, making New Orleans 1.130 miles closer than New York to that port. This canal would open the mouths of all our rivers flowing to the Gulf of Mexico into that world of waters, the Pacific Ocean. Who is there that can predict the untold wealth that will accrue to not only New Orleans, but as well to every other Gulf port. In making the comparisons above I have taken New York on the Atlantic Ocean, New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico and San Francisco on the Pacific Ocean, because what holds good for New York also will for the other Atlantic ports, what is true for New Orleans is equally so as re- gards other Gulf ports, what is ben- eficial for San Francisco is as much so for every port upon the Pacific Ocean. There cannot, shall not, be South, North, East or West, in this work; it will be the work of a whole "and re-united country. Without going into the merits or demerits of the Hay-Pauncefote pro- posals regarding this canal, I con- sider that this American Continent is for Americans, and they should not only build and equip, but should con- trol it without the interference of any other nation. (Applause.) To op- pose this measure is to be a toiler in. the work of building a Chinese Wall around these great United States, to keep the caravans of progress from entering our midst, to dump their loads of wealth into our laps for gen- erations to come. My fondest hope, most earnest wish is, that the grand old man, of Ala- bama. Hon. Jno. T. Morgan, will have his exalted ambition gratified by seeing the Nicaragua Canal com- pleted in his lifetime, and then more than ever he can realize that his is "A lofty name, A beacon light, a land-mark, on the? cliffs of fame." (Applause.) - THE NICARAGUA CANAL. BY HON. W. A. HEMPHILL. Chairman Coffin: ^Gentlemen, you heard to-'day from the eloquent Gen. John B. Gordon the story of Georgia. Atlanta is the capital city of Georgia and claims to be the most progressive city in the South. Atlanta claims that she has within her limits the most progressive newspaper in the South, the Atlanta Constitution. Without going into the merits of this claim of which you can all judge, I wish to introduce as the next speaker to-night Mr. W. A. Hemphill, the man who made the 'Constitution.' ' Mr. W. A. Hemphill spoke as fol- lows: "Mr. Chairman, none regret more than I do that Mayor Carter Harrison is not here to address you, but you have been entertained and instructed by the gentleman who has just now preceded me. Sir, I- thank you for the compliment you have paid to the Atlanta Constitution. One of the proudest events of my life was when a hoy of eighteen I left school and v/ent to Virginia to fight the battles of my country under the 'Stars and Bars' with the great General Robert E. Lee. "I had the honor, also of fighting side by side in many of the great battles of Northern Virginia with the Washington Artillery of your city. (Applause.) Another of the happy events of my life is to-night in this great Indus- trial Convention being under the Banner suspended over us, 'Business, no Politics, no Sectionalism.' I was not particularly brave, but where the guns flashed lightning, and the bullets whistled I was there in the midst. General Gordon if he were. here, would attest to this fact. So, in this contest I want to be in the fore-front. When cotton mills are built, rivers and harbors deep- ened and enlarged, sugar mills erected, canals dug, railroads con- structed. I want to be right there, and do all in rav power to advance the industrial interests, not only of rrfv native city; not only of my state; not only of my section, but the in- dustrial interests of the entire coun- try. -52 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Unlike General Gordon, and the rgentleman from Arkansas, I have mever been in politics, but I have been a business man all of my life, S3b I cio not have to reform. The best speech that I can make to-night is to call for three cheers for that patriot and grand statesman Senator Jno. T. Morgan of Alabama, who has been in the fore-front these HON. W. A. HEMPHILL. -many years fighting for the Nicara- gua Canal. Reforms and great movements are Drought on by wars and shedding of Wood; I could give many instances, I will relate only one: Our fore- fathers in 1776 gained their independ- ence, and established this great coun- try by suffering and bloody contests; the Spanish-American War is no ex- Held in New Orleans, December 4-y, ipoo. 5£ ception. Great results have come from it, no one dreamed of them. One of the results is, that it has united this country, the men from the North, and the men from the South, have fought side by side at Santia- go, they are fighting side by side to- day under the Stars and Stripes in the Philippines. Another result is, it gave us a standing with the world's powers, another it placed us commercially in the front rank of nations, 500,000,- 000 more exports than imports an- nually tells the story, ' Great. Britain and Russia, which have been considered the financial leaders of the world, came to our financial centers to place bonds and get loans. This war has proven to us the im- mediate and great necessity of build- ing the Nicaragua Canal; I will treat in a few words this subject from two stand points, the military and the commercial; I will not speak of the feasibility of it, nor will I tell of the difficulties of the construction of it, nor will I relate its costs. I want to say that it makes no difference what the costs are it is an enter- prise that is well worth the expendi- ture. I hold in my hands a copy of the President's message; I have only read what he says about the Isth- mian canal, I am sorry that he did not come out in emphatic terms in favor of it; here is what he says in the conclusion: "I commend the early attention of the Senate to the convention with Great Britain to fa- cilitate the construction of such -a canal and to remove any objection which might arise out of the con- vention commonly called the Clay- ton-B.ulwer treaty." I believe that the United States ought to build this canal and con- trol it independent of any other na- tion on earth. Now, as to the military necessity; the good battleship Oregon demon- strated this to the satisfaction of all when she left Pugit sound for Key "West, sailing 15,000 miles in 69 days; all nations watched this great man- ouvre with pride and admiration. She did reach Santiago in time for that great naval battle; she did play an important part in deciding that splendid victory, but it might have been different if one of the Spanish, South American nations had opposed, her in her great journey and delayed, her coming. If the Nicaragua Canal had been, built she could have made the voyage in 16 days, and saved three- fourths of the time and distance. With this canal built one strong navy will be able to defend our entire sea coast, but enough of this; it is too plain to all. Now, as to the advantage commer- cially; it would take hours to tell the whole story. Commodore Maury said 50 years ago, "The commerce of the world would center in the Gulf of Mexico." With all other things equal, commerce will seek that na- tion which is nearest. From Columbus to the present. day, a period of 506 years, the way to construct a passage across the- narrow neck of the Americas has been talked of and contemplated; five millions of private money has. been spent on Nicaragua, and three hundred million on Panama. Now as to the advantages in dis- tance: New York to San Francisco via- Cape Horn 14,840, via canal 4,i>46; distance saved 9,894. New York to Hong Kong via Cape- Horn 18,180, via canal 11,038, via. Good Hope 15.261; distance saved' 4,162 miles over via Good Hope,. 7,142 over Cape Horn. New York to Yokohama via Cape- Horn 17,679, via canal 9,363, via Good' Hope 16,190; distance 6,837 miles- over via Good Hope, 8,316 over Cape Horn. This places us thousands of miles nearer the millions of the yellow races, the people who wear our cot- ton goods. Bishop Hendricks, who has- traveled extensively in the East, told me that if these people spent only 20 cents apiece for cotton goods- it would take the entire present pro- duction of the cotton mills. New Orleans to San Francisco via Cape Horn 15,052. via canal 4,047; distance saved 11,005 miles. New Orleans to Guyakil via Cape- Horn 11,683, via canal 2.340; dis- tance saved 5,975 miles. New Orleans to Calao via Cape Horn 10.901, via canal 2,988; distance: saved 7,913 miles. •54 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, New Orleans to Valparaiso via ■Cape Horn 9,962, via canal 3,987; dis- tance saved 5, 975 miles. The trade of these countries now goes to Europe, mainly to Liverpool; this trade would come here if the canal was built being so much nearer. The distance from San Francisco to .Liverpool is- 15,000 miles via Cape Horn, 8,000 by the canal, 7,000 miles saved. It takes a cargo of wheat from San Francisco to the ports of Europe 130 days around Cape Horn, it would take only 35 days of a good steamer through the Nicaragua canal. I could go on ad infinitum presenting facts and figures showing the advan- tages that would come to this coun- try, not only the South, but the North and the great West; the Span- ish-American War has given us con- trol of Cuba, and the possession of Porto Rico, and a nation of 10,000,000 people and territory in the far East. The Nicaragua Canal will be the direct and shortest connection with all these countries. The full advan- tage will never be realized until the -canal is built and finished. Since I came into this house to- night I have been reading a news- paper which has in it hot from Washington, news about the Nicara- guan canal. The Isthmian Canal Commission submits its report and I would like to read you two or three -extracts from this report as it was laid before Congress. "Washington, Dec. 4th— The report of the Isthmian Canal" Commission submitted by the President to Congress to-day gives as the unanimous conclusion of that body that the most practicable and feasible route for au Isthmian Canal under the control, management and ownership of the United States is that known as the Nicaraguan route." Referring to the commercial ■advantages of an Isthmian waterway the report says: "As compared with Europe the United States will derive from the canal far more benefits, both com- mercially and industrially. The com- merce of Europe with the Pacific coast of North, Central and South America, under existing conditions, is somewhat larger than the total wolume of the present traffic of the United States that may be consid- ered tributary to the canal; but this fact does not indicate the relative advantages which the canal will pos- sess for the trade of Europe, and that of the United States. As soon as it has been opened, our trade with • the west coast of South America wm rapidly increase, as well as the vol- ume of our trade with the Orient. The amount of the American com- merce through the canal will quickly surpass the total amount of Euro- pean traffic. "An isthmian canal will strengthen the unity of the national and, political interests of the United States, de- velop its Pacific territory and pro- mote the commerce and industries of the entire country. The benefits which Europe would derive from the canal will be commercial. In addi- tion to this ours will be political and industrial. By bringing the Eastern and Western sections of our country into closer relations, by reducing the time and cost of transporting our western products to Europe and by enabling the Eastern, Southern and central States to reach the raw ma- terials and markets of Pacific coun- tries cheaply and expeditiously, the canal will more fully identify poli- tical and social interests and quicken the industrial activity of every sec- tion of the United States. The iron and steel, the textiles and the other manufactures of the Eastern and Southern States, the coal from the mining regions, the cotton from the South, and the grain and forest pro- ducts from many sections will flow out to foreign countries in an in- creasing volume and this larger 'trade will be shared generally by the ports of all cur seaboards — the Atlan- tic, the Gulf and the Pacific." The South in the great game for wealth .has three kings; cotton, iron, and coal, backed by two queens, lum- ber and sugar, a full hand, which ia a hand hard to beat — the chairman of the Georgia delegation says the only thing that will beat it is four of a kind. We think our eyes have been opened, we imagine we see evi- dences of prosperity: if this canal- is constructed it 'Hath not entered the mind of man' the glorious bene- fits that will come to our people. On every hill, and in every valley, smcke will ascend from the cotton Held in New Orleans, D cccmbcr 4-/, 1900. 00 mills and furnaces, the roar of ma- chinery will be heard everywhere. O.or people will be rich and happy. New Orleans will have a million of people. In the harbors of Galveston, Mobile, Savannah. Brunswick, and Charleston, will float the vessels of every nation. Our flag, the glorious stars and stripes will be respected and loved in every land. The day is coming, if not already here, when the proudest exclamation that mortal man can make is to say, "I am an American." (Loud applause.) THE NICARAGUA CAXAL. BY HON. SIDNEY STORY. Chairman Coffin: I will now intro- duce to you a gentleman wnom you well know, a gentleman who has given much thought and considera- tion to the subject of the Nicaragua, Canal, the Hon. Sidney Story, of. New Orleans. (Applause.) HON. SIDNEY STORY. Hon. Sidney Story spoke as fol- lows: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- men, and Delegates to the Southern Industrial Convention: Is is with unfeigned pleasure and equal pride that I stand before this splendid gathering of representa- tive men, this great Industrial Con- vention, to discuss with you one of the supreme topics of the day. the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. The discussions of this imposing convention will have a far reaching effect upon the commercial activi- ties and energies of our common country and the elucidation of the unrivalled advantages, both natural and those being now developed by the ambitious and stirring popula- tion of the Southern States, will be seed sown in fruitful soil, to germ- inate in a vast number of lucrative enterprises. Intent on obtaining all the know- ledge possible as to those commer- 56 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, •cial and trade conditions, needed for •an advanced national prosperity, and •desirous to aid in the tremendous movement of development now per- ceptible throughout these prolific .States of the South, your industrial convention has a grand mission be- fore it, one which the ability and pa- triotic earnestness of its members will wiseJy and well accomplish. Among the topics of palpitating interest, which are before you, none can claim a greater national impor- tance than that of the Nicaragua Canal For more than a century this ■question has been before the Amerci- can people. Its agitation dates back as far as 1797, but never assumed •any definite shape until the admin- istration of Zachary Taylor. At that time California was ceded to the United States by Mexico and the statesmanship of that period was not long in determining that with an ex- tended coast line on the Pacific "Ocean, an isthmian passage was an imperative necessity. Half a century has elapsed and we are only on the threshold of the ac- complishment of this great achieve- ment. There are two causes that have operated to thwart, delay and ■prevent the materialization of this great project, one of the greatest that the world has ever conceived, and the accomplishment of which the entire world stands ready to ac- claim with blessings, for it will inau- gurate a new era in the history of mankind, and these two causes are the crafty opposition of Great Brit- ain and the misguided antagonism of the American Trans-Continental railroads. To stand in the pathway of the world's commerce and to check the tide of civilization and progress is a serious charge. Turn the cal- cium light of history upon the first and apply common' sense reasoning and logic to the second and the in- dictment is sustained. The study of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty reveals the fact that no later than six days after the cession by Mexico, of California to the United States. Great Britain forcibly took possession of the mouth of the San Juan river, the Atlantic terminus of a canal via the Nicaragua route. This action lead to the long diplo- matic wrangle, which came very near resulting in war between the two countries and which resulted in the forming of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, recently abrogated by the sub- stitution of the Hay-Pauncefote in- strument. But the people of America have come to the determined conclusion that treaty or no treaty the Nicara- gua canal must be built, built with American money, by American skill and ingenuity and controlled in peace or war by the United States. ( Ap- plause.!) No European nation will be asked for its gracious consent. We are able to guarantee its neutrality and impartiality in time of peace and if this country ever becomes involved in war with any power you may rest . assured America will not throw it open to her enemies. The diplomatic intrigues of England, who is keenly alive to the menace which a short open sea route, under American con- trol, would be to her commercial su- premacy on the high seas, will no longer delude the American peo- ple. (Applause.) The other most potent opposition to the enterprise has been from the representatives of great capital, in- vested in Trans-Continental rail- roads, who have strenuously fought the building of the Nicaragua Canal, under the belief, one entirely erron- eous, that great loss and injury would be inflicted on their interests by the construction of a short water route between the two oceans. That this has been a mistaken conception is now being realized as the very sag- acious expression of opinion, recently given out by President Stuyvesant Fish of the Illinois Central Railroad, on canal building, conclusively dem- onstrates. Mr. Fish is on record as strongly supporting the construction of short water routes, as being beneficial to railroads, instead of operating injur- iously on their interests, canals aid materially in building up sections and increasing the productive capac- ity of populations and thus they add to the freight and passage traflic of adjacent railroads, as was proven to be the case by the operation of the Sault St. Marie canal, and others which connecting with the Great Lakes have increased prodigiously Held Nczv Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. the railroad traffic. It is now real- ized that the Nicaragua canal will operate as an immense benefit and not as an injury to the Trans-Con- tinental railroads. The Pacific coast is a great empire capable of supporting one hundred millions of people. Its soil and cli- mate are admirable. Yet from San Diego to the line of British Columbia in the north and back to the tower- ing Rockies, the population is still sparce and scattered, for the reason that there has not been sufficient profit in agriculture or other pur- suits to attract sufficient settlers to build up the country. It was anticipated that the great gold discoveries of 1849 would dense- ly populate all that vast region, but communications have been too dif- ficult, up to the present time, for any general expansion. With the open- ing of the Nicaragua canal, a mighty change will be effected. The Paci- fic coast will undergo an immense and rapid transformation and the increase of population, the springing up of the seaports, for the vast Ori- ental trade between the United States, China, Japan and those other countries of the Pacific, which will ensue, the industrial life to be brought into being as a natural con- sequence, will all serve as the fac- tors for an enormous increase in the business of the railroads. The An- nual reports of several trans-contin- ental railroads show that their through business is less than ten per cent of the entire business of the roads, and that their profits are made on short haul and not on freight carried from ocean to ocean. This has been the admirable and broad conception of the benefits to railroads of canal building by that very able railroad magnate Stuyve- sant Fish, as explained in his recent utterances. The Pacific States, writes Mr. War- ner Mirer, in an article in the Forum, produce chiefly raw material, such as agricultural products, lumber and minerals. They ship annually one million tons of wheat to Europe, and there compete with Russia, Argen- tina and India, all of which countries can put their wheat into Europe in less than one-fourth of the time re- quired for a trip from San Francisco to Liverpool via the Horn, thereby- coming into market first, after har- vest and saving largely in the cost, of transportation, insurance and in- terest on capital invested. But for the wonderful productiveness of the Pacific coast wheat fields, they would be absolutely unable to compete with the countries mentioned. The lum- ber trade from the forests of Oregon and Washington, finds to-day an al- together insufficient market in Japan, Australia and the west coast of South America. The depletion of the white pine forest in the Central West will soon create a great market in the East for that of the Pacific States,. when the canal will be built and the cost of transportation will leave a fair profit to the producer. The distance from New York to- San Francisco by Cape Horn is 15,- 660 miles. By the Nicaragua route i.t will be 4,907 miles, a saving of 10.- 753 miles. The usual time for a sail- ing vessel to make this voyage is one hundred and twenty days. A modern freight steamer would make- it in twenty days or less through the canal. This fact alone would be a sufficient reason for the construction of the canal, if no other benefit were' to be derived from it, as the canal would undoubtedly create between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States a great commerce 1 which, unfortunately, does not ex- ist to-day. The opening of the Suez canal in 1870 gave to European commerce a great advantage over the United States in the trade of the Orient by- lessening considerably the time and cost of transportation from European ports to India, China and Japan, while increasing at the same time the- disadvantage of distance under which we labored before that canal was- constructed, when the route for both European and American commerce- was via Cape of Good Hope. For example, previous to the opening of the Suez canal, the sailing distance' from Liverpool to Shanghai was 13.- 650 miles, and from New York to Shanghai 14,340 miles: a difference of 690 miles in favor of Liverpool. The building of the Suez canal made the distance from Liverpool to Shanghai 10.330 mile?, and from New York to Shanghai 12,360 miles; thus saving Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention 3,320 miles for Liverpool and only 1,980 miles for New York. In other words, the advantage of Liverpool over New York was increased from €90 to 2,030 miles. Taking the aver- age speed of a freight steamer at 200 miles a day, this gives European ports an advantage over American ports, through the Suez canal, of nearly seven days, plus the additional expense thereby resulting to the American merchant. Profiting by the great advantage, England has her merchant marine engaged in the trade of the Orient. In 1870 the number of vessels passing through the Suez canal were 488. In 1888 they had increased to 2,- .283. In 1896 to 3,409. The English vessels using the canal in 1888 were 547, in 1896 they were 2,162, out of a tetal of 3,409, and of this traffic only five were American. Indeed we bad paid little heed to the disadvan- tages that American commerce is under in the East, exporting mostly food and agricultural products to Europe. But the manufacturing in- dustries of this country have in- creased enormously and the present •development of the vast coal and iron regions of the South promises still greater expansion in the near future of the product of American mills and looms, for cheap fuel is the stimulus of manufacture. Profitable markets in foreign lands are therefore a necessity ior the rapid growth of this country, and nowhere will we find them more abundant than in the Pacific. Com- peting there with England, Germany and France, we must find a shorter and cheaper route to the markets of the Orient than their's through the Suez canal, which can only be done by the construction of the Nicaragua route. Then all the ports of the Atlantic cost of the United States will be nearer to Japan and the Eastern coast of China, and to the numberless islands of the Pacific, than Liverpool or any European continental city or country. To-day American com- merce labors under the tremendous disadvantages of 2,030 miles to Shanghai, as compared with that of Liverpool, a difference of seven days navigation by steam. By the Nicar- agua canal route an advantage of 118 miles will belong to us. From Liverpool to Yokohama, by the Suez canal route is 11,030 miles. From New York to Yokomaha, by the Nic- aragua route it will only be 9,227 miles, while from the seaport of the South American and Gulf states, it will be immensely less. This differ- ence is sufficient to give American commerce substantial control of the trade with Japan and of all the ports and countries of the Orient. More than seven hundred millions of peo- ple life in countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and the time has come in spite of recent difficulties, when China, with its teeming populations, is to be fully opened to the commerce of the world. (Applause.) It has been demonstrated how the Pacific States will develope by rea- son of the Nicaragua canai and how the trade and industrial life of New York and the Eastern Atlantic States will likewise draw immense commer- cial advantages from the opening of that short all-water route, while from a military standpoint, 'and be- cause it will be the key of the Pacific it is an absolute and most imperious necessity, as recent events, have proven and as the perilous trip of the Oregon around Cape Horn dem- onstrated. It is of keen interest to see how its construction will effect the commercial life and .develop- ment of the Southern States, those on the Atlantic seaboard and those of the Gulf. Lying comparatively close to the canal, all the cities of the Atlantic seaboard, Baltimore, Newport News, Charleston and" Sav- annah, will expand into important sea ports, while New Orleans, 700 miles nearer the eastern terminus oi the canal than New York and the Gulf coast cities, will control untold advantages. The great staple of the South is cotton, and the enormous develop- ment of the cotton milling industry in the South, of recent years, dem- onstrates beyond peradventure that within the radius of the cotton belt region will eventually locate the b such a beginning the institution that we need could be placed in a position, of leadership among our technical schools, ana thus wield a vast and. beneficent and uplifting influence that would be felt by every agency for sound education now existing in our Southern section. "It is thought that any existing in- stitution in our section, whether under State or other management,, can claim and occupy this place. Whatever may be the dopes and as- pirations of these, and however well their present work is being done, lack of material equipment or of means of support, or special envir- onment, will until present conditions are changed, hold each back from, the position of unchallenged leader- ship which should be filled. "In all the world no field elsewhere- gives such full assurance of rich re- turns to capital invested in educa- tion as is offered in the now existing opportunity to place in a position of leadership among our technical schools an institution able to meet, the occasion and worthy of this high- calling. "Can there not be found some- where that union of wealth, material with wealth of noble liberality which shall provide in the first years of the- coming century for this most press- ing need of education in the South? Among the many great captains of industry whose genius and whose labor have won them more than sat- isfying wealth, are there not those 76 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, who will look into the educational needs of the South and see the uplift that such an institution as is needed would, through its far reaching in- fluences, give to all education and to all social and industrial life? Such a benefactor would erect for himself a monument more lasting than brass — or gold. (Applause.) TECHNICAL EDUCATION BY PROF. J. V. CALHOUN. Chairman Story: You will now have the privilege of listening to Prof. J. V. Calhoun, State Superin- tendent of Education, Baton Rouge, La., who will follow the other speak- ers with an address on this all-im- portant subject of technical educa- tion. Prof. J. V. Calhoun then read the following paper: "As the representative of the public ^schools of Louisiana, I present my- self before this industrial convention and in their name and my own I give emphatic expression of our uni- versal and cordial concurrence with the aims, aspirations and labors of this august association. Every true friend and every interested benefi- ciary of the South should be here; for this is a convention whose ob- ject is the declaration of the funda- mental and industrial independence of the South. The true secret of the social and political independence of any people is to be found in the in- dependence of their sources of wealth and power. Indolent and impover- ished States and communities have no more weight in shaping public councils and sharing in the rewards derived from them, than shiftless and poverty-stricken individuals have in the social and business circles of the places they infest. When the South comes to the conclusion that she will keep for herself the riches which nature is giving her; when she re- solves to develope her great vegetable and mineral resources and herself convert them into useful and neces- sary articles of traffic, then, and not until then, will she attain that wealth and population, which will restore to her the prestige she once possessed In directing the legislation of the na- tion, and covering its constitution with her protecting aegis. "It is therefore a cause of much en- couragement to us to see here as- sembled the representatives of so many Southern States, and the lead- ers of so many industrial and com- mercial enterprises. Only in union is there any strength among men; and this lesson we are taught wner- ever we turn our eyes upon the ma- terial world around us. Only God can act and produce by himself alone; he alone is absolute and free from necessary relation; out all finite or created beings are relative and de- pendent, and for the production of any effect must work in unison with others. Every material object is composed of myriads of atoms and molecules, united by the natural law of harmony and attraction, thus con- spiring to form the volume of all solid, liquid and gaseous substances, and the whole range of existence in the material universe. Our lives are preserved and governed by the united action of the organs of our physical nature, and the operation of the moral and intellectual faculties of our spiritual substance; from this union results our individual personality; and the rupture of this union is our individual death. Flowers of various forms and colors are put together to form a pleasing present or decora- tion; many parts are united to give strength and beauty to the handsome structure in which we are assembled. Rays must combine to form those beams of light which reveal to us the beauties of the face of nature; and in like manner as by means of the lens the rays of light are intensi- fied in heat and luminous power and converged upon one object of inves- tigation, so also, to quote from the language of the arrangement com- mittee of this convention, 'It may not be doubted, that through the delib- erations and discussions of the able economists, thinners and merchants, assembled from all parts of the coun- try to probe and elucidate the vital Held in New Orleans, December 4-j, ipoo. 7T questions coming up for considera- tion, a light wiii be shed on local conditions and oa those splendid trade opportunities and advantages which New Orleans as a seaport and trade centre pre-emnently possesses, while the independent interests of the Northwest and the Middle States with New Orleans, by reason of cheap water routes through the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the seaboard of the Gulf, will be brought out with luminous forcefulneiss as the subject matter of the addresses to be deliv- ered demonstrate.' "In reference to the connection of the schools with the objects of this convention, I have thought that the character of all our education, public and private, should conform to the scientific and indus- trial spirit of the age. Until a few decades ago the kind of ed- ucation given in schools, elementary or collegiate, both in Europe and America was suited only to convert a student into a doctor of law, medi- cine, or theology, or a votary of lit- erature or metaphysical! philosophy. The abstract and the beautiful capti- vated the minds of men, their liter- ature was lofty, their philosophy al- most divine; and they descended from the regions of the possible and ideal into those of real practical, only when enticed by the charms of the lovely and beautiful. They have left us specimens of thei:r genius in the fine arts which we gaze upon with despair, as we make confession that their poetry, music, architecture, painting and sculpture have reached a height of perfection which modern effort has been unable to attain. In those days schools and institutions of learning were springs whose streams were tinctured with the dom- inant taste of the age. Hence the artistic spirit and the love for ab- stract speculation universally pre- vailed. Bacon bv his writings pointed out a new and unexplored field for study: he taught men to pass from the contemplative to the ■practical: . from form to substance: from phenomena to the causes that produce them: hp -pointed out that the deduction method of reasoning was adanted to mire science alone, where the transition is from the gen- eral to the particular; but that in empirical investigations an opposite* mode of reasoning must bo employed, wherein we rise from an observation - of particular changes in individual cases to the formulation of a general truth and the establishment of a general scientific law. Since the days of Bacon more attention has been given in educational institutions to science and its applications; but only during the last half century has it had its proper place in the curricu- lum of many of our leading institu- tions. The spirit of the age has been for a century growing more and more practical and utilitarian; and the colleges have found it necessary to re-echo the voice of the times. Science has been found to be a lamp? lighting up the dark recesses where- the wealth of the earth is concealed; a key to the depositories of nature's- treasures; a boon of useful know- ledge which gives rich present re- wards for the time and labor devoted to its acquisition; a tree whose fruit ripens and is enjoyed on this side of the grave. It is well therefore to recognize the existing condition of the business and industrial activi- ties of the country and to conform the education of the young to their demands. Mathematics and applied science should form a leading part in the curriculum of all our colleges and universities; and the course of study of our grammar and high, schools should be preparatory there- to. The spread of tne manufacturing and industrial spirit in the Northern and Eastern States is perhaps greatly attributable to the foundation of schools of technical arts by men who understood their great value in uif- fusing among their people a know- ledge of the vast resources of nature,, and of the means of applying them to their own comfort and enrichment. As early as 1824 Stephen Van Ren- sselear founded the first school of science in the United States under the name of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Van Rensselaer was a man possessed of a vast estate de- rived from his ancestor Killian Van Rensselaer who came over from Am- sterdam and became the proprietor and rnler of a large feudal estate in New Amsterdam during cue 17th Century. Stephen Van Rensselaer took a great interest m engineering- 78 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, works, and was the first to suggest the construction of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. He caused a survey to be made of the rouie, and during this and subsequent steps in the important enterprise, he was so much impressed by the difficulty in finding men capable of assisting Jaim in his engineering work, that he was convinced of the great need of scientific and industrial educa- tion. "His institute has ever since been :a distinguished school of civil engin- eering and natural science. The Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston is one of the greatest schools of science and technology that now ■exists or has existed in the world. It was opened in 1865 by Professor William B. Rogers, whose father, Dr. Patrick K. Rogers, emigrated in 1804 from Ireland to Philadelphia, where Professor Wiliam B. Rogers was born. The Boston Technological Institute offers thirteen distinct •courses, each of four years duration, in all the branches of engineering, tiology, physics and naval architec- ture. Its diploma is a coveted treas- ure, and is a sure passport to success in industrial, mechanical and scienti- fic pursuits. The present number of its students is 1170 with 136 officers and instructors. It receives frequent donations from public spirited men of wealth. During the last few years the bequests in its favor have amounted to more than one million •dollars. "There are many other distin- guished colleges of technical educa- tion in the North, as the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachu- setts; the Lehigh University in Penn- sylvania; the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey; the Case School of Applied Science at Cleve- land, Ohio; the Rose Polytechnic In- stitute at Terre Haute. Ind.; and the Armour Institute of Technology founded in Chicago by Phillip D. Armour in 1892. These institutions were founded by men who had them- selves been engaged in industrial and mechanical enterprises, and from their own experience became con- vinced of the necessity of this Kind of knowledge, for the development of the resources of nature and the con- struction of great works for the util- ity and convenience of their commun- ities. These institutions are devoted almost exclusively to scientific and mechanical instruction, in civil en- gineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mining engin- eering, physics, chemistry, architec- ture, and general science. Our Southern States are also well supplied with industrial schools and colleges, though few of them are equal in equipment to the many richly endowed scientific institutions of the Northern States. Every State and Te.-iitiry has its agricultural ani mechanical college endowed by the national land grant of 1862. The founder of all these inestimable in- stitutions is Justin S. Morrill, of Ver- mont, whose name should ever shine in golden letters in the history of American education. Perhaps no American has rendered his country a greater service. Being in accord with the growing demand for a new system of college education and its adaptation to the requirements of the progress of the age, his clear perception and practi- cal wisdom enabled him to see the readiest and surest means of effect- ing it. In 1857 he brought before Congress a bill authorizing the es- tablishment in each State and Terri- tory, of colleges for instruction in agriculture, mechanics and the lib- eral arts, and providing 20,000 acres of the public lands for each member of Congress for their maintenance. The demand seemed stupendous; the Public Land Committee was startled and reported adversely to it; and al- though the bill passed both houses at the following session, it was prorantly vetoed by the president. But Mr. Morrill was a man to over- come- obstacles, not to be overcome by them. Awaiting a favorable op- portunity, he introduced in 1861 a npw bill into the house similar to hif former one, but increasing the provisions for the maintenance of each college 30,000 acres of land for each senator and congressman from the respective States and Terri- tories. This bill was successfully passed, and was signed by the president in 1862. The grant for education made by this act amounted to 13,000,000 acres of land being the greatest ever made Held in New Orleans, December q-j, ipoo. 79 tor the instruction of the people in the history of the world. It proved that our government is truly a gov- ernment for the people. It was also & generous notification of the Ameri- can Congress that the character of national education should be agri- cultural, mechanical, industrial and artistic, in addition to, or concomi- tant with, the literary and classical features it had borne up to tha/" time. The act of 1862 was so framed as to allow the consolidation of ex- isting schools and colleges into new ones of the type provided for in the grant; and accordingly nearly all the Southern States adopted this method of conforming to the law, and avail- ing themselves of its bounty. Our great Louisiana State Agricultural and Mechanical College, one of the best in the country, owes its exist- ence to this and previous land grants by the National Government. These acts were passed in 1806, 1811 and 1827. In 1855 the State Legislature founded the Louisiana State Semin- ary of Learning and Military Acad- emy, locating it near Alexandria, in the Parish of Rapides. Here the in- stitution flourished for a time, but -was closed in 1863 on account of the war between the States. In 1873 the Louisiana State Agricultural and Me- chanical College was established by act of the State Legislature in order to secure the benefit of the Congres- sional grant of 1862. It was located first at Chalmette, and subsequently at New Orleans, were it remained un- til 1877, when it was by act of the General Assembly consolidated with the State University, and in October of that year, the two institutions thus united into one began the use- ful work of the present Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. The flour- ishing condition of this great uni- versity and the immense benefit it is doing to the agriculture of our State is a proof of the practical wis- dom of the national congress in pass- ing the act of 1862. In all the depart- ments of liberal culture the instruc- tion is in charge of the most distin- guished nrofessors, and the classical and English literary training of the students is of the highest order. Its mathematical department is taught and managed by a distinguished au- thor of mathematical works highly esteemed throughout the country. But it is mentioned in this paper chiefly because of its excellent ef- fect in diffusing a knowledge of im- proved methods of the agriculture of the State. To be adapted to the local needs, a sugar course is carefully maintained, and by its means the students are made true sugar experts to their own profit and the great ad- vantage of the State. One of its sugar experiment stations is located at Audubon Park in this city and you are invited to visit it during your stay among us, and examine its oper- ations upon sugar in the field, labor- atory, and the sugar house. A sum- mary of the work of this station is given in the annual prospectus of the University. " 'Experiments of a permanent character with fertilizers, looking to the ultimate solution of the require- ments of cane under the various forms of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash; experiments in culti- vation, drainage, and irrigation; and experiments in physiological inves- tigations, are carried on in the field. " 'In the laboratory, exhaustive chemical analyses are made of the canes and juices in the various stages of working, and of the final products of sugar and molasses. Microscopic investigations are conducted in the bacteriological laboratory, looking to the elaboration of food in the plant in the field, and the study of bac- teria at work in the sugar house. The study of new seedling canes, in- volving those of high sugar content and with large tonnage, has been en- gaging the attention of the station for several years, with satisfactory results in the two or three varieties now being distributed over the State to planters. In the sugar house, experiments in clarification, filtration, the restrain- ing influences of foreign matters upon the crystallization of sugar, as well as the economical conduct of sugar making, are being carried on, all checked by chemical control. " 'The trial annually, of new ma- chinery receives attention and during the past season several new filter presses and an evaporating apparatus were secured and tested. "Alfalfa, which has been grown 80 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, with success at this station, is now being cultivated by many planters throughout the State, and is becom- ing a merchantable crop in the mar- kets of New Orleans. Sundry vari- eties of clover, corn, sorghum, vege- table and forage crops are also grown.' "The work of the Louisiana State University along other lines of farm- ing may be understood by further ex- tracts from the catalogue of the cur- rent year. "Outside of New Orleans there are two farming stations, under its ad- ministration; one m the southern part of the State at Baton Rouge, styled Station No. 2; and one in the northern part of the State, at Cal- houn, styled Station No. 3. "Station No. 2. "This station is devoted to practical and scientific studies along all lines of agriculture. On the farm numer- ous varieties of corn, cotton, and for- age crops are grown. Egyptian cotton, represented by several varieties that came directly from Dr. T. David, of Zagazig, Egypt, is annually grown and ginned upon a McCarthy roller gin, with .the view of studying the ev- olution of this cotton upon ou^ soils and its adaptation to the wants of the manufacturers who to-day are using Egyptian cotton in the manu- facture of coarse underwear. "The growing, curing, and fermen- tation of cigar tobacco constitute one of the most important lines of ex- perimentation now under conduct at this station. In the field there are experiments under canvas, under half shade (laths), and in the open, to test the difference in texture of the leaf thus grown. There are exper- iments also to test fertilizing require- ments of cigar tobacco on these soils. Numerous varieties are also being tested. After curing by different pro- cesses, fermentation by different methods is Ptud'ed bo f h chemically and bactprioloeicariy, to determine how the best cigar leaf my be ob- tained. "In the horticultural department, under the control of Prof. F. H. Bur- nett, there is to be found nearly every variety of vegetables and fruits. Important experiments have been conducted here, as well as at Cal- houn and Audubon Park, to test the comparative merits of home grown seed versus Northern and Eastern grown for use in this State. "The veterinary department, under the direction of Dr. W. H. Dalrymple, has been busily engaged during the past year in investigating charbon^ glanders, and other contagious dis- eases in various parishes of the State. "The entomologist, Prof. H. A. Mor- gan, has been engaged for the past twelve months in studying the life history of many new and injurious insects, and has recently given to the public a bulletin with his results. "Interesting experiments, begun last season, have been continued up to date by Professors Morgan, Dod- son and Dalrymple, with a view of eradicating and preventing Texas cattle fever, and thereDy removing the embargo upon Southern stock in Northern markets. These experi- ments are throwing light on this in- teresting subject, and will be per- sistently prosecuted until accurate conclusions are reached. "Station No. 3. North Louisiana Experiment Station,, Calhoun, La. "Numerous experiments in tne growing and curing of yellow leaf tobacco have been instituted at this station. "The dairy attracts the attention of farmers, and has been instrumen- tal in increasing not only the butter product, both in quantity and quality, but also the growing of better dairy stock. Recently registered Herefords and some grade Shorthorns have been introduced to meet the grow- ing demands of this section for beef breeds. Later on Red Poles will also be introduced. In fact, the high nrice of cattle now prevailing has ?i ven an imnetus to the growing of imnroved dairv and beef stock all through this section. "A poultrv deoartment, has given an increased interest in poultry rais- inpv "The Sti^ar Plan + ers' Association at Audubon Park, the Central Louis- inria Agricultural Association at B^ton Fonsre and the Northern Lou- isiana Agricultural Society at Cal- houn, are valuable aids to the sta- tions, and the monthly meetings are Held in Nezv Orleans, Deccmbci 4-2, 1900. 81 well attended. The latter organiza- tions toidfi annua'Jy at Ca'.tiouii an agricultural camp-meeting and fair, which is attended by many thous- ands of people, and is productive of the largest amount of good. "I have presented the work of our State University as a specimen of what may be done by schools and colleges for the development of the industrial resources of the State, be- cause I am better acquainted with its efforts and influence than with others; but I know that in other Southern States like useful results are accomplished by industrial insti- tutions for the advancement of the material welfare of the people. Tu- lane University, here in New Orleans, ranks among the foremost institu- tions of learning in the United States. There are four years courses in Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, and Architectural Engineering, each leading to the degree of Bachelor of Engineering. The course of Mechan- ical Engineering includes the study of Electrical Engineering. Each de- partment is furnished with the best machines and apparatus for illustra- tion; the equipment of the depart- ment of electrical engineering is hardly equalled by that of any insti- tution in the United States; the same is to be said of the character of the education imparted in every branch of modern learning. "What the National Government has so liberally begun towards the promotion of useful practical knowl- edge and the encouragement to labor and industry among all classes, the individual States must continue and support. The Congressional appro- priation of 1862 can be applied only "to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathe- matical, physical, natural, and econ- omic sciences, with special reference to their applications to the industries of life, and to the facilties for such instruction, all other expenses must be borne by the States or by the in- stitutions themselves. It is the duty of the State to provide the needed buildings and equipments. It has been impossible for us to meet this demand Murine; the long years of blight inflicted upon us by war and re-construction; and if you ask me what is the best means to secure the ends for which this Association has been formed, and this Convention is held, my answer is strive to diffuse industrial education among the peo- ple; prevail upon legislatures to con- tribute liberally towards the support of free institutions for the purpose. Elevate labor by making skilled labor an object of renumerative education. That success in trade in manufac- tures depends upon instruction in appropriate schools may be illustra- ted by a notable example. For this purpose I quote a striking fact re- lated in an address delivered before the State Teacher's Association of Pennsylvania in 1874. " 'England until 1868 neglected tech- nical education, and so fell behind the Continent, losing her position in the manufacture of many articles. The shawl trade of Leeds was absorb- ed by continental manufacturers by reason of their technical knowledge; the silk trade was injured by a sup- erior skill in dye and finish on the continent; the designers, dyers and engravers in foreign countries, by possessing a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of their several trades, produced greater purity and beauty of design, cleaner and bright- er colors in the cloth and other fab- rics they manufactured, finer pat- terns and greater lightness; Conven- try ribbons were taken from her; for- eign workmen employed as painters and designers, and great deficiencies existed in those branches of knowl- edge which bear most intimately on the great departments of industry. Alarmed at those discoveries that she was losing her supremacy in manu- factures, that French companies were building locomotives for an English railway, and that iron girders for a building in Glasgow were being constructed in Belgium, she at once established technical schools of a higher order in the large cities, with others of a lower grade in the smaller towns. For a single department in the art school in South Kensington £1,000,000 were expended, and £80,- 000 annually were given for its sup- port by the State. In Queen's Insti- tute, Belfast, Ireland, from three hundred to four hundred female stu- dents were trained in all branches of skilled labor, for which taste and 82 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, physical fitness makes them suitable.' "It cannot be doubted that the high degree of prosperity obtained by the manufacturing and other industrial establishments of the United States is largely due to the knowledge of ap- plied science from their numerous technical schools and higher teenno- logical colleges. A historical investi- gation will show that this wonderful addition to our sources of wealth came subsequently to the spread of a knowledge of practical science. In this view the South should aim to extend and perfect education of this kind among all clases. In European countries, children, and men and women who work by day in the mills, attend lectures and classes in even- ing textile schools and on Sundays; and to get work in an industrial es- tablishment, a previous knowledge of the methods and nature of the work is required. The close relation of cause and effect existing between suc- cessful manufacturing interest and technical education is shown not only by the past admission of those vi- tally interested, but from the exper- ience of European capitalists at the present moment. "A special cable to the New York Sun dated 24th of November and pub- lished in the New Orleans Times- Democrat on the 25th says, that there is just now a panic prevailing in sev- eral important branches of British industry on account of the enormous growth of American competition, and that of Germany, the prominence of the latter country in this profitable rivalry being ascribed to technical education and the training and moulding the minds of the young for industrial occupations. The tel- egraphic dispatch is as follows: — " 'London, Nov. 24th.— The Alarm, not to say panic, which pre- vails in several important branches of British industry on account of the enormous growth of Ameri- can competition now occupies the foremost place in public attention. It is discussed on all platforms by leaders of opinion, and it" is the chief topic in the serious press. There is not the slightest doubt that a thorough awakening of manufacturers in nearly all lines has already taken place. " 'Lord Roseberry last week de- livered a strong warning, and yesterday Hebert Asquith, M. P. r . told the heads of the Cham- ber of Commerce what to ex- pect. He admitted that the present prosperity of Great Britain was un- precedented, but he pointed out that England was not holding her own,. Germany and the United States had stepped out from the rear to the front rank. Instead of England's enjoying the supremacy of trade, as was con- fidently predicted half a century ago, she was now fighting for every inch. of ground with all her available strength in every international mar- ket. " 'Germany, for industrial purposes, is not a country favored by Nature,, and the rise of Germany into the front rank of commercial powers is the most remarkable illustration to be found of the practical value of education, organization and concen- tration. The days are happily gone when it is safe to indulge in the foolish sneer that the German spun. and wove from materials supplied by his own inner consciousness. The same sleepless industry, the same te- nacity of purpose, the same training and moulding of intelligence for a specific end which has given the Ger- man in turn, first, military suprem- acy, and then political unity, has enabled him to overtake, and, if we do not mend our ways, will en- able him to outrun, his more favored rivals in the industrial struggle of the world.' " "The spirit of agricultural and man- ufacturing industry has become more and more prevalent in the South dur- ing the late years of her re-birth; she has shown that she is not deficient in talent to learn nor energy and abil- ity to do; and to-day she is no con- temptible factor in the industrial growth and the resulting wealtn of the country. It is a delight to the friend of the South to reflect that ac- cording to the best estimates her cotton crop this year will be worth from $450,000,000 to $500,000,000, against an average of $300,000,000, of late years; an increase of from $150.- 000.000 to $200,000,000. Including the seed, the value of the cotton crop will 'exceed $500,000,000. "Southern mills will consume prob- ably 1,750,000 bales, against 1,500,000 Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. sa bales last year. This cotton, which will cost Southern mills about $75,- 00U,00U to $80,000,000, will in its man- ufactured shape be worth more than $225,000,000, tnus adding $150,000,000 in the process of manufacture. To this add an estimate of $100,000,000 as the value of cotton seed oil, hulls, etc., and it is found that the cotton crop this year will yield to the South the following: Cotton and seed, $500,000,000; added value of cotton manufactured in the South, $150,000,- 000; value of oil and hulls, 'cake, etc., for feeding, $100,000,000; total, $750,- 000,000. "The public schools in which the great majority of the youth of the country are educated, should take their part in the work of this new education. How is this to be done? I answer: By the teaching of draw- ing and elementary science in the various grades of the grammar schools. Elementary schools and high schools are the preparatory schools and academies that fit pupils for the agricultural and mechanical colleges, and the higher colleges gen- erally; and their course of study should be adapted to the altered schedule of college work in these higher institutions. When the- col- leges founded under the land grant of 1862 were opened, a general com- plaint was heard from them that at least a year was lost in teaching drawing, a knowledge of which should have been acquired in the primary and grammar schools. A graded and progressive course in drawing is to-day an essential part of the course of study of any ele- mentary school worthy of patronage, and is necessary tor all children whether they are to become artisans or artists; whether they are to adopt industrial pursuits In mines or mills, or to devote themselves to any of the forms of engineering, or to archi- tecture, painting or sculpture. As a preparation for the courses in schools of science, drawing is indispensable: and this drawing should not consist of picture-makine:. but should be of an industrial character, based on geometry. Mathematics and science should, in my om'nion, he made the basis of all education, and all other studies should be made subordinate to them. In the primary and gram- mar schools, arithmetic, drawing and science should be taught by steps suited to the age of the children, and the same ranking should be attixed to these studies in the high schools and academies. Any pupil not stupid will learn to spell and speak cor- rectly by habitual use of books and newspapers; for these are surface studies; but he will never know the. nature of air, water and solids with- out being taught. "Steam, electricity , the telegraph,, tne telephone, heating by hot air and hot water, and the like, should be known to all school children, and as the- great majority are in school only five or six years, how are they ever to learn these things unless they are taught them in the schools. "In conclusion I advance the opin- ion expressed throughout this paper,, that the best means that can be em- ployed to secure the objects of this in- dustrial association in building up tne trade and industries of the South, and helping her onward in the path she has already entered, is to foster industrial educational institutions, and to shape the general instruction of Southern children so as to give them a knowledge of the applica- tions of science, and instill into their minds an early interest in industrial pursuits. Urge legislatures to be liberal in their appropriations for these pur- poses. To our men of great wealth I would say, that a certain American who by successful manufacturing amassed a large fortune, is reported in the news- papers of the day as giving a million of dollars in bonds producing $50,- 000 a year for the support of a tech- nical school; thus proving that he is not only a great man. but also a good man. Go thou and do likewise." (Applause.) Prof. R. B. Fulton: I have the honor to present the following reoort as chairman of your commit- tee on technical education, with the recommendation that the report and resolutions contained therein be adopted by this convention: 84 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, EEPOET OF COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Your Committee on Technical ed- ucation respectfully submits the fol- lowing reports and resolutions, and recommends their adoption by this Convention: Resolved: 1. That the Southern Industrial Convention places on record this ex- pression of its full appreciation of the importance and value of the sound and thorough education of all the youth of our land in useful branches of learning. Being fully assured that the best education for any individual is that which best fits him to discharge the duties and to meet the opportunities and responsi- bilities that shall come to him in life, we recognize in the dawning of the era of industrial development in our section the paramount import- ance of so adapting and organizing the training offered in our schools as to afford the fullest opportunity for the cultivation of every talent that may be used in promoting the material prosperity of our section. Without diminishing in any partic- ular the facilities for culture now of- fered in our schools, we believe that greater emphasis should be laid upon industrial and technical training as means for cultivating character and giving individual power, as well as for promoting social order and the development of material resources. 2. This form of education, helpf'il to so many lives, should feel in full- est measure all the influences which give vitality and power and dignity to educational work of every grade. We, therefore, heartily indorse all efforts made to establish and main- tain technical schools of every rank in the South, especially those in which shall be taught the arts and sciences bearing upon the conversion of our material resources into useful fabrics. '6. In furtherance of this, we re- quest the President of this Conven- tion to appoint a committee, con- sisting of one from each State here represented, who, together with >.ne President and the Secretary of this Convention shall again present to the Congress of the United States the memorial of this Convention urging that a sum of not loss than one mil- lion dollars be appropriated out of the proceeds of the sales of public lands for the maintenance of a school of the highest rank in which the properties, the manufacture and the uses of the fibres produced in this country shall be specially studied and taught. 4. Realizing that all the physical resources of the Southern States are offering full opportunity for the full- est development that science and art can give to matter, and that in our young manhood and womanhood is latent power able to worthily meet these industrial conditions, as their fathers have met and solved the grave social and political problems that have come to us in the past, we recognize the wide field of usefulness that is now open to any institution in the South which may be furnished with such ample means for investiga- tion, as well as for teaching and il- lustration, as will place it above and beyond existing institutions in the scope of its work, and in a position to serve as a beacon and guide for all technical education in our section, and we consider wealth contrib^^d to this use as being vested for the public welfare. PROP. R. B. FULTON, University of Miss. Chairman. EEPOET OF COMMITTEE ON TEADE SCHOOLS. Mr. V. W. Grubbs. of Texas: Gentlemen, I may say I did not have the honor of drawing up the follow- ing resolutions, but I have been re- quested to submit them as an addi- tion or amendment to the Commit- tee's report. I would simply say that in drawing up this word "girls" was omitted, and I have taken the lib- erty of supplying it. (Laughter and applause.)' This question of the establishment of such schools for both sexes is a very important one, and I will now read you these additional resolu- tions: Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 85 Resolved: In accordance with tne suggestion of President Lyman Hall of the Georgia School of Technology in his address on Technical Educa- tion, before the Southern Industrial Convention, now assembled at New Orleans: I. That it is the sense of this Con- vention that trade schools and schools of technology are imperative essentials in the future development of the Southern States. II. That the Governors of our Southern States be requested by tnis Convention to insist, in their mes- sages to their Legislatures, on lib- eral appropriations to practical h.^-. scientific education. III. That the cities in the South are hereby urged to establish manual training and trade schools for boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18. IV. That copies of these resolu- tions be forwarded to the Governors of all Southern Statu* and to the Mayors of all Southern Cities. V. W. GRUBBS. President of the Southern Board of Industrial Education. President Hargrove: You have heard the report as amended, gentle- men; what is your pleasure? Adopted unanimously. President Hargrove announced the next paper, as there appeared to be no disposition on the part of the delegates to discuss the subject of technical education, but at this point Mayor Welch, of Alexandria, La., rose. Mayor "Welch: Gentlemen, I have something to say on this question — President Hargrove: We have al- ready proceeded to the next part of the program, and I rule discussion of this question as out of order. Mr. Ousley, of Texas: I contend that anything in the nature of dis- cussion on technical or textile edu- cation is in order. Dr. Hall: I move that discussion on the subject of technical education be now opened. This was seconded. At this juncture it was suggested that the Convention reconsider its action in adopting the report on technical education. Mr. Charleton Hunt: I appeal to this Convention for an opportunity to discuss this important question, The chair cannot arbitrarily rule such discussion out of order. We have listened to instructive papers on the subject of technical education^ and the subject should now be dis- cussed by the Convention. President Hargrove: The report and resolutions on this subject have already been adopted, and, therefore, to commence to discuss the question now is entirely out of order, but as it seems to be the desire of many present that this discussion be re- opened, I bow to your will in this matter. I am your servant, gentlemen,, and if my action in this matter has appeared in any way arbitrary it has been solely dictated by a desire to facilitate the business of this Con- vention, and to conscientiously dis- charge my duty as chairman. If I have erred in any respect, I can only assure you that the error has been one of the head and not of the heart. (Applause.) I rule that this subject may be discussed now, and tnat any gentleman may talk thereon as long as the audience is willing to hear him. Mayor Welch, (of Louisiana) : I understand that this body has as- sembled here to formulate plans and put them into execution. We must carry out what resolutions we .plan. What we require in Louisiana is the foundation for a textile school, and I am here on behalf of the people of Alexandria to offer whatever ground may be required for this purpose, and will provide the building without cost to the State, also water and light for a term of five years; provided, a sufficient appropriation is made to maintain the institution in first-class order. (Applause.)^ Mr. Hunt: Mr. President and Gen- tlemen: 1 wish to congratulate the gentleman who has just taken his seat for being so practical, and it was my hope that I might be able to add something practical to this discussion which induced me to seek the floor and no disposition to make issue with the chair. The difficulty which lies at the very root of this matter is the present school system, or rather, want of system. The German and French schools are ahead of the American schools in this respect, and just as the German and French are :36 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention,. ahead of the American, so are the -New England schools ahead of •our Southern schools. Elementary science teaching must be introduced into the normal schools and more English taught. Then you can look to the time when you can begin to think of technical education. A man cannot be taught technical subjects unless he is acquainted with elemen- tary science. The student must be cultivated in this respect in order to fit him for a more advanced tech- nical course. (Applause.) Attention was here called to the five-minute rule made by the Con- vention, and although an extension was asked for, the Convention de- cided that no exception to this rule be made. Mr. V. W. Grubbs: You may build industrial colleges and you may es- tablish a curriculum in your public schools, but unless public sentiment is behind it, nothing will be accom- plished. My experience with the A. and M. College of Texas, bears out this assertion. A number of boys were lined up and asked "how many •of you boys want to oe blacksmiths, mechanics or machinists?" Not a hand was held up in response to thi- question, but when asked "how many of you boys wish to become lawyers, doctors or some other of the pro- fessions," all the boys held up their hands. They all want to be profes- sional men, and seem to think that the ordinary mechanical avocations are beneath the consideration of the young man who wishes to esteem himself educated. The first thins: we must do is to inspire a demand by people of all classes for these in- stitutions, and it must be accom- plished by organization. One of the most potent influences in our efforts to organize was the energetic Gover- nor of the State of Texas, and the State Legislature, which indorsed by a unanimous vote the establishment of industrial schools for the white Taoys and girls of the State of Texas, and they are the best that can be found. Dr. Lyman Hall: I agree with the remarks of the last speaker, that we must cultivate a sentiment in favor of industrial work in our children. "We found that to be the case in Geor- gia, when we established the School of Technology in Atlanta. In a cer- tain agricultural and mechanical col- lege in the South, the mechanical course was so involved with the agri- cultural and other courses that the graduates failed to obtain the full value of the mechanical and engi- neering courses, and though there were many graduates, I understand that there is not a single one of them now engaged in mechanical engi- neering. Mr. Cobb, of Florida: As an illus- tration of what has been said in regard to the value of technical ed- ucation, I may mention that I have two nephews, young men of equal ability. One of them was a gradu- ate of the Massachusetts School of Technology, and is earning $100 a month in Pennsylvania. The other with no technical education and only his hustling qualities is working a short distance from the first, and only earning half that salary. Mr. H. Austill, of Mobile: I heart- ily indorse the resolutions that this Convention has adopted calling upon the various States to establish tech- nical schools. I can allude to the experience of Alabama in regard to the establishment of an industrial school for girls. We are now knock- ing at the doors of the Legislature and asking for $100,000 to complete the great industrial school of Aia- bamr. The public sentiment of the South is in favor of having such schools, and I say that to call upon State Governors for Appropriations is in line with public sentiment, for the people are ready, the young peo- ple of the South are ready for S'lch schools, so let us establish them, and give them an opportunity to enter. (Applause.) This closed the discussion, and it was moved, seconded and carried, that the regular programme be now proceeded with. President Hargrove: I wish to an- nounce the following additional chairmen of committees: Re°l 17 '-- tate, Mr. W. C. H. Robinson; Pre=s. Mr. Erwin Craighead; Railroads, Mr. Geo. C. Power. The hour being 1 P. M.. the Con- vention then adjourned until 2 P. M. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION. ST President Hargrove called the af- ternoon session to order at 2:30 P. M., and announced tnat a short time had been granted to gentlemen rep- resenting fairs and expositions to outline their projects. W. J. Cameron, of Birmingham: L simply desire to offer to this Asso- ciation a short resolution with ref- erence to an International Industrial, Mineral and Metallic Exposition pro- posed to be held in Birmingham in. 1904. It is as follows: BIRMINGHAM EXPOSITION New Orleans, La., Dec. 4, 1900. Whereas, Birmingham, Alabama, the coal, iron and steel center of the South intends holding an Interna- tional Industrial, Mineral and Metal- ic Exposition in the fall of 1904 in order to display to the world, and especially to the countries tributary to the Nicaragua^ Canal the fact that all articles inco which iron and steel enter can be produced cheaper in the Birmingham district that any other known point in the United States; therefore be it Resolved, That this Convention in- dorses the enterprise of the citizens of Birmingham ana of the State of Alabama, and pledges to them its hearty co-operation and support in. this laudable undertaking. Mobile seconded the resolution,. which was carried. ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION. Lieut. Gov. -Elect Lee, of Missouri, sent up the following resolution: "Whereas the States included in the Louisiana Purchase, naving in convention assembled, provided by unanimous conjoint action that the centennial anniversary of the Louisi- ana Purchase be properly and appro- priately celebrated and commemo- rated, and that- such celebration oc- cur in the year 1903. the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Pur- chase, and that it be in the form of a great world's industrial exposition, to be held in the State of Missouri, and the City of St. Louis. Be it Resolved, That the delegates and members of the Southern Indus- trial Convention here assembled, ue- ing informed that such progress has been made in organizing and finan- cing the enterprise by the City of St. Louis, and the State of Missouri, as assures the success of the celebration and world's fair, hereby heartily in- dorse the undertaking and urge not only upon all the States of the Lou- isiana Purchase, but upon all tho Southern States. Cities and manufac- turers, especially to give to the en- terprise their hearty approval, advo- cacy and co-operation, in order that the industrial development of the South and West may be practically placed before the world's people, and. that the grand achievement of the greatest statesman of modern times, Thomas Jefferson, De properly cele- brated, and his memory crowned." Lieut. Gov.-Elect Lee speaking in support or this resolution said: For this exposition an appropriation has been made by Congress of $5,000,000, the City of St. Louis has voted $5,- 000,000, and the people of the State of Missouri have subscribed $1,000.- 000: therefore, we have practically $1.6,000,000 appropriated for it. (Ap- plause.) This exposition is intended to be such an industrial exposition that the people of the civilized world will come to see it. St. Louis is a city of the South, Southern: of the West, Western: of the East, East- ern, and of the North. Northern. We ask of this Convention that your heart go with your hands with us in this enterprise, and that your ap- proval be sanctioned by the God- speed of this Convention. (Ap- plause.) Mr. George Anderson. Secretary of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, requested that the resolution be read' S8 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, again, which was done by the Sec- retary. Mr. Anderson: Mr. Chairman, I beg your indulgence for just a sec- ond. I submit to the gentleman who has just spoken, as to whether simply the Southern States are to be asked to help in this. I come from Penn- sylvania, and I would suggest that the co-operation of the Northern cities be invited as well. President Hargrove: This is a Southern Convention and it cannot very well assume the risk to speak for other cities. Lieut. Gov. Lee: I can assure the gentleman from Pittsburg that he need not worry, as it is our inten- tion to call upon Pennsylvania and every other State in the Union, for their indorsement. The resolution was then adopted unanimously.- President Hargrove: Is the Charleston delegation present? If not, is the delegation from Buffalo here? The representatives from Charles- ton and Buffalo not being present, the subject was passed. President Hargrove then an- nounced the appointment of the fol- lowing Committee on Agriculture: Prof W. C. Stubbs, of Louisiana, Chairman; Mr. J. B. Killebrew, Ten- nessee; Dr. V. E. Oates, Mississippi; Mr. J. P. Adams, Louisiana; Col. R. R. Poole, Alabama; Major J. G. Lee, Louisiana; Hon. Frank Hill, Ar- kansas; Governor Norman J. Cole- man, Missouri; Hon. John Dymond, Louisiana; Mr. E. W. Kirkpatrick, Texas; Mr. A. V. Eastman, Louisi- ana; Dr. H. E. StockDridge, Florida; Judge Emile Rost, Louisiana; Mr. W. B. Smith Whaley, South Caro- lina; Col. Chas. Schuler, Louisi' ia; General John B. Gordon, Georgia. The regular programme was then resumed. THE RAILROADS OF THE SOUTH AND SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. BY HON. SAFFOLD BERNEY. Hon. Safford Berney introduced: Hon. Saffold Berney, of Mobile, Ala., read the following paper on "The Railroads of the South and Southern Industrial Development." Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: You can well appreciate the dif- fidence with which I stand here to- day, on sort notice, to act as the sub- stitute of Mr. Fish, the President of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany, to address you on the subject of "The Railroads of the South, and Southern Industrial Development." To what fortuitous circumstance I am indebted for the compliment, I do not know, unless it be because ■of my connections with another great railroad line — the Mobile and Ohio. and the further fact that when a younger man I compiled and pub- lished a modest brochure of the in- dustries and resources of the State of Alabama. Now, gentlemen, as you all know, Mr. Fish is one of the most distin- guished, able and best informed men of the country, and the head of one of its greatest railroads, and were he here to-day, I am sure that he would present the subject to you with a force and grasp entirely beyond my humble powers, under the most fav- orable auspices. And, although I know it to be baa to begin with an apology, I think it only simple justice to myself to state that while I am deeply sensible to the compliment paid me, and thank the gentlemen whose courtesy I am indebted, the invitation reached me at so late a day it has been impossi- ble for me to gather the data essen- tial to a proper presentation of a sub- _ ject so broad, interesting and of such vital importance, and for the same reason the Convention must pardon me for treating the subject so largely from an Alabama standpoint, as the flata regarding the other Southern States was not at hand, and I did not have time to collect it. However, the Held in N-ew. Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 89 subject can be very well illustrated by a review of the progress which Alabama has made since the war, in the great work of the development ox her industries and resources, because what is true of Alabama in this con- nection, is equally true of all tne Southern States; their growth and development on industrial lines, smce that time having equalled, if not sur- passed, Alabama. In 1865 the South emerged from the fiery crucible of a four years' war — desolate and impoverished. With fences fallen down, crops de- stroyed, fields abandoned and grown up in sedge, stock gone, railroads torn up and destroyed, industries paralyzed, a well-ordered and disci- plined slave labor given place to a demoralized and unreliable free, with many of her bravest and best, sleep- ing where the hail of battle had cut them down, or in the quiet home cemeteries to which loving hands had transferred their remains, with all about her the destruction that ever attends the tread of contending ar- mies, and with gloom and distrust filling the land, her people set about the difficult task of recuperation and to bring order out of chaos. In 1865 the South had but a few short lines of railroads. Many of us know the character and physical con- dition of those railroads at that time. In most instances the ravages of war had left them as General Gordon very forcibly expressed it on yester- day, little more than streaks of rust in the grass. Widely separated, of varying gauges, and all, or nearly all under separate and distinct adminis- trations; with shaky and unballasted road-beds, like an old fashioned iron rail, wood burning engine, hand brakes that took the strength of a Hercules to wind them up, time slow, connections uncertain, depots even in the same city far apart, and requir- ing transfer in vehicles, freight ser- vice unreliable, quick freight dis- patch unknown, and with a traffic of rates almost prohibitive — such were the railroads of the South at the close of the war. What a different picture the year 1900 presents. To-day many great systems of railroads traverse our Southern country, affording almost every section the means of quick, re- liable and safe transportation. With solid, stable, and in many instances, well ballasted road-Deds, heavy steel rails of the most improved patterns, union depots, quick and reliable time for both freight and passengers, sure and close connections, heavy coal- burning engines, freight cars of from sixty to one hundred thousand pounds capacity, low and constantly diminishing freight rates, the rail- roads of to-day have been the chief factors in the material development of the South since 1865. So much for the railroad. Now a few words in regard to the South's industrial de- velopment since the war, in some lines: Coal. The South is essentially rich in those twin powers — coal and iron, to whose agencies the world owes much of its civilization and material ad- vancement. In Alabama the meas- ures of bituminous coal are a source of great and almost inexhaustible wealth, and incite surprise whenever inquired into, both by reason of their extent, and the quality of the coal they contain. A knowledge of the State's im- mense hidden wealth in this re- spect began to dawn upon her people only a little more than a half century ago, for the ear- liest mention of the existence of coal in the State occurs about that time, in the first field notes of some of the county surveyors, wno spoke of having encountered a black sub- stance which resembled coal. About that time also, a physician, writing from the City of Mobile, spoke of us- ing Alabama coal in his "little labo- ratory," and finding it "in every re- spect equal, if not superior, to tne best English coal," and says "it is brought down to Mobile from Tusca- loosa in flat-bottomed boats, and sold at the same price as Liverpool coal, or, at from $1.00 to $1.50 pr barrel." A few years later the eminent State Geologist witnessed the novel method of diving for coal in Alabama, and described the primitive and amusing process. The first attempt at regular coal mining in the State was in 1849, 200 persons being engaged in the coal trade of the State, at that time, and taking the bulk of the coal from the bed of the Warrior River and other 90 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention streams, where, of course, operations could go on only during the low stages of the water, the coal being floated down the streams in flat- boats. The industry progressed slowly before, during and for a number of years after the war/ and it was not until the completion of the Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad, (now a part of the great Southern Railway System); the South and North Ala- bama <& Chattanooga Railroad, (now equally great system, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad) ; and the Ala- bama & Chattanooga Railroad, (now the Alabama Great Southern Rail- road), all traversing, more or less, the mineral region of the State, that it assumed anything like its present proportions. In 1870 the coal output in Alabama was 13,200 tons; and as late as 1874, the increase in the State's produc- tion was attributed by a then mine owner to the fact that "the South and North Railroad is using coal as fuel," and another writer of the time plaintively said "could we but in- duce our iron-masters to use our coal, either in its raw state or man- ufactured into coke, nothing forbids our springing into position as one of the first coal producing States of the Union." A prophecy which has been literally fulfilled. In the calendar year 1899, the Out- put of coal in Alabama was 7,593,416 tons, and it is estimated that the State's output for the calendar year 1900, will be 9,000,000 tons, and still the coal mining industry in the State can hardly be said to have passed. its infancy. What will it be when it has reached its full stature? The coal development in the other Southern States during the last de- cade or so has been equally as great, if not greater. In West Virginia the output in 1880 was 1,829,844 tons; in 1899 it was 19,252,995 tons. In Vir- ginia the output in 1S80 was 2,559 tons; in 1899 it was 2,105,791 tons. In Kentucky the output in 1880 was 946.288 tons; in 1899 it was 4.607,255 tons. In Tennessee, in 1880, the out- put was 641,142 tons; in 1889 it was 3.330,659 tons. In Missouri, in 1880, the output was 844,304 tons; in 1899 It was 3,025,814 tons. In Texas, by the tenth census, which covers the year ending June 30th, 1880, there was no coal production; in 1&99, the output was 883,832 tons. In Arkan- sas the output in 1880 was 14,778 tons; in 188-9 it was 843,554 tons. In this great development the rail- roads have been the chief factor — in the extension of their main lines and in the building of innumerable branches to reach the coal measures and mines and to furnish transpor- tation for the products thereof to the various markets of the United States and to the tide-water. And in this connection, and as an illustration di- rectly in point of what the railroads have done and are doing for the de- velopment of the coal industry of the South, I may say here in pass- ing that I am informed that the Southern Railway Company has buuu a transfer pier at Greenville, Miss., to give Alabama shippers the lower Mississippi River trade, and nave a line of barges in the trade along the river to aid and assist in tnis' direc- tion the competition of Alabama coal with the Pittsburg product; that the coal companies of Alabama have now secured reliable and cheap transpor- tation for their coal, and Louisiana is reaping the benefit of it in a cheap and excellent supply for its great sugar factories; and I have no don that this beautiful and interesting City of New Orleans, at once the pride and glory of the South, its chief emporium and greatest mar- ket, will share in the benefit to be derived from cheap Alabama coal for manufacturing purposes, and will be- come some day, as great in manufac- turing as she is nuw in a commer- cial way. (Applause.) 1 Iron. Turning now to that other great factor in the world's progress— iron, we find that its development in Ala- bama and the other Southern States has kept pace with that of coal. I greatly regret that the limited time at my disposal has not enabled me to acquire the data necessary to speak of the iron development in the other Southern States, and I must therefore confine my remarks to Ala- bama. In the extent and quality of its iron deposits, Alabama is unques- Held in Nciv Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 91 tionably one of the richest States of the Union. What is known as the Red Mountain deposit, is one of the mineral wonders of the world. This vast bed of fossillferous ore runs from a point a few miles east of Tuscaloosa to the northeastern limit of the State, and is said to be 100 miles in length, by from half a mile to a mile in width; and the stratum at the point where it is intersected by the South and North Alabama Railroad, is about 30 feet in thick- ness. This great deposit is now reached •by a number of railroads, with their main lines and numerous branches, affording the furnaces of the State transportation facilities of the first ■order. In 1865, very little pig iron was manufactured in Alabama; and so late as 1876, the annual production was but 24,732 tons. In 1899 the production was 1,083,- 905 tons. ' Cotton Mills. Turning now from the mineral world to the manufacturing, I will next briefly speak of cotton manu- facturing in the South. In this line, we find the development as remark- able as that of coal and iron. The South, especially the cotton States, is the natural situs of the cot- ton mill, and, in he judgment of many well-informed men, it is only a question of time when she will do the bulk of cotton manufacturing, especially of the heavier and coarser goods, yarns in skein, and in warps, carpet twine and rope, etc. I have not space or time to speak here of the profits of this industry, or of the reasons which have contributed to its growth — such as proximity of th° raw material and of cheap coal for steam purposes, cheap and tractable labor, mild climate, nor of the ben- efits to accrue to the State from the building of cotton mills, in the em- ployment of its people and the in- crease of its wealth — but only of its growth. And here again, for the reason already stated, namely: want of time to gather the necessary data regarding the other Southern States, I must confine myself almost ex- clusively to cotton manufacturing in Alabama; but as I have stated above, of coal and iron, what is true of Ala- bama in respect to cotton manufac- turing is equally true of the other Southern States. In 1870, there were only thirteen small cotton and woollen mills in Alabama, located on streams afford- ing water power, and remote from transportation, and employing about 1,000 hands, whose annual wages • amounted to about $200,000. To-day (1890) there are in operation in the State forty such mills, having 55u,- \939 spindles, and 13,7*3 looms. I have not the data for comparison as regards the other Southern States and can state only the number of mills, spindles and looms in 1890, in such of them as have shown the greatest increase, as reported by the Manufacturer's Record, of Baltimore,, of date February 22nd, 1900. These* are as follows:) In Georgia, mills, 100; spindles, 1,- 115,556; looms, 27,168. Mississippi, mills, 14; spindles, 119,254; looms, 3,333. North Carolina, mills, 209; spindles, 1,424,581; looms, 34,942. South Carolina, mills, 105; spindles, 1,857,036; looms, 51,851. Tennessee, mills, 27; spindles, 178,520; looms, 3,- 732. It will be seen from these fig- ures that the old North State is en- titled to the banner as regards the number of its mills; but that South Carolina is ahead of her in spindles and looms, with Georgia pressing close behind and Alabama making a very creditable showing. Lumber, Timber, Coke, Lime, Naval Stores, Phosphates, Marble, and Market and Fruit Gardening. The growth of these industries in the South has kept pace with the development of the mineral resources of the South, owing to the aid and encouragement extended them by tae railroads and cheap railroad trans- portation to the markets of this country and the outside world. It is impossible to give statistics concerning these industries as none such are kept. We all know, how- ever, how truck and fruit gardening in the South, for Northern, Eastern and Western markets has grown, un- der the fostering care of the rail- roads, and by reason of quick and re- liable dispatch and low rates of freight; and the shipments of lumber and timber from the Atlantic and 92 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Gulf ports, have greatly increased in volume, for similar reasons, until tu day there is shipped annually from the Port of Mobile about 300,000,000 feet, and from the Port of Pensacola about 400,000,000 feet. I fear I have bored you, gentle- men, with an array of dreary figures, but dreary as they may be, they are full of hope and encouragement, and foreshadow a glorious future for our Southern country, and must convince us that, remarkable as has been the progress in the past in the develop- ment of the South's wonderful natural resources and her manufacturing in- dustries, there does not seem to be a doubt that the future has in store for us even grander things, and that in this development, as in the past, the railroads will be the most potent factors. (Applause.) Mr. George C. Power, Chairman of the Committee on Railroads then submitted the following report: Whereas, the railroads of the South are heartily in accord with the objects proposed to be accomplished by this Convention; be it Resolved, That they pledge their earnest and persistent support in aid of all measures destined to advance the material development of the South along all practical lines. After some random discussion as t*.j whether the railroads were, or were not, opposed to the Nicaragua Canal project, it was finally declared that they were not, and the report as read was unanimously adopted. WIDER MARKETS FOR THE SOUTH. BY HON. F. B. THURBER, President United States Export Association. President Hargrove: The next speaker on the programme is Mr. F. B. Thurber, President, United States Expert Association, who will address you on the subject "Wider Markets for the South." Mr. F. B. Thurber, before pro- ceeding to read this paper said: I feel that I have almost as many friends in the South as in the North, and am therefore glad to be with you and feel quite at home in addressing the Southern Industrial Convention. It is Bacon who said that "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man." Therefore, I have committed what I have to say to you to paper so as to clearly marshal the facts. Mr. Thurber then proceeded to read the following paper: Wider Markets for the South. Up to beginning of the last half of the present century it was the pastoral or agricultural age, but then, with the advent of steam, elec- tricity and machinery, it became the industrial age. It has taken the people of the Southern States nearly fifty years to realize this fact and that in her for- ests, mines and factories the South has resources which m the next fifty years will equal, if not outstrip in- value, those of her fertile fieius, of which it is literally true: "Tickle them with a spade and they will laugh a harvest." With such resources in agriculture it was perhaps natural that they should overlook their other advan- tages and allow less favored sections of our country to take the lead in the march of industry. There may be other reasons also, but certainly it is that up to very recently a majority in the South have been governed by political traditions and shiboletns that are "has beens." The words "protection" and "sub- sidy," owing to abuses of these good words, have jarred on many ears both North and South, but especially on those of Southern statesmen, until the logic of events in other countries and other sections has forced them to look on both sides of the question. This is evidenced by a debate in the Senate of the United States, Febru- ary 16, 1900. When the Postal Appropriation Bill was under discussion, the sub- ject of a special appropriation for fast railway mail service between the North and South was under consid- eration, and the following remarks of Held Nezv Orleans, December 4-7, ^igoo. 93 Southern Senators are notable (see pp. 2086 and 2089 of Congressional Jlecord.) . Mr. Sullivan, of Mississippi: "I have taken pains to investigate and to find out and to know that with- out this subsidy we cannot get- this service, and every other section of the country has the same service mat we now ask." Mr. Money, of Mississippi, said: ''As a matter of fact I am one of those who favor this amendment, not ^because I am a friend of the railroads, but because I have numberless let- ters from cities and from business firms, from chambers of commerce, and everything else from here to New Orleans, asking me to stand by the appropriation. "Now I want to say that I am a little more familiar, perhaps, with this particular subject-matter than a great many others who are here be- fore me. When I was chairman of the Post Office Committee of the House, about twenty years ago, in conjunction with the Post Office De- partment, I began to see what could be done to institute fast mails over the whole of the United States or to improve the facilities on the trunk lines, as they are called. I myself,, and the Department also, engaged in a large correspondence, and I recol- lect very distinctly that the great transcontinental lines of road point- edly refused to take the proposed extra pay, the extra allowance, be- cause they said they could not afford to do it, and the only line on which It is put into operation was one that did originally run from Boston to Tampa, "A very curious thing happened there. We wanted to get the mail to Havana and there was no authority •on the part of the Postmaster-Gen- eral to make a contract except for sea postage, with any steamer. I put in the bill a provision that placed Ha- vana, as far as transportation was concerned, within the domestic com- merce, so that the Postmaster-Gen- eral was enabled to make a contract with the Plant System of railroads, which built the steamers which are y?t plying, the Mascot and the Oli- vette to carry that service. "This same subsidy, as you term It — the bill does not call it that; it calls it extra facilities for fast mail or trunk lines — this same service was enjoyed for a great many years by the Seaboard Air Line." Mr. Bacon, of Georgia, said: "Mr. President, what has been said by the Senators from Mississippi will make it unnecessary for me to repeat some things which I otherwise myself would have said. I desire, however, to present to the Senate the consid- eration that this is a most important matter to the business of a very wide extent of our country. All the busi- ness communities of the territory south of this are vitally interested in the retention of this item in the bill. * * * "Mr. President, Senators who live in the North and West do not appre- ciate the difficulties in a business re- lation which are encountered in sparsely settled communities, because all of those States are comparatively sparsely settled. What is the conse- quence of that fact? The conse- quence is that it is impossible for the railroads in their ordinary busi- ness to run the number of trains or the character of trains which can be afforded by railroads running through thickly settled communities and thickly settled States." Mr. Morgan, of Alabama: It strikes me now that this is the best reason I have ever heard. It cer- tainly is the best one ever addressed to my mind for voting for this rather peculiar subsidy; but there are other places and other railroads that are subsidized. Whether it is done in the body of the act and by some distinctive appropriation or not makes no difference. I suppose if you take the actual cost of transmit- ing a letter from New York to San Francisco, it will amount to a quarter of a dollar, but we must make up this contribution from the general taxation of the country, so that those people can get their mail at the same rate of postage we do and with the same degree of speed also. It is a matter of enormous concern to all the business interests of the United States that that should be the case." Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina said: "Mr. President, as a general proposition, I am opposed to subsi- dies of any and all kinds. But there are to rhy mind special reasons why 94 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. this one may be an exception, and therefore two years ago, and I be- lieve last year, when we had the ap- propriation bill for the Post Office Department before the Senate, I voted for the subsidy for the South- ern mail, and I do not know but that I had a few remarks to make upon the subject." Three-quarters of the mail routes in the United States are to-day sub- sidized in the sense that the postage collected on them does not equal the cost of the service. Only one- quarter have developed sufficient business to pay a profit. Stop sub- sidy on land and it would stop three- quarters of the mall routes in the United States to-day. In this day and generation "the field is the world" in commerce as well as reli- gion, and why not apply this princi- ple on the sea as well as on land? It matters not whether you call it mail pay or subsidy. It is fair pay for a service rendered, and whether it is freight trains or fast mails, freight vessels or express steamers, there must be an equivalent for the service. If. we can tempt capital into harnessing steam and electricity and applying it to transportation, whether on sea or land, nine-tenths of the benefit will inure to the pub- lic, and only one-tenth to capital. No better evidence of this is possi- ble than is furnished in a recent ar- ticle by Hon. 0. P. Austin, Chief of the United States Bureau of Statis- tics, in the North American Review, entitled "A Century of International Commerce." The marked advance in the inter- change of commodities was simultan- eous with the development of the steamship and railway, and that the growth of the one was coincident with that of the other. The applica- tion of steam to transportation of merchandise by rail began in Eng- land in 1825, and in the United States in 1830, the number of miles of rail- way in the world in 1830 being about 200. In that year, the world's com- merce, according to the best esti- mates obtainable, was $1,981,000,000, as against $1,659,000,000 in 1820, an increase in the decade of barely sev- enteen per cent., while in the pre- ceding decades of the century the increase had been even less. By 1840, railways had increased to 5,420 miles*, and commerce had increased to $2,~ 789,000,000, an increase of forty per- cent. From 1840 to 1850, railways in- creased to 23,960 miles, and com- merce had increased to $4,049,000,000,. a gain of forty-five per cent. By I860, the railways had increased to 67,350 miles and commerce to $7,- 246,000,000, an increase of seventy- nine per cent. By 1870, the railroads had increased to 139,860 miles and commerce to $10,663,000,000; by 1880, the railroads had increased to 224,- 900 miles and commerce to $14,761,- 000,000; by 1890, the lines of railroad amounted to 390,000 miles and com- merce to $17,519,000,000, and, in 1898, the railroad lines aggregated 442,- 200 miles, and commerce $19,915,000,- 000. A single instance will indicate- the development which the railroad gives to the commerce of a country.. India, with three hundred millions of population and 22,000 miles of rail- way, has seen her commerce increase nearly sixty per cent, in the past twenty-five years, while that of China, with nearly four hundred mil- lions of people, but no railways, has increased but about thirty per cent, in that time. In the meanwhile, steam had also revolutionized the carrying trade on ocean. The first steamship crossed the ocean in 1819, and the total steam tonnage afloat in 1820 is estimated at. 20,000 tons, against 5,814,000 of sail tonnage. By 1840, steam tonnage ha/! increased to 368,000, while sail had grown to 9,012,000; by 1860, steam had reached 1,710,000, while sail was 14.S90.000; by 1870, steam tonnage- was 3,040,000, and sail had dropped to 13,000,000; by 1880, steam had be- come 5,880,000, and sail 14,400,000; by 1890, steam had reached -9,u40, 000, and sail had dropped to 12,640.000: and. in 1898, the stealn tonnage was estimated at 13,045,000, and the sail*, tonnage at 11,045,000. The rapidity of growth of steam transportation, however, can only be realized when it is remembered that the steam ves- sel, by reason of its superior speed, size and ability to cope with all kinds of weather, is able to make four times as many voyages in a year as- a sailing vessel, and that, in compar- ing the steam tonnage of the late de- cades with the sail tonnage of the Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 9; earlier one, the former must be mul- tiplied by four to give it a proper comparison with the unit of sail ton- nage. Reducing the steam tonnage to that of the standard of measure- ment at the beginning of the cen- tury, we find that the carrying power • of vessels on the ocean had increased from 4,026,000 tons in 1880 to 18,- 482,000 in 1840, 21,730,000 in 1860, 37,- 900,000 in 1890, and 63,225,000 in 1898- Population Newspapers and periodicals published Post offices in existence Telegraph messages sent Miles of railway in operation 9, of which last enormous total but 11,450,000 was sailing tonnage." This remarkable exhibit is further emphasized by a recent address by Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury, upon the progress of the United States, in which was grouped, perhaps, the most remark- able array of statistics the world has ever seen; — progress, progress every- where except in our foreign ship- ping. Per ct. Inc. or dec. 1899. 1870-1899 1870. 38,558,371 !5,871 28,492 9,157,646 52,992 76,148,000 21,178 75,000 76,895,175 M86.810 Tons of freight carried one mile ..a39,302,209,249 bl44,556,173,191 1.94 Average freight rate per ton per mile Tonnage of vessels passing through Sault Ste. Marie Canal ........ Bushels of wheat produced ........ Bushels of corn produced .......... Pounds of cotton produced ...... Bales of cotton (domestic) taken by mills Tons of coal produced Gallons of petroleum Tons of pig iron produced .......... Tons of steel produced Exports of manufactures of iron and steel .... ......... Exports of manufactures Exports of agricultural products . . Total exports Total imports $435,959,408 Deposits in savings banks $549,874,358 American vessels — Domestic Trade 2,729,707 Foreign Trade 1,516,800 Great Lakes only 684,704 a— 1882. b— 1898. 690,826 235,884,700 1,094,255,000 1,451,401,357 857,000 32,863,000 185,262,962 1,665,179 68,750 $11,002,900 $68,279,764 $361,118,483 $392,771,768 .75 21,958,347 547,303,843 2,078,143,933 5,793,689,282 3,632,000 bl96,405,953 b2,325,297,786 bll,773,934 b8,932,857 $93,716,031 $238,667,794 $784,999,090 $1,227,023,302 $697,149,489 $2,230,366,954 4,015,992 848,246 1,446,348 inclOO inc261 incl63 inc739 inc252 incl92 dec61 inc3079 inc!33 inc89 inc299 inc324 inc498 incll55 inc607 incl2893 inc752 inc396 incll7 inc212 inc60 inc327 inc47 dec44 inclll Secretary Gage in alluding to this exhibit says: "The only dark spot on this record of the nation's progress is our failure in the carrying trade upon the high seas. This record must, and will be, improved. Political considerations compel a solution of the shipping question. Our people, our law mak- ers, our President, appreciate that our industrial independence will not be established, our geographical pos- sibilities will not be realized, our nat- ural aspirations will not be satis- fied until we record as signal suc- cesses, in the most highly-organized line of modern activity, international navigation, as in agriculture, manu- factures, and transportation within our own confines." With a coast line greater than that of any other nation; with a nation of marine instincts; with traditions from Paul Jones to George Dewey in an unbroken record of intelligence and intrepidity, we have tolerated a 96 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, policy towards our foreign shipping which has handicapped effort and discouraged investment until it is nothing short of a national disgrace. It is as absurd for the United States to rely upon foreign snips to distribute our products as it would be for one business house to depend upon the wagons of a competing house to make its deliveries. Every ship is a missionary of trade, and steam lines worK for their own countries just as railway lines work for their terminal points. The importance of an American Merchant Marine cannot be better summarized than in the resolutions adopted by the National Board of Trade at its last annual convention, a Commercial Congress composed of delegates from forty of the principal commercial organizations of the United States, including the New Or- leans Board of Trade and the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce. The resolutions were: Whereas, United States vessels in 1826 carried 92 per cent, of the Na- tion's imports and exports, 81 per cent, in 1845, 75 per cent, in 1856, and only 8 per cent, in 1899, showing a lamentable decline in our merchant marine in the foreign trade, owing to the fact that it is conducted on a free-trade basis; and, Whereas, The tonnage of vessels in the coasting trade, in which foreign competition is absolutely forbidden, increased from 722,330 in 1826 to 1,- 223,218 in 1845, and to 2,247.663 in 1856, and to 3,965,313 in 1899, thus demonstrating the ability of this country to meet all of its needs in the matter of shipping when proper/ y protected; and, Whereas. The United States is now paying to foreign ship owners nearly $200,000,000 annually to do our ocean carrying trade, which sum increases yearly; and, Whereas, The enormous decline in our ocean merchant marine is due to the lo^er waees paid abroad and to the subsides paid by foreign govern- ments, Great Britain alone, according to document "No. 470. miscellaneous series" issued by the British Govern- ment in 1899, paying last year $3,- 266,380 in "nostal subsidies" and $233,005 additional ti the same steamship lines in "n?.val subven- tions," while for mere wages alone the cost of operating an American ship is almost exactly one-and-a-half times the cost of operating a similar British ship; and the same difference in wages gives greater advantages to foreigners in every way, includ- ing lower cost in the construction of ships; and, Whereas, The protective principle should be extended to our shipping, in the foreign trade, that it may be built up as has been done in the case of other industries, including our coastwise shipping; and, Whereas, The profitable employ- ment of the surplus productive power of the farms, factories, mines, for- ests and fisheries of the United States imperatively demands the increase of its foreign commerce; ana, Whereas, The merchant vessels, of- ficers, engineers,, machinists, elec- tricians and seamen necessary to the increase of the commerce of the United States are also essential as auxiliary to the forces of the United States in time of war and otherwise, and to the better security of the na- tion and the protection of its posses- sions; and, Whereas, It is deemed especially expedient to make immediate pro- vision to these ends; therefore, This memorial of the National Board of Trade assembled in Wash- ington, January 23, 1900, respectfully represents to the Honorable House of Representatives and Senate of the United States that the delegates now here, representing all sections of our country, find it to be a matter of su- preme interest that our foreign ex- ports have now reached the largest figures ever known, and offer further opportunities for increase in still wider fields. To give force and emphasis to these opportunities, and to give some permanence to the exceptional ad- vantages of the past year, this coun- try needs a revival of its merchant marine. Your memorialist, the National Board of Trade, respectfully repre- sents that the Prye Senate Bill or the Payne House Bill will be effec- tive to this end. The principles em- bodied in these Bills have met the approval of the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Held in New Orleans December 4-7, 1900. 97 Treasury and the Commissioner of Navigation, and they have been in- dorsed by nearly every trade and commercial organization in the coun- try, and by the press to an extent which shows an overwhelming senti- ment in their favor. The argument for an American merchant marine has had the further distinct recommendation of foreign delegates to the recent Export Con- vention as essential for the further cementing of trade relations with the countries they severally represented. In view of these considerations, your memorialist, the National Board of Trade, looks with confidence for your early and favorable action on this subject. Transportation on Land. On land our unequalled railway ser- vice has given us a great advantage. Our railways carry our products 1,- 000 miles to our seaboard for less than foreign railways carry them two hundred miles inland from their seaboard; and, as a whole, our rates in this country are only about one- half those of other countries, while in safety, speed and comfort we are immeasurably superior; and yet, in legislative halls ana in the jury-box, we find a considerable element of hostility to our railroad interests. They are looked upon by some as the original trusts, but they have done more to develope the United States than any other single agency, and the great need of large sections of country is more railroads. This is illustrated by the following table, showing the density of railroads in different localities: Number of Miles of Line per 100 Sq. Miles-of State. Territory. New Jersey 30.01 Massachusetts 26.43 Pennsylvania 22.03 Ohio 21.43 Illinois 19.38 Iowa 15.35 Kansas 10.76 Nebraska , 7.29 Virginia 9.16 South Carolina 8.91 Georgia 9.30 Mississippi 5.79 Louisiana 5.51 Texas 3.68 California 3.51 Montana 2.01 Oregon 1.69 Will railroads be built as fast as is desirable if in sections where they have been constructed they are treated as if they were public ene- mies to be constantly legislated against, their rates reduced by law and their taxes increased. A tax of ten per cent, upon the net earnings of a mercantile house would be deemed exhorbitant, yet, on one great railroad system with which I am fa- miliar, its taxes amount to eighteen per cent, of its revenue. Railroads pay a larger percentage of their earn- ings for taxes and labor than any other business in existence, and yet, only last week, I saw that the State of Kentucky had largely advanced the assessments on the railroads of that State. In the mining regions when a trader grubstakes a miner and he finds a good strike, does the miner crawfish on a fair divide? I have yet to hear of such a case; but when a man of unusual energy and enter- prise conceives a railroad, gathers a hundred or a thousand partners as stockholders, builds it and charges five cents a mile for carrying a pas- senger with comfort where it had previously cost ten cents by stage with discomfort, or two cents per mile per ton of freight, where it had cost ten cents by wagon— and the railroad is there and can't be moved —some public-spirited citizen (gener- ally a candidate for office) suggests that the great monopoly is charging too much, and that charges should be reduced one-half. I do not say that railroads or other aggregations of capital, known as "trusts," are without sin, or that they should not be regulated and controlled if they do what is unreasonable, but I do say when capital has grubstaked labor or has created values without any labor on the part of the public, as is often the case, it is entitled to equitably share in the profits. But few commodities have declined in price as much as transportation. This is illustrated by the following table, showing the average receipts per ton per mile on leading railroads 98 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, for the years 1870, 1880, 1890 and 1898, inclusive: Railway Lines. 1860. 1880. Lines Bast of Chicago 1.61 .87 West and Northwest lines 2.61 1.44 Southwestern lines 2.95 1.65 Southern lines 2.39 1.16 Transcontinental lines 4.50 2.21 Average 1-99 1.17 1890. 1898. .63 55 1.00 .94 1.11 .94 .80 .62 1.50 .99 .91 .72 This result has been attained largely through combinations and consolidations, which, contrary to cue impression generally entertained, have not resulted in abolishing com- petition, but have resulted in econo- mies of operation and improvement of service, accompanied with a steady reduction in rates. Passenger rates have not declined as largely as freight rates, but there has been a material decline in the period covered by the above statis- tics, while the quality of the service has been greatly improved, with a corresponding increase in its cost to the railway. The railroad of twenty years ago, with its equipment, would not be tolerated to-day. How many of us appreciate the privilege of stepping into a parlor on wheels and being hurled through space at the rate of forty miles an hour, with as much safety as if we sat in our drawing- rooms or were sleeping in our beds at home? At every hour of the day and night the iron horse is speeding over this great country, guided by clear-eyed and strong-armed drivers, drawing a freightage of life and property be- yond estimate. How little the public knows of the wonderful system and the number- less signals and appliances necessary to accomplish this result? While railroad rates, as a whole, are more than reasonable in this country, unjust discriminations be- tween shippers and between localities exist, which are detrimental alike to the railroads and the public. Con- cessions are granted to large ship- pers which give them an undue ad- vantage over small ones, and give rise to public prejudice which finds its expression in legislation and in the jury-box; rates are reasonable, but uniformity and stability are lack- ing. The economy of operation largely depends upon the volume of business. The shipper in a sparsely settled country with small business does not appreciate this. He sees that rates in some sections are much higher than those in others, and falls an easy prey to the politicians who ad- vocate a reduction. Yet, the sure net returns to the investor, including freedom from unjust legislation, are indicated by the relative prices of stocks in three of the great divisions above noted: Ton Mile Rate. Lines East of s Chicago ......... 55 Transcontinental lines 99" Southern lines 62 Price of Stock. Penna. R. R. N. Y. C. R. R. 141 138 Southern Pacific. Union Pacific. 45 Preferred 76 Common 59 Southern Ry. Preferred 66 Common 17 The Reverand Sam Jones says: "There is no dount the aggrega- tion of wealth, with "brains controll- ing it, can manufacture any article cheaper than it is or has been manu- factured on a small scale. The great railroad combinations, many think, will eat us up blood rare. Occasion- ally, I get a little jerk-water road that is not in the combination, and I want to double my accident poli- cies and be satisfied with a 15-mile- an-hour gait and console myself with the idea that I can ride all day for a dollar, but when I get on the Penn- sylvania or Vanderbilt system of roads, with their schedules forty miles an hour vestibule trains, with Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 99 parlor cars, sleeping cars, dining cars, I have a hotel on wheels carry- ing me toward my destination, and all this for about two cents a mile. Give me the road that is in the com- bine to carry me where I am going." In our foreign commerce, the large organizations of capital, known as "trusts," are doing a work in ex- tending American markets that it would be impossible ror smaller units of capital to accomplish. The organization of industry has appeared so suddenly that the pub- lic was startled, as a good horse will shy at an umbrella wnen it is opened suddenly in his face, but let hint smell of it and see that it is not dangerous his alarm subsides — thus will it be with trusts. Their evil will be eliminated, their good will be developed, their usefulness to man- kind demonstrated, and the bogy which the rivalries of sensational journalism and partisan politics have conjured up will fade into thin air. The United States Export Associa- tion was organized five years ago as a union of American interests to widen American marKets. Its mem- bership now comprises leading houses in 98 principal lines of indus- try situated in 34 States. In connec- tion with kindred organizations it is doing a great work in widening our markets, especially for manufac- tured products, ana thus furnishing remunerative employment for labor and capital. We have carefully studied the problem and while many minor requisites are important, the most important is the development and fostering of our transportation system, both on sea and land. We pay two hundred millions of dollars a year to foreign ships to carry our exports. An expenditure of ten mil- lions a year in subsidies would in- crease the supply of tonnage and re- duce these rates twenty per cent, saving forty millions a year in freights and give us the markets o£ the world. Would this be good busi- ness? Iron, Cotton and Coal are the Keystones in the World's Com- mercial structure. Of these we have inexhaustible resources yet as com- pared with one little country, Great Britain, we export of Iron only fifty per cent., of Manufactured Cottons ten per cent., and of Coal five per cent. Foster our transportation in- terests and in a few years we can< transpose these figures and make this country the world's centre of ex- change. (Applause.) COASTWISE WATER COMMUNICATION. BY N. B. KELLY, Secretary of the Trades League, Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. N. B. Kelly, Secretary of the Trades League, Philadelphia, Pa., read the following paper on "Coast- wise Water Communications Be- tween Ports:" "Ladies and Gentlemen: At the last meeting of the Southern Indus- trial Convention, I advocated the es- tablishment of Coastwise Steamship Lines, and since then we have estab- lished a steamship line between Phil- adelphia and Savannah, sailings every four days, each way. This line of steamers, while only being in op- eration from the first day of Octo- ber, has already acquired more busi- ness than it can conveniently carry in two ships, and we understand it is the intention of the management to put on another ship in the very near future, making the sailings semi-weekly. "It is of advantage to all ports in the South to have direct' water communication with one or more of the Northern Seaboard cities, as by this means it enables you not only to transport your goods at a reduced cost, but has a tendency to keep the all-rail rates down. "These steamship lines are not only a benefit to the seaboard cities, but a help to all interior cities con- tiguous to seaboard points. We to- day reach most of the larger towns in Tennessee. Florida, Georgia, Mis- sissippi and Alabama by this new line. "It would be greatly to the advan- tage of New Orleans if she had di- 100 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, rect water communication with Phil- adelphia, as shipments from Phila- delphia that go by water to-day to New Orleans have to be transhipped to New York, thus causing additional handling, which is of no benefit to the commodity shipped. "It is contended by some that these water lines are inimical to the rail transportation lines. In this I dis- agree, believing the more water lines that you can secure from your port, either coastwise or foreign, is of benefit to the rail lines having their termini in your city. We to-day are carrying via the Savannah line from Savannah, cotton, naval stores, pig iron, lumber and other commodities. N. B. KELLY, SECRETARY OF THE TRADES LEAGUE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. which are being transhipped from Philadelphia by our export steam- ship lines to foreign ports. All of which has a tendency to bund up your city and indirectly help your railroads. "I trust that ere we have another meeting of the Southern Industrial Convention that the merchants of New Orleans will have progressed to tne extent of securing direct water communication between your port and the city that I have the honor to represent. Should you do so, I can assure you that the Port of Phil- adelphia will welcome the line with open arms, and the organization back of me will do everything it possibly can to encourage such an enterprise." Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 101 Foreign Trade a Necessary Factor In Southern Industrial Devel- opment. "It is unnecessary to analyze the marvelous development of Southern industries. The whole press of the United States, and an important part of the foreign press, have recently overflowed with astonishing tables and surprising statements — state- ments and tables which individually and collectively prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the great territory south of Mason and Dixon's Line has taken its place, as a wealth- winner, side by side with the best trained, best equipped, wealth pro- ducing sections of the world. "Moreover, it must be admitted that the prophesies for the new year and the new century into which we shall presently enter, derive their glowing colors from the splendid in- dustrial future which is promised to the people of the South. There is undoubtedly a broad basis of truth, underlying these statements of strik- ing conditions in the present; much truth in these happy predictions of greater commercial triumphs in times to come; and it is well within the bounds of conversatism to say, that the South has developed mar- velously along industrial lines, out- stripping, in such development, the most sanguine hopes of her American and European well-wishers and true friends (in the North.) "But even while this chorus of congratulations is at the full, and the future seems to hold no discon- certing shadow, it may be the part of wisdom to look facts squarely in the face — wise to turn for a few moments from the present day, bril- liant with promises fulfilled, and scan the days to come for complications, which, if allowed to continue their development unchecked, may bring a slackening in the present rate of growth and development, in that mighty commercial empire, me Great Sunny South, unless foreign markets are provided. "The healing balm of peace, the fusing of influence of increasing com- mercial intimacy, and the rough hand of foreign war, each in its own pe- culiar way has worked to expunge from National memory, from Na- tional geography, from National pol- icy, the old and bitter thing called Sectionalism. To-day we are the United States in fact, as well as in fiction. Prosperity for the South is prosperity for the North, the West, the East — for every State in the Union. "But while this beneficent combi- nation of circumstances has obliter- ated sectional lines, and brought us as a people to a common interest in things commercial, it has been pow- erless to neutralize wholly certain civil war "after-math," or dissipate all of the old war- legacies. The great Southern States, during the Civil War, sacrificed men and money with a prodigal hand — dispersed a great reserve of national wealth, while other portions of the country were conserving men and money with a skill born of social and com- mercial conditions, wholly at vari- ance with the social and commercial training and traditions of the South. As a consequence of this difference in sectional policy, wnen the nation came to make count of her individual millionaries, the proportion resident beyond the limits of the Southern States was found to be heavily against that section. And because of this condition, the South, with its undeveloped natural resources, its limited railway mileage, its unopened and unoccupied mineral and farm lands, stands to-day in need of a greater capitalization, per acre and individual, than does any other sec- tion of the United States. "This new capital, so necessary to her continuous development, the South has already commenced to win and accumulate. But with the mul- titudinous demands upon her purse, charged with the repair of waFTav- ages, hampered by slow healing wounds in the body politic, commer- cial and social, her earnest, honest and intelligent effort to accumulate wealth has been forced to carry a handicap, from which the North and East and West have been largely free. The , wonder is that, carrying such a burden, working under such inauspicious conditions, she has been able to m°ke so much real progress towards the goal of wealth. But even with the largest estimate of wealth accumulated is accepted as correct, the South stands to-day, la 102 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, the eyes of her best friends, a sec- tion which pre-eminently requires new capital for her industries and continuous employment for her no- ble people. "New England may contemplate with equanimity a temporary hush in the hum of her whirling spindles, for the accumulated wealth of that old and populous section (a sectional fund of wealth handed down from father to son, through generations working wholly outside of a war- disturbed area), may be relied upon to carry the people and section through all stresses of times in the financial and commercial world. Such accumulated capital may also be re- lied upon to place New England man- ufacturers in a position to take ad- vantage of the first turn of the tide, and, fully equipped, to enter into the world's great competition, the equal of the latest, best and strongest' com- mercial rival. The Middle States, the Central West, and even the Pacific Coast States, are likewise provided with a reserve fund, sufficiently large to rob of all real terror the prospect of a temporary break in their individual productive capacity. Paralyze Southern industries for a year and what would be the effect upon the social, commercial and pol- itical body? "To point a danger, at the high noon of a bright commercial day, to sound an alarm when other men are exchanging felicitations over a cloudless future, is always a thank- less task — is nearly always a foolish one — unless such warning is coupled with discovery of a preventitive for the trouble predicted. In this hope- ful and helpful spirit, let us survey the future, and begin that survey by a careful study of present conditions. "It is commonplace commercial talk that, stimulated by the present high prices and wide SDread demand for manufactured product, our facili- ties of production are increasing rap- idly — so rapidly that within three years we shall probably develope ability to supnly the wants of the home market, for the whole year, bv working only four months in each year. "When this noint of over oroduc- tlon shall have been reached, what will follow? If a drastic limitation . of output shall be enforced, wuat section of the country will be least prepared, to stand the financial and political strain a period of coerced idleness? To come closer to the sub- ject, can the South afford to have her mines and mills remain idle two- thirds of the year? Is she as well able to endure such a curtailment of earning capacity as the New England States, Middle States or "Western States? Going a step further, has not the South a greater interest in the immediate broadening of the market of American manufactured goods, than any other geographical division of the Republic — greater reason, not merely from a desire or necessity, to accumulate wealth, but for the reason that truth lies in the old maxim 'a busy people is an easy people to rule.' "In raw materials, the South has already developed an immense for- eign market. But follow this trade from the Southern cotton field and press to the foreign spindle and loom and note how large a proportion of the profit on this business goes to the foreigner, falls into such hands simply because, through lack of fam- iliarity with the foreign situation, with foreign methods of trade, freights, tariffs, and other details of distribution, the South lacks ability to reap, unassisted, her splendid cot- ton harvest. Every cotton mill erected in the South, however, aids the South in controlling the foreign market for her raw cotton, by fur- nishing a home and freight-free mar- ket, for that raw product. And the more continuously employed sitpV 1 T ~ < - cal mills are kept, the strong* - ~' v l grow that Southern control over the market value of her chief natural source of wealth. "It thus appears that any policy which promises to bring new orders to Southern cotton mills, directly as- sists in creating higher urices for the raw cotton; consequently, the manufacturing and agricultural classes of the South have a common interest in the systematic discovery and exploitation of foreign markets for T^ariufaoturpd eoods. "Then. too. Southern coal and iron lauds "'ill only be ■fully develODed imrier the stimulus of a demand strong enough to overcome the ban- Held in New Orleans, December 4-j, 1900. 10-3 dicap of limited railway facilities and limited capitalization. Such an in- sistent damand can only be expected to materalize when the surplus pro- duct of the whole Republic is sys- tematically guided inco foreign chan- nels; and the annual 'gmt' wnich has so frequently brought paralysis npon all trade development, is prevented not only by a policy of limited pro- duction, but by an equally energetic and loyal effort to increase the for- eign consumption of American pro- ducts. "It is true that tne South is able to show a wonderful record of devel- opment, based largely upon the stim- ulus of a demand circumscribed by the geographical limits of the United States. But the period during which this 'locally fed' expansion of South- ern trade has taken place, is a per- iod which cannot be regarded as a safe criterion by which to forecast the trade possibilities of a long ser- ies of years. Previous to its inau- guration, individual and collective economies in consumption, had cre- ated a wide, deep and strong demand, among all classes of people, and in all sections of the country. And when the inevitable swing of the pendulum took place, and the mood optimistic succeeded the mood pessimistic, each citizen of the Republic was conscious of a need for certain articles which long usage had changed from luxur- ies to necessities. The power to un- loosen purse strings, and widen the area of expenditure, came to mil- lions at the same moment; and the possession of this power brought a multitude of buyers simultaneously into the market, each eager to bid against the otner for tne same line of gooas. it was the old story — tem- porary demand surpassing temporary supply. "This abnormal trade condition of two buyers to one seller is rapidly mitigating. The receding wave will not carry us back to the old level of low consumption or prices; but before its backward wash is checked we shall have fallen considerably be- low the high water mark of 1899; consequently, the closing months of the present year may bring us face to face with the painfully familiar problem of two sellers and one buyer — the old problem intensified, how- ever, by the circumstances, that the abnormal demand of the year 1899 has practically doubled the number of competitors for the old, or nor- mal volume of trade. "The old and perplexing question of increasing the consumption of American manufactured product, or cultivating foreign trade, still presses for an immediate and comprehensive answer. Is our answer to be 'man- ana, manana,' to-morrow, to-mor- row? Of shall we recognize condi- tions as they are, bring native wit to bear upon the problem and by studying the failures and successes of our commercial rivals abroad dis- cover some short cut to a system of foreign connections, some easy way to bridge the great waters which now separate the Southern mines and mills from the world's buying mil- lions. "I thank you, ladies and gentle- men, for your attention." (Applause.) COTTON OIL AND COTTON OIL PRODUCTS. BY HON. D. A. TOMPKINS. Mr. D. A. Tompkins, of Charlotte, N. C, read the following paper on "Cotton Oil and Cotton Oil Pro- ducts." "Ladies and Gentlemen: "The development of the produc- tion of cotton to the extent of ten million bales per year is a wonder- ful result and none but the most enterprising and capable people could even have brought it about. In the very face of this fact, however, it has been for a long time a sort of fashion to charge against people of the South a want of enterprise and energy. In many cases the credit for the very works which the South is doing is claimed by the people of some other section and the idea put to the for- ward that alien money or alien talent is necessary for the success of a proposed enterprise. "While no one has been more earn- est in inviting capital to the South 104 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention for profitable investment and talent for profitable employment, because of the ampie room and opportunity for both, yet for the best interests of our home people and their children here- after, it is not desirable for these to relinguish to others the foremost positions or the best opportunities. "The cotton oil industry is one which has been developed to all prac- tical purposes exclusively in the South and exclusively by Southern people. It is an industry in which the enterprise and energy of our home people is made manifest when- ever self reliance is one of the ele- ments in the proposition. A people with less self reliance and less steadi- ness of purpose could never have res- cued civilization from the dangers that confronted it for a quarter of a century after the civil war. In the production of the best and cheapest raw material for clothing and in such enormous quantities and also in the development of such a splendid in- dustry in producing food products out of cotton seed, the demonstration of the wonderful originality and cap- ability of the people of the South has been made perfect. "For a long time these qualities of our people were hampered and dwarfed by the institution of slavery and its results. The weight of this burdensome influence has now about passed away and contemporaneous with this passage the white popula- tion of the South being free to en- gage in industrial enterprise brings forth results that astonish humanity. Amongst these results is an industry founded upon the crushing of cotton seed for oil, meal, hulls and lint, and other industries like refining the oil, making stock food out of the hulls and meals, feeding cattle for beef and dairy purposes, making soap, making fertilizers with meal for an ammoniate and various others. "Even in the production of the crude products — oil, hulls, meal and lint the industry has become one of very large proportions. "The greatest advantage will come, however, from the further develop- ment of industries based upon these products as raw materials and in which values by the barrel or ton are changed bv knowledge and skill and industry into values by the pint and pound, which means putting these products for immediate distribution in the retail trade. "For the last thirty years tue poli- tical condition of the South have not been favorable to development and improvement. The civil war swept away the institution of slavery and at the same time swept away the wealth of the South. But the civil war did not keep the South poor, for thirty years. The subsequent long contin- ued disaster was due to an attempt to legislate a social condition that was impossible, and it was this ex- periment that kept the white man of the South intensely employed in re- sisting a wave of semi-anarchy that for a generation threatened Anglo- Saxon civilization. In that time every white man has been compelled to make a living for his family with one hand, while he held the other ever armed and ready for its defense. In this time and in this condition you and your people have exhibited the highest development in govern- ment and in standing together for civilization. Without a leader you have stood together as a unit until you have accomplished the success of white rule. Even a Republican ad- ministration has come to agree with you. And in the Philippines, Cuba and Porto Rico, it is carrying out your policy of having the white man govern under the name of Anglo-Sax- on supremacy. "Advancement in the material prosperity of the South has of late years been due to the appreciation on the part of the Southerners them- selves of the fact that mere raw pro- duct from the farm are not the pro- ducts which are to be sent out for sale or exchanged to other parts of the world. "Nature makes no pretense of yielding or distributing what civil- ized man considers finished product, though she is lavish of raw material. The crudest notion of untilizing her resources consists in selling raw pro- ducts as they are grown or mined. This requires the least labor and least thought and will result in the smallest profit and the lowest civil- ization. "The cotton growing states with slave labor formerly produced and sold raw cotton at a great profit. Held in New Orleans, D '-ember 4-j, ipoo. 105 After the civil war the profit in this transaction continually decreased un- til it would seem that in order to advance in wealth we must return to the occupation of our Southern an- cestors one hundred years ago and sell not raw but manufacturing pro- duct. This would hardly be worth saying except for the fact that many of our generations seemed imbued with the idea that we are and of right ought to be common laborers and not artisans. But we have the greatest right by inheritance to be manufacturers, and we find that we of the South are as successful in manufacturing as in agricultural pur- suits. "Naturally the cotton plant ap- pears as the basis of our most ex- tended industry. We could not ex- port seed cotton and so we developed a large ginning interest to put our cotton in marketable shape. Now, we are realizing that ginning the cot- ton is but one short step toward put- ting it in the most profitable shape for market. Ten millions bales of cotton in the seed has practically no maket value in that shape. Put up in ginners' bales it has a local value, put in compress bale it has a universal value of say $400,000,000. Manufactured in common sheetings, at the present market valuation it would be worth $1,200,000,000. an in- crease of two hundred per cent. Man- ufactured into fine organdy it will have a value of $12,000,000,000, and in finer goods still more. Of course, the world would not take the entire crop in the shape of any one kind of goods but it will take in the manu- factured state in some of the mani- fold styles intermediate between the above values, so that it is safe to say that a 10,000,000 bale crop is un- ■ timately retailed as cloth for $5,000.- 000,000. The question to be settled by the community which produces this raw cotton ts — how much of it they are willing to part with at $40 a bale when it is ultmately sold at $500. And up to what price per bale are they prepared to bring it by their industry and sirill in manufac- ture? This is being worked out every day by each community for itself. and great progress is being made. At the present time in the whole •United States, the division is about as follows: Cotton manufactured 4,- 000,000 bales, value. ..$450,000,000 Cotton exported raw 6,- 000,000 bales, value 240,000,000 Total value 10,000,000 bales raw and manufac- tured 690,000,000 Average value received per bale 69* Along similar lines, a cognate in- dustry is also working out its des- tiny. "A crop of 4,000,000 tons of cotton seed (allowing 1,000,000) for planting without reference to manufacture is worth as a fertilizer about $40,000,- 000, a goodly sum in the abstract, but an insignificant sum compared with the possibilities in the case. If the entire available seed crop (allowing twenty per cent for planting) were manufactured into the commonest products the value would be roout as- follows: 160,000,000 gallons crude oil at 25 cents. . $40,000,000 1,400,000 tons meal at $20. 28,000,000 80,000,000 pounds lint at 2 1/2 per cent 2,000,000 2,000,000 tons hulls at $5.. 10,000,000 Total crude products (av- evarging $20 per ton) . . .$80,o00,000 "This shows how, with ordinary work now being done the value of cotton seed is double. Of course, the individual oil mills that manufacture this product do not realize as a profit this difference, but the communities where the work is done get it all. Some would go as manufacturing profit, some as wages, some as freights and some would be paid the farmers in excess of the fertilizer valuation of the seed. The above showing for the valuation of seed cot- ton is but the result of what is now the most ordinary form of manutae- turing. In many places the process is carried much further. The oil is re- fined to various stages; in some cases to the extent of making fine salad oil for table use worth $1.00 a gallon instead of 25 cents. In some in- 106 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, stances the oil is mixed with other ingredients and made into compound lard. The lower grades are made into soap. The meal is frequently mixed with other ingredients and made into fertilizers. In some cases meal and hulls are fed to cattle for market and the droppings from the •cattle sold for manure thus doubling the value of meal and hulls. Taking the best condition or all the manu- facturing processes of which we are now capable, we would add to tn» value of the entire product as now manufactured: - .1,600,000 gallons oil at 75c advance $120,000,000 1,400,000 tons meal at $20 . advance 28,000,000 .2,000,000 tons hulls $5 ad- vance.. 10,000,000 Waste products made into soap 2,000,000 Total valuation capable of being added $160,000,000 Value of crude products as now manufactured. ... 80,000,000 Total possible of seed crop of 4,000,00 tons . . . . . . 240,000,000 Average value per ton... 60 "But this list does not exhibit the entire result from the work. There are many incidental advantages aris- ing from manufacturing in any com- munity. They might be summarized about as follows: Value of cattle raised and fattened not now possi- ble, say only 1,000,000 head at $20 $ 20,000,0u0 Fertilizers now wasted on the farm made availa- ble by the cattle busi- ness 2,000,000 Enhanced value of com- mercial fertilizers on account of mixing with cattle manure 5,000,000 Perishable food stuffs sold by farmers to of- ficers and other em- ployes of the mills and supplemental works. . . 10,000,000 Miscellaneous advantages such as agents' commis- sions, merchants' profits on increased sale, etc., etc 3,000,000 Total incidental advan- tages " ....$ 40,000,000 Average increased value per ton of seed 10 Value of seed crop as above ... .... ... 240,^00,000 Grand total value of 4,- 000,000 tons seed.. .... 280,000,000 Total average value per ton of seed 70 "Just as in the case of the manu- facture of cotton, the question arises: How much of this possible valuation are we willing to work out. The case now stands about as follows: Seed manufactured 2,500,- 000 tons, value $ 50,000,000 Seed used as fertilizers 1,- 000,000 tons, value.. .. 10,000,000 ■ Seed wasted 500,000 tons, value .. .... Total received now for seed 60,000,000 Average value per ton ... 15 "This shows that there is a margin between our present receipts and the possible receipts from this wonderful crop of $220,000,000 from a source that once yielded nothing, or less than nothing, yet we see that we have not progressed one-third of the distance toward a perfectly visible possibility in the case. "The intensive system of agricul- ture is responsible for wonderful strides in that competition. By skil- ful and scientific manipulation, an acre of ground is now made to yield three times the product of former years. The same intensive idea in steam engineering has made it pos- sible to produce from a ton of coal three times as much power as for- merly. The same intensive idea can easily wrench from a ton of cotton seed three times the present values. "How to go forward to this goal is the problem we must all keep be- fore us. "First of all we must look to the proper construction of the machinery and the building:, in order to reduce the expenses. The item of insurance is excessive. The oil mills in this part of the country pay an average Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 107 irate of about three per cent, and there are not a dozen mills in this -class. Cotton mills, carrying on a business even more hazardous, easily insure for one-fifth to one-quarter of one per cent. Why this difference? It is entirely a question of construc- tion and equipment. It is perfectly possible to so construct an oil mill -and equip it with fire protecting ap- paratus that it will insure as easily as a cotton mill. The same features of construction • and management that conduce to low insurance, also -condnce to more cleanly premises, and hence a better grade of products. "But the greatest step toward in- creasing the profits lies of course in continuing the processes to greater refinements and diversifying the pro- ducts, making a more finished article for the market. The usual process of refining oil yields 'summer yellow.' If this process is conducted with suf- ficient care and skill, the result may he called 'butter oil.' If this oil be properly manipulated with other ma- terials, a fine butter substitute may be produced and sold direct from the mills, instead of shipping the oil to Holland to be manipulated and sold from there. If the oil is properly treated, the finest salad oil may be made. This is a mere matter of skill. Ten years ago it was as difficult to find a first class one. More attention is now being paid to our education in these lines, and it should not be long before we can find sufficient skill to make table oils equal to those of Europe. We now export $12,000,- 000 worth of oil, half of which goes to France, where it is refined and manipulated to suit the palates of a population accustomed to olive oil. It ought to be and is possible to make salad oil here from cotton seed which is superior to imported olive oil, for the reason that we can always have fresh cotton oil, while the imported oils must of necessity be older. The matter of freshness is, in the pres- ent state of the art, a most important one. Certain changes take place in oils with age. no matter in what way they are kept. The changes are al- ways for the worse, and tend toward rancidity. It is not impossible, how- evpr, that a way mav be found to remedy even this trouble. "A wide field is open for the man- ipulation of oil so that when it is used for cooking there will be no ds- agreeble odors. Great progress has been made in this line, and several companies now claim to turn out such products. But the best of them fall far short of perfection. "The manufacture of fine soap is an important direction to look in. A number of mills now make cents worth of cotton: and how thev can takp the iron and various orodu n ts T-r-hipv, WP fj nr i jrt ab^nrlanco in the ■South anri make then v^'iabl^. thereby making ourselves rich. A few years ago, to say in any foreign land 'I am an American citizen,' met with neither admiration nor respect. A fellow would answer, 'What d'ye say?' T am an American citizen.' 'Yes, Imphm'm, you are.' To-day ex- actly the reverse is true; to-day, if you announce upon the soil of any civilized country in world, T am an American citizen,' tne other fellow takes off his hat, 'Yes, sir; I am your servant.' A few years ago to use or wear American goods was a brand upon you of shoddyism, but now our manufactured articles in all lines are sought after in all the mar- kets of the world. The locomotives from this country climbed the hither- to commercial Alps and heights with the Bonapartic American skill at the throttle. Iron-clad steamers and in- vulnerable gunboats plow the path- less seas, lashing the first waves upon the docks of our iron works, and the products of American skill and industry find their places every- where. Furniture, cotton goods, woolen goods, in fact, the products of American industry find their way in thousands to the markets of the civilized world. "If I was a newspaper man, a long time ago, I would have made a pic- ture 'before and after taking,' and the pills' would have been adminis- tered out of a Krupp or a Gatling gun by a Dr. Dewey or a Gen. Joe Wheel- er. It is in this way that American manhood is upheld and the most civil and cordial treatment that is ac- corded any nation on the earth is now given to the American citizen Before we can very well proceed to tell what is the matter with a pa- tient, it is necessary to diagnose his case. It is a very difficult thing for a doctor to administer the proper remedies to a patient who persist- ently refuses to develope the symp- toms of the disease from which he suffers. Let the South frankly and honestly admit that we need indus- trial, development and let us take our medicine. Mr. President, we need an industrial teacher in each of the Southern States to emphasize the themes that have been heard on this floor during the past two days, to reach the hearts and homes of the Southern people everywhere. We need some one to teach our people 116 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, that there are no limits to the in- genuity and energy of the American peopie, and let nothing rest until their goods find their way into the markets of the whole earth. "In the City of Mexico three years ago, I walked into a store and there I recognized a number of articles which had been manufactured in Boston and various parts of the United States. Although the origin of these goods was clear to me, yet they were branded London, Liverpool and Paris. I asked a merchant why they had to come around through that country and bear a heavy tariff, to which he replied that it was neces- sary that the goods should bear the brand of these cities and evidence of foreign importation in order to sell them. To-day that is not the case. The Southern people should take this then as a warning that they are to occupy a higher position in the indus- trial world, and that nations other than our own will bid them to come up higher. Our Southern peopie seem to fear an over-production, but with the open door poiicy and with the increasing demand for American products as they come from our in- dustrial hands, there is no room for fear on that score. Tom Thumb made his fortune out of his shape; you cannot, the South cannot. Go- ing up the street one day in our town, I saw a fellow fumbling around a fire alarm box trying to get a let- ter in, but the letter would not go in the fire alarm box. To do a thing right, you have got to go the right way about it. The South has got to take up a new and more forcible po- sition. The time has passed when the South can make its progress by leaning on the nigger, the mule and the plow. (Applause.) Gentlemen, that is past, the shape would not work, the letter would not go into the fire alarm box, nor can the South industrially develope by means of the negro, the mule and the plow. I have no apologies to make for the South; I am not here to befog or be- wilder or startle any one with a lot of statistics. I am here for the pur- pose of emphasizing the importance of each Southern State having an in- dustrial commissioner. One of the highest compliments ever paid the speaker in his own rftate is that he receives a number of papers from, every part of the country addressed as follows: 'J. W. Riggins of and for Texas.' I am Here, of and for the South, I am for Texas in partic- ular, but I lift my heart and hand and voice and say, T am for this Union forever.' (Applause.) I intro- duce myself to you to-night, gentle- men, as wearing a suit of clothes that was taken in raw material from a Texas sheep's back that grazed upon the black sand prairies of Texas, richer far than the valleys of the Nile. From the siieep's back the wool passed into the Waco Woolen Mills, from whence it found its way on to my back. This is a Texas home-made suit of clothes, bought in Waco, Tex. (Applause.) I would not let a barber shave me who did not do something to support my town, and I would not let one do it in New Orleans either if he did not do something for New Orleans. (Ap- plause.) "I was born in Missouri, but have been in Texas 22 years. I have watched with patriotic pride the long strides from the six-shooter ruffian to the highly cultivated and refined citizenship of the present day. By energy, skill, grit and enterprise, Texas stands out to-day a people with as much refinement and intel- ligence as any State in this Union. (Applause.) I am not here to talk Texas specially, but I only use it when it comes to a point of illus- tration. I bring to you no new theo- ries, no new thoughts; but I come to* you as an humble citizen of a South- ern State to plead with you. Let us leave the old way, and set out upon the path of the new and better way. I want to see Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, S. Carolina, N. Carolina and the other Southern States; I want to see each of them lined up in a solid phalanx of in- dustrial progress, in a grand pro- cession marching onward and up- ward on the road to success. (Ap- plause.) "A few years ago, I left my State and spent several weeks making ob- servations in various parts of the United States, and upon returning to Texas, several of the newspapers in- terviewed me and asked the ques- tion, 'What do you think Texas most Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 117 aieeds?' Now, gentlemen, this is not political at all, but I am going to -give you my answer. I replied: 'What Texas most needs is 500,000 Yankee Republicans to help develope ■the greatest country on earth from an industrial standpoint. (Applause.) Mr. President, would not that put us in line? You need not commit yourself unless you /want to. I want to say too, gentlemen, In it one ol the greatest drawbacks in our own State is that a living is a great deal too easily made. In Texas, it is too •easy to make money. A living seems to knock at the door of every man, and all that a fellow has to do is to say 'come in and take a seat, 5 with emphasis on the seat. I don't know sometimes when I think of the pros- perity that we have, I don't know whether I am really in a Southern State or a Western State. When I think of Georgia, S. Carolina, and of Texas, with all her grit and skill and 'get there,' as Sam Jones says, I sometijr.es feel that I am in a Western State or that I am going there as fast as I can. In fact, I hardly know whether to call Texas and some of the other Southern States, Southern or Western States, for lately pluck, grit and enterprise lias pervaded them to such an ex- tent that it is difficult to distinguish. Still we are even yet not thoroughly awake to industrial development. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, we want to abandon past methods, past practices, abandon past failures, and then burn the bridges. We want to "welcome the gray streaks of a dawn- ing of an industrial day. We want to write on the door of the past the . same lines that the Kansas farmer did. After spending a year upon his crop, it was consumed by the grass- hoppers; the next year he pitched his crop and lived only to see it de- stroyed by the drought and the Kan- sas hot winds. Renewing his cour- age and energy, he thought to him- self 'I will try it again for a third year, and after faithfully working and cultivating his crop, one sum- mer evening as he sat in his cottaee door while nature seemed to smile upon him, and the sun was casting "his last lingering look and kissing a farewell to all nature's beauties. As "be gazed around on the delightful scene, he looked at his wife and children and felt happy. Amidst these happy meditations, he looked upward and in the West he saw a murky, inky cloud, which, in a few moments, came as a Kansas cyclone and wiped his crops off the face of the earth. Next morning, having concluded that farming there was a failure, he got together his nouse- hold effects and said to his wife, 'JLet us go.' But before leaving, he turned to his cottage door and wrote the following lines: Kansas farm, farewell, I bid you a long adieu, I may go to hell But I will never come back to you. (Laughter and applause.) Gentlemen, semi-occasionally the Southern farmer gets a big crop, but he needs an industrial commis- sioner to impress upon him and upon the business men of the South the necessity for writing upon the door of their past experience the lines of the Kansas farmer. The farmers must join with the business men to manufacture their products into fab- rics and articles which will bring 100 to 1000 fold greater percentage values than they produce in the raw state. Twenty-two years ago I spent 13 months traveling over the State of Texas. One day I drove up to a small gin and saw a fellow heaving the cotton seed into his fur- nace. I laid my hand on his shoul- der and said, 'Sir, the time will come when every 100 pounds of cotton seed will be of more value to th-3 human race than 100 pounds of wheat. The time will come when a man will be regarded as foolish wno burns his cotton seed to save the lint, as the man who runs the thresher would burn the wheat to save the straw.' Now, ladies, you must excuse me. The man looked at me in astonish- ment, and replied, 'Stranger, you are either a newcomer or a damn fool.' The time was when cotton seed was regarded as an impediment, as a worthless, impertinent product. It was regarded as the saw-mill-man regards the saw dust. It was thrown away anywhere as all the use they had for it was to get it out of the way. Let us see to what extenf. my prophesy of 22 years ago has been verified. According to the system of 118 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. the Agricultural Experimental Sta- tion, the relative varue of one hun- dred pounds of wheat and one hun- dred pounds of cotton seed are as follows: Wheat— Protein, 11.87; Carbohy- drates, 73.69; Fat, 2.09. Value, $1.00. Cotton Seed— Protein, 17.57, Carbohy- drates, 73.69; Fat, 3.04. Value $1.39. "So you will see that while the total value of one hundred pounds of wheat is $1.00, the total value of one hundred pounds of cotton seed is $1.39. Now I wish you would just put that in your pipe and smoke it. We need an industrial commissioner in the South to impress this and a thousand other lessons upon the minds of the people o" this country who believe it to be one of the grand- est products in all this land. I may be a new comer, but I was not the other thing. Do you know that the amount of cotton seed produced in the South only lacks two-sevenths of as many bushels of wheat as is raised in the United States? According to the United States Department of Ag- riculture for the seasons of 1897 and 1898, the wheat yield per acre was 13 2-5 bushels, while the yield of cotton seed was 14.1 per acre, and yet poor old cotton seed was re- garded as useless and every one that came along gave it a kick and said, 'go to— Dublin.' I want to say to you, gentlemen, that the most un- just tax ever imposed upon a com- modity in the Unites States was that tax of 2 cents per pound placed on the oil product of cotton seed, which enters largely into the composition of artificial butter; and I want to say to you, gentlemen, that the Southern States need an industrial commissioner to go before Congress and hasten to correct this before ten cents per pound is imposed upon the products which enter into the com- position of the poor man's butter of to-day. Gentlemen, this is some of the practical work which this In- dustrial Convention ought to do. I hold up the cotton seed product be- cause it intensely illustrates what I mean. Of all the products of the South and of the country, the cot- ton, with its lint, its cotton seed and cotton stalks, will be a greater fac- tor in the enrichment of this nation, than anything else that grows upon our soil. I undertake to say that an Industrial Commissioner appointed or elected by the State, should visit communities and teach them that the fellow who comes from a foreign land or the New England States is u,±i. insincere economist, wno teas you that the South is a very good place for produce sheep, cattle, cotton, or,, as I said before, for the nigger, the mule and the plow, but a very poor place for cotton mills, oil refineries, furniture factories or the other man- ufactures which go to make a coun- try rich and its people independent. He will tell you these things, but don't you believe sucn stuff. The ten million bales of cotton produced by the South at $40,00 per bale means $400,000,000.00. At a conservative es- timate, this cotton, if manufactured into articles, would be worth $15;; a bale. Thus the entire cotton crop of the South would bring one an : one-half billion dollars. In addition to this, there would be, in r numbers, 400,000,000 bushels of cot- ton seed, or, placing a lower esti- mate than is placed by the United States Agricultural Department, this would add over one and one-half million dollars to the value of the cotton crop. (Applause.) Startling as these figures and facts may seem to you, they only illustrate what might be said also of iron, of tim- ber, of marble, of coal, and a thous- and other products of the South out of which foreign countries and New England are daily growing rich. It only needs the Southern people to awaken to a full sense of the situa- tion, for then by means of their skill, energy and grit, they will manufac- ture these products themselves and thus receive the benefit which is now enjoyed bv others. (Applause.) The time will come when the cotton stalk will make the t.wine which bind^ the thousands of packages that are sent over thip country. It will make the paper uoon which is spread the dailv news before the neople of the civilized world. Now call me a new- comer. (Annlause.) The time will come when the corn cob? now thrown under foot and the sawdust which is p'ther burned or dumped into the flowing mill stream, will be con- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 119 verted into fire kindling and used upon the hearths of ail the homes in this country. We need an indus- trial teacher that will hold these things up with such an abundance of illustration that these truths may be brought home to the minds of the Southern people, homespuu and homely as they ma? be. As an illus- tration o; the value of this oificer, less than a year ago, your speaker, as President of the Texas Real Es- tate and Industrial Association, en- gaged the services of our honored President, Hon. H. H. Hargrove, to visit numerous places in Texas with the object of instructing and arous- ing the people on the subject of cot- ton mills. He visited about 40 places in the State and in that brief time some 30 localities were induced to take their money, then idle, from the banks and hiding places, with the result that there is to-day in the neighborhood of $3,000,000 invested in cotton mills in the State of Texas. This was the result of the labors of this patriotic man who sits here as your President to-night. (Applause.) I hold this up as one of the impor- tant points, that each State needs an industrial commissioner who will take the people and show them these things. Less than a year ago I made an address in the City of San An- tonio, and within a short time there- after numerous people from other •cities and towns came to me and of- fered to pay me almost any amount if I would repeat my address before their respective communities. (Ap- plause.) I know the people could have reasoned the value of this en- terprise, but what they needed was a teacher to emphasize and arouse them to the -importance of industrial effort. Up till now, not a dollar has been spent to show our people how to get the money out of the raw material. If the Southern Industrial Convention, now assembled in the City of New Orleans, can succeed in stimulating and arousing the inter- ests of Southern capitalists so tbM they will' take up this matter of man- ufacturing the raw material that will make them and yourselves rich, it will be the grandest work of all your lives and this Convention will be a grand success. "You know that steam had almost unlimited power long before James Watt ever saw it lift the lid of the traditional tea kettle. You know also that lightning existed, played its zig- zag course, lured the attention, at- tracted the admiration and voiced it- self in muttering thunders among the valleys and hills of old as it does now, but it waited for a long time for the mind of a Franklin to bring it within the grasp and utility of mankind. Sound vibrated for thous- ands of years against the air but it took the genius of an Edison to ena- ble you by means of electrical mo- mentum to pour an articulate sound into my ear from a distance of a thousand miles; so that my wife a thousand miles from here could make herself heard to me while I am in this city. "The laws of gravitation were born when God flung this universe with a million of worlds into infi- nite space, yet untold ages rolled by before Newton discovered this great law by means of the falling of an apple and published it to the world. (Applause.) We need an industrial commissioner who will not only bring the figures and experience from other States and nations, but who can put his ear to the keyhole of nature and tell the people that she has secrets to give to this generation and to the South, discoveries to be revealed as brilliant and as valuable as any that have been unveiled in the past. We need an industrial com- missioner who will read 'the hand- writing on the wall,' and interpret it to the people of the South, so that 'he who runs may read.' We need an industrial commissioner who will plan and prepare for these things until something is done. I tell you, my friends, there are communities who appear to be indifferent to the welfare of their kind, but you here can go to your homes and rouse your people until something definite is ac- complished. The marble and granite of Georgia for years lay silent under the soil. The cattle with hides to make our shoes grazed upon the hills and in the valleys. The sheep with his domestic bleat and bnrden of wool ninned the worthless leaf from the foil-burdening weed. The sturdy oak and stately pine lifted their tow- ering heads toward the heavens 120 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention with timber trunks sufficient and grand enough to make the furniture for the pressed brick mansion or the humbie cottage. Iron ore to make the locomotive or me needle slept upon the mountain side. The poor clay-clods had fallen in upon many a corpse, and created many a mound in the State of Georgia, the song of 'hard times' wi'th a sigh of oppres- sion came from homes all over the South, because of industrial dearth, until aroused by the grave condi- tions, that grand patriot, that Moses of the industrial New South, the first industrial teacher, the lamented Henry W. Grady, discovered these conditions and proclaimed his elo- quent message to the land. His thoughts and words have been burned into the hearts and memories of the Southern people and carved in box letters upon the car of pro- gress. It remained for Mr. Grady to emphasize and impress as a patriotic teacher when he gave utterance to these eloquent words, which I will now quote: " 'I stood by the side of a grave in Georgia, and although it was dug through solid marble, the little slab which marked the resting place came from Vermont. Surrounding the grave were splendid grazing lands upon which browsed both cat- tle and sheep, but the woolen shroud that the dead man wore came from Boston and the shoes from Lynn. While Georgia is covered with for- ests and timber, the coffin came from Cincinnati and the hearse from Chi- cago. And while the hills are full of iron ore, the pick and shovel to dig the grave came from Pittsburg, and the only thing that Georgia fur- nished was the corpse and the hole in the ground.' " "The?e words were spoken years ago and sounding all through the South a general awakening was pro- duced. They were written in the memory and ringing in the ears of the Southern people and have done more than all speeches put together to arouse Georgia and the South and encourage them to make an ef- fort for the establishment of indus- trial pursuits. Notwithstanding that Henry W. Grady sleeps beneath the sod to-day, yet his words, like a two- edged sword, are marching on each day with gathered strength and do- ing their work in the South. And,, although no costly monument marks his grave, yet his name is marked on the hearts and memory of the Southern people. "Last summer I stood upon a for- est hill in the City of San Francisco, and as I looked upon that colossal monumental shaft that marks the burial place of a rich man, I saw un- der the shaft a humble monument which bore the words, 'He died in the interest of humankind.' I said to my wife, I would rather have a slab like that to rest over my grave than to have that towering monu- ment, which lifts itself over the body of a dead millionaire. I had rather preach the doctrine of an industrial South as did Mr. Grady and die like him with a simple grave covered with lovely flowers than neglect my duty and lie beneath a costly monu- ment. Just as long as God reigns in heaven, just as long as the indus- trial South marches on, just so long will the monument of Grady be bright in the effulgence of the noon- day sun. An industrial commissioner is necessary to fasten these facts upon the people. The music of the spindle and the chorus of the fac- tory whistle are largely due to the words and efforts of Grady. The South will never achieve its great- ness and' join the grand procession. to enrich this nation as it should until the raw material product is manufactured into commercial pro- ducts for home and abroad; nor will this period be speedily brought about unless we have an. industrial com- missioner in each State to instruct the people and to impress them with these lessens through the medium of the press, leading them to industrial enterprises and to the establishment of a State Textile and Industrial School. This movement must culminate in the grandest tex- tile university in the world. We need an industrial commissioner in every State to preach the gospel of industrial liberty, to preach the nec- essity of pluck and enterprise and to lead them from Cimmerian raw ma- terial darkness into the happy Ca- naan land of industrial prosperity. (Loud and prolonged applause.) Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 121 The Committee on Industrial Com- missioners for the South submitted the following report, which was adopted: "Mr. President and Members of the Southern Industrial Convention: "Your Committee to whom was re- ferred the subject of industrial com- missioners for the South, report as follows: / "We . believe that an industrial commissioner for each Southern state, appointed by the governor or elected by the legislature of that state would greatly and favorably faciliate industrial conditions by emphasizing and teaching our people the importance and value of manu- facturing our raw material and the imperative necessity of patronizing borne industry, therefore: Resolved, That we recommend to the governor and legislature of each state, the creation of the office of industrial commissioner, so that every possible incentive and encour- agement may be given to the citi- zens of the various states in the manufacture of the raw material that we may receive the full bene- fits and from year to year grow richer and more prosperous as the re- sult of our own labor. Resolved, 2nd; That the president and secretary are hereby instructed and requested over their names fur- nish these resolutions to each gov- ernor of the Southern States. Very respectfully submitted, J. W. RIGGINS, Chairman, DOUGLAS GLESSNER. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION. BY DR. F. W. COLE, OF WACO, TEXAS. Dr. F. W. Cole, of Waco, Tex., read the following paper on "Compulsory Arbitration:" "Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- men: "The paramount issue before the American people is not free silver nor imperialism, nor the tariff, but it is the adjustment of the relations between capital and labor on a ba- sis of equity which shall be per- manent. I assure you that any ad- justment which is not based on equity will not be permanent. One of the greatest nations of an- tiquity was that of Persia, and cue foundation of that mighty empire was made on a few virtues which were taught to the youth as the foundation of their education. Every youth was taught to ride the horse, to shoot straight and speak the truth. When we come to examine the American people we do not find them lacking in any of those quali- ties. They can ride the horse, at least, the people from my State. They can shoot straight, at least, the people from my State, and if the rest of the Southern people cannot do the same, it is because they have degenerated. "Do you see the beautiful decora- tions of this hall? Do you see the Star Spangled Banner, the most beautiful that ever floated to the breeze. It has floated over this beau- tiful city for nigh onto one hun- dred years, and it will continue to do so, God willing, for ten thousand years as a monument to the straight shooting of American men. If it had not been so, instead would have been floating the Cross of St. George. "To those physical qualities we possess the Persian virtue of truth speaking, and besides we possess those Christian virtues of philan- thropy and love of fellow man such as the world has never seen. "I am not a pessimist, thank God! I agree with Abraham Lincoln that the American people can be trusted to hold the scales of justice evenly balanced between capital and labor so that those two great forces shall move in harmony to make this great country of ours the rich- est, freest, and greatest on God's foot-stool. As to the South, does any Southern man doubt that our peo- ple have the capacity to solve this problem when he considers the tri- bulations that we have come through during the past thirty-five years? When the great conflict between the states ended, the South came forth from the valley of battles and death. Beyond her was the smoke of battles, homes wrecked by fire and sword, 122 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. and the graves of ner loved sons. Her garments were tattered and soiled, ner eye,* were full of weeping for tiie loved ones who were not. The soft Dreezes from the ocean came and blew the smoke of batues away, the rains came down from the heavens and levetect the trenches that scarred the land. The gentle dews fell, and nature covered the scars of the earth and the mounds of the dead with a mantle of green, and time with her gentle, but ever changing touch, after thirty-five years, raises the curtain upon an- other scene, the most beautiful that ever unfolded to mortal eyes. "We see the South dignified and beautiful as ever, but her garments are no longer tattered— she is decked in garments spotless and white as the driven snow, woven in her own looms. And she is crowned with a tiara of jewels more valuable than that of all the monarchs that ever lived. Behold the value of her jewels, $1,500,000,000. The tears from her eyes have been wiped away, her face beams with an effulgent hap- piness and her eyes sparkle as she views her broad domain, smiling with peace and plenty. The earth is filled with the music of lowing herds on a thousand hills, the hum of the spindle, the thunder of the iron horse, the swish and crash of plane and saw, and from every plan- tation, with the song of the mocking bird, comes up the old melodies, 'Suwanee Ribber' and 'The Old Kain- tucky Home.' The rivers are bur- dened with rich commerce bearing it to all the ports, which are filled with the ships from the uttermost parts of the earth. "Now if the pessimist looked upon this scene he would see coming up out of the sea a dragon, breathing fire and destruction to devour this beautiful Andromeda, if some Per- seus did not appear to slay the drag- on, which typifies the conflict, so- called, between capital and labor. I do not exactly see tbe dragon, though he may be coming up out of the sea, neither am I a Perseus, but I wish to submit a resolution for the consideration of this convention, which appears to me to be a solu- tion of the problem. "Resolved, that it is the sense of this convention that the controver- sies between capital and labor, or be- tween employer and employe, are in. most cases due to a mutual misun- derstanding, or else to violations of contract, not of sufficient record or o£ statutory force. "This convention, therefore, moved- by the love of justice and the peace and prosperity of poor and rich alike, recommends that each state shall enact laws requiring that every agreement or contract for labor or service, shall be .written or printed in duplicate, and signed by both employer and employe, and wit- nessed, where one or both parties to the contracts may be unable to read. Each contract should be as full and explicit as possible. "The convention would recommend that the state furnish blank forms at cost, on the back of which snoull be printed if possible, any 3tat ites or references to such statutes, as are enacted for the enforcement of such contracts. Also the causes. which may justify the abrogation of such contracts. "In order that the state may en- force such contracts, the parties to- such should be required to give bond or surety for the faithful perform- ance of said contracts, in order that. the balance of justice may be held. evenly between capital and labor, or employer and employe. "The convention would resommend' that labor should be protected by en- lightened laws in accordance with science and the spirit of the age, such as the prohibition of child labor, or women during such time as they are unfitted by nature. "This convention is firmly per- suaded that the intelligent, high priced American labor is the best and the cheapest that exists in the world, and that to it is due our su- premacy as a productive nation, and any legislation which does not have in view the elevation and betterment of labor should be depreciated as inimical to the best interests of the state. "Instead of opposing, the state should encourage fraternal or bene- volent organizations of labor, which have for their object the elevation or betterment of the laboring classes, mentally or morally. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 12$ "The convention would recommend that like encouragement be extended to oganized capital so important for the development of our country, so long as such organizations are ben- eficient and do not violate the rights of others. Such legislation is recom- mended in the belief that it would maintain equitable relations between the employer and employe and per- petuate the happiness and prosperity of our people." (Applause.) Mr. Clarence Ously (of Texas): I move that we now proceed to con- sider the report of the Committee on Permanent Organization, which was the special order for this morning at 9 o'clock. Mr. Coffin (of Florida): I would like to hear another speaker upon the subject now under discussion, and I think it would be very mucn better to defer the report until t^e morning hour. Let the subject of labor and capital be finished at leasts.- I move as an amendment to- Mr*.. Ously's motion that the subject o£ Permanent Organization be taken up in the morning before the commence- ment of the morning exercises. President Hargrove: It is moved and seconded that the question of Permanent Organization be taken up in the morning. All those in favor please say "aye," those against 'no* — the 'ayes' have it; it is so ordered. I now have the pleasure of intro- ducing to you as the next speaker the man who created this conven- tion. He is the secretary of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, and this convention sprung into ex- istence through his agency. I intro- duce to you Mr. N. F. Thompson, who will also address you on the sub- ject of compulsory arbitration. (Ap- plause.) COLONEL N. F. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF THE SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL CONVENTION. Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, COMPULSORY ARBITRATION. BY COL. N. F. THOMPSON, Secretary of the Southern Industrial Convention. Colonel N. F. Thompson, Secretary of the Southern Industrial Conven- tion, then read the following paper on "Compulsory Arbitration:" "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: There is no mission which the Southern Industrial Con- vention has filled, no service it has rendered, nor benefits bestowed upon the people of the South that will compare with those which it may yet accomplish. "It has already fulfilled a mission 'Of great usefulness to the South. It has rendered a service to the peo- ple of this section which would be difficult to overestimate in value, and it has conferred benefits which one can well unduly magnify, since these will be seen and felt through- out time, molding sentiment and in- fluencing to a higher destiny the lives and character of countless num- bers of our citizens. ■"But great as the services already rendered may be to-day, valuable as they will be recognized to-mor- row, and as they must increase in the years to come, still they are only a part, and I may say the smallest part, of what it may yet be made to "bestow on the people of the South "Pardon me just a moment, as I refer you for consideration to the mission already fulfilled and the ser- vices already performed, and on which I have placed so high an es- timate. What means this assem- blage here to-day? What does this gathering signify? Why have we here on this occasion men of various pursuits and callings in life and from all portions of this fair land? It means, my friends, a change in the policy of this land, the result of which, perhaps, few of us here have even the faintest conception. It sig- nifies the speedier coming of the long promised dawn of a new era in the South. It means the death, and that you have come to the funeral of that old dynasty, whose perpetuity could have brought only effeminacy and slavery to a false standard of life to the young manhood of the South. It tells the world that you are here to usher in a new regime for the South, one that will teach our youth that not pride of birth, nor wealth, nor name, constitutes the standard of a noble manhood, but that honest labor and manly endea- vor are the only insignia of a true nobility ever yet vouchsafed from God to man! T hese are some of the services which I feel this meeting has rendered to the people of the South, and which gives significance to why you are here to-day. I am glad that I have lived to see this day, how glad no words that I can command will express, for under these newly-kin- dled influences I believe this South- land of ours is destined to achieve a career that will render her people the most prosperous, the most con- tented and the most highly favored by a benign providence of any others on the face of this old earth. I be- lieve, my friends, that such a future for the South is foreshadowed by this meeting, and that its coming will not be long delayed. " ' 'Tis coming up the steps of time, And this old world is growing brighter; We may not live to see the day, But high hopes make the heart throb lighter. We may be slumbering in the ground, When it awakes the world in won- der, Yet have we seen gathering round And heard its voice of living thun- der — 'Tis coming! yes, 'tis coming.' " "But to reach this glorious accom- plishment there is yet much to be done. While we have a land abound- ing in matchless wealth, we may not garner its full harvest without a higher appreciation of the duties yet before us, and a stronger purpose to fulfill them. There is one basic principle underlying all industrial Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 125"-- life, that is as yet only imperfectly understood by our people, but whicii must be thoroughly known and her- oically applied before we can hope to build that grand superstructure, the plans and specifications of which we are here and now considering. "To construct that industrial edi- fice which is being mapped out for us to-day, the foundations must be properly laid, and it Is to those foun- dations that my brie'f talk shall be directed. "This basic principle which I have declared it is essential for us first to understand, has its essence in that divine edict pronounced against our first parents, when they were driven from the garden of Eden: 'By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' That edict is symbolized in society to-day by these words: 'La- bor and Capital.' They are the foun- dations on which human society is laid. These are the joint factors that hold mankind together. They are the base of all human govern- ment. The savage must first be fed and clothed before he can be civil- ized, and so the child must be nursed and sustained before it can be taught and reared to manhood or woman- hood. And so, likewise, must the grown up children of society be first cared for in their natural and physi- cal wants, before civilization or gov- ernments of any kind can be thought of or hoped for. "Thus we see that it is of primal importance that these factors of hu- man life should occupy their proper positions of equal worth and mutual dependency in all reckoning with the affairs of mankind. "It is vital to both social and poli- tical life that these elements be placed and properly sustained by public sentiment and the laws of the land, where neither may harm the other, but where they will be twin pillars of strength in the upbuilding of our land. Now, he who would dis- turb this relationship of mutuality, be he who he may, is nothing less than a foe to government and an enemy to his race. "It is due you, and it is due myself, that I should s^v this much, in order to have my position on this question of labor and capital fully understood, for there are those who have mis- understood and misrepresented mjp position on this vital question of the hour. "While proclaiming my position as clearly as I know how to express it, I am still confronted with the fact that there are those in this country who have disturbed this relationship of mutuality between labor and cap- ital, and it is to this fact that I would now direct your attention. There are disturbances occurring all over the land, disturbances that are entailing burdens upon the public that should not be borne. We all know the scenes that were enacted in Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis during the past twelve months, and that they were further occasioned by and in behalf of organized labor. Hence it is incumbent on organized labor to aid any measure that will tend to prevent such scenes, if it would clear itself before the public of the responsibility which such dis- turbances entail upon it. Again, gentlemen, I am simply stating a fact, and it is with facts that we must deal. Pending the period when w© might hope to correct these evils, through a healthier public sentiment regarding the correct relation be- tween labor and capital, I think- there should be State and National courts of arbitration, to which all - disputes between labor and capital 8 should be referred, and whose decis- ions should be binding between tn© ? parties affected, or, to be plainer, to • adopt a policy of compulsory arbi- tration for the settling of differences t between employers and employes. When you stop to consider that there - is no government of whatever kind or class, whether monarchial or re- publican, whether an aristocracy or what else you may choose to call it, that deserves the name of govern- ment, that does not already apply compulsory arbitration to all of 1 its subjects and for all purposes — save the one sole and single exception of labor and capital — you will be ready to ask with me, why should these be excepted? • "I wish to make this auestion fts simple and clear to you as it appears to me. and free it from all unneces- sary obstacles or difficulties in the way of its speedy and easy solution. Labor and capital are inherent antl 126 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. co-equal factors in organized society as we find it to-day. It is possible to conceive of some remote period in the past when utilities were free an3 available to all alike, but as no such conditions now exist, nor can they be relegated into any such primitive possibilities, we must take these es- sential and fixed ingredients of civil- ized life; and it seems to me, when that is done, this problem of labor and capital will be solved, for then neither will by ' permitted to ciaun exemption from those rules of gov- ernment that apply to all other sub- jects. "The trouble is that both, through some tacit custom, which has so long been acquiesced in that it takes on the form and force of an unwritten Saw, which appears to have given to •each a privileged exemption from the Tealm of government. But remove that unwarranted custom, and de- clare that these shall stand alike with all other citizens, and the work of securing a proper solution of this question will be furnished. "As no one can now, deliberately set about the evil of injuring an- other, why should labor or capital be exempt from this same requirement? Properly applied, existing principles and usages of government would not permit injuries to be inflicted by either labor or capital, the one on the other, than it would permit it be- tween any other citizens. And when you do this you have compulsory ar- bitration, just as all others now ha^e it. "Now, let me prove this to you. If any right is infringed, or any wrong is committed, affecting citi- zens under any form of government on earth, they can, first settle it among themselves; this is arbitra- tion pure and simple. But if thev cannot thus settle it, they may not call in their neighbors and hold a 'council of war,' and t^pn *«.»*** +"> eettlc it 'vi et armis.' No, they must resort to the courts for a settlement: and this is compulsory arbitration! why should these differences between labor and capital be exempt from a similar rule? Compulsorv arbitra- tion is. therefore, the enunciation of no new principle in jurisprudence, but only applying to labor and cap- ital the same governmental power that is placed over all other citizens. "Society commits a wrong upon all other members when it fails to re- quire such a rule, and government itself is a failure when it does not command it. There is nothing in the operation of such a law that ei- ther side should unduly fear. Just as in all other cases, the man who cannot substantiate his claim will not go to law to attempt its enforce- ment, but he compromises it without going into court about it, and so, if labor and capital should have a claim that a court of arbitration would not enforce, they should not be per- mitted to attempt its enforcement by a strike, boycott or lockout. " A 'strike' is a crime against so- ciety, just as much so as a mob that takes a victim out of the custody of the law and inflicts summary ven- geance upon him. So likewise is a 'lockout' to enforce a demand of capital against labor. Suppose a person having the custody of another attempts to starve that person into obedience to some demand, how long do you think it would be tolerated if found out? Not for a single mom- ent! and so a 'lockout' to bring work- men to accept less than a living wage is starvation on a larger scale, and organized society should not permit it. "Again society hangs a man that stops another on the public highway and takes his money, but it permits organized labor to commit a greater crime in the 'boycott' Under this 'ban' not only is the individual 'held up' and his property sought to be taken from him, but even the inno- cent one who would furnish him with the necessaries of life is sim- ilarly injured; and yet we claim to live in a civilized and Christian land. Gp^tlemen of this convention, should svoh things be possible under any for-n of government, much less under on^ claiming as we do, to set a standard that the whole world shoum take for their guidance? "Is it not about time for us to vin- dicate that claim, and before at- tempting to Christianize heathen lards do more missionary work here at home? The South is starting on an industrial career which can make her supreme in the industrial world, but before she may hope to reach that Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 127 suprtinctcy, she must take such ac- tion as will secure her industrial peace, "This she owes to both labor and capital, that each may be maintained in their proper sphere of usefulness and progress, but above all she owes it to the public to free it from the possibility of such disturbances as have been inflicted on other sections and other countries. "Here is a field, therefore, in which the Southern Industrial Convention may perform a service to the South greater by far than any yet reached. By the establishment of a bureau, such as Dr. Alderman outlined on yesterday, and then start a campaign of thorough education along all in- dustrial lines, including the correct relation between labor and capital, then indeed, may we hope to see the South what it should be. We have demagogues on the one side and agi- tators on the other, arraying class against class, antagonizing labor and capital, educating along lines that must bring ruin and anarchy in the end, and yet no agency exists to counteract these pernicious influ- ences. "This is primarily a work of edu- cation. It should never enter the do- main of partizan politics. It should command the encouragement and support of every good citizen, regard- less of party, sect or class. Rightly understood, there are no serious dif- ficulties attending its proper solution, and the entire American people owe it to themselves and to their country to settle it. We do not need to go to New Zealand for the model of any law, however effective their law may have proven there; only let us ad- here to our own principles of govern- ment, show the relationship of every citizen and every interest under them, and we need nothing more. "The greatest trouble that exists lies in the fact that labor organiza- tions have inculcated sentiments among the working- masses which lead them to seek redress for real or supposed grievances, through other than legal methods. They have been taught to regard labor organizations and the 'orders' of labor leaders as supreme. Their relation to the pub- lic is not properly felt, and herein lies the strongest obligations of the government to set them right through just laws. "Gentlemen, if the Southern Indus- trial Convention can be made such an agency, it will render a service to the South as far above any yet ren- dered as the earth is above the sun, or God himself above his creatures. "Of course, gentlemen, there is much that can be said on this sub- ject that should be said, but I have only sought to be suggestive, point- ing a remedy that can be made ef- fective in preventing disturbances between labor and capital, that will be a positive benefit to both, and no possible harm to either. I have not spoken as a partisan for either labor or capital. I am equally a friend to both, for I could not be other, and seek the advancement of this land that I love, and it is in be- half of this land that my appeal is made. This land with its fruits and flowers, its hills and dales, its moun- tains and valleys, its rivers and streams — the Almighty never made a fairer land. Here we have a soil the most generous, a climate the most healthful, with minerals rich and abundant; with forests and fields filled with treasures beyond compare — who is there that does not love this sunny Southern land and is not will- ing to work for its greater progress and higher development? Pardon me just a moment while I give a sentiment from one of the South's noblest sons: "I've stood beneath Italia's clime, Beloved of land and song; On Helvetia's hills, proud and sub- lime, Where nature's wonders throng. By Temple's classic, sunlit streams; Where gods of old did roam, But ne'er have found so fair a land As this, my native home.' "There are doubtless many before me who once thought, as I did in my young manhood days, that no higher privilege could be accorded them than to die in defense of this our Southern land, and who faced that death on many a bloody battle field but I say to you, comrades of the 'lost cause,' that it is grander iar, and more glorious, to live and work for the upbuilding of this land now 128 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, than it would have been to have died for it then; and may we old soldiers of the Confederacy feel that once again we are entering upon a contest that requires all our latent strength and manhood, but that it is one wherein we can never know defeat if we are true to the opportunities that lie before us. Let us acquit ourselves like men and prove* the truth of the old adage that 'Peace hath her vic- tories no less renowned than war' and that the South has won the grandest ever recorded in the annals of mankind." (Appaluse.) Hon. John P. Coffin, of Florida, then submitted the following report as embodying the conclusions reached by the committee on this subject. The report was unani- mously adopted. "Report of Committee on Labor and Capital. "We believe that the interests of labor and capital are absolutely and entirely inter-dependent. "We believe that in most cases there is no difference between labor and capital which should not and cannot be settled between the par- ties in interest without resort to ex- treme measures. "We deprecate the attempts which are frequently made by agitators to stir up strife between labor and cap- ital and believe that they should be suppressed. "We believe that the honest labor- er should be paid lioeral wages in cash, so that he can keep his family in comfort, educate his children and fit himself for the position he oc- cupies and one befitting an Ameri- can citizen. "We believe that courts of arbi- tration should be established both by State and by the National Govern- ments to which courts, all questions arising between employe and em- ployer must be referred, and the de- cisions of which courts shall be final. "We believe that the findings of these courts would be fair and im- partial, and would search out the cause of trouble and remove it, whether labor or capital was in fault, and that both sides would be willing to be thus adjudged, and much ill feeling, strife and bloodshed would be avoided. "JOHN P. COFFIN, Chairman." SHOE MANUFACTURING IN THE SOUTH. BY L. BROWN KEIFFER, OF KEIFFER BROS. CO., LTD., The following paper on shoe manufacture in the South was then read by L. Brown Keiffer of Keiffer Bros Co., Ltd. "New Orleans, La. "Mr. President, ladies and gentle- men, I have the honor to represent before the convention the interests of Shoe Manufacturing in the South and in behalf of our fellow manufac- turers of -the city of New Orleans I extend to you their hearty welcome and a cordial invitation to visit in your leisure moments the various plants, which in themselves are the best commentaries to the remarks I have the pleasure of addressing to you. "The history of the establishment and development of most manufactu- ring industries in new and compar- atively isolated localities bears a striking similarity. In the growth of the shoe manufacturing this fact is well evidenced. "From the exchange of data with gentlemen in the same line of busi- ness but located in other sections of the South we feel safe in presuming that our experiences are a fair exam- ple of what has transpired in the building up of this particular indus- try and, therefore, advance our opin- ion with absolute confidence for your consideration. "Shoe manufacturing by approved methods was started here in the ear- ly eighties, a matter of some 15 to 20 years ago, and although a compar- atively short time when contrasted with some of the older commercial enterprises such as sugar making and cotton weaving, still long enough to admit of the development of such prefected methods as to place the Southern made articles in the same class with that of its North- ern competitor. Held in New Orleans, Dccemba 4-7, 1900. 129 "From the outset tne labor ques- tion was the most important to be faced; the employment of skilled la- bor from distant points was and still is unsatisfactory. This transporta- tion of labor after repeated trials was so disappointing that it was ne- cessary to adopt a system of train- ing by gradual advancement, so, that the young man who »was assistant to a machine operator to-day became in the course of a few months an op- erator himself. This method in a year or two surrounded us with workmen congenial to the climate and locality. Being generally men of family with an interest in the community in which they live, in -a short time they developed as a very desirable class of employes. "Satisfied with the good results the majority of manufactures have ad- hered to this means of raising skilled labor and it can be be posi- tively asserted that the workmen now empoyed in New Orleans are as competent as any in the United States. "This comparison is made only af- ter close observation of the ability of men employed elsewhere. "In dismissing the subject of labor it should be stated that the manu- facturer works under a slight disad- vantage in the absence of the strong competition for employment existing in other large shoe centers. It is surprising to note, however, at what a small additional expense a system of incentives for merit can be main- tained and with what satisfactory results these competitive induce- ments reward the manufacturer. "The item of locality is of no im- portance in the item of securing machinery as the constant solicitation and exhaustive sys- tem of advertising pursued by all the large machinery houses are so com- petent that new ideas are put before us in the South simultaneously with their adoption in the East. "In the matter providing leather and findings considerably more care and forethought is required on the part of the purchasing department than would ordinarily be demanded of manufacturers adjacent to large leather centers. By this, is meant that owing to the time required in transit and the possibility of delays the stock must be watched more closely and wants anticipated co a greater extent that would be necessa- ry if one could step next door to purcnase what is needed at. any time. "The adoption of system, however, reduces this inconvenience to one of the regular processes of manufactur- ing and robs it entirely of its element of care. "From extended experience it has been found that purchasing in the open market has no particular ad- vantage over ordering direct so far as prices and selection of stock are concerned, and for this reason our possibilities to secure material are as favorable as conditions offered else- where. "Relative to systems of manage- ment and methods of manufacturing it can be unhesitatingly stated mat these subjects are so entirely depen- dent upon the ability and individ- uality of the executive head that che matter of environment has no bear- ing whatsoever. "Through the courtesy of manufac- turers in almost every shoe center of the United States we have had favor- able opportunity of studying the question and after close observation conclude that each shoe factory pos- sesses its own distinctive features made prominent by the particular requirements of its special trade and the earnestness of the men man- aging its affairs. "In considering the quality of the Southern product we feel free to state that it averages better than goods made elsewhere for the same price. "Shoe manufacturing being a com- paratively young industry in ine South the fact follows that at its con- ception very strong competition had to be met with from established shoe centers. "This condition of affairs forced the new manufacturer to put an extra fine quality of material into his shoes in order to make them sup- erior to other competing lines. It was also done with the view of building a reputation for the manu- facture of thoroughly reliable foot- wear. "This virtually established at the outset the standard of the Southern made shoe — we are speaking partic- 130 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ularly of ' the New Orleans made shoe, and it is a standard from which the manufacturer has never receded. "Another cause which stimulated the maintainance of this high stand- ard of quality is the fact that the greater quantity of the shoes from Southern factories is disposed of in local territory tributary to the manu- facturing center. "Experience seems to justify that the closer the business relations the more exacting the patron, and, hence the greater care in the day's work and the superior quality of the ma- terial used. "That the Southern made shoes stand the fierce light of competition it needs only to be said that the out- put of the factories throughout the South has constantly increased. In our own particular case the increase of the last fiscal year was almost 45 per cent. "In 1885 the bulk of the shoes man- ufactured were machine sewed, sell- ing from $1,50 to $2.25 manufactur- ers prices. "To-day the demand is almost en- tirely for Goodyear welts, selling from $2.25 to $3.00 per pair-. "This fact is conclusive proof that the Southern article is attracting the attention and meeting the approval of the best class of shoe buyers. "The New Orleans manufacturer has not devoted much time to the making of cheaper grades. This branch covers a large field and is a department worthy the consideration of our local business men. "Gainesville, Nashville, Atlanta and Memphis are successfully ex- ploiting these staple goods as well as others and their success but further emphasizes the fact that the South- land offers to business enterprises backed with the necessary capital and technical knowledge as fair an opportunity for success as the Nor- thern sister States. . "The territory supplied by the var- ious large cities of tne South is suf- ficiently greater to warrant the steady running of large plants. In this particular we fare better than our Eastern competitor; the manu- facturer being within easy reach of the consumer and in a position to supply him at short notice, the re- quirement of purchasing months ahead is eliminated on the part of the small dealer. This affords the retailer the opportunity to carry smaller stocks and the consequent necessity of repeated orders keeps the manufacturer well supplied with work. "With practically the trade of four- teen States at our command and a gradual encroachment upon trade which is naturally tributary to other large markets our running average is a constant, one and as quantity and continuity of manufacture are the es- sential points of an economical basis of manufacturing expense our opportunities are to operate cheaply unexcelled. "During the past five years the ex- port trade in shoes from the United States has astounded the world. In this field the South has been well re- presented. Our shoes were among the pioneers of American goods in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Baltic States and it is with consid- erable pride that we point to-day to the most representative dealers of the largest cities of the German Em- pire, the Republic of Mexico, the Cen- tral American States and Cuba as the purchasers of Southern made footware. What more substantial proof than this could be asked of the value of the Southern shoe? "When a manufacturing enterprise is in a position to successfully com- pete with the open markets of the world in products of its line I believe there can be no further doubt as to the permanent success of that indus- try. "With approximately a million of dollars invested and a daily capacity of about three thousand pairs of shoes the city of New Orleans pre- sents a bright example of the possi- bilities for the shoe manufacturing interest of the future. With that encouragement from the people to whom it is entitled to look for a loy- al support of the product which so justly merits it and upon which the most critical of several nations has set the stamp of approval we can see no reason why. shoe manufacturing should not be a stanch part of the wedge of commercial industry which is opening up such vast resources in our now prosperous South. (Applause.) Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. LETTEE EKOM COL. A. K. McCLTJRE. 131 There being no discussion after Mr. Keiffer's paper, the programme was proceeded with- and the subject of "The Press" was next taken up. Secretary Thompson read the fol- lowing letter received from Colonel A. K. McClure, Editor of '"Phila- delphia Times:" Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 27, 1900. Colonel N. F. Thompson, Equitable Building, New Orleans, La.: My Dear Friend — It is with painful reluctance that I advise you of my inability to attend the industrial convention to be held next month in New Orleans. Business engagements will call me to Mexico some six weeks later, and I cannot spare the time for both journeys. I must go to Mexico, and that makes it impossible for me to be in New Orleans and participate in an humble way in the great work your convention is doing. I will be in Birmingham the last week in January, if all goes well, and in New Orleans about the first of February to remain a day or so and then proceed to Mexico, expect- ing to get back for the Mardi Gras. I was very anxious to meet the Southern Industrial Convention. It is doing the best work that has ever been done in the South, and it is do- ing more to bring the North and South into mutual business relations than could be accomplished in any other way. Our city and State will be represented, and I am sure that both the North and the South will be greatly benefited by the free inter- change of sentiment and business feeling between the people of the two sections. The advancement of Southern de- velopment and prosperity has been a subject close to my heart for many years, as you doubtless know, and I rejoice that I have lived to see the North and South so- grandly intermingled in the great in- dustrial and commercial enterprises of a common country. It is with sorrow that I must declare my in- ability to be with you in New Or- leans. The first opportunity again presented for meeting the convention will bring me with you, unless pre- vented by circumstances entirely be- yond my control. Yours very truely^ A. K. McCLURE. THE PRESS OE THE SOUTH. BY MR. EDWIN CRAIGHEAD. Mr. Edwin Craighead Editor of "Mobile Register" then read the fol- lowing paper on "The Press" of the South and its relations to the indus- trial future of the South." "Ladies and Gentlemen: "In the rebuilding of the South after the devastating war, the Press of this portion of the country played ever the part of the good mentor. There has been one class of the peo- ple that has had the time for and followed the vocation of studying the industrial conditions and pointing out in what way they could best be taken advantage of. The Press is the lay ministry, preaching frequent and forcible sermons, and calling the people to realization of their oppor- tunities; the press is also the propa- ganda of the South's resources, of her progress and her plans for the fu- ture. "Far-seeing men, trying to make close observation and to generalize from pertinent facts, have been the guides to Southern Industry. I could name you a dozen men of their stamp who have been ever vigilant, ever re- sourceful, ever wise, pushing the South forward, always along safe lines, and seeking not their own ad- vantage but that of the people among whom they lived. Let me say in this connection that there is no one in this class who has done more, whose service has been follow- ed by more immediate results, whose kindly feeling has been of greater advantage to the industrial South than Colonel McClure, who has pre- ceded me here to-night. When we build a monument typifying the South's greatness, one of the statues that will ornament its base will be a portraiture of the big- brained, big-hearted man whose insight first discovered the 132 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, possibilities of the South and whose generosity impelled him to be the first to call the attention of Northern capital to this field for en- terprise. He has ever believed in the South and we of the South shall ever hold him in greatful remember- ance. "It occurs to me that the work yet left for the Southern press to do in the advancement of the industrial South, is strictly the encourage- ment of such methods of education of the Southern people that they, the Southern people, may reap the full advantage of the industrial revolu- tion that is taking place in the South. "Those who contemplate industrial investments in the South meet the first obstacle when they enquire into the supply of skilled labor. We know of an enterprise in our city of Mobile that had every promise of success but failed because there was not steady labor to be had; or, if steady it was ignorant, and, there- fore, not to be profitably employed. In certain kinds of industry there is some latitude in this regard. It is customary when a cotton mill is es- tablished in a new locality for the management to bring a few skilled men and with this force as a nucleus train the native population to be effi- cient help; but we must see that this is not all that it should be; and, be- sides, there are industries that can- not afford to go through such a pro- cess in getting trained labor to work in them. "The time was when anyone who said the South would compete with the East in the manufacture of fine grade cotton goods would be ridicul- ed; yet, to-day there are mills in the South that produce goods of a grade equal to any in the world. Time was when it was thought that neither the climate of the South nor the temper- ament of its people would permit of cotton manufacturing on a large scale. This, too, has been proven to be a mistake. The South to-day spins and weaves nearly a fifth part of the product of its cotton fields, and hundreds of new mills are being constructed anually. In other indus- tries the same astonishing progress is exhibited. In lumber, in iron and steel making, in agriculture gener- ally there is shown a very commend- able enterprise. The South is fully awake to her possibilities. The ser- vice of the. press has been well per- formed. Labor, however, is yet to be train- ed as it should be. We want it said in the near future that we build our own mills and manage them with Southern skilled labor. This is not meant as sectionalism, but mere- ly that we have the population and we want to see them employed, not as common laborers only but as skilled, occupying positions of high- est responsibility. In this way alone will our people reap the full benefit of the South's growth. "To this end, there should be, we think, some change in the methods of education. We teach all the boys and girls alike; they learn the three essentials, and something of history, geography and physics. In the high schools chemistry, Latin and advan- ced mathematics are addeu. ill these studies are useful, as all forms of knowledge are useful, but may we not ask whether it would not be bet- ter for the South if her schools were to devote some part of their attention to manual training, to instruction in the art of using the hands. Our attention is now devoted to the train- ing of the mind. We crowd the mind with facts; we cultivate the memory to an extraordinary degree, but of life's real work, of the indus- trial life of the South, what? The graduate has to start at the bottom and learn how to make a living; and, as he is without teachers, he makes blunders, gets discouraged, and lap- ses into, shiftlessness and idleness perhaps into crime. "Shall we not then preach the need of industrial schools in the South, or industrial departments in our schools? Is that not our chief duty to-day and in the performance of it will not the press be true to its re- lation to the industrial future of the South? If effective, the preaching would be of the greatest benefit to the young, but not only so, but would enrich the South, as it would enable the worker to earn a larger wage and would leave with the industrial class a large proportion of the money derived from the processes of manu- facturing. (Applause.) Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. THE PRESS OF THE SOUTH. BY MARCELLUS E. FOSTER. 135 President Hargrove: "I now have the pleasure in intro- ducing to you the youngest Editor in the South. Mr. Marcellus E. Foster of the 'Houston Daily Post.' " Mr. Marcellus E. Foster, Manag- ing Editor "Houston Daily Post" then read the following paper on the same subject, viz., "The Press of the South." "Ladies and Gentlemen .- "The press of the South has been one of the greatest factors in bring- ing about the spirit of industrial en- thusiasm that is now being felt in nearly every Southern State. "The industrial awakening has hardly begun, however, consequent- ly there is much yet to be done. The press can do more, perhaps, than any other agency to make known the great resources of the South, and to educate the people as to the necessity of this line of development. "What is the duty of Southern newspapers in this connection is known to every editor in this section, and I am glad to say that nearly all are doing what is expected of them. The press is ever ready to welcome new enterprises, and to advocate laws and measures that will encour- age the location of such industries. "It is true that there are some pa- pers that seem to care more for their pet political ideas than for the com- mercial welfare of the country, but as a rule you will find the press of the South thoroughly alive to the busi- ness needs of this great land of ours. "To bring about the industrial transformation that is so badly need- ed in the South there will be no need to abandon the social and political principles that have been a part of the South for many years past. No man need be advised to abandon po- litics or to align himself with anoth- er party in order to secure attention from Northern and Eastern investors. There are opportunities in every Southern State for profitable invest- ment and the opportunities must be made known to the world. "There are thousands and thous- ands of people in this country who do not know the possibilities of money-making in the South, or who if they do know them imagine that there are laws in the Southern States that make such investment hazard- ous or attended with unusual risk. One great help that the press can give in the work of industrial devel- opment, therefore, is in demonstra- ting that there are no laws in the South antagonistic to legitimate in- vestments, and that a man who wants to build a factory here is just as sure of protection as the one who invests his money in any Northern or Eastern State. Texas, I think, was injured more during the last ten years by the cry that our laws were calculated to drive out capital than it could have been hurc commercially by a yellow fever epidemic. The press of our State has a duty to per- form in correcting this impression, and in making known the fact that Texas offers every inducement to honest capital to invest within its borders. We have been forced in past years to adopt laws to protect our citizens, and some of these laws have been severely attacked by peo- ple who did not understand them, or who purposely misrepresented their intent and scope, but taken as a wnole the laws of Texas are not as stringent nor as paternalistic as those of Massachusetts, New York or Connecticut. "It is true there are some demago- gues in the South, but there are also unprincipled and demagogic politi- cians in the North and East, and there is no reason why one section should be affected by these any more than the other. The fact that Chi- cago and New York have their an- archists and mobs does not deter in- vestments from those cities, and be- cause the South occasionally becomes hysterical over some needed reform in the National Government is no reason for capital to avoid this sec- tion. "In my opinion the quickest and easiest way for the South to work out its industrial salvation is to ed- 134 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. ucate its own people to the necessity of putting money into manufactur- ing enterprises. We are too prone to call upon outside investors. We should, of course, offer the outside investor every inducement to locate an enterprise in the South and see that his investment is given full protection and encouragement, but •at the same time we should not ne- glect to impress upon home capital the great benefits to be derived from judicious investments along this line. "There is every reason why the South should be a land of manu- facturing as well as of agriculture, ■and it is the duty of the press to demonstrate this, not only to our Northern and Eastern friends, but to our own people. The utilization of our industrial opportunities is, as we all know, as yet very much in its infancy; it is only very lately indeed that their capabilities have been dis- covered and their worth realized. A few Southern States, like the Caro- linas, have been forced into cotton manufacturing, but taken as a whole, •our opportunities have been utilized only in a meager way. The appre- ciation of their value has but just begun to dawn upon us, and until we "fully show our own faith and reliance we can not expect full recognition from other quarters. "One reason why our Southern peo- ple have not gone into manufacturing more extensively is because there nave been other methods of money making that seemed attended with less risk. Our towns and cities have grown and developed mainly along merchandizing lines. Too many of our cities are still merely places for exchanging and shipping of raw pro- ducts. High interest has also been a great drawback to manufacturing development, though everything now indicates that this evil can not be held against us much longer. "The day for the note shaver, the coupon clipper and the interest maker will soon be at an end, and as the end draws near money will seek investment in manufacturing enterprises. "The interest rate has been knocked to smithereens throughout the North and East, and that safe and easy method of making an in- come is now at an end nearly every- where. It is the duty of the press to make the fact prominent and to show that where the loaning of money no longer pays men have been forced into productive investments. In a few years more the moneyed men in all parts of the South will find that to create wealth and to de- velope they must help to set in mo- tion the wheels of progress. They will discover that money can not make money — that the day for large in- comes merely by interest making is over. "High interest is a sure indication of a new and undeveloped country, as population increases, as cities are developed and as interests grow and expand, there is a keen competition in money and the interest rate falls. "To-day New York and Boston banks are glad to dispose of their money at 3 and 4 per cent, provided the security is safe. This is the high- est possible tribute to the growth and development of that section of the country. It shows that invest- ment in manufacturing industries has been found more profitable than any other method of money making; that the accumulation of wealth in the North and East has forced men into these enterprises that are needed to employ labor. "In many Southern States the in- terest rate is gradually falling, but it is still so high as to be a drawback to the South. It causes many men to depend- wholly upon this method of money making. As long as they are certain of 8 per cent, they are con- tent to sit idly by, and to leave to the more venturesome spirits the chance of making from 10 to 15 per cent on manufacturing investments. "But the demand for money at this high rate is not keeping up with the supply. The banks of several large Southern cities are to-day filled with money that is drawing no interest whatever — that cannot be loaned upon what the banks consider safe collateral at this high rate of inter- est. "What will be the result of this? There will be much lower interest rate within the next few years, and furthermore, there will be a rush to invest money in productive enter- prises. "Another point to which I wish to Held in New Orleans, December 4-^ 1900. 135 call your attention is that it has been too long considered the duty of the press to plead for crop diversifica- tion, and to ascribe all our troubles to the lack of this system. "Crop diversification has been the cry in the South for the last twenty or thirty years. It has served as a constant theme for newspapers and for the public generally. The farmer has had it continually dinned into his ears, and spread before his eyes, and shoved under his nose and crammed into his brain. "The necessity of a diversity of crops has been told him by every country newspaper and even the city dailies have harped upon the subject for months at a time. Editorial writers have their 'crop diversifica- tion' articles on hand at all times, and whenever ideas for other sub- jects are used up they fall back upon the diversity topic, and begin to tell the farmers how to escape from the 'thraldom of a crop which holds its votaries as serfs,' etc. "We all pity the farmer and talk of the senseless way in which he sticks to old crops, and wonder why he does not follow the advice to diversify that is so freely and con- stantly given. It is indeed pitiable to see men content to eke out a bare existence as cotton raisers, but do you know that in many instances the farmer is acting wisely when he sticks to cotton, even at 5 cents in preference to experimenting with other crops. "How can you conscientiously ad- vise a farmer to stop raising cotton and to give his attention to other crops before you give him a market for other agricultural products. "The newspapers are constantly telling the farmers of the beauties of truck gardening in the South. Did you know that the amount of vegeta- bles thrown away for want of a mar- ket in many Southern towns each summer would make thousand upon thousands of cases of canned goods. "One little county in Maryland has canning factories. How many are there in our Southern States? "Nearly every variety of fruit can be grown in the South, and well managed orchards have netted ex- cellent financial results in this State. But we buy enough canned fruits from the North and East every win- ter to keep hundreds of factories busy. How can you expect more farmers to quit cotton and raise fruit until cities like Houston and New Orleans encourage them with factor- ies for canning these products? "Every factory placed in a city not only means a market in many in- stances for a certain line of pro- duce to be manufactured, but it means that any where from 500 to 2,000 people have been added to the city's population, and this in itself creates a greater demand for every- thing raised by the farmer. "Give the farmers a market for a diversity of crops and they can be relied upon to quit all cotton and to diversify. "As long as the cities pander to' this trade and bow down before the cotton juggernaut you can not hope for anything else from the farmers. "Crop diversification is needed in the South, but before that can be made clear to the farming element there must be an industrial awaken- ing in our villages, towns and our cities. Let the diversity cry con- tinue, but let the city man of af- fairs take it to heart for a while. "And when the cities diversify and expand their manufacturing you will find that there is no longer any need for the South to drop cotton, but on the contrary that we can produce the largest cotton crops ever recorded in the country's history and still get good prices for the staple. South Carolina is the largest manufacturer of cotton goods in the South, and that has been brought about without curtailing its cotton crop or affecting injuriously its other agricultural in- terests. "I would say, therefore, to the press of the South: Don't forever and continually talk crop diversifi- cation to the farmer. He is diversi- fying his crops just as fast as he finds it profitable to do so. "Don't imagine that the Southern farmer is ignorant and shiftless. He is progressing in his particular line of work just as fast as the banker or the capitalist. It is true that there are some farmers who haven't the sense to see why they should raise their own food crops, but then there are some bankers who don't realize 136 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, that a big surplus of money isn't a fine advertisement for a bank. "There are a few farmers in the South who buy all they eat instead of raising the bulk of it. There are likewise bankers and other moneyed men in the South who would rather see their money idle in the vaults than to risk it on manufacturing en- terprises. These extremes are found in every class of life, and these ex- tremists should not be used to judge the whole. "In conclusion, I want to say that while I consider it the duty of the press of the South to constantly ad- vocate industrial expansion, and to aid in every way to make the world see the great manufacturing possi- bilities of this section, I trust the day will never come when the com- mercial spirit alone will actuate our great citizenship. Let us do all in our power to have our measureless resources utilized and developed, but do not change us into what Ruskin calls the 'money-making mob.' Let us preserve our good name, our his- toric honor and our traditions. Let the world know the wealth of the South's mineral resources, its vast fields of coal, its thousand streams if running water, its easy accessibil- ity to seaports on the South and East, its limitless forests of woods of every kind, for use in every de- scription of manufacture, its won- derful productive capabilities — let the world know all this, and yet when we achieve the prosperity and great- ness that should be ours from all these natural advantages, let us not become merely a mob of money- loving, money-making people. Let us not 'concentrate our souls on pence,' despising literature, despis- ing science, despising art, despising nature, despising compassion. The South is generous and unselfish at heart, its citizenship is one of which we are all now proud. Let us re- member this, and never forget in our race for commercial supremacy, those old traditions of chivalry, of love for the beautiful and good, ad- miration for true manhood, for self- sacrificial bravery, devotion to truth and honor and to higher ideals, which have made the Southern char- acter proverbially charming, strong and noble. (Applause.) THE PRESS OE THE SOUTH. BY LOUIS J. BROOKS. Mr. Louis J. Brooks, of Jackson, Tenn., then read the following paper on "The Press of the South, and its Relation to the Industrial Future of the South." "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Southern Industrial Convention: "As the invention of printing marked the dawn of modern civiliza- tion, so an enterprising press has since been the sleepless trumpeter and exploiter of human progress and achievement. 'Edmund Burke said there were three estates in parlia- ment but in the reporters' gallery yonder there sat a fourth estate, more important far than they all.' In a similar vein, Thackeray pays this splendid tribute: 'Look at the press; there she is — the great engine — she never sleeps, she has her am- bassadors in every quarter of the world; her couriers on every road. Her officers march along with armies and her envoys walk into states- mens' cabinets.' "A free and independent press is the corner-stone of civil and relig- ious liberty; it has ever been the glory of the Anglo-Saxon, and, it is no matter of surprise, that this car- dinal principle was engrafted in the constitution of our great Republic. "While the press of the entire coun- try has been notably alert and enter- prising in developing the material and industrial wealth of the nation, the press of the South has been no laggard in stimulating and promot- ing the best interests of its section. Its newspapers keenly felt the de- vastating hand of war, they became acquainted with poverty in its var- ious forms, but with all, they re- tained a virility and recuperative power born of abiding faith and un- faltering courage. The press of the South has not been fortified by pop- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 137 ulous cities and a wealthy clientage, but it has always enjoyed in a marked degree the confidence and esteem of its people. The esprit de corps of Southern journalism has in- sured high standards of honor and integrity and, be it said to its credit, the so-called yellow journal has found but little favor among our people. The list of oien who have distinguished themselves in the Southern newspaper field and who have shed imperishable lustre upon their profession is a long and bril- liant one, and they are tne acknow- ledged peers of their professional brethren in any other section of the American Union. "Perhaps the most noteworthy work of the Southern press has been exhibited by practically proving, that 'the pen is mightier than the sword,' and in exemplifying the truth that 'peace hath her victories no less renowned than war.' The spirit and ardor with which the Southern editor has addressed him- self to the task of retrieving the broken fortunes of his countrymen and rehabilitating his impoverished section was admirable to behold. His work has left its impress upon the material development of his Southland and its influence upon the future welfare of his people will be seen and felt for years to come. "Standing as we are upon the threshold of a new century, prob- lems of vast moment confront us, and it is to an intelligent solution of these grave questions, that the press and people of the South must address themselves. Witness, if you please, the wonderful recuperative energies of the South, and then, be- hold the industrial revolution that is upon us and that marks an epoch in our history! The new revolution in trade, manufacturing and com- merce has assumed such magnitude that it only requires an abiding faith in ourselves to achieve our in- dustrial independence. The New England cotton mill owner and the Pennsylvania iron king have found stalwart but generous competitors among their Southern neighbors. A new Aladdin, inspired by a plucky and public spirited press, has rubbed his wonderful lamp and young man- ufacturing cities like Birmingham, Sheffield, Anniston, Bessemer, Har- riman and Middlesborough have sprung into existence. Parodoxical as. it may seem, the scenes of the most hotly contested battlefields of our civil war are to-day populous and flourishing manufacturing cities. The battle smoke of the early sixties, as if by some strange necromancy, has been metamorphosed into liie smoke of busy factories, while tne clash of arms and roar of cannon find their echoes in 'the whirr of the spindle, the buzz of the saw, the roar of the furnace and the throb of the locomotive.' Charlotte, Columbia, Atlanta and Chattanooga, have in- deed arisen from the ashes of war and have been transformed into- swarming hives of human industry. "In order to make a people great and prosperous, Lord Bacon said, 'yon must have fertile soil, busy workshops and easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place.' Measured by this standard, in the products of the field, no country on the globe can compare with the South in the variety and abundance of its argricultural products. Ac- cording to published statemeuts, it is estimated that the cotton crop alone for the present year will jield a revenue of $400,000,000. Our cotton and tobacco exports are the keys that unlock millions of foreign gold to this country and that so firmly maintain the balance of trade in our favor. As to the richness of our Southern iron fields, no less author- ity than Mr. Edward Atkinson said: 'Standing on the top of the highest peak of the great Smoky mountains he would find in a radius of 75 miles the future iron producing region of the United States.' In proof of the foregoing statement, it is said the South is already producing 2,500,007 tons of pig iron a year. As in cot- ton and iron, so the South leads the United States or any other civilized country, in its area of timbered land, possessing as it does, over one-half the forest wealth of this country. With such an amazing exhibit of raw material, what may we not ex- pect when the dormant mechanical energies and inventive genius of the South reach their normal develop- ment. With such enormous re- sources of forest, field and mine, the :38 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, trartscendant question of the times with the press and people is 'where are the Southern mechanics to de- velop this untold wealth?' Shall we continue to import skilled mechanics or shall we train our own young men, employing them in our workshops and thus permit them to enjoy the rich heritage that attends successful manufacturing. "We have lawyers, doctors, mer- chants and politicians, and to spare, but there is abundant room for home-grown mechanics. We need great captains of industry, 'native and to the manor born,' with ability to organize and manage the coming army of artizans, who are to con- vert our cotton into cloth, our iron ore into hardware, our wool into clothing, and our forests into fur- niture and wooden ware. We need master spirits like Carnagie, Frick and Pullman to blaze out the road to success in manufacturing, we need ship builders, like the Cramps to construct our merchant marine; civil engineers like Capt. Eads to span our rivers and build our jet- ties and scientific inventors like Ed- ison, Tesla, Bell, McCormick, Oliver and Westinghouse to tame the subtle lightning and make easy and less hazardous the lot of the husbandman and the knight of the rail. "It is indeed remarkable that the South is just now awakening to her splendid opportunities and possi- bilities. We have for years paid tri- bute to the Northern and Eastern manufacturers. They own the life and fire insurance companies, the railroads, cable and steamship lines, the trust companies and the publish- ing houses. They make our boots and shoes, hats and caps, clothing, millinery, hardware, furniture and they manufacture at a fine profit, the very cotton and tobacco grown in your fields. Visit your stores, if you please, and see how many arti- cles are manufactured in this sec- tion. Even much of our meat, lard, hay, flour, and canned goods bear the impress of a Northern, Eastern or Western label. Is it any wonder then, that for all these years we have been self-appointed hewers of wood and drawers of water? We are com- mercial toll-payers; we sow but others reap. And yet for this ano- malous condition of affairs, no blame is attached to our friends up the country. Our slavery is of our own making, as our industrial independ- ence must be wrought out by our own exertions. We are at last cut- ting our wisdom teeth, and, thanks to the industrial campaigns of the Southern press, as the years roll by, we will live and learn. "I appeal to the young men and the rising generation, to throw off this industrial bondage. The time, has arrived in the South when we must not only raise the raw material but we must manufacture our own wares and merchandise. We pro- duce nearly two-thirds of the world's cotton supply and yet New England and Great Britain employ ana sus- tain five millions of people in the manufacture of Southern cotton. Could we manufacture our entire product, it would require an invest- ment of $1,200,000,000 and would mean the employment of at least five million Southern operatives. As lead- ers of Southern thought, it is the duty of her press to launch business cam- paigns for every character of man- ufacturing, but particularly in be- half of that staple that has been our main stay for one hundred years. No nation or State can afford to de- pend solely upon the development of its agriculture, for above and be- yond this is that greater wealth cre- ated by the factory. "Productive wealth in this coun- try arises mainly from agriculture and manufacturing, and the rela- tive ratio of the two is only 28 per cent for agriculture to 52 per cent for manufacturing, making it clear, to the South that she must manufac- ture her raw material if she would win abiding prosperity. It has been said that capital attracts capital; population attracts population, and industries attract industries. We must not only have great cotton mill cities in the South like Manchester and Pall River but we must have our iron cities like Pittsburg with its diversified industries which con- sume iron and steel. Muscular power has become a secondary con- sideration since it has been sup- planted by iron and coal. In the impressive language of Hon. W. D. Kelly, 'Iron is the muscle of modern Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 139 civilization and coal-ignited coal is the nervous force that animates it.' "Russia, with its fertile soil, never, attained international prominence until Peter the Great, that bold en- terprising genius ascended the throne and apprenticed the flower of the Russian nobility to the various me- chanical arts. This wise monarch thought it no lowering of his kingly dignity to learn the trade of ship- building. He built factories, canals and ships; he mastered the material resources of his country and raised it to a high and permanent grade in the scale of nations. The South has a greater industrial reformer than Peter the Great, in her enterprising press, to arouse the people to action; and to accelerate the revolution that is upon us. "Great Britain, peerless as a mari- time power, and upon whose domin- ions the sun never sets, finds its chief glory in its mammoth manu- facturing centers, its Sheffields, Man- chester and Birminghams that are finding worthy namesakes in our beautiful Southland. "Germany boasts of her learning, her statecraft and her military re- nown, but the mightiest factor that sustains and fosters her people is the busy workships and factories at Berlin, Breslau, Dresden and Brem- en. "France, the brilliant leader in the arts and sciences, the fame of whose scholars and merchants is world-wide, is rich to overflowing by reason of the skill and enterprise of her looms and forges at Lille and Lyons. The secret of New England's matchless prosperity and the afflu- ence attained by New York, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and other Northern States — now the bankers of the na- tion — is found in their energetic factories. Such examples are enough to fire and inspire the Southern youth to new conquests in industrial pur- suits. "In order that this industrial epoch may be stimulated and quickened, it would be well for the press to advocate the establishment of polytechnical schools throughout the South, so that our young people may be taught the practical value and importance of our immense nat- ural resources. Let us follow in the wake of such progressive institutions as Columbia College, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Washington Universi- ties. We need more State training schools and we need technical train- ing in the public schools of the South. When we educate our own mechanics and trades people, we shall no longer be driven to the ne- cessity of sending North for an elec- trician to light our towns, nor a manager to take charge of our mul- tiplying manufacturing plants. When we have the native mechanical skill and ability, we can put an end to the beguiling bonus now de- manded by Northern factory owners to move in this direction. "As editors, no duty is paramount to encouraging and fostering home •industries and securing and building home factories and local markets. The town, county and State are our special clients and to their industrial welfare we should be ever vigilant and loyal. Instead of wasting a sup- erabundance of energy upon politics and politicians let us devote more time and attention to the organiza- tion of manufacturers' aid associaT tions, industrial leagues, boards of trade and chambers of commerce. Let the Southern press do its most effective campaigning in breeding shops and factories, in road and rail- road building, in promoting sanita- tion, in improving Southern rivers and harbors, in encouraging steam- ship lines, in building the Nicaragua,, canal, in the diversification of agri- culture and manufacturing and in synthetizing the intellectual, indus- trial and commerical lue of t '" South, and the goal of our ambition will then be speedily attained. When such ends can be accomplished, through the united efforts of the press and people, a Southern city will become a great metropolis and clearing house for mammoth opera- tions in Southern financiering, man- ufacturing, agriculture and commerce and money will then become as abundant and can be obtained at as low rates of interest as prevail in the North or East. God speed the press of the South in its noble mis- sion of upbuilding its section and the gentlemen who have lead in this great industrial movement should be 140 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention^ honored as the very high priests of industrial progress and expansion. "As we stand here to-day and be- hold the approaching glories of the twentieth century, a vision of sur- passing beauty unfolds to view. I behold a thousand busy factories with their saws and looms and forges converting native products into mer- chandise for export; I see Southern ships made by Southern mechanics from Southern forests and mines, as they enter and depart from Southern ports, and as they plow the waters of the Gulf of Mexico or fleck the bosom of the Atlantic or Pacific. Through the Nicaragua canal I wit- ness the passage of magnificent steamers laden with Southern manu- factures en route to Western ports in Mexico, Central and South America, and thence to the Philippine, China, Japan, India and the islands of the sea. I see these ocean greyhounds returning to us and discharging their cargoes of fruit from the tropics, drugs and spices from the Latin Am- ericas, and teas from the Orient. "Electric railways traverse the country, rivers and canals are lined with electric launches, electric car- riages and velocipedes swarm on the macadam highways, while the tele- graph, telephone and phonograph will be a part of the equipment of the average rural home. In the eloquent language of the gifted and lamented Henry Grady: 'I see a South, the home of fifty mil- lions of people who rise up every day to call from biessed cities vast hives of industry ana thrift, her country-sides the treasures from which their resources are drawn; her streams vocal with whirling spindles, her valleys tranquil in the white and gold of the harvest; ner mountains showering down the music of bells, as her slow moving flocks and herds go forth from their folds; her rulers honest and her people loving, and her homes happy and their hearth- stones bright and their waters still and their pastures green, and her conscience clear, her wealth diffused and her poorhouses empty; her churches earnest and all creeds lost in the gospel.' " (Applause.) Secretary Thompson read the re- port of the Committee on the "Press of the South," which was as follows: Report of the Committee on the Press of the South, and its Re- lations to the Industrial Future of the South. Resolved, that we heartily endorse the resolutions adopted by this con- vention to-day on the subject of in- dustrial schools, and pledge our sup- port to that measure; will use our influence to have the people and the legislators of nnr respective States stimulated to the importance and necessity of industrial education for the industrial development of the industrial South. It was moved and seconded that the report be adopted and the motion was carried unanimously. It being now 10:30 P. M., the con- vention adjourned until 10 A. M., Thursday morning. THURSDAY MORNING SESSION. REPORT OF COMMITTEES. President Hargrove: The third day's session of this convention will be opened with an invocation by Rabbi I. L. Leucht, of Touro Syna- gogue. Rabbit I. L. Leucht offered up the following prayer: "Almighty and most merciful God, unto Thee we lift up our hearts; from Thee cometh the light that il- lumines the world and all that it contains. Send Thy light and Thy truth that they may guide this as- sembly for the good of our common- wealth and for the glory of Thy grac- ious name. "Gracious God, at the dawn of cre- ation Thou didst dignify labor and decree that sweet rest could only be enjoyed as a fruit of industry and didst place two cherubs with flaming swords at the gates or the paradise of idleness so that man should never return there, but earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. "Let us remember that he who Held in Neiv Orleans, D member 4-7, 1900. 141 lightens the burden of mankind but for one single moment is a high priest in the temple of humanity. Gracious Father, many men have come here with such ideas in their heart and have left hearth and home to support those high principles which they have at heart; be with their families and their homes dur- ing their absence. "Gracious Father, many men have come here of many creeds actuated by one grand impulse. Oh, Father, let them take Thy spiritual blessing with them through the highway of life and let each recognize his fel- lowman as his brother, and let all redound to Thy glory, everlasting Jehovah." President Hargrove: There are some short reports of various com- mittees to be read, but it was under- stood last night that the first busi- ness to be taken up this morning would be the report of the Commit- tee on Permanent Organization. Ex-Mayor Noonan, of St. Louis: I wish to make a motion. I move now that this convention take up the or- der of business as outlined last even- ing, and that we suspend the regular order of business or any order of business, and take up first the report of the Committee on Permanent Or- ganization. President Hargrove: The motion is not in order. The question is as to whether the convention shall de- cide to hear the short reports re- ferred to. The motion to hear the short re- ports was carried. President Hargrove: The conven- tion has decided that these short re- ports by various committees be now taken up. Mr. J. B. Killebrew, Chairman of the Committee on Immigration, read the following report: REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON IM- MIGRATION. To the Industrial Convention: Your Committee on Immigration, after a full conference and a careful consideration of all the questions presented, and fully recognizing the fact that intelligent immigration is one of the most powerful factors in industrial development and growth, beg leave to submit the following resolutions: 1st. Resolved, that this convention recommends that the several States of the South through their respec- tive legislatures, make early and am- ple provision for the work of immi- gration, and it further recommends that facts and statistics setting forth the resources and capabilities of each State be truthfully and attractively prepared by competent persons and freely distributed throughout the North, and especially through the Northwestern and Central Northern states. 2nd. Resolved, that the commis- sioners of immigration of each State be requested to co-operate with the railroads in this great work; that the executives of each State be requested to urge in their messages the im- portance of liberal appropriations for immigration purposes, and that greater activity be exercised in the various departments of immigration. 3rd. Resolved, that this industrial convention cheerfully recognizes and heartily applauds the work of immi- gration which is now carried on under the intelligent direction of many of the leading railroads of tne South, and it fully endorses the fact that this work by the railroads has contributed greatly to the upbuilding of the South and the rapid develop- ment of its many resources by the judicious dissemination of facts, thus attracting capital and skilled labor to its midst, and the conven- tion further recognizes with gratifi- cation a growing sentiment on the part of several of those railroads to further strengthen and enlarge this most useful branch of their service to the people of the South. J. B. KILLEBREW, Chairman, FRANK HILL, EDWIN BROBSTON, M. V. RICHARDS, GEO. C. POWERS, H. CURTIS, J. G. LEE, A. V. EASTMAN, W. L. GLESSNER. Mr. Wilson (of Texas) asked that the Committee on Resolutions be re- quested to report at 2 P. M. Sec- 142 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, onded and carried. The Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions stated he had been trying for three days to get the Committee together, and he requested that the Comnvttee meet upstairs in the committee- room and get ready to prepare its report. President Hargrove: Before tak- ing up this question of permanent organization, 1 desire to say as Pres- ident of this Association that I have absolutely no preference nor do I wish to use any influence in re- gard T o the matter which will now be discussed. My whole desire is that everything may be done with a view to malting this Association a com- plete success. (Applause.) Mr. Edwin Brobston, Chairman of the Committee on Permanent Organ- ization, handed in his report, which was amended and adopted as follows: (The following is the charter as passed on the Convention and as on file, completed.) No March , 1901. ACT OF INCORPORATION OF THE SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION. State of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans, City of New Orleans. Be it known, that on this . . day of March, in the year one thousand nine hundred and one, before me, William Renaudin, a notary public in and for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louis- iana, duly commissioned and quali- fied, and in presence of the witnesses hereinafter named and undersigned, personally came and appeared, tne persons whose names are hereunto subscribed, and severally declared that availing themselves of the pro- visions of the laws of the State of Louisiana, relative to the organiza- tion of corporations, they do by these presents, form and constitute them- selves and those who may hereafter associate themselves with them, into a corporate body, for the objects and purposes hereinafter set forth and expressed, which they hereby adopt as their charter, to-wit: ARTICLE I. Name. The name and title of the corpora- tion hereby formed is declared to be the "Southern Industrial Associa- tion." Its domicile shall be in the City of New Orleans, State of Louisi- ana, and it shall enjoy succession for a period of ninety-nine (99) years from and after the date hereof. All legal process shall be served upon the President, and in the event of his absence or inability to act from any cause, the same shall be served upon the Secretary. ■ ARTICLE II. Objects and Purposes. The objects and purposes of this corporation are hereby declared to be to promote the industrial develop- ment of the Soutfl; to become aa agency for gathering and disseminat- ing data regarding the resources of the South; to aid in organizing and maintaining commercial organiza- tions or business clubs throughout the South and in general to become the medium for stimulating the peo- ple of the Southern States into greater efforts for manufacturing their raw materials on their own soil, and also seek to interest capital to invest in the South and settlers to locate within its boundaries. ARTICLE III. Powers. This corporation through its Ex- ecutive Committee shall have power and authority to contract, sue and be sued, in its corporate name; make and use a corporate seal, the same to change at pleasure; to hold, receive, lease, hire and purchase property,- both real and personal, and to sell, mortgage or pledge the same; to bor- row and lend money; issue bonds and notes; make all by-laws, rules and regulations for the proper manage- ment of its affairs as may be neces- sary and proper, and to change, alter or amend the same at pleasure; to hire, employ and discharge all of- ficers, agents and employes, and fix their salaries. Said corporation may have an aux- iliary in each State. ARTICLE IV. Membership. Any person may become a member of this Association on paying the required membership fee and being; recommended by the Executive Com- mittee of this Association. ARTICLE V. Membership Fee and Dues. Held in Nciv Orleans } December 4-/, 1900. 143 The membership fee of this Asso- ciation shall be five dollars for in- dividuals, and ten dollars for firms and corporations, which must accom- pany the application, and the annual dues shall be the same as for mem- bership and must be paid at the be- ginning of the second year of mem- bership and each year thereafter, during term of membership. ARTICLE VI. Officers and Executive Committee. This Association shall have a Pres- ident, and one Vice-President from each Southern State, and a Secretary and Treasurer. Any other State rep- resented in its membership and by a delegate at its annual meeting, shall also be entitled to a Vice- President. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President, Vice-Presidents and Secretary of the Association. Three Vice-Presidents, with the President and Secretary, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business requir- ing action by the Executive Commit- tee, provided that every question arising for the necessary considera- tion of the Executive Committee shall be submitted to each member thereof at least ten days in advance of action thereon, and members shall be privileged to vote by letter to the Secretary. ARTICLE VII. Duties of Officers and Executive Committee. The duties of the officers of this Association shall be to advance the interests thereof in all legitimate ways, and aid in securing proper means to carry on its work. In the absence, death or resignation of the President and First Vice-President, the vacancy shall be filled by the Executive Committee. The Associa- tion shall hold its meetings annually, but nothing in this requirement shall prevent the Executive Committee from calling the Association together or calling a general Industrial Con- vention, whenever in their judgment any occasion requires it. The Executive Committee may es- tablish a Bureau or Lyceum as a sep- arate department of this Association, when conditions will warrant the same. But nothing in this require- ment shall operate to prevent the general work of the Association be- ing carried on by the regular of- ficers of the same in fulfillment of its plans and purposes. ARTICLE VIII. Election of Officers. The election of officers of this As- sociation shall be held annually un- der the supervision of two tellers to be appointed by the President. The voting shall be by ballot; should more than two persons be placed In nomination, the one receiving a ma- jority of the votes cast shall be de- clared duly elected. All officers shall remain in office until their successors are duly elected and shall have qualified. The following persons shall com- prise the Executive Committee, to- wit : H. H. Hargrove, President; W. Ai- Hemphill, First Vice-President;. N. P. Thompson, Secretary; J. C. Busft, Frank Hill, John P. Coffin, James P. Parish, Sidney Story, A. H. Lon- gino, Thomas L. Cannon, D. A. Tompkins, W. B. Smith Whaley, J. B. Killebrew, J. W. Riggins, B. F. Johnson, M. H. Kline and F. B. Thur- ber, and they shall hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified. Members unable to attend meetings from any cause shall have the right tc grant power of attorney to mem- - bers to vote in their names forr of- ficers, or on any matters brought fre^ fore the Association on which they would r.avo a right 'to voce, if per- sonally present. ARTICLE IX. Amendments to Charter. This act of incorporation may be changed, modified or altered, or this corporation may be dissolved by a vote of three-fourths of the members of this Association present or repre- sented at a general meeting of the Association called for that purpose p . after thirty days' notice of such', meeting shall have been given by the' Secretary to each member directed to his last known residence, domicile^ or place of business. ARTICLE X. Dissolution. Whenever this Corporation is dis- solved, either by limitation of its charter or from any cause, its af- fairs shall be liquidated by two com- missioners to be appointed from 144 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. among 'the members, by ihe Execu- tive Committee. Said Commission- ers shall remain in office until the affairs of said Association have been fully liquidated. In the event of the death of either of said commission- ers, the survivor shall continue to act. ARTICLE XL No member of this Association shall ever be held liable or responsi- ble for the contracts or faults there- of, in any further sum than his mem- bership fee or unpaid dues, or any balance due thereon, nor shall any mere informality in organization have the effect of rendering this charter null, or of exposing a mem- ber to any liability beyond the amount of his unpaid membership fee and dues. Thus done and passed in my no- tarial office at New Orleans afore- said, in the presence of Bernard Bruenn and Rufus Breitling, compe- tent witness of lawful age and re- siding in this city, who hereunto subscribe their names, together with said parties and me, notary, on the day and date set forth in the caption hereof. DEEP WATER AT GULF POETS. BY HON. E. L. RUSSELL. President Hargrove: I will now introduce to you Hon. E. L. Russell of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, who will address you on the subject of "'Deep Water at Gulf Ports." Hon. E. L. Russell then read the following paper: "Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Convention: I have been re- quested to address you to-day upon the subject of 'Deep Water at Gulf Ports,' and I assure you I am im- pressed with the importance of the duty which has been assigned me. "More than half of the area of the "United States, exclusive of Alaska and more recent additions, is drained into the Gulf of Mexico, and as tne •conditions affecting the movement of traffic, from an economic standpoint, are not dissimilar from those af- fecting the movement of water which makes its course in the direction of the least resistance, it may be fairly said that the traffic of the great val- ley lying between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains is natur- ally tributary to the Gulf of Mexico. "The emigrants who first reached America settled upon the shores of the Atlantic, and pushed the tide of civilization westward until ob- structed by the Blue Ridge and Alle- ghany mountains. These hardy pion- eer? then forced to the use of new means of entrance to the great coun- ^^•y beyond these ranges, began to utilize the waterways emptying into the Gulf cf Mexico and reaching up into the heart of the new continent. "When cur national existence be- gan, the United States did not own one foot of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and nol until the Louisiana purchase in 1803, the acquisition of Florida in 1821, and the annexation of Texas in 1845, did the entire north- ern coast line of the Gulf pass into our possession. With our geograph- ical limits thus complete, the neces- sity of supplementing the waterways connecting with the Gulf of Mexico, at once became apparent, and early in 1840 the construction of a railroad from the Great Lakes to the Gulf became a matter of national concern, insisted upon by the statesmen of the time as essentially necessary to the progress and development of our national existence, x^arge donations of public land were made in aid of this project and the patriotism of the people was appealed to, to aid in its completion. This was but the fore- runner of numerous similar enter- prises, and the ports of the Gulf are to-day, connected with the interior, not only by their magnificent rivers, but Dy a system of railways which connect with the network of lines in- tersecting the great territory to which I have referred. "I -will not attempt to trace the settlement of this vast and produc- tive area, or to particularize as to the process by which the granary of the world was transferred from the Valley of the Nile to the banks of Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. 145 tho Mississippi and Missouri. I will n«'t attempt to show how the pro- ducts of the forests of this great section have been utilized for the bene tit of all civilized mankind, or how tbe mines of Tennessee and Ala- bama have been made governing fac- tors in the iron markets of the world. These are existing conditions to-day. "The foreign shipments of cotton and grain maintain a balance of trade in our favor and preserve our financial position among the nations of the world. The cotton States of the South produce 85 per cent, of the cotton supply of the world and near- ly 60 per cent, of the cotton exported from the United States is forwarded via the Gulf ports. The conditions affecting the export of grain are dis- similar from those affecting cotton in this important particular: This country having a practical monopoly of the cotton trade of the world, must supply a large part of the gen- eral consumptive demand, without regard to either the cost or facilities of transportation; the exports of grain, however, must be made in competition with the delivered price of grain shipped from all other cereal producing territory, and the small- est element in the total delivered cost is often of the greatest importance in determining the markets which can be successfully reached. With- in the past few years, the low cost of transportation over the lines of railway, with light grades running down the valleys reaching to the Gulf, has attracted a greatly aug- mented volume of foreign grain ship- ments via these ports, and new mar- kets have thus been opened to this important item of our products. The hope of the Western rarmer to-day is, that these facilities may be so increased and cheapened, that his products may more effectively meet the world competition into which he is necessarily brought. "With a power of production much greater than the needs of its own inhabitants, the central territory of the United States is beginning to feel, with increasing urgency, the want of outside markets for its sur- plus products. In the great race with the commodities shipped from other countries to the markets of the world, the cost of transportation is the dominant factor in determining the question of success or failure. In this contest, the farmers, manufac- turers and miners of the South and West, are looking towards the ports* of the Gulf to furnish such facilities, as will place them upon a plane of: equality, with the most favored por- tions of the globe. Everything which it has been possible for nature to- do, has been done to accomplish this- result. The natural lines of trans- portation have been laid along easy and inexpensive grades, and land- locked outports are located at the most convenient and advantageous points. Some slight obstructions in* terfere with the complete and per=- feet use of these ports, but I can but believe that the intelligent and all"! powerful efforts of our National Gov- ernment, now directed to this end; will soon so improve these harbors, that all obstacles will be removed to the rising tide of commerce now- pressing forward to these outlets to the sea. The State of Texas has a great port in the City of Galveston; Louisiana has New Orleans, the mistress of the Mississippi River system, and Florida the progressive^ City of Pensacola. Mr. Chairman, L' hope I may not be open to the charge of making an invidious distinction* in having reserved for last men,*- tion, that port which sits at the head of Mobile Bay. For many years, I have been a citizen of Mobile, and always deeply interested in every- thing affecting its prosperity, and I now have the honor of being the executive head of a line of railway which connects it with a great dis- tributing center of the productive West. Both of these facts I plead as extenuating circumstances for any partizan statement which I may make in regard thereto. Prior to the Civil War, which, for a time, put in eclipse the commerce and industry of the South, the value of the ex- ports which sought a way to the sea through Mobile, made this city third in rank, as to exports, of all the cities of the United States; but in later years the lack of depth of water between its docks and the sea prevented its successfully keeping up the competition with the improved facilities of other ports, and its ex- port trade was reduced to insignifl- 146 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, cant proportions. The improvement of its channel, however, by the Gov- ernment, was followed by an instan- taneous and material increase in its - commerce, until now it is again re- suming its position as one of the im- portant exporting and importing ports of this country. What has been accomplished, however, is but a moiety of what we may rightfully expect in the near future. The river system, which empties into the beau- tiful bay which bears its name, pierces the iron and coal measures of the State of Alabama, and offers every facility for making this the cheapest coal port, and the most economical point for the shipment of rpig iron in the world. The channel 'leading from its docks, now has a depth of twenty-three feet of water, and at the mouth of the bay, there is located one of the remarkable har- bors of the world. This deep water cup has an average depth of forty feet and an area sufficient to accomo- date a fleet of vessels. It is separ- . ated from the deep water of the Gulf by a bar, only a ship's length in width, which recent suryeys have shown can be removed at an insig- . mificant cost. When this is accom- plished, ships of the greatest draught can enter this land-locked harbor, 1 fronting upon which the Government -owns more than four hundred acres of land. The importance of this work .to the entire commerce of the Gulf of Mexico, if only for the purpose of providing a harbor for refuge, where coal and supplies may be taken in quiet water, cannot be over- estimated, and the necessity for this improvement grows to greater pro- portions, when the demands of the port of Mobile as an exporting point for the products of the West, and for the cotton, iron, coal and timber of its own immediate section are taken into consideration. "With this digression, Mr. Chair- man, I return to the general ques- tion of Deep Water at Gulf Ports, for the purpose of saying, that the people whom I represent, while true to their own interests, have no jeal- ousy of the ports either to the east or the west of them, and are will- ing to give their aid to the general cause of deep water at Gulf ports, earnestly and honestly, with the hope that the time is not far dis- tant when all of these ports will be so improved, that the tide of export commerce from the West and South will pass unobstructed out to the world beyond, carrying the neces- sities and comforts of life, as the great Gulf stream, which flows be- tween Cuba and the Cape of Florida, does the heat and moisture, which blesses so large a proportion of the habitable globe." (Applause.) Deep Water at the Mouth of the Mis- sissippi River. The progress of the world gener- ally during the last quarter of the century now so near its close has proceeded at a greater speed than ever before in the history of the world, but amidst all these great changes, it is doubtful if any has been of more importance to the wel- fare of mankind generally than the wonderful evolution of the ocean car- rier. "A generation ago a vessel with a capacity of 3000 tons of cargo was quite a monster and but few trades were able to accommodate so large a vessel. . • "The increase in size of the vessels continued with comparative regular- ity, each vessel being but a trifle larger than its predecessor, until some twelve years ago, when the advent of three or four vessels into the American trade which were nearly double the size of most vessels then in use, created quite a furore in ocean transportation circles. "It was freely prophesied that the vessels were entirely too large to obtain full cargoes and trade with advantageous results to the owners, but the opposite was realized by the ship owning fraternity and these ves- sels with the capacity of some bOOO tons proved such profit making ma- chines that they at once marked out a new line of development in the ceaseless competition of the ocean carrying trade. "In the past ten years this develop- ment has amounted practically to a revolution. There are at present, vessels trading regularly to this and other countries with a capacity of 16,000 tons, and there are vessels building to-day that will have a ca- pacity of over 20,000 tons of freight Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 147 showing an increase in ten years an the maximum size of ocean car- riers of over 300 per cent and some seven times as great as the largest of a generation ago. "As an illustration of the capacity of tnese vessels, more readily com- prehended by the non-expert in such matters, there are vessels trading to- day to the port of New Orleans that require for a cargo three and one- half miles of loaded railroad cars, whilst there are other vessels trading to the United States that accomodate regularly five miles of loaded rail- road cars. "There are vessels building to-day for which seven miles of loaded rail- road cars will be required to fur- nish one full cargo. Twelve such vessels will carry all the freight that can be piled upon the railroad track between New Orleans and the capital of the State of Louisiana, ninety miles distant. "The incentive to the British ship owner in this gigantic advance was the immense economy which was «vinced in the working of the first few large steamers that were built some ten years ago. As a brief il- lustration of this economy a cargo vessel having the capacity of 4000 tons will require a crew of, say, forty men, and consume about thirty tons of coal per day. .Whilst a vessel car- rying three times the quantity of cargo or 12,000 tons, will require a crew of only fifty men and will burn forty tons of coal per day to make the same speed as the smaller ves- sel. So that whilst her capacity is three times as great, the expense incurred upon the above two items is only about 25 per cent additional. "The cost of building the larger Tessel is also in somewhat like pro- portion. It is therefore very evident that tne larger vessel can operate at an immense economy over the smaller one. In fact, this economy is so pronounced that in the free open competition which exists us- ually in ocean transportation, the smaller vessel cannot exist at rates of freight which would prove highly renumerative to the larger one. "The cost of transportation to mar- kets is largely borne by the producer, and on bulky products forms a very large percentage of the total value. As this country is peculiarly a pro- ducer and seller to foreign markets in competition with the products of other countries, it is evident that the question of the cost of transpor- tation is a most important factor and indeed frequently a controlling in- fluence in this competition and there- fore any economy therein is a direct benefit to the producer, not alone giving him better prices for his pro- ducts, but frequently enabling the successful entry of his goods into markets from which he would be entirely debarred under less favor- able transportation facilities. "It is therefore evident that in our own country the farmers and manu- facturers with the millions whose welfare and whose very existence de- pends upon the successful competi- tion of their products in the mar- kets of the world are most directly and intensely interested in anything and everything that tends to improve and economize transportation both from the distant West to the sea- board, and across the great ocean highways. It is in fact impossible to limit the ramifications of this factor or exaggerate its influence upon the welfare of the whole of our com- munity. "Of course, the dimensions of these , larger vessels greatly exceed tnose of the smaller, so that the accomoda- tion of the docks, wharves and chan- nels at the seaports are the prime factors in limiting this development. The dimensions of a vessel carrying 4000 tons will be roughly 350 feet length, 41 feet beam and 24 feet draft of water, whilst the vessel car- rying 12,000 tons will be 500 feet long with a beam of 56 feet and will draw 30 feet of water wnen deeply laden. There is to-day being built a vessel some 750 feet long by 79 feet beam, probably with a draft load of 35 feet. "It was at first very generally be- lieved that the increase in size of vessels would stop short as soon as the limit of the facilities and chan- nels of the principal seaports was reached. This surmise proved en- tirely wrong as the immense econ- omy of the large ocean carrier at once set in force an ambition and de- termination on part of numerous of the principal seaports of the world 148 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, to accomodate their facilities to the requirements of these vessels. "In our country, the ports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Balti- more and New Orleans at once took up the matter with 'the Federal Gov- ernment, urging the improvement of their channels and of other facilities upon the ground of the immense economy in the cost of ocean trans- portation which would result from the use of large carriers and accrue to the direct benefit of the farmers and manufacturers of the country. "In Europe, the port of Liverpool alone decided on an expenditure of some twenty millions of dollars upon its already magnificent system of docks, in order that the gates might bo made wider and the channels deeper and the wharves longer, look- ing forward to the accommodation needed by vessels to be built in the near future 900 feet long and 90 feet beam. "The port of London is now earn- estly considering similar improve- ments, the ports of Hamburg, Brem- en, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Havre, and numerous others less important are also moving in this direction. A force that can prove so efficacious must indeed be momentous in its influence, and thanks to the wise policy of our government this coun- try stands to-day and apparently in- tends to remain, a leader in the de- velopment of such economical fa- cilities for the welfare of the general community. "I trust I may be permitted to di- gress here to express the strongest satisfaction with the policy of the Federal Government in expending as it has some three hundred millions of dollars since the declaration of in- dependence in rivers and harbor im- provements. It has in times past been severely denounced by ignorant critics, and doubtless useless, if not fraudulent appropriations have been frequently expended', but no invest- ment which this, or any other coun- try has ever, or can ever make, has been fraught with such magnificent results to the welfare of the com- munity. Without such improvements as have been thereby obtained, our country could never have held the proud position she has to-day, nor could the growth and development of the past fifty years have been real- ized in another century, if at alL Europe would have looked for and obtained elsewhere her supplies of. food and raw material and the tide of emigration and development might readily have set in an en- tirely different direction. The mag- nificent work of the rivers and har- bors committee of Congress has been a main factor in the development of the great vvest in helping to over- come the disadvantage of immense- aistances to the seaboard and has- made possible the successful culti- vation of the vast prairies a thous- and miles Inland by providing the absolute essential of cheap transpor- tation, both inland and across the- ocean. This absolutely essential work is still but in its infancy and the more liberal such wise appropria- tions, the greater the welfare, the prosperity, and the progress of our country. "I have probably said sufficient to show the urgent necessity of accom- modating the cheapest form of ocean transportation, that is the largest, and there is therefore no apology needed in reviewing briefly the action taken by the New Orleans Committee of Exchanges in urging upon the Federal Government the necessity of at once providing the mouth of the Mississippi River with a deeper,, wider and safer channel to the ocean. "Over four million tons of shipping, annually handle from the port of New Orleans to foreign ports, more than twelve million tons of produce. "Previous to the year 1879 the ocean trade of New Orleans was car- ried to sea through the greatest mouth of the river, the Southwest Pass, then, as now unimproved, but at that time affording a channel over the bar to the gulf varying from fif- teen to eighteen feet in depth. The largest class of vessels which could use this channel had a capacity of 6000 bales of cotton and some 2000 tons dead weight of cargo, and it was necessary even then that steam- ers should take on board a large portion of their coal for the voyage across in the open gulf, after they had crossed the bar at the entrance to the river. All this was expensive and caused great detention and the cotton farmer and the grain grower Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 149 "were obliged to pay liberally for ocean transportation, to obtain the service between New Orleans and the markets of Europe. Frequently two cents per pound or ten dollars per bale were paid to carry cotton iience to Liverpool, and as much, as :24 cents or 30 cents per bushed were frequently paid for grain. "In the year 1875 Mr. J. B. Bads, the noted engineer, obtained a con- tract from the Federal Government for the opening up of a channel with 26 feet of water from the river Mis- sissippi to. the Gulf, and urged that the channel be made through the natural and best mouth of the river, the Southwest Pass, but as his jettying scheme was considered an experiment, grave doubts of its feas- ibility existed in the minds of many engineers, and of the community generally and he was obliged to take the South Pass, until then absolutely useless, and with only 9 feet of water in it, and make through that pass, some 12 miles long, a narrow chan- nel to the gulf. "The opening of the South Pass with a channel of some 26 feet depth by means of the Eads jetties was at once marked by an increase in the average size of vessels trading to the port and a corresponding decrease in the cost of ocean transportation. "In 1880, the average rate of freight on cotton had fallen to 3/4 cents per pound or $3.90 per bale. In 1896, it averaged 3/8 cents per pound or $1.95 per bale. Undoubtedly the improvements in constructions, and economy in working ocean vessels accounted for some of this decrease, but the main factor was, as undoubt- edly, the increase in the size of ves- sels trading to the port. "The Eads contract and its influ- ence upon the cost of ocean transpor- tation on cotton has saved to the farmers of this country not less than one hundred millions of dollars. On grain and other products it has caused similar immense economies. The South Pass has served its pur- pose well, and has proved a magnifi- cent investment for the whole community, but its day has now passed and it cannot be made to adapt itself to the requirements of ^the present. "For this reason, we have turned again to the natural magnificent out- let through the Southwest Pass and the Government in response to our representations, has twice made care- ful surveys and obtained plans from the army engineers. Those plans provide for the opening up of a chan- nel through the Southwest Pass 1000 feet wide with 35 feet depth of water at an expenditure of some six mil- lions of dollars, and we rely confi- dently upon such action by the pres- ent session of Congress, as will give to the gulf and the Mississippi val- ley a fitting navigable channel for its vast commerce, and an exit to the ocean more in keeping with the magnificence of the great river. "The opening of the Southwest Pass, as has been always the case under such improved conditions, will be followed by the advent to this port of an immense increase in size of ocean tonnage, and as surely by a corresponding decrease in the cost of ocean transportation. "For 300 miles inland from the passes at its mouth, the river Mis- sissippi affords an unbroken channel with a minimum depth of fifty feet of water all year round of a width far exceeding that which any vessel is ever likely to require. "Where is there elsewhere in a great country such a harbor as is thus afforded by the great Father of Waters, upon whose bosom the navies of the whole world could safely assemble together? "The work of the Federal Govern- ment in improving the channel of the river from St. Louis to New Or- leans is already having its benefi- cial effect and when this navigable waterway 1000 miles in length shall be complete, so that traffic can be carried unimpeded all the year around, the blessings of economy will be fully realized by the vast pop- ulation of workers on the farms and in the factories of the West, who will by this economy be enabled the better to compete in the ceaseless commercial strife to supply the mar- kets of the world, and the mighty river, the Father of Waters, will daily pursue its God given purpose as a constant and reliable benefactor to the intelligent virile community that lives upon its banks and great tributaries. 150 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. "This historic City of New Orleans where we are to-day assembled has for more than a century exerted a powerful influence upon the wel- fare of the whole community, and its geographical situation at the en- trance to the great natural highway of the country has destined it ever to remain one of the leading ports. Though it suffered sorely from the cause 'that proved so disastrous to the whole South, and thereby was for a time displaced from its pre- vious proud position, it is now rap- idly regaining its former hold upon the trade of the country; is now probably second only to the port of New York, and is surely destined with the rapid development of the South and West, to some day run a close race for the premier position. "We of New Orleans are proud of our city, of its past history, of its present, and firm believers in its future for which we are learning to work heartily and wisely. We are proud of the glorious river upon whose banks our city is builded, but with no sense of localism or owner- ship, only of responsibility to rightly discharge the duty entrusted to us, that we may properly perform our function in the great body corporate of this lusty, growing, giant, nation. "We seek the improvement of the channel at the mouth of our own har- bor and also heartily favor the im- provement of all harbors and chan- nels, which can thereby advantage the great commonwealth which re- quires, and can ever utilize the special advantage and facilities, which one and all possess. (Ap- plause.) REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON DEEP WATER. Mr. M. J. Sanders then read the following report of the Committee on Deep Water, of which he was chairman. The resolutions were adopted. "Your Committee on Deep Water is of opinion that the subject matter placed in their hands is one of the most important that can be consid- ered by any convention. It is con- vinced that the providing of deep water so as to insure the most econ- omic form of transportation both from the far interior farms and fac- tories of our country to the sea- board and thence to the ocean, is an absolute essential to the pros- perity and welfare of the whole com- munity The great West and many other important districts in our country being immense distances from the seaboard cannot without the most economic form of transportation, ever hope to successfully place their products in foreign markets and there meet the competition of other countries. Your committee therefore, not only heartily indorses the action of Con- gress in regularly providing for con- siderable expenditure for the im- provement of rivers and harbors, but is of opinion that these appropri- ations should be still more liberally provided so that any and all im- provements of this nature that can be shown to be of advantage in fur- thering economic transportation may be executed without delay. Your committee, representing the States bordering on the Gulf of Mex- ico, after due consideration submits the following resolutions for adop- tion by the convention: Be it resolved, That Congress be urged at its present session to pro- vide for and order the construction of a proper navigable channel through the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi river, in order that the danger now threatening commerce: through the absolute insufficiency of the present channel through South Pass may be avoided as early as pos- sible. Resolved, That as the hurricane of September the 8th, 1900, laid waste a large part of the City of Galveston^ at which time more lives and prop- erty were destroyed than ever before in any English speaking community, and damaged the jetties and inner harbor of Galveston, this convention respectfully recommends and urges upon Congress to repair the said jetties and to deepen and widen the inner harbor and channel of Gal- veston, as speedily as possible, com- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 151 mensurate with the requirements of modern shipping and a first class port, and that Congress be requested to instruct the United States Engin- eering Department to examine into the practicability and feasibility of constructing suitable works on the gulf side of Galveston City, such as will preserve the property of the United States and the valuable har- bor and port at that place. Resolved, That this convention fa- vors the expenditure by the Federal Government of such an amount for deepening the water between Sabine Pass and the Neuces and Sabine rivers as the commerce of that sec- tion warrants. Resolved, That as the Department of United States Engineers has al- ready advised the construction of a channel from Galveston Roads to Houston, Texas, this convention recommends that Congress author- ize the completion of this work as soon as possible. Resolved, That the channel of Mo- bile harbor, because of the impor- tance and rapid growth of its com- merce and shipping, should be deep- ened from the sea to the City of Mo- bile, to thirty feet, and that it is of great importance, looking to that end, that the entire sum recom- mended by the engineer in charge of the existing work for expenditure during the coming year, should be granted by this Congress. Resolved, That the improvement of the Warrior and Coosa rivers is of national interest and when completed will greatly cheapen the transporta- tion of the valuable minerals of Ala- bama, Georgia and Tennessee, from the mines to the ocean. Resolved, That Congress be re- quested to appropriate an amount sufficient to dredge a channel 23 feet deep from Ship Island harbor to such point on the shore line as may be declared most feasible by the Gov- ernment engineers. Resolved, That the President of this Convention is hereby, requested to have all the foregoing resolutions forwarded to the proper Committees of Congress. Dr. Tichenor: I move that the re- port of the Committee on Deep Water be adopted. The motion was sec- onded and carried unanimously. The Convention adjourned until 2 P. M. THUKSDAY AFTERNOON SESSION. REPORT OF COMMITTEE. President Hargrove, in calling the Convention to order at 2:30 P. M., said: "The special, order for this afternoon is the report of the Com- mittee on Resolutions. Are you ready for the report? It was agreed that the report in question be sub- mitted. Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Kettig: The Committee has met and passed a number of resolu- tions which can be read and consid- ered seriatim. They are as follows: 1. Whereas, The manufacture of tex- tiles in the Southern States has de- veloped marvelously during the past few years, and promises even greater progress in the future — there being mow in course of construction in the Southern States new mills amount- ing, in the aggregate, to more than a half million spindles, and Whereas, The citizens of Atlanta have inaugurated a movement for a great Southern Textile Exposition, that shall demonstrate, in a practical way, the remarkable progress al- ready made, and shall serve to at- tract the attention of the world to the limitless possibilities for the ex- tension of this industry here in the South, therefore be it Resolved, That the cordial indorse- ment of the Southern Industrial Convention to be given the proposed Southern Textile Exposition, to be held in Atlanta two years hence, and that the hearty co-operation of our membership is hereby pledged for the support of the movement. Introduced by W. A. Hemphill. Adopted. 152 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Whereas, There is to be held in the City of Buffalo, N. Y., in 1901, the Pan-American Exposition for the display of the products of all the countries of the Western Hemi- sphere; it is hereby Resolved, That the Southern In- dustrial Convention extends its good will to said Exposition and best "wishes for the success thereof. It is furthermore Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the States here repre- sented that each one of them make at said Pan-American ExporVwv?? an exhibit of its products and resources. Introduced by F. B. Thurber. Adopted. 3. Whereas, Birmingham, Alabama, the coal, iron and steel centre of the South intends holding an Inter-Na- tional Industrial, Mineral and Me- tallic Exposition in the fall of 1904, in order to demonstrate to the world and especially to the countries trib- utary to the Nicaragua Canal, the truth of the claim that all articles into which iron and steel enter can be produced cheaper in the Birming- ham district than any other known point in the United States, therefore, be it Resolved, That this convention in- dorses the enterprise of the citizens of Birmingham and of the State of Alabama, and pledges to them its hearty co-operation and support in this laudable undertaking. Introduced by Hon. W. J. Cameron, Birmingham, Ala. Adopted. 4. Resolved, That in view of the splendid prosperity the South now enjoys, and in view of the pro- nounced success of industrial enter- prise organized on Southern capital, it is the sense of this Convention that Southern development must come mainly by Southern capital and that the Southern projects offering for Northern investment shall first be backed by local financial sup- port. Adopted. 5. Resolved, That this Convention respectfully asks the Hon. Secretary of the Interior to cause the topo- graphic surveys now being made by the United States Geological Survey- to be more readily pushed to comple- tion, in order that these maps may become available for use in the early mapping and classifying the soils, forests, mineral and water resources; and this Convention further re- spectfully petitions Congress to make such increase in the appropriations for the geological survey as will pro- vide for this more rapid preparation, of these topographic maps. Adopted. 6. In view of the great importance of the water powers of the Southern States In connection with the devel- opment of tli': manufacturing iu'.v- ests; and of the underground or ar- tesian water supplies in connection with the maintenance of the health of the people of the South Atlantic and Gulf States; Resolved, That this convention re- spectfully petitions the Hon. Secre- tary of the Interior that he cause to- be prosecuted by the United States Geological Survey, a more extended investigation of the surface streams- and of the underground or artesian, water resources of these regions. Introduced by J. A. Holmes, North- Carolina. Adopted. 7. Resolved, That this Convention au- thorizes its chairman to appoint a. committee consisting of one member from each State here represented ti> push the educational and legislative- work in behalf of better public high- ways in these States; and so co- operate with the National Good Roads League in its work along. these lines. Introduced by J. A. Holmes, N. C. Adopted. Be it Resolved, That the upbuild- ing of our American merchant mar- ine is very important to the further development of Southern industry, and, therefore, we recommend to our National Congress the early passag* of a bill for aiding all American ves- sels which shall be equitably based upon the tonnage actually carried, besides compensation for carrying: the mails. Adopted. Held in New Orleans, December 4-2, ipoo. 153 Dr. W. C. Stubbs, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, made the following report: Committee on Agriculture. We, the Committee on Agriculture beg leave to submit the following resolutions: First. Whereas agriculture is the paramount industry of the South- ern States and the industry, on the prosperity of which depends the pros- perity of every other industry, Resolved, That this Convention urge upon the several State Legis- latures the necessity of a well equipped Bureau of Agriculture and a liberal and comprehensive system of farmers' institutes as the most effective means of inducing the adop- tion of better methods on the farm and a more intelligent and profitable system of farming. Resolved, That we heartily indorse and commend the grand and impar- tial work performed by the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agricul- ture, and we sincerely trust that he may be induced to remain with the present administration for the next four years in order that he may carry •out the extensive plans of agricul- tural development which he has pro- jected in every section of the Union. Resolved, That realizing the im- portance of correct reports of acre- age, condition and yield of crops throughout the Southern States, we recommend that each Southern State through its Legislature adopt pro- vision for the collection of accurate crop statistics after the plan already presented by the Association of Com- missioners of Agriculture of the Cot- ton States. Recognizing the fact that the great staple of the South is now sold at a price abnormally high, and fearing that the cotton grower may be led to abandon the better methods that have obtained during the low price of our staple, we urge upon the cot- ton grower the importance of con- tinuing the growing of his qwn sup- plies as far as may be, making cotton a surplus crop, and of continuing nis efforts toward the production of the fleecy staple at a cost that will en- able him to defy the competition of the world. While the present condition of agriculture has not reached the de- gree of excellence desired, yet this Convention finds great satisfaction and mucji gratification in the agri- cultural prosperity prevailing throughout the entire South. Mr. J. A. Holmes (of North Caro- lina) : I wish to submit the follow- ing additional resolutions: Resolved, That this convention re- spectfully petition Congress to grant the larger appropriations asked for by the Honorable Secretary of Agri- culture for the investigation of the forests, soils and road building con- ditions of this country. And it respectfully asks the Hon- orable Secretary of Agriculture to enlarge the work along these lines to be done by his department in the Southern States. This additional resolution was re- ferred to the Committee on Agricul- ture and added to its report. Dr. Stubbs: Speaking for the South, I may say that I wish I was as intimately acquainted with all of it as I am with my own State of Louisiana. Let me tell you some- thing of what we are doing in the State of Louisiana. We have three mililons of acres of land under culti- vation. We have enormous crops of cotton, sugar, rice and corn which on an average acreage would yield over $30.00 an acre. Twice as much as in any other State except Missis- sippi, which comes next with $19.00 an acre. There is no heed to be pessimistical in regard to the future for Louisiana will be foremost in the march in the dawn of the twentieth century. Therefore, in presenting this report I think we have reason to congratulate ourselves on the great prosperity of the South during the last decade. I now move, Mr. President, that these resolutions be adopted. Mr. Killebrew (of Tennessee): I would like to say that Mr. Wilson is the only Commissioner of Agri- culture that this country ever had. He made frequent trips to the South and among other tnings said, "You people of the South know more about the negro than any other part of the country, and we are going to adopt 154 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, your policy towards him in our new possessions." I desire to second the adoption of the report. The report was unanimously adopted. Mr. Wilson (of Texas): I move that we turn aside from our pro gramme of to-day and proceed with the election of officers. Professor Knapp: I would say that if this motion is adopted there would be no use in attempting to- continue this convention, because after 'the officers are elected interest in the proceedings would wane. Thei'efore, if this motion is persisted in I will move adjournment forth- with. THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. _ Mr. Sidney Story here called atten- tion to the fact that Commissioner General John B. Webber, of the Pan- American Exposition of Buffalo was present, and suggested that he be allowed an opportunity to address the convention in regard to that ex- position. Col. John B. Webber: "Gentlemen, I am indebted to you for the privil- ege of putting before such a repre- sentative body as this is, the objects of the Buffalo Pan-American Exposi- tion, to be held at Buffalo in 1901. I appreciate your courtesy in turn- ing aside from your regular pro- gramme to hear what I have to say in reference to my home from which I have traveled so many nundred miles to be with you on this occasion. The Exposition aims at a high stand- ard, its motto is quality, not quan- tity. We do not expect to reach the magnitude of Chicago, but in the matter of attendance, in the choice character of its exhibits we propose to take second place to none. Our principal feature will be an electrical display, to which the proxiniiiy of the great falls at Niagara, just thirty minutes distant from our exposition grounds by rail, will enable us to make on a scale beyond belief. The electrical features of an unique and comprehensive character are being arranged for, the power for whicir will be drawn from that great force which has been rushing over the precipice for ages. The Exposition is Pan-American, embracing the three Americas, North, South and Central. I cordially invite the co- operation and participation of the sister States of the Union in order to make this exposition a complete success. "In this great City of New Orleans, the metropolis of this Southland, the chief city of the country south of the Ohio river or even south of St. Louis, I would like to see that the Louisiana Legislature had risen to its oppor- tunity, and when it had a chance taken the necessary steps to make a proper exhibit of what you have here to show in Louisiana. While there is yet time I wish I might say that it had already done that. We earn- estly desire the participation and co operation of the South, the States which now stand but on the thres- hold of development so important,, with possibilities so magnificent that it is hard for the mind to grasp them. With the two great oceans united by the isthmian canal, with the products of the Atlantic and the Gulf States pouring through it to the Pacific and. thence to the world, then and not till then will it be time to close the first chapter in the history of Am- erican achievement, and I firmly be- lieve that history will credit the great Pan-American Exposition of 1901 with having helped to the at- tainment of this end. (Applause.) Mr. Wilson: I desire to renew my motion that we lay aside our pro- gramme and take up the question of selection of the next place of meet- ing and the election of officers. President Hargrove: I would ap- peal to you, gentlemen, to avoid the- possibility of bringing this Conven- tion to a sudden close, as it is my belief that if this motion is carried and the business in question com- pleted that there will be no conven- tion to-morrow. Mr. M. J. Sanders: I move that the motion be tabled for the reasons stated by the chairman, and also- because due notice should be given.. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 155 Mr. Grubbs: I second that. The motion was tabled by a large majority, and the programme re- sumed. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH. BY PROF. H. B. ATTWATER. Mr. S. F. B. Morse, of the Southern Pacific Railroad, who was next on the programme, not being present, the next speaker announced was Prof. H. B. Attwater, of Houston, Texas, whose subject was the "Agri- cultural Resources. of the South," and particularly of the State of Texas. Prof. Attwater is connected with the Texas Experimental Station. He startled his hearers many times with his apparently abnormal state- ments, but. he proved them. He had with him almost a wagonload of the products of the South and the raw material. He made a hit with the au- dience when he said that a Texas pro- fessor always works with his coat off, and then he divested himself of his. The rapidity with which he dis- played the natural resources of the South pleased the Southern delegates and startled those from the North. His address was as follows: "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Southern Industrial Convention: Ten years ago a great many people outside of the State of Texas, as well as many Texans themselves, were under the impression that all this State was capable of producing was immense quantities of corn, cotton, cattle, cowboys and Colonels. Dur- ing recent years our great pine for- ests, our iron and oil fields, our fruit, sugar, rice and other cultivated crops have attracted much attention, but as yet very little attention has been given to our wonderful natural products and undeveloped resources. We are undoubtedly letting millions of dollars worth of valuable raw ma- terial go to waste every year, and I think the present occasion a very favorable opportunity and proper time to call attention to some of the important natural products of the great State of Texas. I am sure that it will prove interesting to you who have met together on this occasion for the purpose of discussing the fu- ture development of the Southern States. "A large portion of the State of Texas is to-day practically unex- plored, so far as the natural pro- ducts and resources are concerned. West of the City of Houston, extend- ing southwest to the mouth of the Rio Grande and northwest to El Paso, lies a vast stretch of country equal in size to two or three ordinary States. Throughout a considerable portion of this particular part of the State all kinds of agricultural pro- ducts yield bountiful crops. So great is the fertility of the soil that no artificial fertilizers are ever required. I know of a number of instances where fields have been pointed out. to me which are said to have been in constant cultivation and producing- good crops for over one hundred years. I know of one particular place where five hundred bushels of yel- low yams were raised on a single acre, and we have had sweet pota- toes sent to our exhibit weighing over twenty pounds, and watermelons from seventy-five pounds to ninety pounds in weight. "In the western part of this terri- tory, the great washing rainfalls > which frequently sweep over this re- - gion do not always come at the need- - ed time for the farmers' crops, and': while this disadvantage will eventu- ally be overcome by the inaugurations of extensive irrigation systems, water storages and artesian wells, the ter- ritory in question Is at present chiefly . occupied by stockmen. It embraces some of the largest cattle and sheep ranches in the world; county after county untouched by railroads, and abounds in valuable natural resources and raw material of commercial value, which could be used in indus- trial enterprises. "In this paper I propose to call your attention briefly to some of these natural products, which lie dor- mant in this great section of the South, simply waiting the magic touch of the capitalist, combined with. 156 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, energy and enterprise, to develop in- to future important industries. "The plants and vegetable products of this particular region, known to have useful properties or to be of value to commerce and industries, are of special importance. "Besides the trees of medium or larger size which are used in con- struction and for fuel, fencing, posts, etc., the country supports a growth of smaller trees of many varieties, with a hard, close-grained, rich- colored wood suitable for cabinet making, furniture, etc. "Some of them furnish edible fruit and nuts, and many produce valuable sums, dyes and perfumes. "These growths are known as ■"chaparral' thickets and cover hun- dreds of square miles. This vegeta- ble growth includes flax and hemp plants, and from some of the com- monest weeds, which grow wild on thousands of acres, valuable commer- cial fibres may be ootained. "The barks and roots of many of the trees contain the best tanning material. "There are also tea and coffee plants, pepper and spice plants, and an endless variety of medicinal plants, as well as those which con- tain antidotes against poison, and the bites of insects and venomous rep- tiles. "It is the natural Home of the grape, several varieties of which grow wild and to enormous size their tangled vines covering the limbs jf the trees, and forming overhead gi- gantic arbors and bowers, bearing tons of large, fine grapes. The fa- mous Texas 'mustang' wine is made from grapes growing on a wild vine called by this name. Around some of the ranches where cultivated grapes have been tried during the last few years, their growth has simply been astonishing. It is a fact that the choicest California varieties of grapes flourish even better than on the Pacific coast, and are ripe and ready for market from two to three weeks earlier than in that State. "Then there are numerous orna- mental and hedge shrubs, also pas- ture and hay grasses and forage plants. Some of the rare plants and flowers to be seen in the Northern hothouses and European conservatories grow wild in pro- fusion; and during some months in the year paint the landscape red, white and blue before being trampled under foot by cattle and horses. "Every month and every rain pro- duces a fresh crop of bloom. Here is the home of the honey bee, and they store their honey in the canon caves and hollow trees. Here also the silkworm thrives, and the cli- mate and conditions are exactly suited to the silk industry. "Besides the vegetable products, the undeveloped resources of this re- gion include much other raw material of more or less value and importance. Wild animals of several kinds are still numerous, and provide hair for brushes, fur for felting and skins and hides for other purposes. Rich min- eral deposits are just beginning to attract attention. "In the upper Rio Grande district, silver mines are now being worked, and gold and quicksilver have recent- ly been discovered in paying quan- tities. Other valuable minerals are known to exist. In some localities coal occurs. There are hills of gran- ite and mountains of marble prac- tically untouched; sandstone and limestone and rock which furnishes the best cement and plaster of Paris. "Inexhaustible supplies of the fin- est flint sand are found for the man- ufacture of glass, and great deposits of kaolin for making china and crock- ery ware. There are beds of clay miles long by miles wide suitable for brick, sewer pipe and earthenware. "In the interior asphaltum, mica, gypsum and ochre are found in large quantities, and valuable mineral paints have been discovered at many points where wells have been dug or bored. Along the coast there are miles of salt, marl, phosphate and ov-ter beds awaiting development. "Sulphur and other flowing wells of mineral waters are constantly be- ing obtained, and in one of the Rio Grande counties the artesian water comes so near the surface that flow- ing wells have been started by simply driving a gas pipe into the ground. "Other useful and valuable raw ma- terial could be mentioned, to be found in the territory referred to, and intelligent investigations would doubtless result in new discoveries. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 15T "In conclusion, I will say this for ment of this portion of the State of Texas, one great advantage which this region possesses is its fine cli- mate and healthy atmosphere. There are no dismal fever breeding swamps along the Texas coast to contami- nate the breezes from the Gulf, which prevail during the hot months. As a health resort, this section of the State is fast gaining a world-wide reputation. For the sportsman, fish and game of many kinds abound. The tarpon, the celebrated silver king of the finny tribe, swarms in the bays and passes along the coast at certain seasons of the year, and the wild gobbler, the noblest of all Amer- ican game birds, is still found in great numbers throughout the chap- arral and cedar regions. Myriads of geese, ducks, snipe and plover are to be found, this being directly in the line of flight of the great spring and fall migrations of water fowl and other game birds, to and from their breeding grounds in the North. There are several varieties of the bob- white, which furnish the finest quail shooting in the world. Deer are so numerous that venison is not con- sidered a luxury. I venture to say that if you were traveling to-day through Western Texas they would feed you on deer meat at most of the ranches you would stop at, and oc- casionally you would be treated to 'bear bacon.' In short, this region justly deserves the title of the sports- man's paradise and the hunter's heaven. "I believe that when all these facts become better known, they will sure- ly attract serious attention. Then the steel rails will begin to pierce the chaparral thickets in different di- rections and the iron horse go thun- dering across the mesquite prairies and through the live oaks; and the manufacturer, the grape grower and others will invade the cattle king's domain; and along the railroads aui around the reservoirs will spring up towns and villages, and the smoke from the mills will rise and mingle with the clouds which float over mil- lions of acres where now the buz- zard serenely soars. And the shrill whistle of the locomotive will be heard in the land, where now the solitary cowboy rides and the coyote sneaks in the brush, undisturbed by the sights and sounds of advancing development on this favored section of the great South. "In connection with the develop- my part of Texas: There are signs of great improvements. We have come to the conclusion that we have been paying too much attention to politics and not enough to business. We have been doing some mighty good preaching and some mighty poor practicing. We have too many people telling others what they should do and doing nothing them- selves. We have decided that we have too many lawyers stirring up useless litigations and not enough farmers stirring up the soil. "Like those of all other Southern States, the people of Texas have a reputation for hospitality and gener- osity, but it is not because we are generous enough, but because we are fools enough that we have besn sub- scribing libei ally toward the subsi- dies and bank accounts of New Eng- land politicians and millionaires, and toward building their mansions on the Hudson, while we ought to bave been building cotton mills for ourselves in our own State. "To prove that we are in earnest and mean business in future, Texas sends to this Convention a large del- egation of interested workers, whom I know are anxious and willing to> join with you in furthering any/ movement you may decide upon,, whereby the industrial development, may be advanced, not only in out- Lone Star State, but in all our sister- States throughout the sunny South."" Prof. Attwater carried on the plat- form a section of grape vine grown in Bee County, Texas, which was three feet in circumference and which it was estimated had carried two tons of grapes. He placed a bottle of wine made from the grapes in front of the Chairman with the re- mark that it "might enliven the pro- ceedings." He showed the assem- blage some of the raw products of Texas, such as silk, oil, kaolin, hard woods, paper made from cotton seed hulls, flint sand, hemp, ramie, etc. As an evidence of the satisfaction of the Convention with the address, Prof, Attwater was tendered a vote of thanks on the motion of Mr. Cobb- 158 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention^ AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH. BY PROF. H. J. WEBBER. Prof. H. J. Webber (of the United States Department of Agriculture), spoke as follows: "Ladies and Gentlemen: I regret ■very much that it was not possible for Prof. Milton Whitney, whose :name appears on the programme, to address you on such an important subject as the 'Agricultural Re- sources of the South,' as in being -asked to take his place on this oc- casion, I have had to do so with practically no opportunity for prep- aration. I will attempt, however, to give some idea of the valuable work -which is being done by the Depart- ment of Agriculture in developing Southern agricultures. I have witn me samples of Egyptian cotton grown in Louisiana, which compares very favorably with the Egyptian varieties." In connection with his remarks on the acclimatization of Egyptian cot- ton, Prof. Webber exhibited a sam- ple case containing the following specimens: 1. Janovitch Egyptian Cotton, grown at Lake Charles, La. 2. Imported Egyptian cotton, first- class (variety unknown, but proba- bly Mit AM). 3. Egyptian Cotton grown at Co- lumbia, S. C, from seed of a strain grown for five generations in Texas by Mr. Wentworth. 4. Ashmouni, an Egyptian Cotton grown at Columbia, S. C, from im- ported seed. Prof. Webber next told of the va- rious experiments which the Depart- ment was carrying on in the raising of cotton. He said that the growers as a rule were careless in planting the seed, paying insufficient attention to the quality. The Department was endeavoring to correct this by send- ing information on the subject to farmers. Two years ago, the De- partment started to investigate a new disease, the ravages of which had devastated many plantations, and some sea island plantations had been abandoned. The remedy for this dis- ease consisted in the selection of re- sisting strains of cotton and propo- gating from these immune varieties. In connection with the tobacco work of the Department of Agricul- ture, Prof. Webber showed the Con- vention a map of the area of the Connecticut Valley where fine leaf to- bacco is grown. The Department is devoting considerable attention to soil work, and maps are being pre- pared showing where different quali- ties of tobacco, cotton and other pro- ducts of the soil would flourish. Formerly, the fermentation of to- bacco was supposed to be due to bac- teria, but the work of the Depart- ment has shown that it is not the work of bacteria but that it is or- ganic in the plant itself. The working being done by the De- partment in regard to tobacco is of the most important nature. A triumph has been achieved in grow- ing finer Sumatra tobacco than that grown on the Island of Sumatra it- self. It is the best wrapper tobacco in the world. The seed, however, has to be imported, because after three years the plant degenerates. The Dutch Government on hearing of the success of these experiments, prohibited the importation of the seed. The work of the Department has been extended along two lines, one remedying the Alkali conditions of the soil and the other the im- porting and breeding of plants that can resist these adverse conditions. Good work has been done in the im- portation of plants and their adapta- tion to this climate. The finest date palms have been imported from Egypt, and there is an alfalfa from Egypt which is also being success- fully grown here. In fact, this Egyp- tian alfalfa is grown here with more success than the ordinary alfalfa grown in the West. The work of the Department has been largely given up to importation and modification of plants, so that they may be able to resist adverse conditions. Much time has been given to the study of diseases, and remedies have been found for many of them. Experiments have been made with oranges with a view to producing Held in New Orleans } December 4-7 } 1900. 159 a hardy orange, with the result that twelve varieties of ever-green fruit have been" cultivated, hardier than anything before known. In connection with rice, some im- portant investigations had been con- ducted in reference to the importa- tion of "Kinshu" from Japan. All this work shows what great progress is being made by the Department and the experiments referred to have been productive of many improve- ments in the Southern States. Prof. Webber described the various bulletins and publications issued by the Department, and exhibited pho- tographs to illustrate different points of his lecture, which, on account of ■its eminently practical nature, was listened to with close attention. Mr. Wilson: I desire to offer a resolution calling attention to the recommendation of Prof. Whitney that tobacco should and can be grown in Texas, and requesting that Con- gress establish a tobacco experiment station in Texas. Prof. Stubbs: I endorse this reso- lution, and think that the support of this Convention may aid Prof. Whit- ney and Prof. Webber in their ef- forts to obtain increased appropria- tions for the purpose of establishing small experiment stations through- out the South. The resolution was temporarily withdrawn, so that it might be amended to conform with the views of Prof. Whitney and Prof. Webber, and was subsequently adopted in the following form: Whereas, The chief of the Division of Soils, Milton Whitney, in his an- nual report issued to-day, makes an earnest request that Congress au- thorize an appropriation for experi- menting with tobacco culture in the State of Texas. Regarding Texas, Mr. Whitney says in part: "My investigation of soils, climatic conditions and pro- ducts of Texas have convinced me that the conditions are exceedingly favorable there for the production of a desirable filler leaf tobacco, from which we may expect to get the rich flavor and aroma of the best Havana product. "The development of such a crop in Texas would be worth at a con- servative estimate not less than $8,- 000,000 or $10,000,000. This is one of the most important fields that could be taken up, and the work should be started at the earliest pos- sible time." Therefore, be it Resolved, That the Southern In- dustrial Convention indorse the rec- ommendation of Mr. Whitney and Secretary of Agriculture, and urge, upon Congress to make the necessary appropriation to carry on the Tobac- co experiments in the south. Adopted. DAIRYING AND DAIRY PRODUCTS IN THE SOUTH. BY J. P. ADAMS. Mr. J. P. Adams of New Orleans: "Before proceeding to read a paper on 'Dairying and Dairy Products in the South,' I may say that I desire to apologize for being on this pro- gramme. I think that the gentlemen who arranged the programme in- tended to put up a job on you by in- troducing this subject. It is too bad to have to spoil such a feast on cot- ton and factories as we have been reveling in for the past two days with a dessert on dairying. Incidentally, I think that the officers of the Con- vention intended to put up a job on me also. Now I want to assure you that it is not going to work, be- cause I will incidentally mention cotton too during the few moments that I will detain you, so that you may not forget the subject which has been so ably and extensively dis- cussed here. It has been suggested that it was not advisable to encour- age the planter to increase his cot- ton acreage as it would result in an over-production. In that case I ask what is he going to do? What other industry do you offer him for em- ployment? "As preliminary to the discussion of the subject of 'Dairying and Dairy Products in the South,'' I wish to make a brief retrospect of this great industry. Dairying is of ancient ori- gin. Its history is as old as the 160 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, history of civilization. Written ref- erence to it is found in India and Ceylon as far back as 2,000 years before Christ, also evidences of the remote use of dairy products are found in all European and Asiatic countries excepting China and Japan. "To-day the use of milk and butter is general and not limited to any class or locality; it is regarded as a necessity and its production and dis- tribution engages a large part of our population. "While more or less practiced in all ages, dairying has only become a recognized industry within recent years. The first creamery or butter factory was established in this coun- try less than fifty years ago. Now there are about 11,000 butter and cheese factories in the United States, distributed principally through the Northern and Eastern States. New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Wis- consin lead in dairy products — in manv of these and adjoini/jig States dairying is one of the chief occupa- tions of the farmer. "The evolution of dairvina: in tb° past twenty-five years has been mar- velous and far greater than any other branch of husbandry. It is regarded as among the most progressive and highly developed forms of farming, and the inducements it offers to-day to American farmers in many sec- tions of t.hp TTni+p' 1 States is ^renter than any other department of farm- ing. "In gross investment it is exceeded by few other branches of industry. The total value of the dairy pro- ducts of the United States for 1898, consisting of milk, cheese, skim milk and calves of the dairy cows, is es- timated by our Government authori- ties at $500,000,000. There were 17,- 000,000 milk cows valued at $370,000,- 000, that produced this enormous sum. "The annual milk consumption of the United States for 1899 as milk and cream, was 2,090,000,000 gallons. The production of butter 1,500,000,000 pounds, and of cheese 300,000,000 pounds. Only one-fourth of the but- ter is factory made while nearly all cheese is factory made. "It should not be assumed, by these figures, that dairying is being overdone, and likely to soon become unprofitable. Such is not the case. The home consumption of dairy pro- ducts, particularly with greater in- dustrial prosperity, is increasing from year to year, and while our consumption thereof per capita is not now as large as in most Euro- pean countries, though we are the greatest dairy country in the world, we have every reason for believing that in time the food value of these products will, be more fully appre- ciated here as in the older countries. "We have not only the foregoing facts to prove that the dairy business is not overdone in the United States, but we have other evidences. While the production of butter in 1899 was 1,500,000,000 pounds, at the same time there was also manufactured 82,000,- 00D pounds of imitation butter, known as oleomargerine, fully 75,- 000,000 pounds of which was sold as pure butter and consumed as such. If the Grout Bill is passed, and action upon it is excepted this session by Congress, a part of the trade of this spurious article will be diverted to the real article, which will result in a great stimulus to the dairy bus- iness, especially in the South where now a large per cent, of it is sold by deception. We also have great op- portunities of increasing our export business. The European market for our dairy products are now opening up. The exports are yet small, but will within a few years amount to one-third of the total production, which insures the maintenance of good prices, which last year, for all dairying products, especially but- ter, were considerably higher than for several years. "Modern dairying to-day is just as much a business as any other com- mercial or manufacturing under- taking. It affords the same oppor- tunities and in a practical sense is a manufacturing business; its success being now a question of management rather than location. "It has been a popular belief, and we may say it is yet, that conditions are entirely against successful dairy- ing in the South. That the industry must be restricted to narrow geo- graphical limits lying between the 40th and 45th parallel of latitude ex- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 161 tending from the Atlantic coast to the Missouri river. That the lands, or the soil jn the South are not adapted and that climatic conditions are detrimental to stock and their value for dairy purposes, and es- pecially that climatic conditions are against the manufacture of good but- ter and cheese. "In this industry, as has been the case in many others now prospering in the South, this belief has been proven fallacious. "While there are, of course, natural land advantages which enter into the cost of the production of milk; the ice machine, cream separator and aerator, and the general care of milk from the time it leaves the cow, together with science employed in the operation of a modern creamery, has overcome climatic conditions in the successful manufacture of good butter and cheese. "The founding of dairy experi- mental schools in nearly all of the Southern States, resulting in special education and tests, and the many private dairy farms and creamery plants that have in the past few years been established and are to- day thriving in the South, have dem- onstrated the practicability of dairy- ing and the manufacture of dairy products in the Southern States be- yond a question of doubt. Not only have the schools and private experi- ments demonstrated the practica- bility of the business, but they have proven that the South, with its cheap and productive lands, fine water and mild climate, offers greater induce- ments to the dairy farmer to-day than any other section of the United States. "It is needless to mention here the names of owners or give the number of fine pure blooded and graded dairy heards that are being raised in the South, proving the fallacy of the old argument that our climatic condi- tions are also detrimental to the breeding of dairy animals and their producing ability, for this fallacy too, has long since been exploded. "The greatest milch cow, Lillv Flag, in the world in her dav was bred, dropped, raised and made her record in one of the extreme Southern States not long ago, and it was not an accident either, for the same herd, besides numerous others, have produced ani- mals that have made records in the same line and there is, therefore, no longer any question but that the Southern raised dairy cow is as ef- ficient in her line as the Northern raised animal. "It is a recognized fact that wher- ever good beef can be produced, also can good dairy products be produced, and the very conditions supposed to be most detrimental to cattle raising and dairying in the South, have proven to be most advantageous to the business when the care and cost of maintaining a herd is considered. Prof. W. R. Dodson, botanist of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Louisiana, in speaking of the for- age crops in the South before the Inter-State Farmers' Convention held at Vicksburg, Miss., in 1898, said in the course of his remarks 'that he had not claimed that the South had any material advantages in the pro- duction of concentrated feeds, but he believed it could stand on a par with any other section in this respect; while in the way of forage crops he would attempt to show that the cli- mate gave it many advantages.' After reviewing the conditions substantiat- ing his claims, he continued thus: 'Then, when we can raise more stuff to the acre, more crops in a given period of time, each richer in food value than the crops in the North, is it not evident that we have every ma- terial advantage for stock raising? These crops will also make our soil richer, gathering nitrogen from the air and adding it to the soil. When pasturing facilities are compared, the advantages are still greater in favor of the South. While the Northern farmer is compelled to provide ex- pensive houses to protect his animals from sleet, snow and the cold north- ern winds, a simple shed affords am- ple winter protection in the South, and there is practically no season of the year when there cannot be a plenty of green forage, and while the cattle in the North are shivering in the cold and rooting in the snow for sprigs of winter grass, the Southern herds may be grazing on green win- ter pasture.' The language of Prof. 162 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Dodson is explicit. There is no doubt but that his claims are well founded, that cattle will thrive quite as well in this climate as in the colder sections, and that the cost of raising and care is much in favor of the South. "It has been clearly demonstrated that the dairy is a most valuable ad- junct to the cotton plantation. Aside from it being one of the most profit- able forms of diversified farming, the dairy cow is a great restorer of fertility to the soil. Prof. T. L. Haecker of the University of Minne- sota, in an address before the Inter- State Farmers' Convention at Vicks- burg, Miss., in 1898, spoke as fol- lows on the subject of 'How to con- tinue cotton growing, utilize the by- products on the plantation without reducing the income therefrom, and at the same time return the fertiliz- ing constituents to the soil.' 'I know of only one animal,' said Prof. Haecker, 'that can fill these require- ments, and that is the dairy bred cow, and the product butter. If you feed the meal and cake to dairy cows, all the fertility will remain on the plantation and your receipts will be twice as large as would be the case if this by-product was sold.' "The Southern farmer, therefore, as these advantages are shown him is becoming vastly more interested in the dairy business. I know of many sections or districts where the establishing of one modern dairy, or where one farmer started into the business intelligently in connection with his planting, has resulted m starting others, and in some in- stances, whole communities have fol- lowed in their footsteps, utilizing the by-products of their plantation through the medium of the cow, thus increasing their income and enrich- ing their soil. These efforts have always been attended with success, and it is not difficult to discern in communities where dairying is more or less engaged in, a happier and more prosperous people than where the old regime is still in vogue. Every State in the South can boast of magnificent examples of energy and intelligence being applied to the upbuilding of this industry with splendid results. "In most sections of the South, too far remote from a city or village milk market and where there are no creameries, each individual farmer has to manufacture his own product, which requires more labor and is less renumerative as a rule. There is a poor demand in the South for domestic butter ana very little of it is offered for sale in the large cities. It is a lamentable fact that tho average citizen will place upon his table, without question, oleomarger- ine and butterine, sold to him for butter, rather than demand an ab- solutely pure apticle, which is whole- some and easily obtained. The farmer, therefore, who has to manu- facture a pure, wholesome butter — for he could not do otherwise, if he wanted to — and compete with tallow, flavored and colored in imitation of pure butter, which costs to man- ufacture about one-fourth his pro- duct, is handicapped, unless he is able to procure a special market, which is not always accessible. The individual farmer's butter market is therefore very limited, and his busi- ness is seriously retarded for the need of large creameries, cheese fac- tories and condenseries operated on the proprietary or co-operative plan, the latter being the system usually adopted in new territory, to make his raw product and turn it into a fin- ished article in quantity and of uni- form quality to suit the demands of the market at home and elsewhere. The factory system originated in the United States in 1861, and has been successfully adopted in other coun- tries. It is called the 'American Sys- tem of Associated Dairying,' and is the next step necessary to the ex- tensive development of the dairy in- dustry in the South. "While I cannot claim there is a good market for the dairy products of the farmer living too remote from a city, for a milk trade therein, un- less he manufacture a choice article of butter which is seldom the case, but his fault, as there is no patent on making good butter — I do claim that we have within certain limits the best fresh milk market in the United States. Many of the large cities have prohibited dairies or the keeping of cows within their corporate limits, which has revolutionized the city milk business in the South, as it did Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. 163 in the North— concentrated it to a certain extent and greatly improved the quality of the product. This improvement, however, cannot be credited altogether to the enactment and enforcement of municipal laws. Individuals and corporations have done much, in many instances, to im- prove the product by establishing modern, sanitary dairies and milk depots, equipped with the latest and most improved machinery for the handling and care of milk, and sell- ing it as 'certified' or 'clarified' in sealed vessels. The source of dis- ease and epidemics is often traced to milk, and no subject has interested medical science more in the past twenty-five years than milk and the manner in which it is produced and served in the large cities. New Or- leans has come in for a good share of notoriety recently in this matter. The result was the passing of a very strict law regulating the operation of dairies in the city until they will be- compelled to move outside the city limits by ordinance which will soon be effective, and also providing for a very rigid inspection of the milk and milk depots, all of which has done much good. To the improvement thus brought about in the city's milk supply is credited to a great extent the lessening of sickness and mor- talitj r among infants the past sum- mer. Many other Southern cities have followed New Orleans in her war on unclean dairies and question- able milk. "Eliminating the dairies from the cities has built up prosperous dairy communities in the country adjacent to them, and this form of farming is becoming exceedingly popular and very profitable. The demand for fresh cream in the larger Southern cities has never been fully supplied by home producers and a very large quantity of it is shipped from the Northern States in refrigeration. Tennessee and Illinois have been sup- plying most of the cream to cities in the Gulf States, until recently Mis- sissippi has come to the front in its production. Many of the modern city distributors are unable to get suf- ficient country milk to supply their trade much of the time, and are com- pelled to buy more or less Northern cream at all times. "Therefore, there are many dis- tricts in the South, near large cities, where intelligent and industrious dairy farmers can locate, produce milk and cream and receive better prices for it from the city distributors than in any section that I know of in the North or East, with a perma- nent demand. I know of no section of the United States where better prices rule the year around for fresh milk and cream than within shipping distance of most of the large cities of the South. The cost of production is less, therefore, the industry pavs larger returns here than in other sec- tions, if conducted intelligently. "But the dairy industry in the South, in districts remote from the large city milk or cream markets, will be seriously retarded until the factory system has been inaugurated. This will minimize the farmers' la- bors and enable him to more readily dispose of his product, for which tnere will be a stable market at bet- ter prices. It will also enable him to give more time and attention to the care and improvement of his herd, which will increase their out- put and his income. These facts have been established by actual prac- tice. The factory, whether it be for manufacturing butter, cheese or con- densed milk, will find a permanent market for its products at its very door, as fully 95 per cent, of the fac- tory butter, and all the cheese and condensed milk, which supplies the great South for home consumption and export is now manufactured in the States north of the Ohio river and east of the Allegheny mountains! "I wish especially to call the at- tention of the manufacturers of these products to the opportunities in the South. "I wish to urge the planters and farmers of the South to take greater interest in this industry, and to take advantage of the superior education and training offered by the agricul- tural colleges for their children. I wish to urge the press of the South to continually call the attention of the world to the superior advantages offered this industry by our glorious climate and fertile soil." (Applause.) The Convention then adjourned uiv- til 7:30 P. M. 164 Mi;. litis of The Southern Industrial Convention, THURSDAY NIGHT SESSION. President Hargrove called the Con- vention to order at 8 o'clock, and said: Dr. H. E. Stockbridge of Flor- ida desires to describe some work of the experiment station there. Dr. Stockbridge was for three years chemist of the Japanese experiment station, and his remarks will be both interesting and instructive. DR. H. E. STOCKBRIDGE, DIRECrOR FLORIDA EXPERIMENT STATION. CASSAVA AND STARCH IN FLORIDA. BY DR. H. E. STOCKBRIDGE, Dr. H. E. Stockbridge said: "You have been addressed on the subject of the agricultural resources of the South, but there is one of these resources of the South, based on the production of a single crop, which is not only of great importance to the cultivator, but forms the basis of a new industry and is therefore associ- ated with its industrial development. It is so new and of such recent origin that it must possess at least a cer- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 165 tain, interest for those present, and it should form part of the record of the proceedings of this Convention. We are all proud of the wonderful growth of the cotton industry dur- ing the present decade. It is, per- haps, due to many people here pres- ent that so much has been accom- plished in this direction, but, gentle- men, I would call your attention to the fact that this great cotton indus- try is absolutely dependent on that simple, common article, starch, and that cotton cloth cannot be econo- nomically produced on account of the large quantities of starch which en- ters into its manufacture, in fact, the cotton goods industry is the largest single consumer of starch in the world. Heretofore, this industry has been dependent upon starch from Wisconsin and Illinois produced from potatoes, etc. "To-day, a radical change has taken place, and I state that the largest cotton factories in the world are being exclusively supplied with starch produced from a single South- ern crop grown in the State of Flor- ida. A word now as to the applica- tion of that fact: Within the last two years, three large factories, with an investment of- over $250,000.00, have been built in the State of Flor- ida for the production of starch from the Cassava root, and these three factories utilize the entire out- put of six thousand acres, which have been cultivated for the past two years. Droducins: this single crou. "Therefore, our cotton industry to- day is no loneer dpnendent for thi<5 product as produced in the Northern States, but can get it from native Florida product. Let me tell you the difference between the values of the two different products. A ren- resentative of a large concern told me that this Southern starch as com- pared with the best Northern product is as follows: One pound of Florida starch went as far as' six pounds of the best Northern product, arid furth- er, that this Southern product as compared with the Northern product can be sold at a profit for 4 1-2 cents, while the Northern article costs the manufacturer 6 1-2 cents. So much for the manufacturing side of the question, so much for its utilization in the manufacture of our great sta- ple, cotton. "But there is one other side. This Cassava root, this raw material from the South from which we are mak- ing our starch, can only be grown in the semi-tropical region of our coun- try, and therefore we have an abso- lute monopoly of its production. Again, aside from its utilization for the production of starch, it is one of the most valuable food materials for animals, of all classes of feed that has yet been discovered. A com- parison of its fattening value with other kinds of feed can be readily shown. It produces on a given area at about the same cost of produc- tion about six times as much food as the same area in corn. Actual comparative feeding tests show that Cassava produces the same results in 70 days as 120 days of feeding in the great beef producing States .of the North would require. In other words, 70 days here will do what it takes 120 days to do there. (Applause.) "Further, an actual comparison of this material as a source of food for all classes of animals for the pur- pose of fattening, demonstrates that by its use the average steer of the Southern States can be put on the market with a profit of 48 per cent, on the investment. Further than that, by the actual placing of the meat product from this material on the open market with that from Chi- cago, we have actually demonstrated that we are able to put them on the market in competition with the pack- ing house products of Chicago and have actually driven Swift and Ar- mour out of the market. (Applause.) "Therefore, we have just arrived at the beginning of a great new in- dustrv he"re, and its possibilities for the future can scarcely be com- puted." (Applause.) President Hargrove: I now take pleasure in introducing to you Gen. Leon Jastrem^ki. of Baton Rous:e, ex-Consul to Peru, who will address you on the subiect of "American Trade with the Latin American Coun- tries." 166 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, GEN. LEON JASTREMSKI. AMERICAN TRADE WITH SOUTH AMERICA. BY GEN. LEON JASTREMSKI. Gen. Leon Jastremski then read the following paper: "Mr. President and Delegates: Though the Continent of South America is scarcely more than 1,300 miles from our Gulf coast, little is known in this country of the vast extent of its territory, its phenomi- nal resources and varied attractions, and the possibilities which it pre- sents for its development into the grandest field for American com- merce and American enterprises of every character. Only those of our people whose official functions or special business have led them there seem to have anything like a correct understanding of South America. "I had the honor in 1893 to be sent to South America to serve in the capacity of United States Consul at the port of Callao, Peru, and my voyages both ways and the observa- tions I made during and since my sojourn in Peru, gave me an insight into the fairy land that the blind greed of some Americans and the singular inertia of the mass of the American people have virtually turned over bodily to the Europeans. Held in New Orleans, December 4.-7, ipoo. 167 "South America is greater in area by 391,000 miles than its twin con- tinent of North America. That is to say, South America is as large as North America with an area as great as Texas, Louisiana, Arkan- sas and several New England States added on. The population of South America approximates 50,000,000. About 700 miles of its territory lie north of the equatorial line, so that, counting its territory to the south- ward, which may be classed as trop- ical, the greater half of the entire continent lies in tne zone of the tropics, while it presents the inesti- mable advantage of possessing in the various altitudes climates of all zones with their respective productions. One may find every kind of climate in a few hours of travel, and select his dwelling place in that climate which suits his fancy, be it the tem- perate, tropical or frigid, within the area of such brief journey. Every product, every mineral, that is found in the rest of the world exists in South America, and in profusion. If there is one continent whose inhab- itants may claim that they can live within it and lack for nothing that mankind craves, tnat continent is South America. I must perforce re- frain from elaborating, and shall ex- pect my hearers to supply with their imagination the lack of minute de- scriptions within my outlines. "The total annual exports of South America approximate $450,000,- 000, of which $93,665,134, principally in coffee, came to the United States during the last fiscal year. The im- ports from the world to South Amer- ica approximate $350,000,000, of which the United States, for the period named, furnished only $38,945,721, leaving a balance of trade against the United States and in favor of South America of $54,689,413. "Now, let us make an odious com- parison between this actual com- merce with South America, which we are neither striving to equalize or augment, and our commerce with the Philippines and with China, for which we are doing considerable fighting at long range and at no little ex- pense. "For the year ending June 30, 1900, the imports from the Philippines to the United States amounted to only $5,971,208, while our exports to the Philippines amounted to the small total of $2,640,449, or $3,330,759 on tne losing side of Uncle Sam's ledg- er. "From the Chinese Empire, for the same period, the imports to the United States were $26,896,117, and the exports from the United States to China, $15,258,748. Our transac- tions with the Chinese Empire there- fore, netted to that empire $11,637,- 369. "Let us see how we are conduct- ing business with South America, in a peaceable, very peaceable way? "Our intercourse with the Pacific coast of South America, from the Atlantic side, is carried on exclu- sively by means of a tri-monthly steamship service between New York and the Isthmus of Panama. The mail route distance of this service is set down at 2,355 miles. From Panama, the mails and general in- tercourse with Guayaquil, Ecuador, Callao, Peru, and Valparaiso, Chili, is maintained by a weekly steamship service by the Pacific Steam Naviga- tion Company (English), and the Compania Sud Americano de Va- pores (Chilian), acting in combina- tion. The rates for freights and pas- sage are well nigh prohibitive, the fare for passage having attained the amount of $197 gold, between New York and Callao, a distance of 3,- 500 miles (which is the same distance between New York and Liverpool), and $254 gold, from New York to Valparaiso, 4,800 miles. It should be carefully noted that the ten days' service on the Atlantic side cannot by any possibility connect with the weekly service on the Pacific. In consequence, there are days of de- tention of mails, passengers and freights on the Isthmus. The steam- ers on the Pacific side get no pay for carrying the mails, and they han- dle them in the way that people work for the public without pay. Fre- quent efforts have been made to get our postal authorities to organize a weekly service from New York that would connect with the weekly ser- vice at Panama, but for reasons with which the public is yet unacquainted the same disjointed service has been kept up. 168 Minutes of The Southern Industiiil Convention "A tremendous stride might be made toward trade increase in tnose parts, if our postal authorities would contract for a weekly service be- tween some Gulf port and the Isth- mus, as the route would be shortened about 1,000 miles, and the mails, in- stead of having to go from all parts of the country to New York, there to await the ten days' time of de- parture, could go by rail to the Gulf port where this weekly service would be in operation. A corresponding de- crease in the transit time and the cost of travel would naturally follow. "The distance between San Fran- cisco and Panama is nearly 4,000 miles, and it takes from twenty to twenty-five days for the steamships of the Pacific Mail Company to make the voyage. It has been repeatedly charged that an agreement existed between the latter company and the foreign combination operating south of Panama that neither would in- fringe upon the preserves of the other. In other words, the American Pacific Mail Company was to en- joy the monopoly of the trade of the Central American and Mexican Pa- cific coasts, and the English and Chilian companies, the monopoly of the trade of the entire Pacific coast of South America, the latter receiv- ing the passengers and freights brought to Panama from both oceans by the American steamship compan- ies. This is tantamount to empty- ing into the English and Chilian bags, the entire trade of the United States centering at Panama. "Whether the Isthmian terminal and the schedules of these various lines are in pursuance of the alleged agreement adverted to or not, it is an indisputable fact that the condi- tions above described exist and that they operate practically as a block- ade against intercourse with the United States. "On the arrival at Callao of the first vessel of a steamship line navi- gating under the British flag be- tween New York and the Pacific coast of South America, via the Straits of Magellan, which had been established by an American firm, I was asked by a Peruvian to explain why an American firm should carry on its trade on British ships and under the British flag. This was a corker, and I told the man to ask me something easy, as I did not like to tell him that this was one of tne American ways of protecting Amer- ican commerce. "There are lines of English, Ger- man and French steamships running respectively between their ports and this coast via the Magellan Straits and, recently, a Japanese line has been started between Japan and Peru. "These facts, briefly stated, show why American commerce cuts so poor a figure in the countries referred to, although they are some thousands of miles nearer to our ports than to Europe or Japan. "The total population of the Pa- cific coi>st countries of South Amer- ica, namely, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chili, in round num- bers, approximates 15,000,000. Their total exports approximate annually $115,000,000, and their imports $95,- 000,000. For the year ending June 30, 1900, their exports to the United States footed up only $15,035,921, and their imports from the United States $8,935,754. In further illustration of the in- adequacy of the means of communi- cation between this country and the Continent of South America, I would invite your attention to the follow- ing United States Mail Schedules., viz: New York to Liverpool, 3,530 miles, time 8 days. New York to Panama, 2,355 miles, time 7 days. New York to Rio Janeiro, 6,204 miles, time 23 days. New York to Buenos Ayres, 8,045 miles, time 29 days. New York to Valparaiso, 4,800 miles, time 37 days. The usual surest and quickest way of going from New York to Rio de Janeiro and to Buenos Ayres is to cross the Atlantic to some promi- nent European port where departures are regular, thence to recross the Atlantic on the European steamers plying between Europe and the Bra- zilian and Argentine ports. Most of the direct trade between these ports and the United States is, generally speaking, carried on at irregular in- tervals, by tramp steamers. "It is commonly asserted that the Held in New Orleans, December 4-/, 1900. 169 principal opposition to the Nicaragua Canal, by which much of the ex- isting embargo would be removed, is made by the directories of our Pacific railroads, who have endeav- ored to carry the trade of the entire country by rail first to San Fran- cisco, distant some 3,250 miles from New York, thence by means of the Pacific Mail steamers, 4,000 miles farther, to Panama, for reshipment on the steamers of the foreign com- bination described in the foregoing. "This policy is in harmony with the seven by ten schedules at Pana- ma, and it only needs the erection of a plant at the mouth of the Mis- sissippi designed to force its waters into the Northern lakes to make our commercial intercourse with South America a colossal absurdity. The Inter-Continental Railway. "On the 21st of January, 1880, Hon. David Davis, of Illinois, introduced a bill in the United States Senate to encourage closer commercial rela- tionship between the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, in which the first suggestion in congressional legislation is to be found 'to carry forward the worK of constructing a through line of rail- road running at the foot of the east- ern slope of the Andes.' Bills to the same purport were introduced on April 24th, 1882, by Senator Cockrell, of Missouri and by Senator Morgan, of Alabama, 'The Grand Old Man' who has immortalized his name by his incessant and inflexible advo- cacy of the Nicaragua Canal. On December 11, 1883, Senator Sherman, of Ohio, tendered the bill that had been proposed the year before by Senator Morgan. "On the 6th of May, 1886, Mr. Frye, of Maine, reported the bill which was finally passed on May 10, 1888, au- thorizing the formation of the inter- national conference which was or- ganized at Washington, on October 2nd, 1889, with representatives of the following countries, viz: Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guate- mala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Salvador, The United States, Uruguay and Ve^ez ela On February 26, 1890, the report of the special com- mittee recommending the prelimin- ary survey of an intercontinental railway was adopted by the confer- ence then composed of the represen- tatives of eighteen governments. "On May 12th, 1890, Secretary Blaine in submitting this report to President Harrison thus expressed himself: " 'No more important recommenda- tion has come from the international American conference, and I earnestly commend it to your attention, with full confidence that prompt action will be taken by Congress to enable this government to participate in the promotion of the enterprise.' In his message a week later, President Harrison, in recommending favorable action, called attention to the puo- sibility of traveling by land from Washington to the southernmost capital of South America. '±he work contemplated,' he said 'is vast but entirely practicable.' "In addressing the Intercontinen- tal Railway Commission, on Dec. 4, 1890, Secretary Blaine said: " 'Gentlemen: I hope that this 4th day of December, 1890, is to mark the beginning, the auspicious beginning, of a very great enterprise, that shall draw closer South America, Central America and North America; that shall cement in closer and more cor- dial ties many nations and be a ben- efit to the present generation and to millions yet unborn.' "Hon. A. J. Cassatt was made president of the commission, and three surveying corps were formed as follows: 1st corps, M. M. Macomb in charge; 2nd corps, F. Shunk in charge; 3rd corps, W. D. Kelley in charge. The various corps set out in April, 1891, and in June/ 1893, corns No. 2, the last one to finish their work, returned to the United States. "The total cost of the surveys amounted to $288,586.01. This in- cluded the printing • of the reports. This distance from New York to Buenos Ayres was put down at 10,- 228 miles, of which 4,771 miles had already been constructed, leaving 5,456 miles to be built. The total cost for grading, masonry and bridges was estimated at $174,290,271. In their final report the commission said: 'We will have a total of about $175,000,000 for the 5,456 miles to be built in order to complete an all- rail route between New York and 170 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Buenos Ayres. It is highly probable that future studies will reduce the length and lessen the cost stated.' "To give some idea of the riches that would be opened to exploitation by the construction of the intercon- tinental railway, I have culled the following notes from the reports of corps 2 and 3, viz: (Referring to Peru.) " 'The richest silver ores mined here, (Huallana) which is also very rich coal and mineral district, reach as high as $1,000 per ton in value, while these assaying under $30 per ton are not worked, being thrown on the dump.' "Referring to the Rio Santa and the Callejon de Huailas, the report says: 'This difficult stretch is, how- ever, compensated for by the fact that it is the richest mineral section of Peru, containing gold, silver, lead, iron, and coal, in large quantities, many of the mines being in active operation.' " 'In case the Maranon route were adopted, water communication could be had at Jaen or Buena Vista with the Amazon and the Atlantic' " 'At Ancachs, a very fine grade of statuary marble is opened up.' " 'Iron work would be expensive to deliver from the coast along the line, but by some outlay of capital and enterprises, furnaces could be put in operation at various points where ore and limestone exist. Charcoal could be produced from the forests of the Eastern Montana.' " 'It is not improbable that the volcanic formations and lavas would yield a Roman cement.' " 'Peru, although extending to 18 degrees south latitude, possesses like Ecuador, such differences of alti- tude as to enable it to produce vege- table life peculiar to every clime." " 'While at the agreeable altitude from 6,000 to 9,000 feet, we find a climate acceptable to the people of the temperate zone, and one can in a few hours' mule journey take a trip either to the tropics or the arc- tics. One hacienda or farm, near Caroz, yielded every crop from sugar cane and bananas to perpetual ice, which was brought down from the high mountains by Indians twice a week for household use.' " 'On the plateau, the temperature ranging from 40 degrees to 70 degrees Fahr. the year round, the season is one of perpetual spring; crops are planted and harvested at the same time.' " 'The mines, consisting of gold, silver, quicksilver, lead, copper, tin and iron, are numerous in these lo- calities.' " 'The streams of the eastern slopes of the mountains are especially rich in auriferous sands and indicate that somewhere at their sources must ex- ist rich ores, which are thus being washed away.' " 'In Peru, it is estimated that $1,- 800,000,000 worth of precious metals, principally silver, have been mined since 1630.' " 'Columbia is rich in minerals of all kinds, gold, silver, iron, coal, pe- troleum, lead, mercury, amber, lime, gypsum, marble, saltpetre, salt, as- phaltum, alum, and kaelin, being found in profusion. The yearly out- put of gold and silver is over $4,000,- 000 in value. Emeralds, rubies, gar- nets, amethysts and other precious stones are also found. Colombia has an area of 514,000 square miles, (twice the size of Texas). " 'The soil of Colombia is very fer- tile, and the vegetation is rich and exuberant. Coffee, cacao, tobacco, sugar, vegetable ivory, rubber, and dye woods, are produced besides wheat, maize, plantains, etc. The total number of cattle, horses, mules and asses in the republic is estimated at 3,465,000 in addition to 3,487,000 goats, sheep and swine.' " 'The Amazon has a length of 4,139 miles, 500 of which are naviga- ble by large vessels.' " 'In this department (Cauca), nature is rich beyond reasonable ex- pectation. The mineral resources are both abundant and varied, the Cuaca competing with Antioquia in the wealth of its precious metals. Gold ore of excellent quality is abundant. The soil is exceedingly fertile and produces almost spontaneously sugar cane, plantains, maize, potatoes and all kinds of vegetables. In the for- ests are found large quantities of wood suitable for building, cabinet work, and dye purposes.' Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 171 "Ecuador. "Ecuador presents the same fea- tures and riches which have been de- scribed for Colombia and Peru. "Bolivia. "Bolivia, that is, its vast table lands, have been compared to the Thibet. These are generally cold and, save in the valleys which are very fertile, the elevated plains and mountain slopes are principally de- voted to mining. " 'According to the official records of the Spanish Government, during the period of two hundred and eighty years intervening between 1545 and 1825, the mines of Bolivia produced the enormous amount of $3,406,366,- 035 worth of silver.' (From the Report of Bureau of American Republics.) " 'Bordering on the Purus River, and spreading over the districts of the Mapori and Tipuanl to the west and the river districts of the Beul to the east, and on down through the rich province of Yungas to the south, are the finest tropical forests within the Amazon basin, containing in all sixty-five kinds of rare and beautiful cabinet woods of prodigious growth and great commercial value. In the warm valleys of Mapiri and Yungas, and especially in the latter, grew enormous quantities of tropical fruits,' sugar cane, rice, coffee, coca, cacao, tobacco, and aromatic gums and spices, while skirting the banks of the Itenez or Guapore, the Beni, Madre de Dios and the Purus rivers, are the great rubber forests where is produced the finest 'Para rubber' known to the trade.' " 'Although the northern and northeastern territory of Bolivia, here denominated 'the Beni country,' is by common consent 'a land flowing with milk and honey, whose inhabitants, according to George Earl Church, 'gaze upon a wealth sufficient to pay the national debts of the world,' it is for the most part as little known as 'Darkest Africa,' and under present conditions, its vast natural wealth is even less available.' "The several surveying corps re- ported that they were received every- where with marked cordiality by all classes of the population and by the officials. They received assistance from every quarter in the prosecution of their work, and manifestations of approval of the undertaking were everywhere elicited. No room was left for doubt in the readiness of the various governments to grant liberal concessions and valuable privileges to the project and to an extent that would by far exceed the cost of its complete achievement. A substan- tial proof of this feeling was given not long ago by the Peruvian Gov- ernment. In granting munificent concessions and privileges to the pro- jected line from Cherrepe to Hual- gayoc, where rich mines of coal, and of well nigh every other mineral will be developed, the Peruvian Gov- ernment excepted from the grant the intercontinental railway to which the right of intersecting, etc., was to be freely accorded. One mile of land on each side of the line referred to was donated, and the inference fol- lows that no less than this would be voted to the intercontinental road. "The first step that the United States Government should take in this matter, ought to be the forma- tion of a special commission to se- cure concessions and privileges for the intercontinental road, and to ar- range the representation which each republic should have in the directory of the road. Thereupon, the United States Government should provide for an issue of bonds bearing 2 1/2 or 3 per cent interest to the amount of $350,000,000, which would amply suffice to complete the road and to fully equip it for first class opera- tion. Our Pacific railways have dem- onstrated the phenomenal results that can be expected from an under- taking of this character, and they have also shown that the credits loaned to these roads have been re- paid or will be repaid to the last dol- lar. The October statement issued by Secretary Gage shows that the amount which had been reimbursed to the Government by the Pacific roads, was $64,751,223.75, and that the total balance due for principal and interest, was $52,150,376.94. From 1893 to 1898, inclusively, 14,832 miles of railway were built in the United 172 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, States, and in 1893, 4, 897 miles were constructed. This indicates that the 5,456 miles of railway required for the intercontinental line, could be easily completed and the road fully equipped in. much less time than three years. "The construction of the intercon- tinental railway will throw open to the enterprising and adventurous spirits in this country and in the rest of the world, gold fields as rich as those of Alaska or of South Afri- ca. It will give access to the Ama- zonian regions which abound with a greater variety of riches and re- sources than any other on earth. It would create important ports and commercial distributing points at the head waters of the wondrous Amazon and its numerous tributaries, which are navigable to within less than two hundred miles from the Pacific ocean. Its branches would soon give rail communication with every coun- try in South America and from ocean to ocean. It would inaugurate a system of river navigation four or five times greater than was ever seen on the Mississippi and its tributaries. It would impart social, industrial and commercial life to a veritable won- derland, whose wasting riches would contribute beyond conception to the well being of mankind. It would set from its inception into feverish and continuous activity, the rolling mills, the machine shops, the manufactures and the commerce of this country, to an extent never before equaled, and it would relieve the congestion that is caused in many parts of this country, by innumerable people whose skill and capacity to produce in all lines, cannot be adequately em- ployed. "The Argentine Republic is making prodigious strides. It is producing grains, meats, hides, wool, and in fact, all the products of the temper- ate zones, in quantities which are affecting more and more the markets of the world. It is adding the man- ufacturing to its agricultural and pas- toral industries, and its vast territory which is considerably larger than a third of the United States, is being gridironed with railroads. One of its trunk lines, if it has not already pen- etrated into Bolivia, is rapidly ap- proaching the frontier of that coun- try. In 1899, while the immigration to Canada and the United States was reckoned at 514,207, it attained in the Argentine Republic the enormous number of 1,200,000. Its capital, whose population is nearing the mil- lion mark, has gained the appellation of 'The Paris of South America.' A decade attended witn a, continuation of this flow of immigration will bring the Argentine to the rank of a great and powerful nation, and if the United States has not by the end of that time completed the intercontin- ental railway, and planted its com- merce in the heart of South America, Argentina will then move for- ward from the South toward the North and reap the fruits that the United States should enjoy. "The intercontinental railway is the companion piece of the Nicara- gua canal, and the hour has come when both enterprises should be pro- secuted by the American people, with all the energy and swiftness which they are capable of displaying. "I do not think that I could give a more fitting conclusion to my re- marks than by reading to you this prophesy which is found in Hon. James Bryce's renowned work, 'The American Commonwealth:' " 'The fate of Western South Amer- ica belongs to a still more distant future, but it can hardly remain un- connected with what is already by far the greatest power in the Western Hemisphere. When capital, which is accumulating in the United States with extraordinary rapidity, is no longer able to find highly profitable employment in the development of Western North America, it will tend to seek other fields. When popula- tion has filled up the present terri- tory of the United States, enterpris- ing spirits will overflow into unde- veloped regions. The nearest of these is Western South America, the elevated plateaus of which are habit- able by northern races. It may be conjectured that the relations of the vast territories in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, for which the Spaniards have done so little, and which can hardly remain forever neglected, will one day become far closer with the United States than with any Eu- ropean power.' " (Applause.) Held in New Orlca;:s y December 4-7, ipoo. 173 COTTON MANUFACTURING AND ITS RELATION TO THE INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS OE THE SOUTH. BY W. B. SMITH WHALBY. President Hargrove: The greatest product of the world to-day is cotton. Mr. Whaley is the expert of the South. He is now running eight cot- ton factories and building nine others. He is president of three of these institutions. I have the pleas- ure of presenting to you the Hon. W. B. Smith Whaley. Hon. W. B. Smith Whaley then rea 1 the following paper on "Cotton Manufacturing and its Relations to the Industrial Progress of the South:" "Mr. President and Gentlemen: There is no subject of greater inter- est to all of us than the industrial development of our country, and the necessary facilities and factors for accomplishing this result should al- ways demand our best energies and efforts. "The history of the South for the last thirty years has been a contin- 174 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, uous struggle for industrial prestige, and although for years apparently slow, still in those years her progress has been steady, and the foundation for her future firmly laid. Without imposing on your time to rehearse history too well known, I will simply detain you long enough to briefly call your attention to the necessary steps in the progress of civilization, though at the time they may not be appre- ciated, yet through the allwise guid- ance of Providence, these often ap- parent hardships are necessary to prepare the way for future benefits. The ante-bellum institution of slav- ery was not conducive to industrial progress, and never in the history of the world has this been the case, and it is often said that 'history re- peats itself.' "That institution, so dear to the memories of our sires, cost the lives of our loved ones in its overthrow, leaving many void places and aching hearts, both in the North and the South, and created what seemed to be at that time a wide gap between the two sections of our country. That struggle, although costly, was the leaven working its' way for the fu- ture prosperity of the South, and quoting Alexander Hamilton Stevens in the closing of his memorable speech on the 'Future of the South' before the Legislature of Georgia, on Feb. 22nd, 1886, 'with peace, com- merce and honest friendship with all nations, and with entangled alliances with none, we may add greater achievements than hitherto, exciting the wonder of the world.' The his- tory of the country since that speech was made has quietly borne out the assertion. "With a stolid determination, the people of the South went to work to regain their past business prestige, and then and there the solid founda- tions for her industrial progress was established. Gradually she began to gather strength, and slowly the value of her institutions began to as- sert themselves. Her commercial in- terests were mainly the product of her soil, which was both genial and fertile. Her greatest and most valu- able product was that of cotton; her fields easily supplied the ever in- creasing demands of the world, and gradually the crops increased to double and treble their former pro- portions. In this time, her export cities were doing all the practical industrial work of the country. They were the established centres of ac- tivity to which the interior paid tri- bute and drew their support from the farm products of the land and in return furnished them with sup- plies. To-day we see an entirely dif- ferent state of affairs. Gradually transportation lines, both in steam- ship and railways, began to offer in- creasing facilities for the rapid hand- ling of her products, and slowly her ports began to feel the baneful ef- fects of steadily shrinking business. As slowly as the interior felt the benefits of the better facilities and greater industrial activity, they availed themselves of these new op- portunities which gradually reached a point where speculation was lia- ble, to do much damage. There came the usual period known as the 'boom- time' in many sections; towns were built and projected; money was spent and little returns made; a dis- couraging state of affairs existed, throwing rather a damper on other industrial progress until means of producing satisfactory returns could be made and established. In rehears- ing the history of the value and im- portance of the product cotton, which was so abundantly raised in our country, history only repeats itself. And here lies the true secret of the South's valuable industrial growth; there is no branch of the manufac- turing business that surrounds it- self with more necessary industrial requirements than the art of the manufacturing of cotton. It collects people into communities, enlarges their learning, fosters smaller en- terprises and trades, and brings into play all the faculties and intellectual developments bearing on the arts and sciences. "In the day of Heroditus 445 B. C., in the industrial centres of the far east, cotton was spun and woven. It existed in Egypt in the days of her greatest prosperity, 1700 years B. C. The Chinese, considered to be the earliest of enlightened people, used it in the ninth century. The Aztecs of Mexico, the most civilized people Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 175 of the Western nations of the old times, spun and wove cotton. It was manufactured in Spain in the 10th century at the time of her greatest industrial activity and most pro- gressive period. We read that Cordo- va, Granada and Seville became, upon the introduction of cotton manufac- turing, thriving centres. Capmany, the historian, writes, that at that per- iod, among the various trades which anciently distinguished Barcelona, one of the most famous and useful was that of the cotton manufacturers who were incorporated as a company from the thirteenth century. These facts established the value of the cot- ton industry in the past as an indus- rial promotor. "The manufacturing centres of England were given their true impe- tus upon the introduction of the art of spinning and the bee hives of in- dustry grew as they had never grown before. In 1641, the date of the in- troduction of cotton manufacturing at Manchester, there existed there a few small industries, and we read shortly afterwards that in twenty years the benefits arising from this branch of industry, namely, cotton manufacturing, enabled the mer- chants of Manchester to spend large sums in extending their property, building up their homes and enlarg- ing the industrial area of the town to several thousand houses more than it had in the past. In New Eng- land, starting with the old Slater mill, in about 1787, gradually there sprung up Lowell, Lawrence, Man- chester, Fall River, Providence and other well known manufacturing cen- tres all from the one cause, the man- ufacturing of cotton. "Now, turning back to our own re- gion a short while, we find in the memorable speech of Henry W. Grady, in Boston, which cost him his life, a reference in his 'New Souih' to her advantages, among which he enumerates cotton as one of the most useful factors. He states that three things may be regarded as of primary importance in the successful prosecution of manufacturing, name- ly: water power, fuel and iron.' All these we have, together with the raw cotton. "There existed in the South before the war a few small mills, the indus- trial effects of which were felt even at that time. In the early eighties, Southern mnaufacturing of cotton goods began to take a permanent and lasting shape. Heavily handi- capped, and, with much hard work, many of her best establishments in this line were built; the result was that an increasing industrial activity sprang up around them. The de- mand for the artisan was created; a better value for farm products was made; increasing values at- tached themselves to the surround- ing country and these things have- been repeated in every instance of the founding and development of this industry since that period. The price of the labor supplied many, other necessities and created a de- mand for the products of the arti- san; the farmer sold his eggs, but- ter, cheese and vegetables to bet- ter advantage; the communities de- manded the advantages of civiliza- tion, such as sewerage, water works",, lights and transportation; in other words, the butcher, the baker, and the candle maker, as well as the market providers, had a demand for their wares, a demand that did not consist of swapping dollars from ott^F" pocket to the other, but generally of absorbing locally the stream of money which came to the wage earn- er annually. These are the prime factors in a successful industrial de- velopment. Many people in the South were discouraged and were investing their money in other sec- tions, leaving their homes and seek- ing occupation elsewhere, but under the new condition of affairs created simply by the establishment of a cotton mill, the tide was changed. Many instances can be noted such as this. "The motives which principally led to the establishment of these mills were more selfish than otherwise. It was found that the congenial cli- mate, the abundant supply of food and building materials were advan- tages to the investor, and while the industrial progress was slow, yet the gains in returns were large enough to induce continued investment in these lines. The introduction of a cotton factory in every hamlet or 176 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, our country, if it never paid in the smallest dividends directly, creates an industrial feature which pays many times larger indirectly, and measured from the wage earning ■ stand point alone would more than pay the local investors. "Reviewing briefly the value of crops in the last twenty years, we can form some idea as to what the South would have gained if only the value of the labor could have been retained, to say nothing of the value of the raw product. "In 1850 to 1851, sixty thousand (60,000') bales of five hundred pounds each were spun in the South out of a crop of two million four hundred fifteen thousand (2,415,000) bales. In the ten years between 1850 and I860, an average of one hundred and 'forty-nine thousand five hundred (149,500) bales per annum were man- ufactured in the Southern States out of an average crop in that period of three million three hundred ninety- one thousand (3,391,000) bales. The labor value on this product alone, at five cents per pound, was eighty- four million seven hundred seventy- seven thousand five hundred dol- lars ($84,777,500) per annum; the amount credited to the South on account of the cotton manufactured at home was only three million three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($3,337,500) cr eighty-one million forty thousand dollars (81,040,000) fed and clothed many people in other parts of the globe. In 1880 and 1881, the crop of six million six hundred six thousand (6,- 606,000) bales was made, the labor value of which at five cents per 'pound was one hundred sixty-five million one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($165,150,000) of which two hundred twenty-five thousand (225,- 000) bales only was manufactured in the South, and five million six hun- dred twenty-five thousand dollars ($5,625,000) was all of the labor value of that crop that was retained at home. In the next ten years the "90 to '91 crop for example, the South's increase was much larger. Out of a crop of eight million six hundred seventy-four thousand (8,- 674,000) the South consumed six hun- dred thirteen thousand (613,000) bales; the labor value of the crop was two hundred sixteen million eight hundred fifty thousand dollars ($216,850,000.00) the South retaining only fifteen million three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($15,- 325,000.00). In 1898 and 1899, a crop of 11,216,000 was produced, the South consumed 1,254,000 bales, the labor value of the crop was $280,400,000, the South's portion being $31,350,- 000.00. "It can be readily seen from the above that the value of labor used in manufacturing cotton in the South is largely increasing each year the wealth of the country, surrounding it was the means of maintaining a substantial industrial development commensurate with the demands of civilization, and conferring upon its people those comforts and benefits that congregating in communities permits, and surrounds them with more comfort, more schools and other institutions of learning which have always been among the most lasting benefits of successful indus- trial development. (Applause.) Secretary Thompson: I now pre- sent the following report by the Committee on Cotton Manufacturing in the South: Resolved, 1st, That cotton manu- facturing augments the wealth of the South by creating a labor value in addition to the value of the sta- ple, increasing the demand for both, promotes industrial developments, and elevates the communities in which the mills are established. 2nd, We do hereby express as the sense of this association that con- tinued increase in the number of cotton mills in the Southern States will operate to their advantage, and increased wealth. 3rd, That a committee consisting of one member from each State be appointed to report at the next meet- ing of the convention, to plan for the memorializing of congress for such legislation as will offer privil- eges in the markets of the world to American manufacturers of cotton goods, equal to the benefits enjoyed by other nations. The report was adopted. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 177 NEW OELEAXS AS A REAL ESTATE CEXTER, BY W. C. H. ROBINSON. Mr. W. C. H. Robinson (of New Or- leans) then read the following paper on "New Orleans as a Real Estate Center:" i "Mr. President: The subject which I have been given to discuss before this convention is one of the most comprehensive that could have been named. Real Estate is the ba- sis of all investment. All other in- terests grow out of and are depend- ent upon it. Manufacturing when undertaken, looks first to the selec- tion of a site and then depends on the products of the earth for its ma- terial and equipment. On the other hand, real estate depends for its im- provement on the development of manufacturing and other industries. The more of the latter there is, the greater the price of real estate. "There is certainly no interest which has reason to look with glad- ness on the revival and progress of manufacturing and' general industry in this State and city more than the real estate interest, because what we need is to sell our land and to cause miles of new streets to rise up, is manufacturing, and therefore owners and dealers alike and the public in general have all an interest in the work of this convention and greet with pleasure the progress of this great movement to lift up the in- dustries of the South. There is no investment which for the poor and rich is safer nor more profitable than putting money into realty, because, when judiciously bought and proper- ly handled, it is impossible to fail of results, and it cannot depreciate to such an extent that it will not regain its value when there is such a general movement in the line of progress as is now seen in this coun- try, and which it is the aim of this convention to foster. "Of course, there are degrees of prosperity in real estate as in other things, and the South has had a period of depression in that line for several years, the result of which has been that the price has gone down to about the lowest ebb and nobody has been willing to part with prop- erty, unless necessary, while those having money to invest and an eye to the main chance, have been en- abled to secure at a nominal figure realty, which in the rising tide of business will net them a handsome profit on their investments. An industrial paper says: "Why the South is Thankful. " 'In mill building, in opening mines, in railroad extension, in lum- ber, in activity of domestic trade and in enlargement of foreign com- merce the South has a gratifying- record during the past twelve months. For that it is thankful. This feeling is intensified as, with the promise of stability in national affairs, the South calmly and rea- sonably faces the future, for it has the prospect of a year's income of at least $2,750,000,000. This is to be derived as follows: " 'From the cotton plant, includ- ing the manufactures of the staple, and the products of the seed, $750,- 000,000. " 'From corn, wheat, sugar, rice, . tobacco and other agricultural pro- ducts, $500,000,000. " 'From the mines, including about 50,000,000 tons of coal, and from manufactures of iron and other raw material, not including cotton $1 - 500,000,000. " 'Here is a broad prospect, which may be filled in with many interest- ing details. In itself it is sufficient to indicate that the South, as an important part of a great country now entering upon a larger financial, industrial and commercial career, has a vital interest in the country's prosperity and is prepared to enjoy its share of the good things of America. " 'Like everything else, real es- tate thrives in proportion to the de- gree of civilization that exists and the increase and centralization of population, and the establishment of good laws, insuring ample protec- tion, not only to life and comfort, 178 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention but as well to property interests and the carrying on of industrial enter- prises. Laws which encourage the establishment of large manufactur- ing interests and secure the men who invest the money, bring those estab- lishments, and those establishments in turn cause the erection of houses for the homes of the operatives, either owned by them or rented to them, and the business which com- mercial people secure by supplying necessities to the people who live in those homes enables them in turn to establish homes and build sub- stantial business structures which are an ornament to the community, and all this property pays the taxes which enables the city to build streets and erect public buildings and schools and establish water sup- plies and lighting plants, and em- ploy the guardians of the public in the form of police and firemen. "In those parts of the country where these things have been carried to the greatest perfection the price of realty has become the greatest and the more fixed, for people will not make homes where they are not as- sured of these modern necessities. "Where the capitalist or the home- seeker knows that there is indus- trial development which assures the continued employment of labor and the consequent means of keeping up his revenue or paying for his home is the place where money will be in- vested and the people will go to live. "Just at this time there is no place in the United States which has opened to the vision of the capitalist or the home seeker a vista down which may be seen such a splendid prospect of future greatness, happi- ness and prosperity, as the State of Louisiana and the City of New Or- leans. The State has always been noted for the fertility of its soil and the large returns which come to the planter of sugar and rice and cot- ton and of fruits and vegetables, and the prosperity and happiness and generosity of her citizens have be- come proverbial, and the wealth of her large planters has even been ex- aggerated until they have acquired the reputation of being princes, liv- ing in palaces and reveling in splen- dor. And this has been to a degree true, and while the depression that has for some years checked the spread and concentration of popula- tion throughout the South, the mar- velous fertility of the soil remains, and the generous hospitality remains, and the vast timber resources are just being developed, and Louisiana to-day has more to offer to the man who desires to make his home in a goodly land than any place that the most ardent seeker can locate. One of the greatest advantages here is the genial climate, which never freezes nor roasts the dwellers, and where the summer breezes from the wide areas of sea and lake and river are wafted throughout the interior, making it a pleasant resort all the year round, for in winter it is sel- dom cold enough to cause suffering, and the cold spells are short. There- fore, it is plain to see that Louisiana and contiguous States are destined to support a teeming population which will ever grow and thrive under its sunny skies, where the poor who seek to avoid the hard win- ters of the North and the Northwest can come and establish their homes, safe from the blizzard and the cy- clone, and with no danger of those terrible droughts which strike terror into the hearts of dwellers in the wintry regions. "As the State grows in population, as she will with the advent of the manufacturing industries which are already beginning to pour their thousands of new people into her borders, she will become one of the wealthiest in the world, and internal improvements will equal those of any region known. Her vast un- drained lands will be placed under cultivation and will furnish homes for added thousands. "But the center of all this develop- ment and prosperity and progress is New Orleans. Through this port the business of all this prosperous region must come to the sea, and here will be established the vast manufacturing concerns which will employ the thousands of people who will create a market for the surplus of production which is not sent over the seas, and who will make this a city of imperial proportions when the vast area between the river and the lake shall have all been redeemed Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 179 from the swamp and builded with houses and paved streets. In the old times the city was not illy built, but the people neglected the paving of streets, the establishment of sewers and such things, and we of the pres- ent have just begun and are pushing rapidly the things which should have been here long ago. We have been behind, but we are not going to stay there. Miles of splendid drain- age canals, built on the most mod- ern plans and established with one of the most superb pumping stations and power houses in the country, have already been put in. A few years will see the completion, not only of this plant, but the fine sewer- age establishment which is begin- ning under the $16,000,000 which the people have voted for the work. A new water supply under the exclus- ive control of the city and all these improvements owned and controlled by the municipality will give those facilities which have been needed to give real estate in New Orleans that value and stability of price which will in a few years make such a won- derful difference in the dear old city which we all love so well and which has been the delight of thou- sands of visitors from all over the world. "There is one feature about all this work that commends itself special- ly to the expert who understands the putting in of such great municipal improvements, and that is the splen- did stability of the work. It will last for ages, and the people who come in the future will have all these advantages provided for them and because they have been estab- lished in this age of perfection in such things and all at one time, there will be no city which can in any measure compare with New Orleans in. these public improvements. "In the past few years the growth of paved streets in the city has been wonderful and wherever it has advanced new buildings of the most substantial character have followed, and the work goes on steadily. In the last seven or eight years several hundred miles of such streets have been built and the residence section of the city has extended to what was the remote suburbs, and miles of new residences with handsome grounds and built in the most mod- ern style have sprung up where cat- tle grazed or gardens were culti- vated. This has been true, not only in what is called the new city, but in the outlying regions of the old city as well. The growth has been in all directions. At the same time the business center is constantly ex- tending and there have been some of the most substantial structures erected. "The price of land has been low and that has helped to develope the growth of the city. Many of the poorer people have bought lots and built their homes on the homestead plan, or on other systems of long payment, and are gradually paying for them and owning their own prop- erty. There is a vast area, not too remote from the center of the city, yet to be builded, and with the build- ing the Nicaragua canal and the development of manufactures which is now in sight there will be *a mil- lion happy people living within its limits. "One of the factors in the recent development of the city and which is a factor to be counted on in its future progress is tne splendid street railway system of the city which makes even the remotest portions ac- cessible within twenty to thirty min- utes by means of the best equipped electric cars in the country, as is admitted by all experts who have in- spected the system. By the means of these cars people are brought from all points directly to the cen- ter of the city, and from there dis- tributed wherever they desire to go, without delay. This makes all por- tions of the city desirable for resi- dence and as soon as the street pav- ing and sewerage have traversed me whole area of the city there will scarcely be a choice of location, be- cause of the equal formation of the city, it being without hills or valleys. "Mr. President, while some of the details that are necessary to place before our friends the marvellous re- sources of this city may seem dry, I think that they will prove of the deepest interest to any one who is seeking to understand the advan- tages which the city offers for the investment of capital. There is 180 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, woven about the city a web of his- toric romance which will ever re- main, even when the old landmarks and the old customs nave gone, as they will go, and the people have a reputation for the most generous hospitality which the new city will not fail to sustain. People have come here heretofore on account of the quaintness and romantic inter- est of the city. They will hereafter come to see a model city, where the most marvelous prosperity shows it- self. "We have the greatest river of the world running by our doors, with a supply of water that will furnish the most extensive manufacturing establishments that can be conceived, and the supply is never diminished. We have a harbor which is excelled by none, with sixteen miles of wharf space available on each side of the river, and more if needed, and, as a distinguished authority said recent- ly, wharves might be built up as far as the mouth of Red river and uie' largest ships accommodated all the way. There is room for the ships of the world to load and unload at one time, and no congestion is possible. "The wharves will very soon be under the exclusive control of a commission appointed by the State and the wharf charges will be re- duced to a minimum, just enough to maintain the system, which means the unlimited expansion of com- merce. "One of the greatest features of the development of a city is the fa- cility for location with regard to water and railroad transportation. In this respect New Orleans has advan- tages which can hardly be surpassed by any other city. Along her miles of river front the whole distance is available for manufacturing sites up to within a hundred feet of the water. The leading railroads have their lines along this territory, of- fering transportation to every point, and the city has wisely and ju- diciously laid aside for and required to be built a line of belt railroad extending the whole length of the city. The advantage of this is appar- ent to everyone. Transfer of freight and facilities for the moving of materials for manufacture and fuel and the finished products will be offered such as will make all the land along that part of the city un- equalled for sites for the biggest kind of industries, and when the tide of industry begins this land will Pe taken up rapidly and will be one of the most valuable portions of New Orleans realty. "Now, Mr. President, everyone realizes the magnitude of the devel- opment of commerce and the conse- quent development of everything which will follow the completion of the Nicaraguan canal. It will not tarry for its completion, but the moment that the bill has passed the United States Congress and been signed by the President, the rush will begin which will make these Gulf ports the greatest marts of com- merce the world has ever seen, and will send the blood of commerce hurrying throughout the arteries of the country to the remotest portion. There will be a period of prosperity and growth such as can hardly be conceived, when that great highroad of commerce is assured, coupled with the immensity of trade which the. opening up of the islands of the East and the great Mongolian empire to the products of this country, will add. "Do you ask what this means for the real estate of New Orleans? Every foot of it will be needed lor stores and warehouses and homes, and the prices of that which is now at a minimum will go up to a fig- ure which will make the owner glad that he has it. Fortunes will be made in realty which will rival those made in the Eastern trade. Rental property will be in the greatest de- mand and the factories will be seeking sites which will give them the best advantages of water and rail, and there will be hundreds of railroads where there are a dozen, and all these will furnish population seeking every day for houses with modern conveniences to live in and money with which they will pay the rent and make the payments on those purchased. "Mr. President, this is no fancy picture. It is the history of all cities. Look at New York, Chicago,, and the other great cities which Held in New Orleans December 4-7 1900. 1S1 have enjoyed these advantages long ago and perhaps passed their period of wonderfully fast development. With the building of the canal, New- Orleans will strike a pace that will make their growth look slow. In New Orleans the rich and the poor may hope to find their ideal of a city. The laws and customs of the South are favorable to ( investment of capital. The people are law abiding and peaceful and the influx of new citizens will help to control whatever element there is of danger in the State. The financial affairs of the State are managed in the most care- ful manner and her bonds are gilt- edged, and the city will ere long have acquired an enviable reputation in that line as the old reconstruction debts which the people are paying to the last cent, are gotten rid of. "All these elements go to make the City of New Orleans an ideal place for the investment of capital in real estate. Realty is the most sensitive of all to the influence of depression, and on the other hand it is the quickest to recover its equil- ibrium, and with the rising tide of business prosperity which the vast crops, the establishment of sound money on a firm basis and the gen- eral good condition of all material things, I believe that the outlook for real estate in this city is the best that we have ever seen. All of the conditions are favorable. Prop- erty has reached its lowest point and must rise rapidly, and the eyes of the world have been turned towards this city by the remarkable puDiic improvements which I have already referred to, and also on account of the fact that we are the great port which has the good fortune to be nearest the Nicaragua canal. We are glad to have so many intelligent and public spirited men here at this time and hope that they will carry away with them a better knowledge of the conditions here than has been general throughout the country. It has been apparent to the well posted real estate man for some time that there is a stronger inquiry for our property than for years, and there have been some of the most prom- inent investors in the country look- ing into the status of affairs, the results of which investigation can- not fail to be favorable to New Or- leans. What is true of this city will prove to be true in a greater or less degree of other Southern cities. There is room in the South for a vast population of free and fearless citizens, and they will come from tfie North and West and from the old world, bringing us new ideas and new blood, and bringing money. "Mr. President, after a lew years we hope that the convention, then grown to magnificent proportions and increased usefulness in the ratio of the development of the south, will come back to New Orleans to ho i its session, and we will then be able to show you as the result of the wise policy that is now being carried out in the way of public improvements, a city, the public buildings and pri- vate residences of which will be ex- celled by those of no city in the world and a city which will be known for the value and stability of its real property investments, se- cured by the just and equitable laws which the State possesses, and wiiere our friends from abroad will have invested their money and built their homes and grown rich and happy. "If any of the members of the con- vention or visitors will call at the real estate exchange, we will be glad to explain to them the system on which we do business — a system which furnishes the greatest security, and when you come again the real estate exchange hopes to have an opportunity to welcome you to its handsome new building, which is in contemplation." AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE SOUTJ3 BY MR. S. F. B. MORSE. Mr. S. P. B. Morse, Asst. Traffic Manager Southern Pacific Railway, of Houston, Texas, who was not present in the forenoon when the subject of "Agricultural Resources of the South" was under discussion, and 182 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, who should have opened the discus- sion on that subject, was then in- troduced to the meeting. Mr. Morse received a cordial reception. Mr. S. P. B. Morse: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret that I was not here this forenoon, as I would rather have preceded Professor Atwater than iollow him, his practical illustrations of what he says are so extremely interesting. "I cannot help referring to the way in which I was inveigled into treat- ing this subject. Two letters were received by my office. The first one I opened and read, and found that it was from the energetic secretary of this association, in which he said very politely that my name had been suggested to treat the subject of Agriculture in its Relation to Im- migratici and Home-seekers. That . S. F. B. MORSE, ASST. TRAFFIC MANAGER SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY. was all right, and it occurred to me that I might possibly be able to say something on that subject. The second letter said, 'taking silence for consent, I have advertised to the country that you will speak on the subject of "Agricultural Resources of the South." ' (Laughter and ap- plause.) Many of my friends here will wonder at my audacity in get- ting up here to talk on such a broad subject. In another part of his let- ter your secretary says that the sub- ject had been originally assigned to the secretary of the department of agriculture, and asked me to treat Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 183 that confidentially. (Laughter.) There was another paragraph in his letter which caused me no little con- cern. I wrote to the honorable sec- retary and said I was at sea, and would he not kindly sketch out a few things that I might take to the convention. I was in hopes that he would write the whole sketch; (laughter) but he came back at me and said, 'You have chosen a very broad subject and I want you to treat it properly even if it takes seven vol- umes of small type.' Now, just be- fore rising your secretary takes all the wind out of my sentiment and whispers, 'It is late; please cut it down.' (Laughter.) Mr. S. F. B. Morse then read the following paper on: The Agricultural Resources of the South. "Ladies and Gentlemen: It is but fitting that so broad a subject, em- bracing as it does one of the fairest portions of this great and glorious country, should be discussed in one of its most delightful cities. The South to New Orleans -means every- thing that is great and noble and New Orleans to the South, represents a gleaming jewel in its diadem of thriving social and commercial cen- ters; a jewel whose lustre shall il- lumine the vistas of coming centur- ies and carry the rays of prosperity and civilization down the aisles of admiring posterity. "I am free to confess that when I was confronted with the subject al- lotted me: 'The Agricultural re- sources of the South,' I was nearly overwhelmed with the possibilities contained in the text and by uie fact that my training had led me into nearly every other channel of pro- gress than agriculture and its kindred institutions. It became a question of what did I know of agriculture, of the farmer, of the prosaic environ- ments of field and forest, and of the things which grow therein. I was dimly conversant with potatoes and corn, and other common products of the garden and farm, but the sub- ject stretched forth, encompassing the whole horizon of thought, and holding within its possibilities the key to wealth and material prosper- ity, and I almost lost heart in the fear that what I did not know would overwhelm the few things I did know and 'put me to the foil.' The gigantic school of the world, how- ever, had taught me to obey orders, and as I have been honored by the convention and told to go ahead with a subject of its own choosing, I have placed my shoulder to the wheel in an effort to justify its con- fidence and save myself the ignominy of defeat. "The South is rolling onward like the chariot of Phaeton, leaving a glorious track across the firmament of commerce and progress, but, un- like the first, this second is not swerving from the path, but on the contrary, cleaving to the line and establishing a reputation for correct- ness and integrity unsmirched by even the shadow of a fault. "When I say that in the soil is found the first element of wealth, I but echo what others have said be- fore. As a self evident truth it con- fronts the universe, and the world must bow before the man who digs and delves beneath the blue of hea- ven, making it possible for the many to enjoy the fruits of his labor in luxury and ease, while he, this 'Man with the Hoe,' a better man than Markham's lives his quiet, simple and pastoral existence, in the main contented with what he hath; but securing the least part of what he makes possible. "Agriculture means what: The conversion of bare fields into culti- vated tracts or areas. The term em- braces every occupation of man or woman which depends upon the rais- ing of products from seed or root and even the conversion also of the raw products into their varied forms of trade and commerce, ready for the consumer. The field and forest alike contributes its pro rata in different degrees and the water courses play not least part in the economy of the whole. Upon the agricultural re- sources of a State or country depends its future prosperity and in propor- tion to its advantages and facility of being brought into play, depends the extent of this prosperity. "No section of the United States has been so blessed with the things 184 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, which make agriculture simple as is the South to-day. Possessing an area of 600,000,000 acres, a large part of which is capable of being converted into farms, the South contains every element of success in the direction indicated and the past few years has more than demonstrated every claim made in its behalf. The near future will undoubtedly witness a remarkable development in agricul- tural departments of the various states. The fertility of the lands, the ease with which cultivation is car- ried on, the climatic influences and conditions which enable a man to toil in, the fields 300 out of 365 days in the year, and the growing markets for its products, is daily attracting added attention, and the influx of immigration and outside capital is changing the complexion of the sec- tions rapidly. The historian has been kept busy recording the ad- vance of the Southern States in the matter of commercial growth and the augmenting facilities for the con- version of its raw materials into .the finished product. This story will not have its end soon. The acres yet ignorant of the plow must be brought into bearing and with the institution of every farmer and his family, an- other element is added to the whole. "The entire South has demon- strated its capacity for production. The valleys of the Virginias and the Carolinas, the hillsides of Georgia and Alabama, the sandy loams of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, the rich fields of Kentucky, the flat lands of Florida, the alluvial bottoms and red soils of Louisiana and the interminable variety of Texas, have each and all been clothed with one or more of the chief products of America, and in many instances, may many of the prime crops be seen growing in friendly proximity in the same field. With these facts face to face with the probable set- tler, each an object lesson, the re- sult most speedily redound to the benefit of the several parts of the country south of the line and induce a prosperity the like of which is yet unknown. "Let us look at the near past and thus gauge the future in the matter of production. For the year ending December, 1899, the grain produced by the South reached the very re- spectable proportions of 736,000,000 bushels, nearly doubling the output of 1880; the cotton crop sized up in eleven and a quarter million bales representing a valuation in connec- tion with the seed or over $300,000.- 000 with a capital invested in cotton seed oil mills and cotton factories aggregating $165,000,000. In all forms of manufacturing one billion dollars is engaged wftile the con- sumption of raw cotton by the estab- lished Southern mills has leaped from about 300,000 bales in 1880 to 1,500,000 at the end of last year, and the total value of all manufactured products was a billion and a half, an increase in the latter of a billion dol- lars since 1880. For the present cot- ton season the farmers will receive over $500,000,000, an increase of $200,000,000 above last year. "These figures but manifest in part what has been accomplished but they fail to take into consideration the remarkable production of products other than the prime ones. The peaches of Georgia, the semi-tropi- cal fruits of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, the apples of Virginia, the Carolinas and Arkansas, nor the con- stantly growing truck gardening in- terests which are so rapidly assum- ing gigantic proportions of the more Southern States and which are in themselves almost as great a source of wealth as the grains and fibres. Nor is included the splendid sugar industry of Louisiana and the won- derful development of the rice fields of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas, which are now contributing to the general prosperity of the sec- tions indicated. "In this connection a brief refer- ence to the remarkable development of the rice industry in Louisiana and Texas seems not amiss. It was in 1884 that S. L. Cary, immigration agent of the Southern Pacific Com- pany since 1888, left Iowa seeking to escape the rigors of a severe climate and to find new fields of energy. He landed at the then diminutive ham- let of Jennings when it was a prairie and became a station agent of the Company at a most moderate sti- pend. A few months later he had learned that the few farmers grew a small supply of "Provi- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. ; dence" rice for their own consump- tion. Being of an inquiring mind, he investigated, became satisfied that there was something "in it," and em- barked in a new industry— the grow- ing of rice on the higfi lands. Land was very cheap, 25 cents an acre, with men giving it away to save taxes. Not depending on the rains, he raised water from a near stream, irrigated his crop and made the suc- cess of his life. He demonstrated a fact; proved a possibility and has reaped his reward, for hundreds of thousands of acres of prairie lands are in cultivation in Southwest Louisiana and millions of dollars have flowed into the pockets of its people and it is but the beginning. "The rice belt is the most pros- perous agricultural section of the United States. The production in 1886 was 2,000,000 pounds. This year the production will reach b5u,000,- 000 pounds. In the first year men- tioned 100 cars of 20,000 pounds each carried the entire rice crop of the section. The present year over 8000 cars will be required to handle the product. Several millions of dollars are invested in rice mills; lands have advanced' to anywhere from ten to forty dollars; hundreds of miles of irrigation canals make the crop sure, and the belt has extended far into the prairie lands of Texas. These prairie lands had been considered almost worthless. Rice has been their redemption and the 55,000 acres in cultivation this season in Texas will be quadrupled next year, and in ten years the two States, from once apparently worthless lands, will oe in a position to supply the uemands of the world. "This is but an exemplification of the potential possibilities of the South in the matter of agriculture. While the development of other pro- ducts may not reach so remarkable proportions, the varied interests and facilities of the soil make the future bright with promise. The advance of science in connection with the agri- culturist; the determination of soil values; intelligent education of tne .farmer; the employment of brains as well as brawn and the cultiva- tion of tne mind as well as the fields will accomplisli wonders. We 185 -' ;-:i have neglected a source of wealth in not devoting time to a development of fine stock raising; dairy interests, as to milk, butter, and cheese; the tanning of our hides, the manufac- turing of our cotton, the cultivation of hemp and tobacco; the estaulish- ment of packeries and canning fac- tories, in other words the utilization of the multiplicity of our resources. Diversification of ideas and of crops is necessary. King Cotton has repre- sented an absolute despotism for years, but that true prosperity ob- tain, his reign must be relegated to that of a limited monarchy sur- rounded by a glowing galaxy of other successful products. A one crop country like a single idea individual must perforce fail in lasting success. A single year of bad luck and every cotton farmer is a debtor, while the constant fluctuation in the price and yield of the attractive staple ren- ders it an uncertain friend. With cotton at ten cents a pound destruc- tion threatens, as other commodities will be neglected, oiner industries disregarded, and all the money re- ceived by the sale of the one crop, expended for the homely necessities of the farm-factory products and ag- ricultural implements, which the thrifty people of other sections, wiser than their neighbors, provide. "In this diversification of crops the South is aided by the openness of the seasons, for while the farmer of the North and East with his cattle hi- bernating during the Fall and Win- ter seasons, his brother of the South, crowned by the warm sunshine, is watching one crop grow while plant- ing another. These are real condi- tions and are frequently exceeded by the more Southern portions of the States included in the subject. "The human tide rolls at its thick- est in the centers North and East of the Ohio and Mississippi and these sections represent a greater portion of the wealth of the U. S. This tide however, is steadily moving into the Southland, occupying the lands and converting bare areas into sources of value. It is to these new comers that we must look in a measure for increase. New blood and energy will accomplish much by an overturning of old methods 186 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, and the inauguration of new methods built upon new ideas. The East has a very large preponderance of capi- tal due to manufacturing and density of population. The savings banks of Massachusetts for instance contain apwards of $500,000,000 on deposit, while those of Louisiana, according to one of our prominent dailies, con- tain but $3,000,000, and that the working population of the former State is 85 times richer than their brethren of Louisiana, although rela- tively twice as numerous as the lat- ter. This is a proposition that will probably work as regards the entire South, and points conclusively to the necessity for active agitation and ef- fort that our own conditions improve by taking advantage of the opportu- nities and facilities which lie at our very doors. "When we consider what our neighbors north of the line have accomplished under conditions ?o much more difficult than our own, it seems that we have not pushed our fortunes in a proper degree; that we have enjoyed our milk and honey beneath the proverbial fig tree, con- tent to sit at ease and let the outer world pass us by in the search for new fields of operation. The natural attractions of this favored South however are acting as agents of pros- perity and are advertising us better than we know, and our Northern neighbors, and workers from over the seas are crossing the border in- to the land of promise. But we must work and work harder now. Every State in the South contains vast ter- ritory unincumbered by the agricul- turist or fruit grower. Opportunities for the employment of capital are un- limited; facilities for trade are idle, energy is dormant in a degree. Every success achieved by a newcomer should be an example, an in- centive to effort. It must not suffice that the South possesses lands which can be bought for almost any price; that the earth's pro- ducts prosper in an unrivalled cli- mate; that the rain belt is broad and regular in its precipitation; that the markets of the world are open to our resources and that the seasons are genial and lengthy; we must push our section and attractions. We must urge the establishment of per- manent exhibits of what we produce, both field and factory, and locate them where others may view and profit thereby; we must agitate in favor of the institution of technical schools, for the education of willing hands may not be neglected with profit; we must show that the way to wealth is by converting our raw products before shipment, thus get- ting what belongs to us instead of permitting others to profit by our neglect as they are doing at present. "A comparison between the States of the North, East and Middle West with those of the South reveals a woeful discrepancy as a trip through the several sections manifests. While the South contains millions of rich acres only waiting the touch of the hoe or plow to blossom into a glorious fruition, what a fearful dearth we notice. Lovely prospects ignored by the hand of man, their fertile possibilities known and appre- ciated but their cultivation impossi- ble because of the want of cultiva- tors. Vast tracts of land in every Southern State are as barren of im- provement as were the savannahs of Illinois and Kansas a half century since, and save the humble abode of a hoary headed son of Ham here and there, or the clap-board domicile of a more or less shiftless squatter, miles and miles of territory grow weeds for the wild bees to make har- vest. There exist lovely homes in watered and cultivated sections; beautiful farms owned and worked by the best and bravest in the land; educational features and agricultural areas without number, I grant you, but what is, is infinitesimal with what can be, what ought to be, ana what is to be. There need no one pose as a prophet to predict a wonderful future for the bare acres. The Crescent promise of the years to come shall clothe the view with fruits of the field witnout end and a garment of prosperity shall cover the land. "There was every excuse for the lack of energy and enterprise which marked the progress of the South during the years which immediately followed the war. Ambition and future alike seemed blighted by the Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 } ipoo. 187 hand of Fate and nought but unde- viating and relentless Time could wipe out the scenes and incidents which filled countless graves and wrapped the South and North alike in a garb of bitter woe. Nemesis slumbers now in a grave of her own making, and harmony and an undi- vided country blesses our Union and shall bless it forever. "A more material reason may be advanced in extenuation of the con- ditions which are so rapidly passing away, and in treating this phase of the subject I can only offer as an apology the fact that my entire working life, dating almost from childhood, has been bound up in the railroads and their environments. The artist views the forest, the sea, and the sky and secures his inspira- tion; the poet plays upon the gentler passions for his meter; the business man with an eye to commerce and barter, sees in stocks and boards of trade a theme for speculation, and the railroad man with prosaic fore- thought must of necessity gauge the prosperity and possibilities of his country by the lines of communica- tion and transportation, knowing well that much traveled roads repre- sent an element of progress, and that ease of transport builds to plenty and luxury. That the rail or water lines represent the channels by which all trade and commerce must operate and that in these man must realize the elements of wealth and energy. "Through the building of the rail- roads and their rapid and constant extension into productive territory, the Northeast and Middle West has waxed rich and powerful in trade. In proportion to the lay- ing of the rail and the extension of the track enbankment communities and States have grown to magnifi- cent proportions and those sections which have failed to secure these transportation facilities have re- mained dormant notwithstanding their rich possibilities. So too have the centers of civilization and pro- gress been developed along the routes of communication. This holds good in every instance and is a greater argu- ment than any other I could adduce. Siberia was naught but land of misery; a penal settlement, until the Trans-Siberian R. R. revealed its- wonderful possibilities, and made feasible its internal development. "There was a time, and not so far distant but that we feel the deterrent influences thereof, when the South was as lacking in the matter of rail- roads and rapid and safe transits as it was of manufacturing industries; when the avenues of communication were represented by the uncertain attractions of a few rail lines badly constructed, equipped and managed. Commodities were not particularly plentiful and hog and hominy the staple articles of diet. Even the changing years but slowly improved these conditions, and while railroads were being pushed from the great centers North of the Ohio and Poto- mac, our own country, with all of its attractions was in a measure a terra incognito to the 'Barbarian of the North.' "All this is altering, I am glad to say, and the past twenty years has been witnessing a remarkable growth generally both of the rail lines and of the country contiguous to these lines, for it has followed, 'as the night the day,' that progress, enterprise and plenty always run parallel to the advance of the sur- veyor and the track gang. Cities spring in the night like mushrooms because modern locomotives, freight and passenger cars are speeding on- ward, the fore-runners of energy and enterprise. "Throughout the South the exten- sion of the transportation facili- ties is working wonders and rapidly bringing conditions to a state of moderate perfection, making possible the elaboration of the many advantages it possesses. The vast timber areas have been made sources of immense individual and general wealth, the greater crops of the sev- eral States are increasing in quantity and value because of the certainty of markets; the fruit and early veg- etable industry are prospering in a corresponding degree to the rapid- ity with which these commodities are taken to the consumer, and a perma- nent incentive to added enterprise and agricultural effort has been given to the people as a whole. "The South at present enjoys the 188 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, direct benefits of a first class system of transportation. Fast freight lines enable shippers to secure the greatest values possible, swift passenger trains and accommodating schedules attract business and the improve- ment of this latter feature of the systems has been to induce thousands of persons to visit the .South who would have otherwise sought more pleasant lines of travel. Add to these, the stability of operation guaranteed by large corporations, the very low freight and passenger charges and the connection between the trans- portation lines, and the public as re- gards development, becomes appa- rent, n; "An even stronger argument in support of my contention that up- on the transportation lines is to no little extent dependent the prosperity of a country, and that the South lias been in a measure lacking in both until during the past two de- cades, is found in the fact that were it not for the methods of transporta- tion now in vogue the U. S. could not compete with other countries in the matter of exports of articles pro- duced equally as well outside of this country. "Taking the single item of wheat, a product which yearly inures to the benefit of the farmers in vast sums, and forms our chief item of export. The U. S. has for a good many years enjoyed the dis- tinction of being enabled to supply the world out of its surplus owing to a demand, and to the fact that no other country was raising more of the grain than was required for home consumption. The conditions have altered now, and India, Russia, Argentine Republic and Australia are rapidly increasing their wheat acreage and exporting the grain to the nations of Europe. "Last year Argentine exported nearly eighty millions bushels or wheat to Europe, practically every bushel being produced on lands con- tiguous to the sea coast, little of it being located more tnan three hun- dred miles from any port. The rail carriage thus cut very little figure in the transaction and were it not for the fact that the ocean freightage is vastly higher from South America than it is from our own ports, this lack of necessity in the matter of rail transportation would operate disastrously to our trade. It is prob- able that the supply in Argentine alone will double during the next five years and additional efforts will be made to secure an adjustment of freight rates. "The improvement in the matter of rail transportation in Russia will be a question of but a short time. Our entire wheat supply is grown in territory practically thousands of miles from our ports and in order to retain our present ascendancy the rail lines will have to be accorded every advantage, that the product be handled expeditiously and with pro- fit to all concerned. The price of wheat, or any great crop and the prosperity of the growers is depen- dent upon the railroads ana tnus de- velopment rests in a large measure with the methods of transportation. "The difficulties under which Rus- sia and Australia labor represent practically what the South did labor under, but with the development of the transportation lines, progress be- came possible and the farmers and others interested, are en- abled to not only grow their crops, but to market them. In fact the railroads are active factors in de- velopment of agriculture and equally as important in determining the rela- tive value of the prime crops by the facilities for getting the products to markets at home, and to our various seaports for export abroad. The great advantage we enjoy in quick and regular transportation methods, and our proximity to the Gulf and Atlantic seaports, make it possible for the agriculturists of the South to enjoy the fruits of their industry. "The South is beyond peradventure rich in all the potent influences which make countries great, and with thrift and industry, its people should wax fat and prosperous as the time progresses. She has everything that divine providence stored in a material warehouse, and energy and enterprise constitutes the "Open Sesame" which will unlock the door. Already mucn has been accomplished. Field and forest are contributing in steadily Held in New Orleans, Decembei 4-7, igoo. 189 augmenting volume, and the rivers have been harnessed to do their part of the work. The glowing possi- bilities are within the reach of the world, and her smiling landscapes, fertile fields, richness above and be- neath the surface, create a combina- tion unequalled anywhere. The day- is not far distant when the South will be synonymous with wealth, en- terprise andprosperity, and the pres- ent inequality of population and riches will have been equalized by a settlement of our vacant places and the encouragement or agriculture in all of its branches, not omitting the manufacturing enterprises which are always a part of the grand scheme. "W. E. Gladstone, England's great commoner, said that the time was approaching when the United State3 would be one of the greatest nations in the world. Am I too optimistic when I say that I am persuaded that the South will fulfill that prediction. "Could Horace Greely, whose words of advice have been followed by commenting thousands, have lived until the present day, his eyes would have, gazed into the future with that far seeing prophetic in- stinct that was a distinguishing characteristic, and his advice to the young man would not be as it was, to 'go West,' but the legend would read 'go South,' and become a part of the most glorious portion of a glorious country." Mr. Morse's speech elicited re- peated and enthusiastic applause. IMPROVEMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI. BY TOM L. CANNON. Mr. Tom L. Cannon, of St. Louis was then introduced and said: "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: "You have listened to many valu- able papers pertaining to so many grave questions prepared with such care to be presented to you, appeal- ing to your patriotism, that I, speak- ing off hand, scarcely feel at home before you to-night. I come to you in a dual capacity, first, as a son of the South, loving its people, its in- stitutions, its past and its present. (Applause.) "It would be as utterly impossible for me to apologize for the course of the South, as it would be to apol- ogize for doing something that I be- lieved to be right. (Applause.) In all the history of the South I con- cur in what was done and believed then as I believe now that it was honesty, principle and truth. I don't want to apologize for my coun- try, for my section, any more than I would wish to apologize if the peo- ple of the United States made a mis- take in some foreign entanglements and deserted the cause that they un- dertook. That is as an individual. "The other capacity in which I come is as the accredited represen- tative of the manufacturers of the City of St. Louis, 7186 institutions, employing 94,000 people and paying out annually $127,000,000. These peo- ple have sent me here to talk to you upon a question that is second to none that has been considered here, and I propose to talk that ques- tion briefly and to the point, 'The Improvement of the Mississippi River ami its Tributaries.' (Ap- plause.) "I want to see literally the motto of this convention carried out. I am here for business, representing busi- ness men. I am tired of hearing tne Mississippi river discussed as a sec- tional question— it is a national ques- tion. (Applause.) I am tired of hearing men apologize lor asking Congress for appropriations to im- prove the Mississippi river. For generations we have contributed to this government our quota of taxes and soldiers. We people of the South, along the Mississippi river and tributaries have on deposit or should have there, subject to our de- mand, a sufficient sum to do what we ask. We are not asking a favor of Congress. One man from the South went there and has done more i.nan all of the other congressmen put to- gether because he meant business. During his term or terms, covering a period of ten or twelve years, on the River and Harbor Committee, he 190 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention secured stronger and better appro- priations than any other man who has served there for the Mississippi river. I refer to your distinguished statesman, politician if you wish, your esteemed judge, Judge Blan- chard. (Applause.) It is a mistake of the people that he is not in the Senate of the United States to-day, and more men like him in Congress from the South. It is a mistake the gravest and greatest mistake that the South makes, is that persistent, useless, senseless cry against the politician. The politician is exactly what the people who elected him to office make him. If he is a thief, you elected a thief. It is as easy to elect a man who will be a statesman as to elect a man who will not do his duty. I am a practical politician, liave been for a number of years, always expect to be, and yet never held office in my life. I want the men who hold office in my section of the country to be under obliga- tion to me, and when I go to them in office I expect their support; and the man is too pure to take part in the politics of his country is too pure to live in a republic. This is no demagoguery. Abuse is heaped on men in public life and yet the men who in the majority of instances heap contumely upon those in office would like to be office themselves. I have no patience with that rot. We are going now into a great ques- tion, the question of the improve- ment of the Mississippi river. But to whom are you going for support? To the man who sits in his bank, the man who sits in his counting room, the man who loafs in saloons, or the politician who has been elected to office? Has he a vote in Congress? Do you know what it is likely to cost you to do this work you are undertaking? Do you know that from the Gulf of Mexico up the Father of Waters there are thou- sands and thousands of miles of streams that should be improved? Do you know that because you in the past have neglected your duty as a politician these streams are not improved? Do you know that if in the past half century you had taken some interest in electing good men to office who would not trade you off in Congress, many of these streams would be improved to-day? Do you know that if you had elected good men, kept them in office, trained them so that they became skilled men, adepts in legislation, in controlling votes, that you would have been better off? But, in the whim or caprice of the moment's fancy you would defeat a good man for nomination or election because he had not done what you wished. You send green men to Congress. It takes a man two, four to six years to be come fit timber for Congress. There is scarcely a man in the United States to-day who can go into the halls of Congress on the first occasion and make any impression on that body. You change your Con- gressmen every little while, and as a result when questions of legisla- tion come up the great appropria- tion bills, some enormous amount is asked for improvement of a har- bor on the Atlantic coast in New England, and your Congressman is traded off for a thirty thousand dol- lar public building in his town. (Laughter.) He does not know what to do, you don't give him time to understand what is necessary; you don't give him an opportunity to do it nor do you give him an oppor- tunity to know how to do it. That has been the greatest stumbling block to us all; that has been the greatest drawback to the develop- ment and improvement of the Mis- sissippi river. Now, gentlemen, so much for the past, and I am not saying this in an unkind spirit. I am not saying it to appeal to pre- judice or to passion, I am saying it in the hope that instead of trying to reform the politician you will re- form yourselves and get good poli- ticians. (Applause.) "It will take an enormous amount of money to improve the Mississippi river. I don't care to go into figures; I don't know the amount it would take, but if it took a hundred mil- lion dollars we are entitled to it, and we should have it, because we have contributed our quota to the other sections of the country, when our greenhorn Congressmen forgot to get ours. You can make the Mis- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 191 sissippi river a navigable system for ocean vessels. You can build from here to the great lakes of ihe Korth and West and int3r oceanic canal, you can carry into its tribu- taries miles and miles of navigable streams; this could be done, it should be done, and when you gen- tlemen quit meeting in convention as you do, passing resolutions that die in that convention, you will take a step in the right direction. I have attended man;'- conventions in the past twenty years, all through the Southern States, and the mistake is that you pass resolutions, prepare papers, invite men to address you and as scon as the convention ends the majority of the men there after- wards disperse and the result of your convention dies, without effect. If you propose to present to Con- gress a bill or a clause in a bill ask- ing for a sufficient amount to do this work as rapidly as can be, /our first duty is to appoint a committee of representative men of requisite strength and character, provide ways and means and sustain them in Con- gress — back up your Congressmen until you get your appropriation. It is your duty when calling a conven- tion together as this convention is called to do down into your pockets and pay the expenses of the conven- tion. No man or set of men, your officers or representatives can afford to undertake to do this work without your doing it. Let me illustrate what I mean. Three years ago the 12th an- nual national meeting of the Irriga- tion Congress was held in Wichita. It was going along just as other con- ventions have done and as this one is doing. After reading and debat- ing resolutions, inviting papers, compiling statistics — when that con- vention was over the next heard of it wis when the next convention was called. "Twelve years ago, one young man Mr. George H. Maxwell, of Califor- nia, was appointed chairman of an executive committee to provide ways and means for carrying out this work; and he went before the Com- mission of Congress last year and secured his expense bill for work tow- ards the reclamation of arid Amer- ica, $150,000.00. He is asking two hundred million dollars and he will get it. What does that mean to us? It means the building of great stor- age reservoirs in the mountains to control the waterflow, to use it \n irrigating the arid lands of the West, bringing it down after being used to the smallest streams and passing in- to the Mississippi river, if these reservoirs are built, and I am going to say they will be built, because men are behind it, it means two things to you. The first, it will pre vent the great repeated spring over- flows that inundate the lands alon& the Mi&sissippi river. It will stop all waste; it will give you a greater volume of water for it can be let out during the time of low water to flow down your streams. Let us see what it will mean. The losses along the Mississippi river from overflows cost you annually enough money to pay the interest on what is required to build the storage reser- voirs. The excess freight rate on the tonnage here will pay the money. Whose money is it? Ours. These are practical problems. Now this young man, not a boy but in the meridian of life, held a convention in Chicago two weeks ago. From all over this land came prominent men, and all the money that was neces- sary came in as contributions. The people of the West, the people of the East, the people of the South con- tributed and are contributing to that association and its work. I know it for I am its treasurer. It has the means to conduct its business and you should have the same means. Those men all along the Pacific slope, through the Northwest, away up into the lakes, further up into the Northwest, all down into the in- terior, are willing to join hands with the South on the twin propositions of irrigation and the improvement of the Mississippi river. (Applause.) I am here to tell you, and I talk au- thoritatively, they want your votes and you want theirs. Those two ele- ments combined in one will con- trol the vote of Congress. Do you know that? The time has come in the history of the United States when the greatest vote of Congress lies west of the Alleghany moun- tains. We will join In carrying the 192 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, flag of this country into the ports of every country in the world. The exports of this country largely come from the Mississippi valley and the sun o an ding country. We want you to know that the agricultural pro- ducts exported come from that valley; we want you to know that the major- ity of the manufactured products ex- ported come from that valley. Not alone all along the banks of the Mississippi river, but all over this great country, we are Americans, we are with you. It is not a question of sentiment, it is not a question of section — it is a question for you, be- lieve what I say, of the nation di- viding equally the profits of that nation among its people. It is use- less, it is nonsense, it is folly for people to get up and say that there is no sectionalism, and then when the time comes to vote and transact business it is limited to section. There is no sense or reason for a man saying that it is not political when the very vitals of our super- structure rest upon a political basis. You can do nothing of a public character without going into public questions, not necessarily partisan for there are good men and bad men in both parties, but you must take up political questions for this bo ly is a political body; you cannot get around it, and in order to do it sat- isfactorily you have got to go right down into the depths of politics; you have got to come together and sus- tain your committees, ask all that is necessary and get it. It can be, it should be done, it is being done by other sections in this country, not as a sectional matter but as an American matter. Let us be Ameri- can and get in line. (Applause..) We were recently asked to support a great bill; its provisions were broad as broad as the American Union but its specifications were limited to a few and yet there was no sectional- ism — no there was no sectionalism, not at all. There is where we make a mistake. There is one thing we have avoided all the time; we have apologized for the South as being sectional. Well, if it came to a ques- tion of a show-down I would rather draw four aces than a bob-tail flush. I would rather be low and stand my ground than to take chances of some one else filling in for me. That is the right kind of sectionalism. If i! comes to a test between sections I am with the South, but you have got to confront it and there is no way to get around it; we want the Mississippi river improved from one end to the other. There are plenty of men who have plenty of money all along the banks of that river and its tributaries standing ready to-day to nif ke liberal contributions for the sustinence of a committee of suf- ficient strength to go to Washington and to present to Congress of the United States the necessary de- mands, if you wish it; request if you prefer it, to incorporate in a river and harbors bill an appropria tion of a sufficient sum of money to improve the Mississippi river in a substantial way. I am here for this express purpose. The details of this bill must be framed by men better skilled in its details and figures than I am. I am here to tell you that we are ready, half way up the Missis- sippi river, to join forces with you. I am from that city half way up the Mississippi river standing ready on behalf of that city to join with you here. But, it is with you right here at the mouth of the Mississippi river that the work should begin and continue until it becomes a deep Waterway. "Get into harness, get into poli- tics, and do your work, or quit talk- ing." (Applause.) THE MISSISSIPII RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. BY JUDGE N. C. BLANCHARD. Judge N. C. Blanchard, Chairman tlemen of the Convention: It is not of the Committee on the Mississippi my purpose at this late hour of the River and its tributaries, said: evening to detain you by any lengthy "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gen- address upon the great subject which Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 19; now occupies the attention of the Convention. Owing to my arduous duties on the bench, I have not been able to attend the sessions of the Convention. At the opening of the Convention, however, I received a letter from your honorable Secretary stating to me that I had been named as Chairman of the Committee to deal with the subject of the 'Missis- sippi River and Its Tributaries.' I replied to him that my duties would be such that I could not attend the Convention, and he answered to the effect that if I could not attend, to prepare at least a sketch of the sub- ject with accompanying resolutions to be presented here to-night, which resolutions I am here to present. Where this committee is with which I am associated, who they are, and what has become of them, I know not. They are lost I fear in the mazes of the daily and nightly at- tractions of this. seductive city. "Gentlemen of the Convention, the subject of the Mississippi River and Its Tributaries is one, as was stated by Mr. Cannon, of national impor- tance. . By no means should this question be treated from the stand- point of sectionalism or localities. The Mississippi River is one of the great natural features of the earth. It constitutes the greatest system of navigable waterways on the face of the globe. As a drainage system, it furnishes channels through which are drained to the Gulf of Mexico the rainfall of more than half of the northern portion of the American Continent. As highways of com- merce, with 16,000 miles of naviga- ble waterways, it is unsurpassed in the world. As such, it has been treated by the Congress of the United States, and while I do not believe that the appropriations by Congress have been adequate to the immensity of this object, nevertheless, Congress has not put forth a niggardly hand in that respect. I wish to tell you, gentlemen of the Convention, that while much has already been ac- complished, a vast deal more remains to be accomplished. When we con- sider what the United States is do- ing and has done in respect to im- proving its rivers and harbors, we are away down the list. I could cite you . illustrations and comparisons here to-night that would astonish you, but time does not permit. I will only give you one. Take France, a country in Europe, of but little more than thirty millions of peo- ple and with an area of about one- sixteenth of the size of the United States. It has appropriated since 1814 for the improvement and devel- opment of its waterways $750,000,000, and while doing that, it has appro- priated $700,000,000 additional for the construction and operation of a great railroad system; $650,000,000 addi- tional for the construction and re- pair of wagonways. Now, gentlemen, if you take that for comparison, let us illustrate what France is as com- pared with the United States. If you take the Empire State of the South, our sister State of Texas, and re- solve it into a great circular sea, and of France make a circular island, there would yet be one hundred miles of margin of water all around it. "Conventions like this, gentlemen of the Convention, should make their voices felt in the Congress of the United States, when it comes to deal- ing with great questions like that of the Mississippi River. We must not only stand for the improvement of our rivers and waterways, but we must approach this subject in a cath- olic spirit, and keep in touch with other sections of the country which have waterways of their own to improve and make it to their advantage to stand with us as it is to our advantage to stand with them. Some time ago when I occupied a seat in the lower house in Congress, I visited the great sections of the lakes. I did so, gen- tlemen, for the purpose of laying the foundation of a great combina- tion, the details of which would be later worked out in Congress. It was my purpose as Chairman of the River and Harbor Committee of that body to endeavor to make a new ue- parture in respect to the improve- ment of the Mississippi River, and that was to do away with the drib- let system of a million or two this year, then skip over a year, then a million or two another year, a> wasteful policy; but to make a gi- gantic strike for millions of dollars 194 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, to be expended under the continuous work system, and the idea I had was to make a reciprocity agree- ment with the people inhabiting the great States bordering on the chain of the Great Lakes of the North, with a view that by this combina- tion the Lake States and the Missis- sippi River States would absolutely dictate and control the river and harbor sentiment in Congress. And everywhere I went, from Cleveland to Duluth, I preached the doctrine of reciprocity of interests between the Lake States and the Mississippi River States, and wherever that doc- trine was preached it met with the hearty response and support of these people. The result was that when Congress met a few months later for three months, I sat on the Commit- tee of Rivers and Harbors to prove the details of that gigantic combi- nation, and when that bill was launched on the floor of Congress, it carried an authorization to the Secretary of War to spend in four years' time $16,000,000 for the im- provement of the Mississippi River, ten millions of that was for the river below Cairo and six millions above. The combination was so great that it included two-thirds of both houses of Congress. Any man attempting to stay the passage of that bill mignt as well jump in front of a locomo- tive running at the rate of fifty miles- an hour. They were all in it, all sections were in it, every member of Congress that needed anything in his district got it, and the impious hand that was raised against the bill was immediately struck down. "Now, gentlemen of the Conven- tion, with these brief remarks as a preface to the short report and reso- lutions I have prepared, I will now proceed to read them: "The Mississippi River and its tributaries, having their sources in the North, the Northeast and North- west and flowing southward, are a rich heritage bestowed upon the peo- ple of the United States by the mu- nificent hand of the Creator of the universe. "Viewed as a drainage system, it has imposed upon it the duty of car- rying safely to sea the rainfall of largely more than half of the terri- torial area of the Union. Even as far away to the Northeast as the Southwestern portion of the State of New York the waters that fall find their way to the Gulf of Mexico through these channels, and at and below Cairo mingle in the merry race seaward with the waters that fall to the far westward and north- westward, even to the snow-crowned caps of the Rockies themselves. "Viewed as a system of navigable waterways, it stands unequalled on the world's surface. Highways of commerce, free to all without ton- nage tax, tariff or impost, an aggre- gate length of 16,000 miles of navi- gable channels, reaching half of the people of the whole country, and ready to hand as great factors and instrumentalities in the industrial development of the country. "Viewed as a field of exploit, for the exercise of the faculties and en- ergies of man, the country drained by these rivers presents unrivalled opportunities. "The alluvial valley of the great river, lying almost entirely in that geographical subdivision of our coun- try known as "the South," is the largest and richest on the globe. This splendid area comprises nearly 30,- 000 square miles. It contains nearly 20,000,000 acres of land of a fertility scarcely equalled by the famed Val- ley of the Nile. Of this vast domain it is estimated that 18,000,000 acres are susceptible of the highest de- gree of cultivation, yet up to the present time not more than 5,000,000 acres have been utilized for agricul- tural purposes. Truly, indeed, 'a wonderful empire of richness lies here yet undeveloped,' not alone from the standpoint of agriculture, but that of manufacture, of transporta- tion, of trade and commerce, and all the industrial arts, as well. "Here in this valley, in its cities and towns and rural districts, is to be found the best of markets for everything that anybody anywhere raises, produces or manufactures, and what the valley offers for sale — its wheat and corn and other grain, its hay, cotton, sugar, rice, fruit, stock and lumber — are the best of their kinds on earth and the easiest pro- duced. Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 195 "It is a great truth that 'economy of transportation is the chief ele- ment in the prosperity of every State and nation, and constitutes the marked difference between civiliza- tion and barbarism.' "Therefore, it is that enlightened statesmanship should recognize the duty, and perform it, of improving the navigation of the Mississippi and its tributaries, and of the other waterways of the country, adequate to the demands of an ever-increas- ing commerce and the necessities of an ever rapidly increasing popula- tion. "With regard to the Mississippi River, this Convention recognizes that the duty of the Federal Govern- ment towards it is two fold: (1) the improvement of the navigation of the river, (2) the control of its flood- waters to the end that the same may not be a terror to those who live in the valley of the river. Improve the river so as to make of it the best possible highway of commerce; pro- tect its valley from the flood waters precipitated upon it by the rainfall of half of the northern part of the continent. Control the nation's river for the nation's good. "Resolved, That we heartily ap- prove the enlightened policy which in these respects has characterized the Congress of the United States in the last two decades, and we urge upon that body of statesmen the con- tinuation of the same. Appropria- tions adequate to the quick construc- tion of the works needed in our rivers and harbors, and the early at- tainment of results aimed at, are earnestly recommended." Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of the report and resolutions. The report was adopted. Judge Blanchard: "Before vacat- ing the floor and before the Conven- tion entirely ceases to have its at- tention drawn to the question of the Mississippi River and its Tributaries, I have a proposition to offer at the request of my friend, Hon. Andrew Price, who is unavoidably absent to- night. What Mr. Price proposes is this: It is somewhat of a new depar- ture, but I believe the Convention would be wise in giving its endorse- ment to this project. Heretofore, we have been entirely dependent on the Congress of the United States for the improvement of our rivers and harbors in this State. This is the proposition which merely asks that the Congress of the United States will permit the State of Louis- iana or certain enterprising citizens in the State of Louisiana to furnish the money for the improvement of one of the great waterways of i^e State by the locking and damming of the Bayou Lafourche. As this is a propcsitidn that does not ask money from Congress and merely requests that this work be done by local agen- cies in the State, I think the Con- vention would do well to adopt this even though it be a local project. The resolution is this: Whereas, the advisability of improving Bayou La- fourche by means of locks has been recognized by the engineers both of the State of Louisiana and the Na- tional Government, and the necessity and urgency of constructing these locks is so apparent that the Gen- eral Assembly of the State of Louis- iana at its last regular session by a unanimous vote, made provision for the construction of said locks with- out expense to the Federal Govern- ment, and under plans and specifi- cations to be approved by the Secre- tary of War, provided Congress should give authority to the State of Louisiana to have said locks con- structed. Therefore, be it "Resolved, That the Southern In- dustrial Convention respectfully urges Congress to grant as speedily as possible the authority requested by the General Assembly of Louis- iana. "Bear in mind that all these navi- gable waterways which are tribu- tary to the Mississippi River are un- der the Federal Government, and we have to obtain the consent of the National Government to this pro- ject. All that is asked is that Con- gress grant a permit that this be done under the direction of the Sec- retary of War without expense to the Federal Government." Hon. Dudley Coleman: I want this resolution to receive all the con- sideration that it should receive, but 196 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, at the same time it ought to be done in an orderly manner. I think the proper course is to refer it to the Committee on Resolutions. This was seconded. Mr. Coffin: The Committee on Resolutions has been discharged. This resolution has been endorsed by the people of Louisiana in General Assembly. We should not postpone it. Let us finish the work, it is well begun. Mr. Tom L. Cannon: As the Com- mittee on Resolutions has been dis- charged, I think it is very question- able whether it can deal with any further business. There have al- ready been so many resolutions come up for consideration before the Con- vention, that I . do not see why it should not consider this. I am con- fident that the Committee on Reso- lutions would endorse it. Mr. Story, having explained that the Committee on Resolutions had been discharged, having finished its labors, Mr. Coleman withdrew his motion, and the supplemental reso- lution relative to Bayou Lafourche was adopted without dissent. Mr. Story: I move that the selec- tion of place for the next Conven- tion and the election of officers be taken up to-morrow at 11:30 A. M. This was adopted. Mr. Story announced that the trol- ley ride for the ladies would take place at 1:30 P. M. on the following day. The Convention adjourned at 11 P. M., until 10 A. M. Friday. FRIDAY MORNING SESSION. Hon. Sidney Story occupied the chair and called the fourth day's meeting of the Convention to order at 10 A. M. Mr. Story introduced the venerable Dr. B. M. Palmer, of the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, who offered up prayer. Reverend B. M. Palmer called down the blessing of the Almighty upon the Convention and its work in the following terms: "Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we adore Thee as our Crea- tor and Redeemer and the only Ruler over this wonderful universe. Thou hast set Thy throne in the heavens and ruleth the earth; Thou hast cre- ated the universe and defined its limits; Thou hast driven out the heathen and the barbarian and in Thy Divine wisdom hast alotted this country to the people thereof as a goodly heritage. It is decreed that those who have failed to take advan- tage of the opportunities which have been offered them, the unprogressive and the backward, must give place in the onward march of civilization. We ask especially at this time Thy blessing on us Thy people; Thou didst provide this vast domain for us and we bless Thee that the little seed of Christianity which was planted in this country has grown until this vast continent has become the abode of a mighty Christian na- tion. It is with a deep conviction of these truths that we Thy servants are here assembled this morning. We implore Thy presence, although it be invisible, upon the deliberations of the delegates to this Convention, so that everything they do may re- dound with honor to Thee and be beneficial to our prosperity; so that every homestead may be enriched thereby. Be Thou the Inspirer of every thought and every plan out- lined here; may the people now and those who come after them in turn realize their manifold duties and re- sponsibilities and perform them, and if there be any worm at the root of our prosperity wilt Thou enable us to expose and extirpate it. "Oh God! be Thou also the God of our decendents and bless them abundantly. We pray that those who come after us may fulfill their obli- gations and thus increase the pros- perity of this mighty nation and of these great Southern States, and all this we ask in the name of the God of nations and to His honor and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." Secretary N. F. Thompson: I would like to have the consent of this Convention to send a telegram Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. 19' to the New York World calling at- tention to the fact that although the Associated Press was invited to send a representative to furnish a report of the proceedings of this Conven- tion, they had failed to do so. The telegram is as follows: "New Orleans, December 7th. "Manager New York World: "The Southern Industrial Conven- tion now in session in this city and the largost gathering of its kind ever held in the country, instructs me to inquire if your failure to no- tice its proceedings is due to your own omission or of the Associated Press to furnish a report of the same. "N. F. THOMPSON, Secretary." Chairman Story: The reason for desiring to send this message is that the "World" has entirely ignored the proceedings of this Convention, al- though the Associated Press agreed to have a representative present, and as it is desirable that this Associa- tion should make its objects as widely known as possible, it would be well to take notice of this matter. It was moved and seconded that the telegram be sent, and this agreed to. THE SUGAR INDUSTRY OF THE SOUTH. BY HON. JOHN DYMOND. Chairman Story: I now have the pleasure of introducing to you a gen- tleman who is well known authority upon the subject in regard to which he will address you, the Hon. John Dymond of this city, who will speak upon Sugar Industry in the South. Hon. John Dymond then read the following paper: THE SUGAR INDUSTRY OP THE SOUTH. "The subject allotted for discus- sion at this time is one of great importance to us in this State, in fact is of national and even interna- tonal importance, and it is rarely that the opportunity presents itself to discuss it before a body of such representative men as we have here to-day. The sugar industry every- where to-day is largely the subject of legislation, each of the great na- tions of the earth endeavoring to fos- ter the industry, believing that the advantages, direct and indirect, aris- ing from its development will more than compensate for any charges that it may make upon the public revenues. The sugar industry of the South has felt the effect of this leg- islation, and its struggles for an ex- istence during the last generation, and its more rapid recent develop- ment we may consider later on. "The enormous increase in beet sugar production in Europe during the last thirty years, its total now largely exceeding that of cane sugar in the rest of the world, has excited general inquiry into the cause of this wonderful development of an in- dustry that has always been consid- ered an agricultural one, and while the history of this industry covers the whole of the 19th century, it is only during the last third of it that it has made such tremendous strides. The causes of this rapid progress lie in the present disposition of every one engaged in industrial enterprise to probe every physical problem to the bottom, to ascertain whether or not better methods may be adopted, improved mechanism utilized, and better results in quantity and quality obtained. In other words, technical education has been the chief cause of the great development of the sugar industry, and necessity has led the cane sugar countries of the world to follow the beet sugar countries in the same direction, and we to-day find everywhere that sugar is pro- duced, the industry is being more and more closely scanned, economies are being effected, improvements are being made all along the line, and in the end it is believed by those most familiar with the matter that the sugar cane will re-assert its lead- ing position, and again become the leading sugar producer of the world. "As all progress must be in the direction of the least resistance, we may readily imagine that capital and 198 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, enterprise will engage themselves in such directions as promise the greatest renumeration. Fifty or seventy-five years ago the cane sugar industry was far more widely spread in the South than it is now. The ribbon cane now cultivated to such a great extent in Louisiana, was brought here some seventy years ago from Savannah, where its culture had already been made a success. Even since the war, open kettle sugars were made in at least one sugar house in North Carolina. Our sister State of Texas has been mak- ing common sugars tor over half a century, although only coming con- spicuously forward in the higher grades during recent years. Florida was quite a sugar producing State before the civil war, and the ruins of abandoned sugar houses can be found there now, their tall brick chimneys and walls standing as HON. JOHN DYMOND. monuments of an industry that has passed away. "I am led to present these fea- tures of tne case to you as an ex- planation of the restriction of the development of the Southern sugar industry to the State of Louisiana, and in that State to the Southern tier of parishes. The cane sugar in- dustry in its earlier history was at times quite a profitable one, and our sugar planters' were led to fear that even our central cotton parishes would engage in the sugar industry; Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 199 that the sugar market would become over supplied and prices depressed, and they were quite willing to have but a moderate duty imposed on for- eign sugars, in order to hold the prices of sugar sufficiently low to diminish the inducement that seemed to present itself to the cotton plan- ters to change from that culture to the culture of sugar* cane. Sugar frequently sold at very low prices before the civil war, and yet it was produced so cheaply that its average status was one of continuing growth, subjected, of course, to climatic vi- cissitudes. "Along the Northern limit of our cane growing territory in the rest of the Southern States as well as in Louisiana, the option existed of en- gaging in cotton culture as well as in cane culture, and there was no inducement to engage in cane culture excepting the industry was more lucrative than that of cotton. It was found that to engage in the sugar industry was to engage in a comparatively complex business, one that involved manufacturing pro- cesses as well as a very high order of agriculture, and methods of cul- ture considerably different from those applied to the cotton plant. Cotton planters therefore who con- sidered the matter of changing to tne sugar cane industry found them- selves confronted with these serious problems, a lack of knowledge of the new industry, and perhaps a lack of capital to cover the large outlay required. These retarding in- fluences prevented the development of the sugar industry along the bor- der lines where either cotton or cane could be readily cultivated. In Georgia and South Carolina the rice industry in the low lands became dominant, and it was sufficiently profitable to engage the capital and agricultural talent of the country there. "In this connection we may say that the inquiry has often been made as to why the United States should not produce sufficient cane sugar to supply the whole country, if, as we have claimed, we had more than enough land on which to cul- tivate the cane, and that the indus- try could be made profitable on the basis of present values and of our knowledge of the industry. There can be no answer to this inquiry ex- cepting that the capital and talent of the country exert themselves in whatever direction may promise the most lucrative results, and in the Southern States while cotton and rice brought satisfactory results there was but little inducement to the Southern cultivator to engage in the more complex sugar industry. It was only when cotton fell to such low prices as to be unremunerative that the cotton planter began to look into the merits of the sugar industry with a view of engaging therein. These influences have held the in- dustry in check and its development has been disappointing to many of our leading statesmen and financiers. No matter what the reason was, the facts evident were that the sugar industry of the Southern States had not developed as had many of our other industries. "In regard to its more recent de- velopment, one of the causes which while hardly apparent on the sur- face, that has been the most potent in giving an impetus to the sugar industry, has been the separation of the agricultural from the manufac- turing side of the industry. The fac- tory and the farm have now become to a great extent two separate fac- tors in the sugar problem in the Southern States. Up to a few years back a cane cultivator had no mar- ket for his sugar cane. To-day, dozens of central factories are quite willing to buy sugar cane from any producer's who may be reached by them. This is bringing into the sugar industry year by year hun- dreds of those formerly in no wise connected with it. The central fac- tory system is really the foundation of the recent development of the sugar industry in Louisiana, and will doubtless be the basis, and the only basis on which it can be successfully developed in the rest of the South- ern States. "To-day, a man with five acres of land, or ten, or twenty, or one hundred, or a thousand may engage in the cultivation of sugar cane and find a reasonably near and profitaole market for his cane. A few years 200 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, back this was simply impossible, and cultivators would not grow sugar cane unless they owned sugar houses. But a few days ago one of the largest sugar houses in this State, the Meeker sugar nouse, in Rapides Parish, was destroyed by fire. It had contracts for thousands of tons of sugar cane in the vicinity, and after the disaster these cane growers found an immediate market for their cane in the adjoining par- ishes where large sugar houses were quite willing to take all that came to them. The real difficulty in developing the sugar industry in the Southern States outside of those districts wherein it is thoroughly domiciled and comparatively successful, is that of procuring a competent sup- ply of sugar cane, and then, in turn, procuring adequate manufacturing facilities. Thousands of little cane mills are in use along the Gulf coast, all the way from Florida to Texas. These little mills all repre- sent cane crops of one, two, three four, or five acres, and much, if not most of the molasses and syrup used in the Gulf States is made by these little local cane mills. This shows that sugar cane is to-day quite an industry, but carried on in a very small way by thousands, and in fact tens of thousands of farmers in the Gulf States. The time was when wheat was cultivated in the same way, and was carried to the little neighboring mills to oe there con- verted into flour, which was Drought back by the farmers iur home con- sumption. Just as the great flour mills have superseded the old grist mills, just so the central factory in the Gulf States can, and ought to supersede the tens of thousands of little home mills that are now do- ing good, but still imperfect work in their manupulation of sugar cane. To bring about this requires in- creased knowledge of the business, and to this the various experiment stations of the Gulf States are now giving considerable attention. The Sugar Experiment Station of Louis- iana, we believe, is now leading the world in scientific investigation of sugar. The State of Texas has made very marked advances, and Florida, with vast possibilities in the way of sugar production, is giving it some attention, but thus far has not made any very marked progress. In Georgia, South and North Carolina, where sugar cane was once culti- vated, we hear to-day but little or nothing of its culture, excepting in the very small horsemill way. The same will apply to Alabama and Mississippi. These States have such vast resources in the way of produc- ing cotton, and in fact such a prac- tical monopoly of the cotton market of the world, that they have but little inducement to diversify their culture in the way of producing sugar cane, their natural course be- ing rather in the way of diversifica- tion for home supplies and cotton as a surplus crop, rather than to engage in the complex sugar indus- try. Yet the time may come, and in fact I believe it will come, when sugar will be produced in large quan- tities in latitudes far north of where it is now profitably cultivated. "The Southern States of our Union have some advantages in producing this tropical crop over even the tropics themselves. All experience has shown that the greatest difficulty experienced in the tropics is that of controlling labor, and the devel- opment of the sugar industry in the tropics was based upon slavery, without which the industry, in prac- tically every instance, has fallen into decay. The present anticipation of an enormous production of sugar in Cuba at a comparatively early date may be verified, but the labor problem is one that will have to be solved successfully if the enor- mous crops anticipated in that is- land are ever to be harvested. In these Southern States the climate is sufficiently cold to develop all of our American energy and enterprise; to require the expenditure of consider- able amounts of money for food and clothing, as well as housing, and yet the climate is sufficiently warm to produce some tropical and semi- tropical crops. These characteris- tics of our climate make it necessary for those living here to labor in order to protect themselves. Nature is not so bounteous as in the tropics, where food and clothing may come Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1000. 201 without cost. Here earnest effort is necessary to keep soul and body to- gether, and hence we have a very material advantage in the control that this gives us over the labor question. "Another feature of the Southern sugar industry that demands care- ful attention is the, fact that the sugar cane is a plant that utilizes more thoroughly the semi-tropical resources that we have in the way of sunshine, rainfall and fertile soil, than any other crop. In the trop- ics the cane plant requires from 12 to 18 months to complete its growth. In these Southern States the cane plant, as we know, will thrive as far north as Natchitoches in this State, and Montgomery in Alabama, and in North Carolina, on the At- lantic coast, and will grow through- out the entire season, utilizing every unit of heat and sunshine that our climate grants it, and also util- izing the great rainfall that charac- terizes our coast country. There is no other crop, excepting that of rice, which so nearly utilizes the re- sources of our country. Rice, how- ever, is a short lived crop, and while it is generally an annual crop, it can be planted and harvested within four or five months, while the sugar cane utilizes all of our natural ad- vantages during eignt or ten months of the year. This is really a far more important point than most per- sons believe, and it is the underlying reason for the persistence of the sugar cane industry of Louisiana and the other States notwithstanding the record of misfortunes that have befallen it for a generation. "The sugar industry of the South is in no wise jealous of its newly fledged neighbor in the North. The beet sugar industry in the United States is bound to develop enormous- ly, and this at an early date, and we who are engaged in the sugar in- dustry in the South welcome into the field with us this new industry of the North and West, knowing as we do the many things that we hold in common, our common interests, the many points at which our in- dustry is the same, and while aiding beet sugar as we do to-day by sending them our experts, who are engaged in many of their sugar factories at the present time, we only ask from them in return co-operation on all matters that are for our common good. "Our friends who are engaged in the beet sugar industry in the West are experiencing some of the diffi- culties that would attach to the de- velopment of a new industry in these Southern States. A sugar factory located, for instance, near Mobile or Pensacola, would find itself with but a very limited supply of sugar cane, and yet there are hundreds of cane farmers not many miles from Mobile and Pensacola, who have to- day one, two, three or five acres of good healthy sugar cane growing in their fields. These people are bound to come together in time, but only when their other great industries become less lucrative than now. Should the price of cotton be main- tained during some years to come, then we look for a very limited de- velopment of the sugar industry in the adjacent Southern States. On the other hand, should four cent cot- ton again become the rule, the feel- ing of unrest among the cotton planters would lead them to turn their attention in other directions, hoping for better results, ana one of the directions in which we invite them to look, and a direction which promises reasonably profitable re- sults, is the growing of sugar cane and the manufacture of the cane into sugar." (Applause.) ADDRESS BY MR. GEO. H. ANDERSON. Chairman Story: Mr. Geo. H. An- derson, of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, is with us and we shall be glad to hear from him at this time. Mr. Geo. H. Anderson: "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Con- vention: The Pittsburg delegation has come here with the idea that it may learn something from our friends of the Southern Industrial Association, and to give them an as- 202 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention,- surance of the hearty sympathy that our city has with the objects of this convention. We came in order that we might be able to take back with us valuable information touching the general industrial industries cf the country, and if we in our experience and knowledge acquired by a long period of activity in in- dustrial pursuits, have gained any knowledge that might be useful to our friends in the South, that infor- mation should be freely placed at their disposal. "I admire every man who loves his home and his section, city or coun- try. I have the warmest feeling and affection for my own city that any man could possibly have for his home, for there is much in Pittsburg that any man may well be proud of. Our city has reached a point in her industrial growth where the whole world pays tribute to her produc- tions. The traffic last year in tqn- nage was in excess of that of both London and Liverpool combined; it was equally great with that of the Atlantic coast. The amount as offi- cially ascertained being sixty million tons. Our city is now the center of a population of 800,000 people, and it must not be inferred because we are an extremely busy people that we in any way forget the nobler and higher duties of humanity or are neglectful of intellectual advancement. To show the sentiment of the people of Pittsburg towards tne people of the South. I am glad to inform you that the Chamber of Commerce met the day following the news of the terri- ble disaster that overtook the City of Galveston. It was agreed before- hand that in advance of all subscrip- tions the treasurer snould forward by telegraph at once the sum of $10,- 000.00 for the relief of that city. (Applause.) Just at this time,' one of the leading manufacturers of our city came up to the desk and laid down the check of his firm for $10,- 000.00. (Applause.) It would seem to me that in this there is more sen- timent than simply a desire to in- crease our manufactures, enlarge our business pursuits and build up the prosperity of our city. The commit- tee in charge did not make a sin- gle personal solicitation for relief for Galveston. They simply sent out an appeal to the public asking that contributions should be sent without delay into the treasury of the Cam- ber of Commerce and within a very short time nearly $60,000.00 was re- ceived in cash and was forwarded to Galveston. (Applause.) I do not relate this in a boastful spirit, but merely to show just how the people of Pittsburg were moved towards those of our Southern frienas who were in distress. (Applause., "Take another instance, some time ago when the passage or' the Bads channel into the Gulf of Mexico was in danger of being closed and the commerce of your city endangered, New Orleans desired the Government to make an appropriation for the . purpose of repairing her gateway to the sea which had been obstructed, and the City of Pittsburg was asked to co-operate in securing the neces- sary appropriation from Washington to repair the damage. Pittsburg not only responded by sending her citi- zens to co-operate with New Orleans in securing the appropriation, but joined in asking mat a special ap- propriation be made for the survey of the Southwest Pass, which, if completed, would give New Orleans a second outlet to the Gulf of Mexi- co and through it an opening to the markets of the world. (Applause.) Our people made common cause witn those of the South, and the result was an advance appropriation of $250,000.00 for the repair of Eads channel, and an additional one pro- vided for the survey of the South- west Pass. (Applause.) So you see, Mr. Chairman, that Pittsburg can lay aside at times her devotion to business affairs to give what help she can in securing prosperity to more remote portions of our country. (Applause.) "New Orleans and the people of the South generally are quite as largely interested in the improvement of the upper Ohio river as are the people of that section. Pittsburg coal is brought to New Orleans, a distance of 2,000 miles, at a cost of one-half mill per ton for each mile, or a total of 10 cents per ton, and no railroad can ever compete with the river as a means of transportation. The Ohio Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 203 and the Mississippi rivers are the great natural arteries through which our commerce, which is nie life's blood of the nation, passes, and it is of the utmost importance that these arteries should be kept open and unobstructed, so that the traffic they bear shall be delivered at the lowest rates of transportation and in the speediest manner. ' "Mr. Chairman, I shall not talk politics to you any further than is required to assure you that without the hearty co-operation of the peo- ple of the great Northeast and of the Northwest you in your particular section can look for no special fa- vors in the way of national legisla- tion such as is desired to foster and enlarge the productive interests of the South, but when you go to Con- gress with united forces of these various sections and explain the ne- cessity of giving that which enriches the country at large, no congres- sional interest can stand against a united and forceful plea of that kind. The complete interdependence of your section of the country with that of the upper Ohio district is such that neither can operate successfully in the development of their industrial interests without the complete co- operation of the other. When the commercial history of this country is written it will be the history of the valleys of the Ohio and Missis- sippi. To-day it is the greatest pro- ductive center of the world. The colossal export trade of this country is largely from traffic originating in the upper Ohio district, the na- tural outlet of which is through the ' rivers of the Ohio and Mississippi, and through New Orleans to the Gulf. With the people of this coun- try it is a question of cheap trans- portation rather than a ques.-on of cheap manufacture which latter could only be reached by paying our people the pauper wages received Dy the working classes of the older countries. Two cargoes of rails went from Pittsburg to Liverpool within the last month and coal from tae City of Pittsburg has been exported not only into England but to nearly all continental Europe. "Great as our commerce is now, an enormous impetus will be given to it by the opening of the Nicaragua canal. England has made herself great by her enterprise in extending her commercial interests and Eng- land struck a great blow at Ameri- can manufacturers when she built the Suez canal. The United States must realize the importance of the Nicaragua canal and confer a like boon upon her people. (Applause.) With the isthmian canal twelve thousand miles will be saved on the trip to San Francisco and it will open up a vast and world-wide com- merce so the people of this country must be united in a demand for the speedy construction of this canal. Pittsburg has been depleting its coal mines but in following the coal line it leads into Alabama, for coal is the thing that we have in unlimited supply. As industrial work in Eng- land increases so does the supply of coal diminish and they cannot supply the demand at eight dollars a ton, the result being that English manufacturers are sending agents here to see where they can buy coal. In Italy the conditions are even worse, but the United States can supply the world at a price that will make the people rich. It almost seems as if the Creator had supplied this country with such unlimited re- sources as to make the whole world tributary to it. "To return to the subject of the Nicaragua canal, I would say that there seems to be a general senti- ment in this country for Government control and ownership of the isth- mian canal. This gives rise to the question when we have the canal what will we do with it? We have but few merchant vessels and under such conditions we would be building the canal for the convenience of other nations. It is therefore neces- sary that we should increase our shipping and unless the Governnicnl takes the necessary steps to furnish an efficient merchant marine capi- talists will not put their money into American ships. In this connection, I may say that I am more than pleased at the reception which has been given to this sentiment by the convention, for if this object is to be accomplished it must be by some such means as the ship subsidy bill. 204 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention "In conclusion, ladies and gentle- you for your kind consideration and men of the convention, I must thank attention." (Loud Applause.) LETTER FROM WU TING FANG. Secretary Thompson then read the following letter which he had re- ceived from His Excellency Wu Ting Fang, the Chinese Minister, who had been invited to attend the conven- tion: "Chinese Legation, Washington, Dec. 5, 1900. "N. F. Thompson, Esq., Secretary Southern Industrial Convention, New Orleans, La.: "Dear Sir: I am m receipt of your letter of the 1st instant. I can only repeat my sincere regret that, owing to unusual pressure of official busi- ness, I am unable to attend your con- vention. "I find that the export trade of the United States with China in 1899 has increased 337 per cent as compared with that in 1895, thus showing clearly what a great field China is for American enterprise. The products of the Southern States of the United States, especially cot- ton, can always find a ready market in China. Statistics show that China took last year in round numbers $9,- 000,000 worth of cotton goods from the United States — more than Eu- rope, South America, Canada and Mexico, all put together. I sincerely hope that the trade between the two countries will increase even in a greater ratio in the future than it has dene in the past. "Wishing that success will attend the efforts of your convention, I am, very truly yours, WU TING FANG," REPORT OF HON. V. W. GRUBBS, ON EDUCATION. Mr. V. W. Grubbs (of Texas), president of the Southern Board of Education; submitted the following report on the educational condition of the South: "On the 20th day of January, 1899, there was- introduced in the Texas Legislature the following resolu- tions • " 'Resolved, That the object of the State in the establishment and main- tenance of public free schools is the preparation and qualification of the children of both sexes to become personally independent and self-sup- porting, and that any system of pub- lic education which fails in the ac- complishment of such object and purpose is inherently defective. " 'Resolved, That a necessity exists for the training of our young people of both sexes in the elementary prin- ciples of agriculture, mechanism rnd domestic economy, and to this end provision should be made for such training in the public schools. " 'Resolved, That industrial schools for boys and girls should be established in every portion of the State so far as practicable, and that farmers' institutes should be legal- ized and encouraged in such counties and sections as may be deemed ne- cessary and practicable for the gen- eral diffusion of agricultural and kindred sciences among the farming and industrial population of this State.' "On the 23d day of said month, the following resolutions were introduced by the same member of that body: " 'Resolved, That in the enactment of laws for the government of the people of Texas and for the promo- tion of their interests in all depart- ments and stations in life, no dis- tinction should be made on account of sex, and that the same opportuni- ties, preparation and encouragement should be given to the female as to the male portion of our citizenship. " 'Resolved, That any industrial system which discriminates against the women of Texas in the matter of wages for efficient services ren- dered is unjust, and ought to be abro- gated by law. " 'Resolved, That equal facilities should be given to both sexes for the attainment of a knowledge of those Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 205 arts and sciences which are essential to independent and useful citizen- ship, and that an industrial college or colleges should be established and maintained for the benefit of girls in Texas.' "While no action was taken by the Legislature on these resolutions, their publication in the daily and weekly press of the State with favor- able comment set in motion a wave of popular approval not anticipated by their author. A bill was soon thereafter introduced to establish an industrial college for the white girls of Texas, and other bills in line with the sentiment pervading the resolu- tions were introduced at the same session. Without going into the his- tory of the fight made for the pro- posed educational reform, suffice it to say that the interest thereby awakened led, as above stated, to the formation of a State committee to carry on an active" and vigorous campaign among the people of the State in behalf of the proposed meas- ures, and I am gratified to report that the Democratic party has incor- porated into its platform a plank favoring such education, and there is no doubt that the Legislature to meet in January next will promptly and liberally respond to the platform demand on that subject. The sub- ject of industrial education in its application to the Southern States was made a topic for discussion at the first meeting of this Convention at Huntsville, Ala., in October of last year, and the idea of an organi- zation embracing the entire South was then suggested, but nothing further was attempted at that time. "At its next meeting, held at Chat- tanooga, Tenn., the subject was again discussed: Hon. Cyrus Kehr of Knoxville, Hon. H. H. Hargrove, now president of the Convention, and Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, taking a part in tke same. In re- sponse to what seemed to be the pre- vailing sentiment on the subject, the following resolutions were intro- duced and referred to the committee on education raised by the Conven- tion: " 'Resolved, That ' every State should provide an efficient system of public education to the end that its intellectual, moral and industrial re- sources may be developed and util- ized to the fullest possible extent. " 'Resolved, That the education of the South has heretofore tended en- tirely too much toward those profes- sions, occupations and callings which do not require manual labor, and to lead the aspirations of our young people away from industrial pur- suits and into the overcrowded pro- fessions which are unduly exalted in a social point of view, while the in- dustrial pursuits, however useful and indispensable to the social well be- ing, are socially degraded. " 'Resolved, That a system of edu- cation to be efficient in such devel- opment must embrace physical and industrial as well as intellectual and moral training, and that any system that ignores such physical and in- dustrial training as applied to both sexes is inherently defective. " 'Resolved, That the right in high social recognition should not depend so much on arbitrary class distinc- tions, based upon differences of oc- cupations, which are alike useful and necessary as upon intelligence, per- sonal integrity and merited success in the pursuit of sucb useful profes- sion, occupation or calling. " 'Resolved, That the time has come in the industrial progress of the South when those false notions of respectability inspired and fos- tered by prevailing educational sys- tems, which lead the young mind to despise manual labor, should be ut- terly destroyed, and that the South- ern youth should be educated rather for industrial than for professional, literary and commercial pursuits.' "That committee made the follow- ing report after a careful considera- tion of the matters submitted to tbem by the original resolution and other- wise: " 'We regard the proper education of the youth as of the highest im- portance, and urge upon the States represented in this body the develop- ment and improvement of their sys- tems of public schools to the highest possible degree of efficiency. " 'We specially recommend that provisions should be made for the thorough training of the young peo- 206 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, pie of the South in useful and profit- able industry, embracing the science of agriculture, mechanical arts and domestic economy. We would espe- cially emphasize the necessity of pre- paring in that way our youth to operate the machinery which is be- ing introduced into the South for the manufacture of its raw materials in- to more valuable finished products. We are gratified to know the present tendency in education to meet the practical demands of the times, and to direct the aspirations of our youth toward the attainment of skillfulness and proficiency in industrial pursuits. " 'While we would not in any way detract from the importance of what is termed the higher education, nor to depreciate the splendid work of our leading educators in that line, we urge upon the educators of the South a special effort in behalf of a more general and comprehensive sys- tem of industrial education. " 'We further recommend the es- tablishment of a textile university and of industrial schools wherever practicable. " 'We recommend that an organ- ization be now formed by this con- vention to be styled -'The Southern Board of Industrial Education," to consist .of one member from each of the following States: Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Ca- rolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Missis- sippi, Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky, Geor- gia, Texas and other States as may hereafter desire to come into this movement. " 'The work of said board shall be the awakening of a sentiment favor- able to industrial education through- out the Southern States in such man- ner as the board may adopt. We recommend that one member of said board be appointed Dy the chairman of this convention as temporary pres- ident thereof, to serve until the first meeting of said board, when tne members thereof shall permanently organize the same as they may deem best for the accomplishment of the purposes in view. " 'We recommend that provisions should be made by said board for the admission of other States into said organized movement on application thereof by competent authority em- anating from the people of such States. " 'We recommend the able papers and published addresses of Messrs. Kehr, Hargrove and others, touching upon the subject of industrial educa- tion, to the careful perusal and con- sideration of the Southrn people, and recommend that they be preserved and transmitted to said board, and that they be embraced in the litera- ture that may be published under its direction. " 'All persons who may feel inter- ested in this movement are cordially invited to communicate with the board and contribute what they can. to the success of the same.' "Pursuant to the suggestion con- tained in the report of the commit- tee the president of the convention made the following appointments to serve as members of the board: "V. W. Grubbs, president, Green- ville Tex.; Cyrus Kehr, secretary, Knoxville, Tenn.; W. J. Northern, Atlanta, Ga.; J. N. Sheets, Gaines- ville, Fla.; A. A. Kincannon, Colum- bus, Miss.; Sidney Story, New Or- leans, La.; Julius D. Dreher, Salem, Va.; Daniel Gilman, Baltimore, Md.; J. W. Abercromble, Montgomery, Ala.; C. M. Woodward, St. Louis, Mo.; W. A. McCorkle, Charleston, W Va.; T. D. Mclvor, Greensboro, N C; Ben R. Tilman, Trenton, S. C; Frank Hill, Little Rock, Ark.; E. H. Mark, Louisville, Ky. "It was my purpose to call a meeting of the board, to be held at Charleston, S. C., in July last, in connection with the National Teach- ers' Association, but I was unable to make satisfactory arrangements for the same and to secure a fair at- tendance of the membership, and de- cided to postpone the same until the meeting of the convention in this city. I completed the temporary or- ganization of the board by the ap- pointment of Hon. Cyrus Kehr, one of its members, as secretary thereof, and as I have been quite busy look- ing personally after the work in Texas, the details of this meeting were committed to him. I regret, that important business elsewhere prevents his attendance upon this occasion. I sincerely regret my in- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 20T ability to give an outline or synopsis of the work in other States, having received no data from other mem- bers of the board on which to formu- late such report, but I trust that the members who are present will sup- plement this report by giving to this convention such information in re- gard to the same ap they may deem of interest to the movement. "I am gratified to state that the movement in my own State is mak- ing very satisfactory progress. The broad gauged press and the progres- sive citizenship of Texas, regardless of sex or class distinction, are vig- orously co-operating together in arousing our people to the necessity of the proposed educational reform. The teachers are indorsing it in their country, district and State as- sociations. Church conferences and State associations are doing the same thing whenever the subject is brought to their attention. "Industrial conventions, commer- cial organizations and press associa- tions are giving to the movement their most hearty and vigorous in- dorsement and approval. "The fight in Texas is practically won, and skilled legislators are now engaged, at the request of our State committee, in the preparation of bills for the inauguration of a comprehen- sive system of industrial education in Texas. We realize, however, that it is a great undertaking, and it will take years to perfect it, but it will most certainly be accomplished as rapidly as possible in view of present conditions. "I am gratified to learn, from unof- ficial sources, that the sentiment fav- orable to that system of education adapted to the development of the in- dustrial capacities of the people is rapidly growing in many other States within the jurisdiction and influence of the board. We look forward to the time when the social prejudice against individual effort in all useful lines will be effectually destroyed and the true objects and purposes of pub- lic education shall be recognized in the South. "I beg to submit, in conclusion, a few recommendations, addressed not only to the board, but to all of the Southern people who may feel any interest in the work. The organiza- tion should be extended to every sec- tion of the Southern States. Local committees should be appointed, charged with directing the campaign among the people of all classes and conditions. The folly of instilling in- to the mind of the Southern youth the false idea that manual labor is degrading and beneath their aspira- tions should be rebuked by the press, the pulpit and the thoughtful peo- ple, who must readily see its demor- alizing results. "The progressive womanhood oft the South should be enlisted in the work, and it is needless for me to say that when the women fully re- solve that anything must be done all opposition immediately melts away. Another potent factor in the accomplishment of the proposed re- form is the vigorous co-operation of the teachers of the South, and, in so far as my knowledge extends, the great majority of them are in sym- pathy with the movement. In the appointment of committees, that great and most important profession should be duly recognized, and wher- ever at all practicable, the broad- gauged, progressive educators of the * country should be given the prefer- ence, as their calling and inclina- tions are more likely to lead them into the active service of the board. "You will find the press a most valuable instrumentality for reach- ing the people, and its leading rep- resentatives will be found at all times anxious to contribute to the success of the movement. "Finally, I may say that the de- tails of work in each State are com- mitted to its member of the board,, and, without interference with his plans and purposes, he may with con- fidence apply to the president for advice or suggestions on the sub- ject, so long, at least, as it may be the pleasure of the board and this Convention for me to hold that hon- orable place in the organization." 208 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, REMARKS AND RESOLUTIONS. Mr. Kidd (of Houston) spoke of the services rendered to industrial edu- cation by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, and of his munificent donations towards promoting that cause. Ex-Mayor Kennedy (of Allegheny, Pa.,) rose to make a motion. He said: "Mr. Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen of the Convention: When our delegation arrived in the City of New Orleans, we knew no one, being entire strangers in the city, but we were invited to the ladies' reception, where, in a few minutes, we were made to feel as much at home as ever we were, and I can say for myself and others that we never enjoyed ourselves more. Under the hospitable chaDeronage of the ladies of New Orleans, the visi- tors had been enabled to pee more of the city than they could have done in three months alone. I therefore move a vote of thanks to the ladies." Mr. N. B. Kelly (of Philadelphia): I desire to second that motion, and to say that I strongly indorse the remarks of Mr. Kennedy. The resolution was adopted by a rising vote. Mr. Ously (of Galveston) offered the following resolutions: "Reviewing the splendid success of this session of the Southern Indus- trial Convention, which is now placed upon a broad basis, insuring large and continuous influence, and recall- ing the earlier struggles of the move- ment, be it "Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that the South owes a debt of gratitude to the origina- tors of the Southern Industrial As- sociation, and the association espe- cially owes and hereby acknowledges its deep obligation to the people of New Orleans, whose industry and generosity have accomplished sue 1 ! brilliant results. "Resolved further, That we hereby express our appreciation of the con- tinuous labors of the Southern press in behalf of industrial development, and especially of the liberal reports of our proceedings made by the press of New Orleans." "Resolved further, That the thanks of the Southern Industrial Conven- tion are hereby tendered to the City of New Orleans and the following or- ganizations: New Orleans Progress- ive Union; New Orleans Board of Trade; Sugar Exchange; Cotton Ex- change; Produce Exchange; Real Estate Exchange; Maritime Associa- tion; Mechanics, Dealers and Lum- bermen's Exchange, and last, but not least, the Local Council of Women of New Orleans, for the generous hos- pitality and the many courtesies and entertainments provided for our com- fort and pleasure and the grand dec- orations of the hall. The resolutions were enthusiasti- cally adopted. Hon. J. P. Coffin (of Florida), then submitted the following resolution in regard to water hyacinths, and its re- lation to navigation in the Southern States: Whereas, A large majority of the navigable streams and bayous are entirely taken possession of by this noxious growth, and, to such an ex- tent, as to render navigation a thing of the past; and, Whereas, The attention of the Fed- eral Government has been called to this noxious growth, which is rapid- ly spreading in every direction, and during the year 1897, the Department of Agriculture were called on to in- vestigate and report upon trie condi- tion of the St. John's River, Florida; and whereas, Prof. Herbert J. Webber was appointed Special Commissioner for this purpose, and whose report is published in Bulletin No. 18 of the Department of Agriculture which shows the alarming conditions and encroachment on navigation. And whereas, A large majority of the navigable lakes and bayous of the South have been abandoned ow- ing to the conditions and rapid growth of the water hyacinth, which has spread to such an extent that the only relief lies with the general gov- ernment, and whereas; During the last Session of Con- Held in Nezv Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 209 gress, Hon. R. C. Davey, represent- ing the Second District of Louisiana, introduced a bill in Congress asking an appropration of $100,0^0 for the purpose of effectually removing this obstruction. Therefore, be it Re- solved, That it is the sense of this convention that we, as a body, give our indorsement , and recommenda- tion to the passage of this bill. The resolutions were adopted. Ex-Mayor Noonan, (of St. Louis): I move that the convention now pro- ceed to the selection of its next place of meeting, and the election of of- ficers. Mr. Gibson, (of Alabama): I would request that a delay of half an hour be allowed before these matters are taken up. The selection of next meeting place and election of officers was then, made special order for 12:30. The regular program was then proceeded with: MANUFACTURE OF AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS IN THE SOUTH. BY MR. E. J. BRYAN. Chairman Story: I will now intro- duce to you Mr. E. J. Bryan, of Bir- mingham, who will address you on an extremely interesting subject, "The Manufacture of Agricultural Implements in the South." Mr. E. J. Bryan: "Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- men — as agriculture is a large con- tributor to the maintenance of man, and at present is the chief source of revenue in the South, agricultural implements, being precedent to agri- cultural results, are relatively impor- tant. Being producers of wealth, both in their birth and death, through the pay roll of manufacture and the wearing out under soil cul- ture, we invite your attention to the strong position they hold in the field of Southern industrials. The learned alchemists failed to find the long-sought magic art, but agricultural implements in the hands of labor turn the sod to gold. The industrial and agricultural re- sources of a country underlie the well-being and wealth of its people, and form the foundations of its com- merce. The production of wealth de- pends upon the practical application of labor to existing resources; the surest and shortest path to its at- tainment is the economic utilization of favorable conditions. As agriculture is a large contrib- utor to the maintenance of man, and at present is the chief source of rev- enue in the South, agricultural im- plements, being precedent to agricul- tural results, are relatively import- ant. Being producers of wealth, both in their birth and death, through the pay-roll of manufacture, and the wearing out under soil culture, we invite your attention to the strong position they hold in the field of Southern industrials. Birmingham, which suffered as all pioneers in new fields inevitably suf- fer, is now a stalwart young giant, strong at home and abroad, in the established merits of its products. Having passed through the trying ex- perimental stages, and trodden un- der foot all question as to the stand- ard of excellence of its output, it now offers to the world the fruits of its victory — superior basic open hearth steel and high grade iron, both of quality second to none. Geographically placed in the cen- ter of the agricultural and mineral South, surrounded by forests of hard woods, soft and finishing timbers, favorably located as to labor, with the cheapest and most illimitable supply of coal, coke and all raw ma- terials, it challenges the attention of industrial capital and labor with its unequaled natural advantages for manufacture and distribution. We are now making into plow blades Southern basic open hearth steel, re- sulting in implements of a higher grade and quality than any produced by our practical operator, in an ex- perience of twenty-three years. 210 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, With these facilities, nothing can prevent the rapid growth of the man- ufacture of agricultural implements In the South. Their manufacture oc- cupies a similar position to that of --cotton manufacture. What school of economics, what grade of intelligence, can indorse a system which forfeits our natural ad- vantages, by transporting our tim- bers, minerals, fibres and oils, to •; distant points, depositing rich pay- -rolls with distant communities and there converting the gifts of God in- to necessities, to be double-freighted back again for our use? Why and bow long shall we rest under this stigma? Pay-rolls are the pulse of indus- try, the sustenance of communities, the builders of homes, the providers •of comforts and the supporters of -contented citizenship. The problem of successful manu- facture of staple products is largely ;a tonnage proposition. A given yearly expense account must be pro- bated on the yearly output. At a glance you may see that the manufacturer who has fewest idle ■days, if he get the capacity of his ■machinery, yields the largest pay- roll and the cheapest product. This principle extends from the coal and ore mines, through the blast furnace, the rolling mill, diversified manu- facturing and transportation. A min- imum cost can only be reached through volume of business. Even favorable conditions cannot be used to best advantage without it. Equal competetive power and wide reach of trade depend upon it. The South is more liberally blessed -with natural advantages than any other section of this great republic. It is capable of maintaining a larger population than any other equal area on the face of the globe. Its inexhaustible .mineral deposits -and virgin forests are practically un- touched. Its rich soil and conductive climate make riotous growth of veg- etation. It teems with" !i possibiHtie& appealing to capital and enterprise to take advantage of rare opportun- ity. This volume of steady trade we miay and must have. It opens to us through progressive united develop- ment and additional grasp of trade, naturally tributary to us. That grand old Alabamian, Gen- eral John T. Morgan, who shall have builded to himself, to his State and to his nation and indestructible monu- ment in the Nicaragua canal, has had to fight through long, tedious years of delay, obstinate and willful ob- struction, against a work that can only bring honor and gain to this whole nation. With the Nicaragua canal connect- ing the two hemispheres, the Warrior river linking the tide waters of the Gulf to the heart of the Birmingham district, there shall flow from the throbbing arteries of trade such a volume of prosperity as shall envelop this grand country as with a mantle of gold, extending our reach of trade through the Asiatics and to the con- fines of civilized and uncivilized peo- ples. All factors contributing to de- velopment are co-operative, as bene- fits therefrom are reciprocal to every interest, whether so intended or not. Shall we not then expect the har- monious co-operation of all represen- tatives of capital, labor and enter- prise to enthusiastically join in an effort to effect reciprocal benefits which shall radiate upon all within the four quarters of our country. United action, judiciously applied to our possibilities, must result in an ever-increasing multiple of joint ad- vantage, which shall make cities of hamlets, fill wide gaps of idle coun- try with populous producers, and make this greatly blessed country ring to the echo with sound of steel under forge, the hiss of steam in manufacture and the whir of wheels in transportation. Let us actively indorse the plan in- augurated by this convention for in- dustrial development, invite the world to come into this glorious sec- tion and share with us "on the ground floor" the great industrial history the South is now making in nature's richest storehouse. We are building rapidly, and each year will find our edifice broader and nigher, and neglected opportunity harder to find. No sluggard will find present Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. 211 possibilities waiting him in later years. In 1899 one company operating largely in the Birmingham district handled an output of pig iron, coal, coke, ores and stone of 7,809,927 tons. It would require over 375,000 rail- road cars, of 40,000 pounds capacity each, making a train over 2200 miles long, to move at one time this one year's southern product of the com- pany. With the present lights be- fore us, what a tonnage they will place on their annual output record in the coming years! That young giant city of the South- land, whose mineral challenge has been sounded the length and breadth of all lands where coal, iron and steel are known, strong in the might and power of resource, bids enter- prise to come and share its victory. With unequaled facilities for the construction and manufacture of all lines involving steel, iron, coal, coke and timber, it confidently looks for- ward to the transferance of the in- dustrial center of trade to that local- ity, planned and fitted for it by nature. It cordially and heartily bids you join it in a prosperity jubilee, which shall be celebrated during the national mineral exposition that will be held there some few years hence. IMPORTANCE OF THE RICE INDUSTRY IX THE SOUTH. BY PROF. S. A. KNAPP. Prof. S. A. Knapp, of Lake Charles, spoke on the culture of rice. He said that there was no use of advertising a gold mine. He pointed out that before the manufacturing industries were brought to the South the food supply must be produced there. He said that there was no use of advertising a section of the country which had just received an accession of$10,000,000 to develop its industries. He introduced and read the follow- ing paper upon the importance of the rice industry in the South: Ladies and Gentlemen: We are rapidly approaching the era of a universal density of popu- lation. To the people of the United States it has hitherto seemed remote. The revelations of the last census show that our feet have already crossed the border and that within the present century we shall be con- fronted with the problem of a suffi- cient home food supply, instead of sending an enormous surplus to the Old World. Thus far we have paid no attention to the economic value of food, nor its digestibility in our efforts to gratify the appetite. In fact fifty years ago such values were unknown to the scientific world. Now we realize the amazing waste resulting from the selection of food on the basis of taste instead of the amount of nourishment contained. As seven eights of the food consumed is on an average expended in the production of energy, the value of foods should be largely based on the amount of energy they will produce in the human body. It is interesting to note what a revolution of prices this would produce. On the basis of the amount of energy a food will im- part, taking wheat flour as a stand- ard at two and one half cents per pound, good beef steak (round) should be sold at 1 7/10 cents per pound; porterhouse at 1 66/100; turkey, the edible portion, at 2 cents; chicken, broilers, at 3/4 of a cent; Irish potatoes at 3/10 of a cent; butter at 5 1/2 cents; cream cheese at 3 1/10 cents; oysters at 3/10 of a cent; red snapper at 4/10 of a cent; corn meal at 2 47/100 cents; oatmeal at 2 8/10 cents; rice at 2 52/100 cents and invalid food, such as malted milk, at 1 6/10 cents. Three articles in this list are super- ior to rice, to-wit: oatmeal, butter and cheese, but their superiority is due solely to the large proportion of fat in each. The consumption of fat in the body is like burning pitch pine under a boiler, it makes steam but it soon burns out the shell. Fats make 212 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention too hot a fire for warm countries. If perfect consumption and slight tax upon the system be considered rice again takes rank as first among foods in value. Where rice is the principal food dyspepsia and other forms of indigestion are rarely found and there is perfect health and great endurance. In Japan it is a common saying among resident American women, "I could do that if I had a Japanese back," referring to the strength of loin possessed by the native women. Every traveler in that distant land has noticed with surprise the ease with which a jin- rikisha boy will draw a man six miles an hour along the streets of Tokio. In the late rapid advance upon Peking it was found that the Japanese could outmarch all the armies of the Occident. With full equipment they advanced at double quick all day and repeated it till even the Russians fell behind ex- hausted. The women with backs, these jihfikisha boys with the speed of a horse and these double quick soldiers live on rice, bean soup and fish. ' The Chinese Coolie works in the rice marshes of Siam, under a tropi- cal sun, breathes malaria, drinks stagnant water and remains in per- fect health. He lives on rice. In selecting a food for dense pop- ulations certainty of the crop is an important consideration, especially wh^re any considerable failure is significant of the death of a portion of the people. Rice, when properly cultivated, is the most certain crop of all the cereals. In the Orient it has been bred and trained to with- stand the sweeping monsoon and the furious tornado. Last spring a farmer on the lower Colorado river, in Texas, planted 150 acres with im- ported Japan seed rice. The Galves- ton tornado destroyed all his cotton, but his rice successfully withstood the storm and yielded 17 barrels per acre. Given a suitable soil, plenty of water and intelligent husbandry and the rice crop may be depended upon with greater regularity than bank dividends. A third reason for adopting rice as a staple food supply in countries of dense population is that the an- nual crop does not exhaust the soil as rapidly as other cereals. The water of irrigation furnishing a material amount of plant food, and in some countries a winter renovating crop, as clover in Egypt, is used, making it possible to continuously crop a field in rice for an indefinite period. Fur- ther a staple food for a warm climate must be one that can be easily pre- served from one season to another. In the tropics corn and wheat can- not constitute the staple food, except in sparcely settled sections where corn can be held in the shuck. Corn meal and wheat flour are soon spoiled, weavel and must speedily make them unfit for use; but rice can be stored with reasonable safety. It can be prepared and cooked with the crudest implements and is a healthful food for people of all ages and conditions. It is fair, therefore, to assume that the consumption of rice in the United States will increase more rapidly than the population, all other things being equal. A dense population will demand it. Fifteen years since it appeared highly improbable that rice would ever occupy any commanding posi- tion in the food markets of this country. Wheat and corn imperially controlled the situation and were dominating the markets of the world. The spinning jenny and the power loom did not do more to enthrone the cotton industry than the machine seeder, the twine binder and the steam thrasher did to make wheat chief of cereals. Rice, in all this period of the triumphant evolution of wheat remained stationary. Fif- teen years ago it was planted, har- vested and milled the world over pre- cisely as it was 2000 years before America was discovered and to all appearance there would be no im- provement for the ensuing 20 cen- turies. One day some bold optimists conceived the idea that improved farm machinery could be adjusted to the rice industry. After many trials and failures it was a success. The gang plow, the horse drill, the twine binder and the steam thresher took possession of the rice fields. This involved a revolution, to-wit: the Southern States would become in the near future large contributors to the Held in New Orleans, December 4.-7, 1900. 213 world's food supply as well as to her fiber supply. I have digressed somewhat from the subject assigned me, "Rice Pro- duction in the South," to discuss some of the general propositions re- lating to rice, but necessary to a full understanding of the situation. It is needless to enter into an account of the introduction of rice into the United States. It 'is sufficient to state that its cultivation till recently was along old lines and that its pro- duction appeared likely to decrease, owing to the stronger competition from India and Siam, due to the con- struction of the Suez canal and the employment of larger steamships in the Oriental service, greatly reduc- ing the cost of transportation. Jn- til 1885 rice production in the United States was practically limited to the alluvial lands of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, and it then appeared that the industry could not successfully meet the com- petition of the bonanza wheat farms of the northwestern prairies on the one hand and the low priced labor of India on the other; but when machinery was adjusted to rice pro- duction and it was discovered that the prairie lands of Southwestern Louisiana and Southern Texas, with their impervious subsoil, would dry out before the rice harvest, suffic- iently to hold up machinery, rice be- gan to re-assert the supremacy which she held as a world food while the use of machinery in the fields of hus- bandry was unknown. This coast prairie rice belt in Louisiana and Texas includes over 12,000 square miles of fairly level and very fertile prairie. Prior to the invasion of this territory by rice the land was regarded as almost worthless except for stock range. Subsequently it was ascertained that the soil was ricn in plant food and that its nonproduc- tive condition was due solely to lack of drainage. This rice belt is bi- sected by ten navigable rivers and by many smaller streams; all convey- ing fresh, soft water, comparatively free from silt. Prices of land were barely above the cost of government entry. Settlers from many sections of country began to camp upon this territory with improved machinery. Some people shook their heads, but they shook out their plows, their drills and binders and went to work. Wherever prairies were found suf- ficiently level, with an inrersecting creek which could be used to flood them, they were surrounded by a small levee thrown up by a road grader or by a plow with a strong wing attached to the moldboard ex- tending it 4 or 5 feet, or with a plank grader. These levees were usually 12 to 24 inches high, and the interior ditch was 12 to 18 inches deep and 4 or 5 feet wide. Very few interior ditches were made for drain- age. The land was so level that fields of 40. and 80 acres were com- mon. Large crops were produced. The prairies were practically free from injurious grasses, and the creek or river water was soft and bore no damaging seeds to the fields. The rice fields were handled like the bon- anza wheat farms of Dakota, and for- tunes were made. Levees were cheaply constructed; little attention was paid to drainage, more than to remove the surface water; shocking, stacking, and thrashing were done in a very careless manner; the main object being, apparently, to plant a large acreage and secure a certain number of bushels, regardless of quality. Ultimate failure was cer- tain, but it was hastened by drought. A succession of dry years followed. The creeks failed, and reservoirs were found to be expensive and un- reliable. To provide a reliable supply of water, pumping plants for raising water from the streams were grad- ually put in. The elevation of the prairies above the streams varies from 6 to 38 feet, the larger portion being from 15 to 25 feet. At first, farms along the streams and lakes were irrigated; gradually large sur- face canals were constructed. In nearly every township there are one or more ridges slightly above the surrounding land. On these surface canals are built from 20 to 150 feet in width, according to the area to be watered. The sides of the canal are raised from 4 to 5 feet with plows and scrapers or with grading machinery- Grading ma- chines work very weh, as ine soil is a loam or a clay loam free from stones. Side gates are inserted in 214 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, the embankment as frequently as necessary. Laterals are run from the main canal to accommodate remote farms. Powerful pumping plants are erected on the bank of the river at the head of the surface canal. These canals, where well constructed and operated, prove entirely successful and make the rice crop a practical certainty over a large section of country. They range in irrigating capacity from 1,000 to 30,000 acres. The usual water rent charged the planter by the canal company is 324 pounds of rough rice per acre watered. The cost of constructing perman- ent canals is considerable. Between the river or lake bank, at the initial point, and the general level of the table lands, and in crossing oc- casional depressions the levees must be both high and wide at the base. The canal must run upon a divide in order that it may not cross any streams and may be sufficiently above the general level to water all portions of the adjacent country. Several hundred miles of such ir- rigating canals have been con- structed, which with their pumping plants have involved an expenditure of over three millions of money. Scarcely had the surface canals been accepted as a success when Southwestern Louisiana was startled by the announcement that there was a stratum of gravel at 125 to 200 feet under the surface of the entire sec- tion containing an unlimited supply of water which would, of its own pressure, come so near the surface that it could be readily pumped. This was received with considerable in- credulity at first, but repeated tests have proved that there is a bed of gravel nearly 50 feet in thickness un- derlying this section of Louisiana which carries a large amount of soft water with sufficient pressure to bring it nearly to the surface. Pipes of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10-inch size have been sunk to the gravel and pumped continuously for months without diminution of the supply. The water is soft, at a constant temperature of about 70 degrees, and absolutely free from injurious seeds or minerals. Such is the facility with which tnese wells are made that a 6-inch tuoe has been put down to the full depth required — 200 feet — in fourteen hour3. Thus far it has been found that a 2-inch pipe will furnish sufficient water to flood 10 acres of rice and a 6-inch pipe will flood 80 to 90 acres. Any number of wells may be made, and even if no more than 20 or 30 feet apart, one does not seriously diminish the amount of water ob- tained from the other. The total cost of a well or wells and pumping outfit sufficient for 200 acres of rice is from $1500 to $2000 and for 500 acres about $3500, or $7 per acre. It is probable that over 50,000 acres of rice will be irrigated by wells the ensuing season. The cost of such irrigation is from one to two dollars per acre for the sea- son, depending upon the cost of fuel and other conditions. When planta- tions are remote from timber and the railroad, the gasoline engine will be used. Since it has been found possible to transmit electricity with very small loss to distant motors the plan has been in contemplation to equip ten or twenty thousand acres witb wells and electric motors and furnish power from a central plant, using the same power for milling the rice when not in use for pumping. The evolution in milling rice has been as great as in the production. The primitive method of milling rice was to place a small quantity in a hollow stone or block of wood and pound it with a pestle. The blow with the pestle cracked the hull, ana the friction created by tne slidmg motion of the rice under the blow removed the hull and the cuticle. The bran and hulls were then separ- ated by winnowing. The first ad- vance upon this primitive mechani- cal process was to make the recepta- cle for the rice out of a short sec- tion of a hollow log, using a heavy wooden pounder bound to a hori- zontal beam, resting on a fulcrum 4 to 5 feet from the pounder. The pounder was raised Dy stepping on the short end of the beam, and by suddenly removing the weight the pounder dropped into the rice tub and delivered a blow. This simple machine and the fan- ning mill are in common use in ori- ental countries to this day. As one passes along the street in an oriental city, a peculiar sound is Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 215 brought to the ear as a blow de- livered upon some yielding sub- stance. Looking to the right or left one sees a rice mill, consisting of a one-man power jumping on and off the beam of the pounder and one- woman power at a crude fanning mill cleaning the grain. Such a mill cleans about 11 bushels (a trifle over 3 barrels) of paddy rice per day, at a cost of 6 cents (gold) per barrel. Where practicable, water is used to turn an overshot wheel, which is geared to a long horizontal shaft with arms at distances apart equal to that of the rice pounders. In every mountain village in Japan may be found such mills preparing the rice for local consumption. They usually have about eight pounders and mill 96 bushels daily or 26 2/3 barrels of paddy rice, at a cost of about 2 cents per .barrel, which is more than paid for by the offal. In cities steam power is used and the number of pounders greatly in- creased, but the process is practi- cally unchanged. Our modern rice mill is an automoton of complicated machinery, into which the rough rice passes and finally reappears ready for market, graded, sacked and weighed, at the rate of 20,000 to 200,000 pounds per day, according to capacity. Thus far the evolutions of rice in its production and milling pro- cesses has gone forward upon South- ern soil with perfect success. The problem now widens. It is one of economic distribution. The producer of wheat in Dakota receives within a third of a cent per pound of the sum the consumer in Louisiana pays for the flour. In case of wheat, transportation, milling and profits are kept within a third of a cent per pound. Reversing it; the consumer of rice in Dakota pays five cents per pound more than the farmer in Louisiana receives at his home mar- ket. That is, fifteen times as much is paid for milling and marketing rice as for milling and marketing wheat. When I was a boy I held my atlas on an incline in front of me and somehow the idea took possession of me that it was always uphill toward the north pole. Transportation lines must have arrived at some such con- ception and are charging for heavy grades in moving freights toward the north. However, the battle of the toiling millions will soon arbi- trate this question in favor of rice and the two great staples, wheat and rice, will be placed upon the same footing commercially. With transportation and other questions of economic distribution adjusted the producers of rice will enter upon a battle royal with the producers of wheat. With what result? In India, China and Japan, which contain about one-half the population of the world, wheat and rice have been produced for decades of centuries un- der similar conditions. Both are cul- tivated and harvested by the crudest hand processes. There, under sim- ilar conditions the result has been favorable to rice. In the United States both are machine products upon a parity. Rice has against it the greater cost of irrigation and of cutting. It has in its favor a larger yield per acre, a more certain crop and an adaptation to rich, low lands unsuited to wheat. The by products of rice are fully as valuable as those of wheat. The straw is superior as a stock food. Thousands of tons of rice straw have been sold this year in Louisiana at $4 to $6 per ton to stock men. Rice bran and rice polish rank for food with wheat bran and wheat middlings. It should be noted that wheat production in the United States has passed the meri- dian of its vigor. Many States that once were large contributors to the wheat supply do not now produce enough for home consumption. Wheat was fortunate in finding won- derfully favorable conditions on the prairies of the Northwest, but it ex- hausts the soil rapidly; ten to fif- teen years of continuous cropping reduces the annual yield per acre to barely paying quantities. The cen- ter of wheat production is moving steadily to the north; there is little remaining territory for it to devas- tate. Already it is a giant with pal- sied limbs. A further question should be con- sidered. Can the rice planters of the United States, with all of their improved agricultural machinery, compete with the cheap labor of the Orient? On the prairie rice lands of 216 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, Louisiana and Texas one man with a four horse or four mule team usu- ally plants and harvests 100 acres of rice. He will require an addi- tional man in harvesting and stack- ing and of course help for two or three days in thrashing. Well tended his crop should net him 1000 barrels worth at present three thousand dol- lars. He may do much better than this and he may do worse. In Japan one-third of an acre is a reasonable rice farm for one man. In China and India the water buffalo is used in preparing the land which enables one man to cultivate from one-half an acre to two acres, depending upon the amount of additional help em- ployed. There is no known country where a dollar in wages will pro- duce as many bushels of rice as in the United States. The indications are that rice production in India and Japan will decrease. These countries show remarkable progress in textile manufactures. This indicates that considerable land will in the near future be devoted to the production of fiber. Every acre devoted to fiber must be withdrawn from the culti- vation of rice or wheat, for every available acre in India, China and Japan is now under cultivation. It should be noted that the increased production of rice in southern Eu- rope, especially in Italy and Spain, has been considerable within the past 30 years and wheat, oats and barley have relatively yielded ground. The increase of the world's pop- ulation in the next thirty years will not be less than four hundred mil- lion and the food for this immense number of people must be drawn from new fields. Before the expir- ation of that period India, China and Japan will become importers of rice, and the rice of Siam will find market at neighboring ports. The markets of Europe must then be supplied by American rice and the consumption in the United States in the mean time will have more than doubled. Let us take account of stock, Suppose our product last year to have been two hundred million pounds of cleaned rice (this above the general estimate), we imported two hundred and five million pounds and Porto Rico with an annual de- mand of seventy-five millions has been added to our markets. Cuba, just at our door, ' will soon require one hundred million pounds annually and the Philippine demand will be about one hundred and thirty-five million pounds. ' These islands are all importers of food products be- cause they find other crops more profitable under tneir conditions. The Hawaiian Islands formerly sent to this country about five million pounds annually, now they import from us large amounts. With an annual production of about two hun- dred million pounds we have present and prospective markets demanding seven hundred and twenty-five mil- lion pounds, with the probability that the demand will be more than dou- bled in thirty years, and the markets of Europe added. Some will ask, "If such is the rice situation in the South, what is the necessity of any tariff on it?" For several reasons; 1st, the question of economic distribution has not yet been settled; 2nd, many things are yet to be learned about rice in con- nection with machine production. As yet it does not take as high a polish as hand produced rice. It fre- quently has what is known as the chalky edge, which reduces the price of the finished product fifty cents per hundred. The price of rice at pres- ent is based on fashion and not on food value. It is the problem of finish or the shine it takes and not what it is. This chalky edge is due to careless management in pro- ducing large crops and will soon be remedied. Credit is due the United States Department of Agriculture for prompt and valuable assistance in overcoming some very serious ob- stacles in the way of economic rice production. Another thing to be learned, is better cultivation as necessary to quantity and quality of product. 3rd, rice farming on our system is yet in its infancy. Many farmers have recently commenced with small means and are not yet in circum- stances to make a crop at the great- est profit, which requires ready cap- ital. 4th, the greatest danger from Oriental competition is what is known as dumpage, i. e., after home consumption has been supplied the Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 217 remainder is sold for what it wi'.l bring, regardless of cost of produc- tion. This occasional dumping of a surplus on our market utterly de- moralizes our home prices. In the United States, when an enormous crop of grain gives us a cheap sur- plus it is fed to cattle and hogs. In Oriental countries it must be sold, because they do not have the stock to which it can be fed and hence it is exported at any price it will com- mand. It is like eggs, the surplus is sent to market whether the price be four cents or forty cents per dozen. Ordinary conditions can be met, but an occasional dump is so excessive as to be a wrecker. I have thus far discussed rice al- most entirely from its commercial standpoint. This is not its most substantial and attractive feature for the South. The paramount demand of the South is for some good, small- grain crop, which will furnish food for the people, and a profitable sur- plus for export, leaving upon the farm abundant and nutritious by products for the maintenance of stock and thus untilizing the luxur- iant pasture lands, now classed as waste. Cotton and pasture do not co-operate. The sole by product of cotton is worth too much commer- cially to be generally left upon the farm. The full resources of the av- erage farm can never be developed with cotton as the main crop. Corn is a grand grain but its stalk is too woody and has lost much of its value before it is required as food for cat- tle. The plant that meets these re- quirements is rice. It has a wide habitat and can safely be planted from the equator to the 36th parallel of latitude. South of this line most farms have a creek or river bottom, easily flooded, which might be de- voted to rice. One hundred acres of rice furnishes at least one hundred tons of straw superior to native prairie hay, and twenty-five tons of bran and polish. This provides for the wintering of one hundred head of stock. Some plan will soon be devised for the use of agricultural machinery on bottom land as well as on the firmer soils of the prairie. The future of this industry is full of interest. The chief interests, however, in the general planting of rice in the South lies in the fact that it will make the Southern States resource- ful and independent. In the nature of things there will ever be a strug- gle for empire and the survival of the most powerful. The decisive bat- tles of the future will be won, not by seried battalions with emblazoned banners amid the rattle of the rifle and the roar of the cannon, but by the industrious millions on the farms and in the factories. It is a battle to a finish for the most economic production and distribution of the world's supplies. War has become a problem of the exchequer, based upon industrial resources. A bread line 1500 miles long is improvident if safe. Economic forces are opposed to it; especially when we have a cereal at home, hardy, enormously productive, better suited to our re- quirements, and can be milled upon the farm for home use at trifling expense. I have heard with pleasure in this convention speeches and reso- lutions in favor of establishing cot- ton mills in the South until every pound of cotton produced within her fair domain shall be transformed by the magic of spindle and looms into fabrics of value for the marts of trade. Did it occur to the eminent speakers that however desirable such a result, its achievement is impos- sible under present conditions? Why? Because we now import from the North immense quantities of wheat, beef, pork, butter, cheese and other iood products. The question is sim- ply this: Is it cheaper to transport the food for the operatives in cotton mills from its Northern base to the cotton centres of the South or to ship the cotton bale to the food cen- tres of the North. Cotton is the cheaper freight. If, however, we shall become a great food producing people, the whole problem will be changed. The general cultivation and use of rice in the South will solve the factory problem. To affirm that rice in the South can occupy the vantage ground of wheat in the North, both in extent and in economy of production is equivalent to a declaration of com- mercial independence. It means that we shall feed our own people with a home grown cereal and that with by products we shall produce the 218 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, pork, the beef, the butter, and the cheese required for home consump- tion. It means a better grade of cattle and horses, better beef and stronger teams. The substitution of rice for corn and wheat as a princi- pal food for Southern people will tend to the development of a hardier race. It will decrease dyspepsia, malaria and mortgages. It will strengthen and fortfy every line of industry and give us support at our weakest point, the lack of a proper ratio between the food and the fiber products. By general consent cotton is recognized as the best material to clothe the nations, and iron occupies a peerless position in all mechanical and structural works. In both these world-necessities the South has no successful rival. With the home pro- duction of food her commercial in- dependence will be complete and her conquests in the domains of indus- try will be a series of brilliant tri- umphs. Foundries and factories will come to her unsought; her cities will broaden to meet the demands of an increasing commerce and her marts of trade will teem with merchants from every land. Thus far it appears to me that ' this convention, from an industrial stand point, has been apologetic and penitential for the neglect of past opportunities, with promises of re- form and good resolutions for the future. I do not think Louisiana and Texas require any apology. For the past fifteen years they have embraced every opportunity for industrial im- provement and have gone into every battle for the commercial and indus- trial advancement of their people with the flags of their States spiked to the staff. Speaking for the rice section, fif- teen years since there was scarcely a barrel of commercial rice produced in what is now known as the prairie rice section, which extends 400 miles along the Gulf coast and contains some of the most fertile lands on this continent. These lands were then valued at twenty-five cents to one dollar and a half per acre. There were few settlements and no rice mills. To-day, it is the rice producing center of this continent. Unimproved lands are worth on an average $12.50 per acre. Those were thousands of well improved farms and happy homes. Within the ter- ritory are 27 rice mills with a daily capacity of over 20,000 barrels of rice. A score of young cities have sprung from the prairies, are clamor- ing for harbors and public buildings, and are heralding themselves as the future urban centres of the South. To illustrate the momentum of progress it may be stated that one firm has sold in a retail way 20,000 acres of land for actual settlement since last July. Within the past 90 days over ten million dollars of new capital have been invested in the rice industries of Louisiana and Texas. I can not say we are exactly in line, but we shall be when the rest double quick for* a few years." (Applause.) NEW ORLEANS BOAED OE TRADE. BY BERNARD McCLOSKEY, ESQ. Bernard McCloskey, on behalf of the Board of Trade, addressed the Convention. Bernard McCloskey made an ex- cellent address and it was applauded throughout. He spoke principally of the City of New Orleans and did justice to its greatness. His remarks were as follows: "Mr. Chairman and Delegates to the Southern Industrial Convention: At this late hour it is almost an im- position upon you to express the few facts upon the subject which has been assigned to me this morning. "The New Orleans Board of Trade, an organization representing not only the industrial and commercial development of the city, but every- thing that pertains to the financial, moral and social advancement of the inhabitants, has requested me, as ±cS spokesman, to say a few words on a subject that should interest every delegate to this convention; that is, the relation of the port of New Or- leans to the industrial development of the Southern States. I have lis- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, woo. 219 tened with marked attention to the very able papers read upon the in- dustrial development of Texas, Mis- souri, Alabama, Arkansas, North and South Carolina and the various other States in the Southern tier, but the more I listen the more it is im- pressed upon me that you may de- velop Arkansas and Alabama, you may develope Georgia and North and South Carolina, you may develope Missouri, but after all the Southern States must have some great outlet. Where is it? What is the use to grow crops if you cannot send them to a foreign market if necessary? What is the use of opening up and developing the resources of these great States if you have not an out- let to bear their products? What is the use of talking about this great Southern development if you have not a great Southern port equal to the occasion? It was a noble idea, one of the judges' of the United States Supreme Court expressed twenty-five years ago, that the banks of the Mississippi river opposite the City of New Orleans were as free to the inhabitants of Missouri as they were to the citizens of New Orleans; that is, that the harbor of New Or- leans is open to the world. The har- bor of New Orleans is particularly open to the Southern tier of States, to which it looks as the great outlet for the vast agricultural resources and the vast manufactured products. In other words, we, the delegates of the Board of Trade of New Orleans, say to the delegates of the various States, not only of the South, but of the country, that we have the greatest port in the world, because the banks of its river are free. It is the only inland seaside in the United States, Gentlemen, probably I should make myself a little clearer. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it has been held, touch upon the wharves and landings in front of this city. Therefore, it is an inland sea. Therefore, I say to you delegates of the various States that while you de- velope and continue to develope this great and vast region you must also maintain and look to us to continue to maintain an open gateway to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. If this port burdens you with enormous charges for handling your produce, you may develope your fields, but you will divert your produce to the Eastern seaboard. Therefore, we particularly insist that the relation- ship of the development of the port of New Orleans and the development of the South is so close that when you develope the Southern States you develope this Southern port, and when you develope this Southern port, you maintain the cardinal prin- cipal that no exclusive right will be granted in this port to any interest, but it will be held sacred, and to the- purposes of this Industrial Conven- tion. Fellow-delegates, you can leave this convention and say that when this vast region seeks an outlet for their commerce that opposite this big and growing city there is their seaside, which cannot be bartered away to the detriment of their in- terest. What philosophy is in that decision of that justice of the Su- preme Court of the United States? "Cities arise from a contented and prosperous country around them." The Mississippi Valley is destined to- be one great city. Where is it to be? Gentlemen, it is right here. Therefore, my first suggestion to you is that the relationship between com- mercial development and the port of New Orleans is so close that we of New Orleans have a sacred duty to perform. We will maintain this port so that the import and export business will increase, and the> charges of this port will be so small as to be practically free. Gentlemen, an idea. What is the use in your producing crops to send to some foreign country, if you cannot send them into the market at the cheap- est rate possible? New Orleans has announced to the world that five months hence its port will be a free port. Just think of it. If a large steamship line desires a location for a landing in the City of New York, it is necessary for them to spend sev- eral millions of dollars in the build- ing of docks and otherwise. The re- sult is that an enomous capital has to be expended by the steamship line for the purpose of doing business there. In New Orleans a different spectacle is presented. Not a sin- gle dollar will be needed for the pur- pose of transacting business here. The charge can only be the actual 220 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, cost of maintaining the wooden structure where the landing is had or the shed which covers the goods. The relation, therefore, of the in- dustrial development of the South to the port of New Orleans is ap- parent, and we state to this conven- tion that New Orleans will be the freest and cheapest port in the world, and especially in the United States. In this connection, brother dele- gates, it is sufficient for me to state that the value of the imports through the port of New Orleans during the past season amounted to $17,000,000, and the exports $115,000,000. The ac- tual tonnage entered and called at New Orleans was from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 gross. In other words, we are the second export city of the United States, and yet I was some- what astonished a few mornings ago to listen to one of our distinguished and able delegates say that New Or- leans was not maintaining its posi- tion. There is no city in the United States with a population of approxi- mately 300,000 which is making the rapid strides that New Orleans is. Its bank clearances have increased many million dollars. Its export and import business has increased 50 per cent. Its receipts of cotton amount to 2,300,000 bales. Our receipts of sugar have gone to nearly 2,000, wu barrels. In other words, brother del- egates, we have the second export city of the United States. We have the largest sugar market in the United States. We have the largest rice market in the United States, and, as I have already told you, we have about the freest port in the United States, especially a few months hence. But do not get frightened — I have something more to say to you. A few mornings ago I read in a New York paper — you know that when you want anything you must go out yourself and get it — capital will only come to you when they think they can make money out of you, and for that reason you must stand to- gether until the day of suffering in the Southland is at an end — stand together to the day of prosperity — stand together, and you will get there. But what did I start to tell you about the New York paper. It said that New York was losing her coffee business, and that New Or- leans had it. But we will hold it. New Orleans may control the coffee market, but we will still be the finan- cial centre. That is another fact that I desire to impress upon you. This great Southern country needs coffee. No matter how much you may de- velope the country, you want to have coffee for breakfast. So, gentlemen, we have in New Orleans a great cof- fee centre. I was about to stop, but I know most all of you eat fruit and bananas, especially if you live in this Southern climate. Now, how does the port of New Orleans stand on this question? It is one of the greatest ports of the United States as an importer of oranges, bananas, lemons, etc. Gentlemen, with these ideas be- fore you, I desire to impress upon you that New Orleans is the second exporting city of the United States; the largest cotton market in the United States, the largest sugar mar- ket in the United States, the largest rice market in the United States, the second largest coffee importing point in the United States. I may say to you that the New Orleans Board of Trade is in line with this industrial convention, as it is the representative of these var- ious interests that I have depicted to you. Fellow-delegates, I listened, a few mornings ago, very attentively to the Mayor of Waco, a distinguished representative, and I think he struck the key-note when he said that every man should stick up for his town. I am here, you will notice, to stick up for the great city of the South — New Orleans. We have an institu- tion known as the New Orleans Board of Trade, that represents the entire commercial interests of the city. It is in close touch with everything that pertains to the advancement of the welfare of the inhabitants of the City of New Orleans. It is also alive to everything that affects the South generally. An example: Every year we are confronted with the proposi- tion that the Southwestern Limited, that runs via Washington to New Orleans, the subsidy will be taken off. In other words, we believe a train running from Washington to New Orleans should at least make Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 221 as good time as a train running from Washington to New York. But some of our congressional representatives do not believe so. This Board of Trade every year sees to it, with the assistance of the exchanges through- out the country, their representa- tives in Congress, and otherwise, that this is maintained. This is an example how generally alive to the necessities of the City of New Or- leans and of the South generally tiiis Board of Trade is. New Orleans is also becoming a great manufacturing centre. You have heard from one of the delegates about the growth of the shoe busi- ness and of its possibilities. We are manufacturing extensively beer, soap, furniture, tobacco, cotton goods, paints and tinware. There- fore, you need not feel that New Or- leans is asleep. When I heard that distinguished statesman and soldier from the State of Georgia, his remarks so impressed me, and upon the delegates, that when he said Georgia is in line I felt he could have added that Geor- gia is in line to pour all the products of that State that . must secure a foreign market through the port of New Orleans. The day of commercial depres- sion, not only in the South, but es- pecially in New Orleans, is at an end. The people are alive, not only to the necessities of the day, but they are generally alive to the fact that in order to develope trade they must compete. We are in a posi- tion to compete. One other word, brother delegates, which must inter- est you; that is what we intend do- ing relative to sewering and drain- ing the city. Would you believe it? I am sorry that you have not the time to see it, but it is a fact that we have the largest pump in the world. We are about to complete the most thorough drainage system, by which the water will be immediately car- ried off of our streets, as it is in Northern and Eastern cities, and we are about to install the most perfect sewerage system the most competent engineers can devise. Approxi- mately $18,000,000 will be spent, and has now been spent, in sewering this city. With this drainage sys- tem complete, the sewarage system now started, and with asphalt laid upon our streets as rapidly as possi- ble, in keeping with these improve- ments, you can readily appreciate that New Orleans is not asleep. It is your interest, it is our interest, it is the interest of every hamlet in the South that New Orleans be the great cosmopolitan city of the Southland. My brother delegates, you might say to me that this convention did not meet for the purpose of listen- ing to the progress of this city. My answer is that the progress of New Orleans is a part and parcel of that great Southland, which is your birth- right. "Fellow-delegates, the very men- tion of the Nicaragua Canal should move every one of you to make ex- traordinary efforts to accomplish this. There is none so dull but can see that if the canal is built you will have London on the Thames, New York on the Hudson, New Or- leans on the Mississippi, St. Peters- burg on the Neva. In other words, the Mississippi River, which drains one million and a quarter square miles of territory, must have on its bosom, by the laws of nature, some great city, some great cosmopolitan city. Sitting almost upon the Gulf of Mexico, backed by the waters of Lake Pontchartrain, seventy or eighty miles from the Gulf, here she sits the peerless queen, the city of her hopes and of her ambition. The city sometimes, in the past, full of tears, but now full of joy. A city that has reached a population of 300,- 000. A city whose exports and im- ports, whose cotton, "vyhose manufac- turing industries, attract not only the attention of statisticians, uut gradually attract the attention of the people of the whole United States. Gentlemen, you might as well try to stem the current of the majestic river itself as to stem the growth of this great metropolis. Here every language is spoken. Here every creed and class worship as befit themselves. Here every one can find a home for peace and happiness. And let me say to you delegates, when you go home tell your neigh- bors and their children if they seek a city to make a home to come to this great and growing city of the 222 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention South. A naturalist said that when an eagle built a nest every bird of the plain and of the wood brought something. So it seems to me that every other Southern State and every Southern delegate should bring something to build up this eagle's nest — this queen city of the South. This great naturalist said that to build up that eagle's nest some brought cinnamon, some crought Juniper, some brought something of greater or less value, and you of tnis industrial convention should realize the great connection between this great port and the development of the South, and should bring some- thing to build up the port. We of New Orleans, and especially of the Board of Trade, will always be in line to advance your interests, as well as our own. In fact, the con- nection is so close that one could not exist without the other. Gentlemen, one word about the canal, and I am done. It was said at one time that all roads lead to Rome, but, gentlemen, what object lesson does it teach — it appears that all ships would turn toward ■ the Crescent City. The power granted to Congress to regulate commerce has been executed partially by the pas- sage of the interstate commerce law, and other acts, to prescribe rules and conditions upon which it shall be ex- ecuted. Afterward duties can be levied by various means, but this law will be dwarfed, and its financial effect disastrous, if the constitutional authorities do not look further than the bounds of the United States to place the producer of the Southern States, by the cutting of the Nicar- agua Canal, in a position to compete with all other producers, especially the English, French and German producer. "With such a city, therefore, at the base of the Mississippi Valley, let us not be disheartened. Let us feel that the trade prosperity is upon us; let us feel that the hour of the South's misfortune is past, and let us feel the commercial activity and life, pulsating not only this city, but the entire Southern country, and we hope that when this convention as- sembles again to still further inform you of the progress of New Orleans. Gentlemen, I thank you. (Loud ap- plause.) Judge Bossier, of St. Tammany, submitted a resolution in regard to the importance of that parish as a health resort, emphasizing its excel- lent hygienic effects. The resolution was referred, with- out debate, to the Committee on res- olutions. THE WARRIOR RIVER CANAL. BY HON. J. A. VAN HOOSE. Hon. J. Van Hoose, of Birming- ham, was then introduced and read the following paper on the Warrior itiver Canal. He said: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: To me has been as- signed a subject so vast and far- reaching in its beneficial results to our entire country "that I place its national importance second only to the Nicaragua Canal." I grant you that this is bold language. Especial- ly to use in a convention of this character, where so many important matters have been ably selected and ■still more ably presented and dis- cussed by representative men from all parts of America. Still, I use the language advisedly and am fortified in its use by the facts existing to-day in the industrial world. The feasibility and necessity of connecting the waters of the Ten- nessee with those of the Gulf of Mex- ico, by utilizing the Warrior or Coosa and Alabama Rivers had for years been the subject of discussion in Tennessee as well as in Alabama, and in 1875 the War Department caused Maj. McFarland to make a survey of a route from near Gun- tersville, on the Tennessee, to a point near Gadsden on the Coosa. In 1895 when I had the honor of being officially connected with the City of Birmingham, I deemed the time opportune to revive the discussion of this import- Held in New Orleans, December 4-/, 1900. 223 ant subject, directing especial atten- tion to that phase of it which re- lated to connecting the Tennessee and Warrior Rivers through the heart of the Birmingham District. A preliminary reconnaissance was made by two skillful engineers, Mr. Julien Kendrick, city engineer of Birmingham, and Maj. John A. Mil- ner, of the southern division of this proposed connection. Their report was so favorable that Congress was asked to order a detailed survey. This survey was made in 1898 by Mr. Joseph Ripley, an expert on water- ways, who was especially detailed, on account of the great importance of the project, from the Government work on the Sault St. Marie Canal. That report came as a revelation even to those who for years had hoped and believed in a general way that it was possible. The project was pronounced "feas- ible and practicable" by erection of locks and dams, and was recommend- ed as a matter of the greatest na- tional importance. The Secretary of War approved this report, and in his annual report to Congress in 1899 also recommended that the work be done. In times to come when its import- ance will be more generally appre- ciated there will be a continuous water-way from a point near Gun- tersville on the Tennessee River, passing through the heart of the Birmingham District to tide water at Mobile. The geological formation of the country conclusively proves that at one time either a large part, or perhaps all, of the waters of the Ten- nessee flowed southernly from near Guntersville and emptied into the Gulf through the Coosa and the War- rior Rivers. For the present, the work contem- plated refers only to the lower or southern division of this water-way, extending from Birmingham to tne Warrior River at a point about 25 miles west of Birmingham, where connection will be made with the Warrior River proper, and from thence, down that river to the Gulf at Mobile. The estimated cost of the work at present under contempla- tion is about four and a half mil- lion dollars. The capacity of this water-way when improved will be about 11,000,000 tons per annum, or about half a million car loads at 25 tons per car. This at once gives an idea of its vast carrying capacity. It is difficult, without transgress- ing the limits of veracity or propri- ety usually allowed one in speaking even of his own district or city, to convey to those unfamiliar with the facts, a correct impression of the immense resources of the country opened up by this water-way. Hence, Mr. Chairman, I am well aware that the world at large, at first views with amusement and more or less polite skepticism, many of the state- ments made by Birmingham and Alabama men in speaking of the re- sources and future of their District and State. And yet, truly, Nature has been so generous in her bestowal, especially of coal and iron to Ala- bama, and to the Birmingham Dis- trict, which is practically the heart of this great gift of Nature, that or- dinary language hardly conveys any idea of these inexhaustible resources. But so much has been written and said about these resources that I must now take it for granted that it is generally conceded by those who are competent to judge, that practi- cally no where on the known globe as yet discovered, do coking coal, iron ore and lime rock lie in such close juxta-position, and in such in- exhaustible quantities as they do in the famous Birmingham District. This brings up the question of tne importance and necessity of further opening up and making more acces- sible these resources, by a free, open all the year, water route down to tide water on the Gulf. And right here, permit me to briefly take up me question of the value of water-ways in general, since many casual think- ers and light talkers have the more or less prevailing idea that the use of inland water-ways is practically a thing of the past. This, Mr. Chair- man and Gentlemen of the Conven- tion, is a serious and almost a fatal blunder for any man, City, State or Country to commit in measuring re- sources or in attempting to better conditions. We often hear that "it is a day of railroads, not of water- ways." It is indeed "a day of rail- roads" and always will be. Equally true also is the assertion that short- 224 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ly will come a day for electric haul- age, propeller blades, steel barges, automatic lifts, shorter and straight- er routes on inland waters. No man is more willing than I to grant to railroads everything due them for the wonderful development of all countries through which they pass. No language can adequately estimate what the world owes to them for their beneficial results. And yet, water-ways always have and always will perform a function, which will be impossible for a railroad to per- form. The reason seems plain. With the present, or with the approximate- ly near future capacity on engines, rails, bridges, grades, cost of fuel, labor, maintenance, etc., railroads cannot and should not be expected to compete on heavy unremunerative freights with the slow, free water routes. Engines, men and tracks can be so much more profitably employed in carrying passengers, express, food, clothing and all articles which enter into the consumption and use of man or beast, and which must be handled quickly, that* there will always be a need of transportation by free water- ways of slower and heavier freights, not remunerative and hence not de- sirable to a railroad. The recent wonderful revival of the question of water transportation and the demand for the improvement of existing water-ways over the entire civilized globe, is a striking proof of the truth of these statements. Such instances as the Suez, Sault St. Marie and Man- chester Canals are all too well known to need extended comment. England has many canals in daily use, which are of vast service to her people and have done much in enabling England to maintain her supremacy in the manufacturing world. The large ex- penditures by Canada on her water- ways; the intention of the Emperor of Germany to make navigable ev- ery river in his Empire; Russia's vast projects for connecting the Black and the Baltic Seas; Pitts- burg's urgent demands for a free waterway to the lakes; the wonder- ful canal of Chicago, now merely doing duty as a sewer; the greater ship canal through which will some day pass ocean steamers up through the Hudson into the lakes, and lash their hawsers to the piers at Duluth; and lastly, the grandest, greatest of all, our Isthmian Canal, built and controlled by Americans, all prove the fallacy of such unthoughtful statements that "the use of inland water-ways is a thing of the past." - Permit me, even at the risk of be- ing a little tedious, to present in farther confirmation, the direct ben- efits to one single State from the con- struction of canals. The New York World of March 14th, 1900, contains certain facts and statements lur- nished by John D. Kernan, perhaps New York's greatest expert on ques- tions of transportation, which fur- nish food for thought and action. In an address delivered at Utica he uses the following language: "What the canals have done in the way of cre- ating wealth is shown by the fact that the canal counties have over 80 per cent, of the State's population and over 90 per cent, of its wealth. Up to the time when it was made free, the Erie Canal had paid into the State Treasury the whole of its orig- inal cost, the whole cost of its main- tenance, and a clear profit of $42,- 599,718. Even charging to it all that has been spent upon it, including the $7,000,000 squandered under Aldridge, there remains to that canal's credit in the State Treasury books the handy sum of $20,000,000." To these statements the World editorially adds: "This summary gives the very least of the services rendered by the canals. They have paid $360,000,000 in freights to New York boatmen. They have built up cities, towns and villages. They have created facto- ries and multiplied employment for men. They have created wealth in incalculable sums, and they have maintained the commercial suprem- acy of the State and City. Let us make our grateful acknowledgements to the canals and provide for their improvement." Mr. Albert Fink, undoubtedly one of the most trusted authorities upon the question of railroad transporta- tion, stated: "That the railroads of New York State could afford to maintain and keep open at their own cost the Erie Canal, on account of its being such a regulator of freight rates." In an address delivered in 1898 at Tuscaloosa, Ala., General Joe Held in Nczv Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 225 Wheeler in speaking of this Warrior River Canal and the importance of opening up the Birmingham District to tide water, used the following lan- guage: "To give some idea of the capacity of water transportation, I would call attention to the fact that while the Erie Canal in 1897 was delivering 37,500,00,0 bushels of grain in New York, all the railroads which centered there, including the four- tracked Central, were delivering only 28,000,000. What a stupendous iact is that!" Mr. Ripley who made the survey for this water-way to Birmingnam officially states after investigation that "the coal transportation from Pittsburg to New Orleans," — three times the distance from Birmingham to New Orleans, — "by river is re- munerative at one-third of a mill per ton per mile." In. face of such facts, let any man therefore, who values his reputation as a thinker or as one who looks broadly and closely at things, beware how he either ignores or scoffs at God's gifts of water-ways to His people and of their real place and value in the development of earth's resources and the betterment of humanity. If this be true of water-ways in general, of what value therefore, « would the opening up of the heart of the coal and iron fields of Alabama be to America? Permit me to an- swer this question by stating that last year Senator Morgan of Ala- bama in speaking of this proposed water-way used the following lan- guage: "I regard the opening up of the heart of the coal and iron fields of Alabama to tide water at all Gulf ports by means of free water trans- portation, of such vast importance to our whole country that I place it second only in its national import- ance to the Nicaragua Canal. In fact, I practically regard this water- way to Birmingham as the upper arm of the Nicaragua Canal. I ven- ture the assertion when these two things have been done by America, that the result will prove my state- ments." These words, Gentlemen, are statesmanlike and American, comprehensive in their grasp and far sighted in their vision. In present- ing the claims of this Birmingham water-way to many men prominent in the financial, manufacturing and commercial world, I have invariably met the same views entertained by the distinguished Senator from Ala- bama. I feel fully justified after many such interviews in saying that they regard it as wise to so handle America's resources and energies as to prevent, as far as possible, our different industrial centers from coming into injurious competition with each other. They believe that there is a point up to which reas- onable competition quickens and benefits a people, but that senseless and needless competition injures. It lowers wages, injures capital, makes men discontented, and in general, wastes the energies and resources of a people. They believe that the markets of the world are wide and profitable and that Alabama coal and iron should have an outlet by a free waterway, open all the year around, never obstructed by ice, to ports like Mobile, New Orleans, Pensacola, Gal- veston, so that from all Gulf ports they could take shipping for foreign markets. No other iron and coal dis- trict on the known globe lies so near the sea as does this Alabama Dis- trict. Its natural outlet, therefore, is down Valley and Warrior Rivers and out to the sea. Mr. James Bowron, first vice-pres- ident and treasurer of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, is properly considered an authority as to how America would be benefited ■by thus opening up this district. In an open letter to the Times-Demo- crat, in August, 1899, he expressed himself to the effect that only and by and through this water-way could the Alabama district properly attain the position that waa naturally due it. He says that although now trans- ported by rail, "Alabama coal is car- ried 275 miles and placed along side steamers at Mobile or Pensacola, ton for ton, and quality for quality, dol- lar for dollar, against English steam coal put on board ship at the vari- ous ports in the north of England, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sunderland, etc., and this being the case, it is evident that even a saving of 50 cents per ton in getting clown to tide water on coal from Birmingham, would give the Alabama field an advantage in supplying foreign trade, which could 226 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, not be gain-sayed or successfully re- sisted by any other country. In fact, it means the supremacy of America on the high seas for coal and iron." When it is remembered that Mr. Bowron was born and reared in Eng- land, is a practical iron expert from Newcastle-on-Tyne, such statements as these are of vital importance, and should urge every American who be- lieves in America's future and des- tiny to have the Government im- prove this water-way and let Ala- bama coal and iron win for America in tbe foreign markets, both honor and profit. Speaking to a Western member of the Rivers and Harbors Committee about this proposed water-way he used the following prophetic lan- guage: "Not only will steel barges deliver iron and coal from the Bir- mingham District to Mobile, New Or- leans and Galveston by an inland route, but the same barges, whale- backed, will go to Pensacola, Cuba, Puerto Rico, through the Isthmian Canal and unload on the Pacific Coast." If all this will help Amer- ica in general, who can properly es- timate what it means to every Gulf State and every Gulf port? Without any reference to lumber, lime, mar- ble, cotton, building-stone, a tremen- dous impetus would be given to ev- ery Gulf port for coaling foreign steamers, and for manufacturing, if coal, coke, iron and steel were laid down at their docks at anything like the cost of transportation which is officially stated to be remunerative for coal on the Mississippi from Pittsburg to New Orleans; namely, "one-third of one mill per ton per mile." I have it from good authority that some years ago the Rothchilds after careful investigation tnrough experts sent for the purpose, declared that they regarded the Gulf of Mexico as destined to be the Mediterranean of the Western Hemisphere; and that in time to come the cities on the Gulf would be the great reservoirs for re- ceiving the commerce of foreign na- tions, and for delivering the products and manufactures of the States trib- utary to them; that, on account of geographical and climatic condi- tions, the States bordering on the Gulf were destined to be the future seats of the busiest, most prosperous locations of man in the Western Hemisphere. I am warned by your motto, "No Sectionalism," not to undertake to Localize or to limit to any one point or section, the benefits of this open water-way, leading up to the heart of the coal and iron fields of Ala- bama. And yet I cannot resist the opportunity, may I not more correct- ly say cannot be guilty of the want of courteous regard, in making at least a brief mention of what this water-way means to the citizens and to the interests of this city, whose hospitality we have all enjoyed. Practically, men of New Orleans, no limits can be placed upon the bene- fits which your city would derive from cheap coal, iron and steel un- loading at your docks from steel barges, right out from the heart of the coal and iron fields of Alabama. Men are accustomed to measure things, distances and values by fig- ures, and hence, the old adage that "figures do not lie." You have built up a wonderful city, mainly upon one product, namely, cotton. In tniS, I do not intend for a moment to ig- nore your claims as a sugar, rice or grain market. But, inasmuch as for years you have been so success- ful in winning wealth and influence through the handling of cotton, per- mit me to lay before you some fig- ures upon the tonnage which the Alabama water-ways, in connection with your Lake Borgne Canal, opens up as a possibility to your citizens. I quote from an address delivered be- fore the New Orleans Progressive Union last June by the Hon. H. Dudley Coleman of this city, words which I trust will never prove tedi- ous to any American, and which should thrill the heart of every man who wishes well for New Orleans and would delight to see her further extend her usefulness and influence: "The capacity in tons of coal possi- ble to be shipped through these im- provements aggregate 15,000,000 tons per annum. This represents 20,000 trains of 25 cars each, or half a mil- lion coal cars of 60,000 lbs., 30 tons capacity each; 15,000,000 short tons of 2,000 lbs. each, which equals in weight six entire annual crops of American cotton at 10,000,000 bales Held in New Orleans } December 4-7 1900. 227 per annum. Granting that New Or- leans receives 2,000,000 bales of cot- ton per annum, all of which is not exported, it would take 30 years' re- ceipts of cotton to equal one year's capacity of Alabama coal output through the Birmingham and War- rior River Canal and the Coosa River improvements. With proper railroad facilities and terminals New Orleans ought to export in coal alone every year ten times the weight of all the cotton she now receives." I do not see how anything can be added to such statements, especially when they seem absolutely correct. The time will come, and it will come just as quickly as you men who have your homes and interests in New Orleans, say that it shall come, when to her other sources of wealth and growth will be added manufacturing. Given cheap coal, iron, steel and lumber, no reasonable limit can or should be placed upon what she could manufacture. The location of foun- dries, machine shops, ship yards and great docks are no idle dreams. They will assume visible form and stand as facts just as soon as you New Orleans men say they shall be build- ed, and shall stand as lasting monu- ments to your far-sightedness and energy. And finally, best of all, speaking as an American to Ameri- cans, what is true of New Orleans will be true of every Gulf City. What is true of Alabama and Louisiana will be true of every Gulf and border- ing State. This new life, the per- manent prosperity enjoyed by these States, will be reflected and distri- buted in the interchange of products from every other State in the Un- ion, and it will all add to the hap- piness, prosperity and greatness of America. (Applause.) SELECTION OF PLACE OF MEETING. Chairman Story: The time has now arrived for the Convention to decide upon its next place of meet- ing, and the election of its officers. Ex-Mayor B. H. Noonan, of St. Louis: Mr. Chairman, I desire to nominate Memphis, Tenn., as the place of assemblage for the next Convention, and I trust that the del- egates to this Convention will vote in support of this selection. Mem- phis is the central point of the Southern States and is in every re- spect eminently suited to the con- venience of the delegates from the various States as holding the Con- vention at Memphis would mean a minimum of expense to these dele- gates. No less than twelve railways enter the City. Its hotel service is of the finest in the land and by the time that the next Convention is held the new Gayoso Hotel, now in pro- cess of erection, will no doubt be completed, so that there will be am- ple accommodation there for all the delegates that the Association can induce to attend. Memphis is the largest inland cotton market in the world, and the largest cotton-seed market in the United States. It is moreover one of the most important manufacturing cities in the South, although it has not by any means yet reached the limit of its possibilities in that respect. There is one feature of the work of this Association which can be best served by holding the Convention in the City of Memphis. One of the principal objects of this Association is to bring about the improvement of the Mississippi River and its trib- utaries, for that improvement means the development of the entire West and South on every line which has been laid down by this Association. Therefore, the selection of the City of Memphis, situated as it is on the Mississippi River will be the means of keeping that great body of run- ning water before the eyes of the Convention and thus help forward its aims. It may also be mentioned that the preparation which will be made about that time for the reception of the Confederate Veterans will con- tribute an important feature towards the interest of a Convention in Mem- phis at that particular season. In my opinion it would be unwise to take the Convention elsewhere at a time when the Association is yet in its infancy. I therefore nominate Memphis as the next meeting place for this Convention. (Applause.) 228 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. Mr. Reilly, of Memphis, seconded the nomination of that city. The nomination was supported by Mr. H. T. Lawler of New Orleans, Mr. Cobb of Pensacola, Judge Bos- sier of New Orleans, and Mr. J. B. Gibson of Alabama. Mr. Gibson said that he agreed with Mr Noonan in thinking that there would be danger in taking the Convention to an ex- treme point. Mayor J. W. Riggins, of Waco, Texas: Mr. Chairman, I desire to speak for Texas, and to nominate as the next meeting place of this Con- vention the hub of. Texas, which is Waco. I may say, Mr. Chairman, that I am in favor of an open-door policy and of an open-mouth policy, and I believe that people should be either men or mice. I have been ac- cused of making a trade in the in- terest of Texas during the last few days, but I must disown that impu- tation. I am a reformed business man and was elected Mayor of Waco on that platform without giving either a nickel cigar or a glass of beer for a vote. Yes, gentlemen, we invite you to hold your next Convention in the State of Texas, a State which has in- creased enormously in wealth and population within recent years. We invite you to Texas, a State which has mines of forests, a State whose climate is more favorable to human life and longevity than the birth- place of man. Here are prairie lands richer than the Valley of the Nile and wealth too fabulous for speech. We invite you to Texas, having the lowest taxation of any State in the Union; Texas, whose great natural resources and richness can only be measured by the man whose patri- otic comprehension extends from ocean to ocean. We invite you to Texas whose confines are only lim- ited to the setting sun on the West, and whose northern borders are fanned by the apron-strings of the twentieth century women in Kansas; Texas, a State so large that if you take a map and fold it upon the east- ern extreme, El Paso will lay in the Atlantic Ocean; if you fold it on the extreme north, Galveston will lay north of St. Paul; a State which pro- duces one-third of the entire cotton crop of the United States, third only in railroad mileage, sixth only in population; and notwithstanding that there is only a little over twen- ty per cent, increase in the popula- tion of the United States in the last ten years, Texas shows an increase of over thirty-six per cent, in ten years, having a population of three million people. She shows nearly as much increase as all the New Eng- land States put together, a State that in twenty years has thrown away ruf- fianism, six-shooterism, broad-brim- med hats, and has taken the pants out of her boots, wears derby hats, speaks the choicest language, and has made the longest strides toward prosperity and civilization of any country in the world. She has a soil which responds more liberally then that of any other section or coun- try to the work of mankind, and she has climatic conditions and commer- cial surroundings unequalled. If there has been a man in this Convention who has not asked me about some friend in Texas I am not able to recall it. The only thing that we need is the pluck and grit and money represented in this In- dustrial Convention to transform our State into an industrial paradise on earth. We invite you to Texas, and as it will be impossible for you to spread all over the State, we invite you to the hub, Waco, a city stand- ing in the geographical center, which, in a few years, will be the head of navigation of the Brazos River. Its population has increased in the last ten years forty-two per cent. We have a county with a pop- ulation of sixty thousand already. It is a city where the long staple Brazos bottom cotton is marketed, the cot- ton that commands the highest price in the world outside of the sea is- land. We invite you to our city, the Athens, not only of Texas, but of the South. This Athens with its splendid free school system, two uni- versities, colleges and private schools, is a city that has the lar- gest proportion of refined and intel- ligent people of any city in America. It is a city whose women in their loveliness and _ beauty are not equalled by the rainbow tints, whose cheeks bear as lovely a hue as the full blown rose, and whose intelli- Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 22 9 gen?e, and refining ways, would lift you or any other set of men to a higher plane in life. We invite you to Waco, Texas, to hold your next meeting, and prom- ise you such hospitality and cordial greeting such as only the Geyser City, Waco, knows how to extend. (Applause.) Mr. Little, of San Antonio, sec- onded the nomination of Waco. Mr. Emerson Bentley, of Shreve- port: I had been instructed to in- vite the Convention to the City of Shreveport, but having discovered that a sentiment exists that a State which has already had the Conven- tion should not get it again, but that some other State should have the op- portunity, it has been decided not to press the claims of our city. The Convention having already been held in Tennessee, the same argument would apply as against Memphis, and for that reason I am inclined to sup- port the claims of Waco as the next meeting place. Mr. Justin F. Denechaud, of New Orleans, and Mr. McCoy, of Lake Charles, supported the nomination of Waco. Col. Jerome Hill, of Memphis, re- asserted the claims of the Bluff City, after which on motion all further nominations were closed. After some discussion as to now the vote should be taken, Acting Chairman Sidney Story, ruled that every person present should be con- sidered a delegate, and requested those in favor of Memphis to take seats on the right side of the hall, while those who supported Waco seated themselves on the left. The vote being counted it was found that Memphis had secured the next meet- ing of the Convention, by a large majority, and on motion of Mr. Rig- gins the selection of Memphis was made unanimous. ELECTION OE OFFICERS. Chairman Story then declared the election of officers to be the next order of the day. Mr. Ousley of Texas placed in nom- ination the name of President H. H. Hargrove. He said that no man was better fitted to fill the position than the present president, whose quali- ties had been proven, and that while he had differed with him on the floor on one occasion during the proceed- ings, yet he had the highest possi- ble opinion of his qualities both of heart and mind, and of the splendid work he had done for the Associa- tion. He therefore nominated Mr. Hargrove for a second term. Mr. H. T. Lawler, of New Orleans, seconded the nomination. Mr. Edwin Brobston, of Georgia: Mr. Chairman, I desire to place be- fore the Convention for the honor of president, the name of Mr. W. A. Hemphill, the manager and president of the "Atlanta Constitution." To quote from the inimitable ad- dress delivered by General Gordon on the opening day of this Conven- tion, I desire to say that "Georgia is in line," and she offers for this honorable office the name of one cf her most distinguished sons, who has grown gray in the cause of South- ern development — a man who linked f ci tunes with cur immortal Grady nearly a mar tor century ago and began building for Atlanta, for Geor- gia, for the Scuthj for the nation ! Together they worked, together they builded, an-1 while neither ever neld political office the one is known throughout the length of this land, and the memory of the other has a sacred immortality in the hearts of this nation. I present the name of W. A. Hemp- hill, whose great paper knows noth- ing except to love the South, whether it be Texas or Louisiana or Georgia or Tennessee. 'Tis ready to lend a helping hand, and for this grand man to let me say he asks no greater boon than to be able to die in the harness of well-doing, so that when he cross- es to that fair land beyond the stars and shall greet the loving soul of his great partner he can say, " 'Twas you who planted the seeds; I have come to describe the flowers and tell you our Southland now blossoms as the rose." . Mr. Kelly, of Philadelphia, Pa., sec- 230 Minutes of The Southern industrial Convention, onded the nomination of Mr. Hemp- hill. Mr. R. H. Henry, of Mississippi, said that he wished to support the nomination of Mr. Hargrove for the second term. Mr. Hargrove was a native of Mississippi, and the people of his State were proud of him. Mr. Gi'ubbs, of Texas, in support- ing Mr. Hargrove said he believed that where a man had served one term faithfully he deserved to be re- elected, and Mr. Hargrove had really served only half a term during which he had proved his eminent fitness for -the office he held. Mr. Tom L. Cannon, of St. Louis, supported the nomination of Mr. Hemphill saying that the Conven- tion needed a man who could reach the inner circle of legislation and that in this respect Mr. Hemphill would be able to do good work. Mr. J. M. Shivers, of Mississippi, ■spoke in support of Mr. Hargrove, saying that he did not know where that gentleman was born, but one thing he did know, and that was that he was the cause of this gathering. A rising vote was called for by Chairman Story, but just at that moment Mr. Hemphill made his way to the platform where he made an appeal i«t unity, and proposed that Mr. Hargrove be elected president by acclamation. Mr. Hemphill contin- uing said that he desired no greater honor than to be with Waco in vic- tory or defeat. This was a labor of love and he wished for nothing more than to work under the motto of the Association. Mr. Hemphill then spoke of the great development in cotton manu- facturing, iron manufacturing and coal mining, which were combining to establish the commercial greatness of the South. The people might sometimes feel discouraged, but let them say in the words of the pro- phet, "They that be with us are more than they that be against us." Above all things let us be united, for in unity was strength. Each section should rejoice in the industrial devel- opment of the others. The sentiment of the people towards each other should be that expressed in the beau- tiful words of Ruth to Naomi. In conclusion Mr. Hemphill said: "Peeling these sentiments, and with an earnest desire for the success of this Association, I want to make the election of Mr. Hargro/e unani- mous, and to extend my right hand and promise my assistance, and not only mine, but that of the great )ia- per that I represent." (Applause.) The nomination of Mr. Hargrove was then made unanimous, and he was declared elected amid great en- thusiasm, while a vote of thanks was extended to Mr. Hemphill. Mr. M. J. Sanders, of New Orleans, said that Mr. Hargrove's re-election was the result of the good work that he had done for the Association, and carried with it the re-election of Sec- retary Thompson, whose name be placed in nomination. Hon. J. P. Coffin, of Florida, sec- onded the nomination which was supported by Mr. Gibson, of Alaba- ma, and many other delegates, no other name but Mr. Thompson's be- ing mentioned. Mr. Thompson was unanimously elected Secretary of the Association. In response to a demand for Mr. Hargrove, the president elect, that gentleman was sent for, and on reaching the platform met with an enthusiastic reception, which he gracefully acknowledged, and re- turning thanks for the honor con- ferred upon him, said: "I appreciate the compliment tf re-election for it is an evidence of esteem which I can hardly find words to acknowledge. I can only say that I give back to you the compliment of your loving action. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and will say that I will discharge the duties imposed upon me to the best of my ability. I have never laid down the flag when placed in my hands, and will not do so now. If I fail, it will be due to the head md not the heart. "Let us have the next Convention so big that there will not be a hall in Memphis large enough to accom- modate it. Let us get a big member- ship and great results will be re- turned. Again I tender you my heartfelt. thanks for your manifesta- tion of confidence." (Applause.) Mr. W. A. Hemphill was then in- dorsed for first vice-president. Held in New Orleans } December 4-7 igoo. 231 Mr. Gibson, of Alabama, indorsed Mr. J. C. Bush, of Mobile, for vice- president for Alabama. Hon. Sidney Story was named as vice-president for Louisiana. Staff of Officers. President — H. H. Hargrove, of Shreveport, La. Secretary — N. F. Thompson, of Huntsville, Ala. ' First vice-president — W. A. Hemp- hill, of Atlanta, Ga. Vice-Presidents. John P. Coffin, Florida. Sidney Story, Louisiana. J. C. Bush, Alabama. J. W. Riggins, Texas. Thomas L. Cannon, Missouri. Gov. A. K. Longino, Mississippi. Frank Hill, Arkansas. J. B. Killebrew, Tennessee. D. A. Tomkins, North Carolina. W. B. Smith Whaley, South Caro- lina. B. F. Johnson, Virginia. M. H. Kline, Pennsylvania. C. F. Huhlein, Kentucky. Hon. Sidney Story: I move that the chairman of each delegation re- ceive the dues of his delegation, and pay same to the secretary. This was adopted. It being now 2 P. M., and the con- vention having sat in continuous ses- sion since 10 A. M., it was resolved that the Convention now adjourn un- til 7:30 P. M. FRIDAY NIGHT'S SESSIOX. Hon. Sidney Story occupied the chair and called the last session of the Convention to order at 7:30 P. M., introducing as the first speaker Hon. Dudley Coleman, of New Or- leans. COOSA EIVEE. BY HON. H. DUDLEY COLEMAN. Hon. Dudley Coleman, of New Or- leans, said: Mr. Chairman and Gen- tlemen of the Convention: Before speaking to you on the subject of the Coosa River I desire to read a let- ter which I have received from Mr. W. P. Lay, Chairman of the Coosa River Improvement Committee, at Gadsden, Ala., dated Dec. 4th, 1900, which is as follows: "My Dear Sir: Your telegram just to hand telling me that you would represent the Coosa River in the Industrial Convention, for which let me thank you. If you will kind- ly pardon me', I will say that I find one of the best points made on the Coosa River subject is the magnitude of the river, which you will see be- ginning on page four of the memo- rial, and ending on page five. This has attracted more attention than almost any other thing pertaining to the river, for it was quite a revela- tion to many people. The fact is that at low water the Coosa River is the largest stream in the South, except the Mississippi. When I sprung this question in Washington before the committee they were quite surprised, and when the Government engineer came up before them they asked him about the statement that I had made, and he replied that I had stated it correctly. Then there is another point. If you will look on the map you will see that the Coosa River passes almost as near Birming- ham as the Warrior. Then it prac- tically takes in Montgomery, We- tumpka, Talladega, Anniston, Pied- mont, Gadsden, Rome and the head waters of the Coosa run within about twenty-five miles of Chattanooga, Tenn. Then the east fork of the river at Rome reaches out near At- lanta, Ga., making the Coosa the only possible water-way that could ever be any benefit to Atlanta. "The Coosa River is the one great trunk line of water-way intended for Alabama by Nature. The Hon. Dealva S. Alexander, of New York, one of the Rivers and Harbors Commit- teemen, that was down here on the recent trip of inspection was quite struck with the idea that the Coosa River should be made the great trunk line of waterway for all that 232 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, portion of the country, and he made a spee;-li at Mobile on this line, set- ting out all these facts. I speak of these things just to give you point- ers as to what seems to be most at- tractive, or at least has proven so up to this time, so that you can con- sider them as you think proper in your address. "Kindly pardon me and don't think me presumptious for writing you this way, for I want you to act as you think best, but I thought it might be well to mention these facts. Kindly let me know how you come out, and send me papers of the pro- ceedings. Wishing you much suc- cess, I am very respectfully, W. P. LAY." Mr. Coleman said: I deem it ap- propriate, Mr. Chairman, that I hap- pened to have been selected by Mr. Lay to place the Coosa River sub- ject before the Convention, for the reason that I have given considera- tion to the question of cheap coal for New Orleans, and last spring I read a paper before the New Orleans Pro- gressive Union on the subject of cheap coal for New Orleans, realiz- ing that cheap coal is one of the most, if not the most, important fac- tor in the line of developing manu- factures. I wish to state that I have no direct interest in the Coosa Val- ley, or in the improvements of the Coosa River, but being a citizeu and resident of New Orleans, 1 am inter- ested in anything that benefits the city. I believe that with the open- ing of the Coosa River Channel or the Coosa River Canal, as it is some- times called, a new territory will be opened to this City that will bene- fit very materially the commercial and manufacturing interests of the city. Mr. Coleman then read the follow- ing paper: When Christopher Columbus plead- ed for financial assistance to enable him to prove that his theory was cor- rect concerning the undiscovered land in the then far west, he little dreamed of what was to follow his discovery. When he returned from his successful voyage to compensate his good friend, Queen Isabella, for her faith in him and for the import- ant aid she had rendered him by pledging her jewels to secure his ships and outfit, he took with him physical evidences of the new world he had visited. It is well that he was not permitted to conceive the wonders and wonderful industrial de- velopment that were to be recorded by American science, invention, in- dustry and valor, co-operating with Nature's gifts to America of land and sea, mountains, valleys and plains, forests and streams. The little Co- lumbus knew of things ne saw and felt; to know they were real was enough to cause him to be consid- ered visionary, dreamy and unreli- able. Suppose for an instant he could have prophesied then the pres- ent ' conditions, commercial, agricul- tural and industrial of our Nation — how supremely extreme would have been, not his reward, but his punish- ment. Mr. Chairman, the world knows of the present great prosperity of , this nation. This prosperity so general, so ample, that the Southern States participate in and enjoy it to a grand extent — as evidenced by the following quotation from the Manufacturer's Record of November 22nd, relating only to cotton, cotton seed, and their pro- ducts: "Southern Wealth in Cotton." "The South's cotton this year will be worth from $450,000,000 to $500,- 000,000, against an average of $300,- 000,000 of late years, an increase of from $150,000,000 to $200,000,000. In- cluding the seed, the value of the cotton crop will exceed $500,000,000. Southern mills will consume prod- ably 1,750,000 bales, against 1,500,- 000 bales last year. This cotton, which will cost Southern mills about $75,000,000 to $80,000,000, will in its manufactured shape be worth more than $225,000,000, thus adding $150,- 000,000 in the process of manufac- ture. To this add an estimate of $100,000,000 as the value of cotton- seed oil, hulls, etc., and it is found that the cotton crop will this year yield to the South the following: Cotton and seed.. ■ $500,000,000 Added value of cotton manufactured in South 150,000,000 Value of oil, hulls, cake, etc 100,000,000 Total $750,000,000 Held in New Orleans, Dccembei 4-/, igoo. 233 This is one of the many stories — this one being worth $750,000,000— forming the foundations for the South's structure. I do not deem it necessary to pre- sent at this time an array of fig- ures to prove the general prosperity prevailing throughout the Southern States, hut simply refer to the im- mense fruit crop sold at good prices; to the large rice crdp, and the good prices it brought; to the good pros- pects of the Louisiana sugar plant- ers; to the active prosperity of the saw mill or lumber and timber in- terests. To the coal, iron, salt, sul- pher, and to the hog crop, live stock and dairy crops, eggs, poultry and garden truck, all are factors in the whirl of active business prosperity marked by the crowded condition of passenger trains and the scarcity of freight cars to move the goods that are offered. Banks' clearings and statements published, show a mone- tary and financial condition that in- dicates prosperity all along the line. I refer to these conditions to show that I realize and appreciate them, and to emphasize my statement that this prosperity can be made more prosperous by the completion of the Coosa River improvements, by the Federal Government, at an expense of six millions of dollars provided for by a continuing contract approp- riation of that amount divided into six annual payments of one million dollars each, payable only when one million dollars worth of work shall have been done. The statements made by Christo- pher Columbus of what he saw in the New World were considered ex- travagant by his hearers. So my statements regarding the Coosa Val- ley, and what may be expected by the improvement of the Coosa River channel might be considered more extravagant, if I did not have the positive proof to the contrary. Magnitude of the River. The Coosa river rises in the moun- tains of North Georgia, and flows southwesterly and southerly until it helps to form the Alabama river a few miles below Wetumpka, Alaba- ma. It is formed by a junction of the Oostanaula and Etowah rivers at Rome, Georgia. From the most northerly navigable point the dis- tance along these streams to the Gulf of Mexico is as follows: Oostanaula river 108 miles Coosa river 315 '" Alabama river 390 " Mobile river 50 Total 863 " There would be a continuous wate^r route of transportation over the bosom of these rivers to the Gulf, but for the shoals and rapids on the Coosa river, distributed only over a distance of one hundred and forty- two miles from Greensport to We- tumpka, Alabama, and these shoals and rapids are intermingled with long pools of deep water. However, of this distance, there has been opened to navigation by the government im- provement of the river about 35 or 40 miles from Greensport, down to Lock Four, Alabama. The Coosa river is not one of those insignificant streams, upon which often large sums of money are spent without avail, but to the contrary, it is a deep, bold running and beautiful stream, its grandeur and beauty is excelled by none, with sufficient water for successful low water navi- gation for boats drawing four feet of water or less, if the water was properly concentrated over the shoals and rapids between Lock Four and Wetumpka, Alabama. To give a more correct idea of the magnitude of the river and its pos- sibilities, we quote from the report of Charles Frith, U. S. Assistant Engineer, in his report of Nov. 24, 1888, in which he says: "Velocity ob- servations taken at Lock Four show a discharge of 3,921 cu. ft., with a velocity of 1 and 33/100 feet per second, at a stage of 1 8/10 feet above low water. Similar observations at Wetumpka, at low water, show a discharge of 5,796 cu. ft, with a ve- locity of 0.9 feet per second." In the annual report of the Chief of Engineers for 1879, page 1203, the low water discharge of the Missis- sippi river at St. Paul is given at 5800 cu. feet per second. In the re- port for 1880, page 480, the low water discharge of the Hudson river >e- tween Troy and Albany 1? given as about 2000 cu. feet per second; and 234 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, in the report for 1881, page 1929, the low water discharge of the Ohio river at Pittsburg is givcz as 1666 cu. feet at zero of the gauge, and as 5810 cu. feet per second at nine inches of the gauge. Comparing these discharges with that of the Coosa river at Wetumpka, it appears that the volume of the water flowing in the Coosa at low water is about equal to that of the Mississippi at St. Paul; about 2 and 8/10 times greater than that of the Hudson at Albany; and about 3 and 5/10 times greater than that in the Ohio at Pittsburg. Geological Formation. The source of the Coosa river is in the mountains of North Georgia, which is a part of the great Appa- lachian chain of mountains running almost across the continent of North America from northeast to south- west. Where the flow of the river is southwest in course with the Appa- lachian chain, we find deep water, but below Gadsden, Alabama, the river deflects to the south, cutting diagonally across the strata of faulted rocks so characteristic with this chain of mountains and depend- ancies, and the alternate shoals, rapids and pools of deep water that characterize this portion of tne Coosa, is attributable to the differ- ent ledges of rock it crosses in its southern course. The meanderings of the river as it flows southwest crossing the valley from side to side through fertile fields of agriculture intermingled with rich mineral and timber deposits, make it accessible to almost every formation and por- tion of the valley, and the fact that this portion of the country is the southwestern extremity of the great Appalachian chain accounts for the presence of so large a number of valuable minerals in the Coosa val- ley and is a geological sequence. The Coosa Valley. The drainage area of the Coosa basin above Wetumpka, including its tributaries, is about 6850 square miles, which is rich in agriculture, forests and minerals. The climate of the valley is salu- brious, mild and temperate, the springs are early and wonderfully balmy, the summers are long, and even in temperature, the autumns are late and dry, and the winters are so slow of approach and so mild that some portions of the crops are fre- quently left out in the fields until after Christmas. That part of the valley lying in Georgia is bounded on the northwest by the Lookout Mountain, on the southeast by the line of hills or mountains embracing the gold belt of Georgia. This region is traversed by the waters of the Coosawattee, Connosawga, Oostanaula, Etowah, and Chattanooga rivers and Big Ce- dar Creek and their tributaries, all of whose waters help to form the Coosa. These river basins and mountain sides are densely timbered with hard woods. The white oak region of the Chattanooga range covers about 500 square miles and still possesses the greater portion of its virgin forests. This region embraces a population of about 225,000 and covers an area of 6,000 square miles of productive soil and unsurpassed mineral re- sources. The drainage area of the Coosa basin is about 7,000 square miles, which is in its rich agricultural, for- est and mineral resources beyond comparison. The present annual pro- duction of the valley of the Coosa will approximate in round numbers, four millions of tons, divided as fol- lows: Cotton 50,000 tons Cotton Seed 100,000 tons Corn 222,000 tons Oats 40,500 tons Wheat 67,500 tons Cattle, Sheep, Hogs .... 20,000 tons Tons Value. Total agricul- tural products. 500,000 $16,000,000 Timber 150,000 5,600,000 Iron Ore 1,600.000 2,400,000 Lime 450,000 ^6,000 Coal 300,(!uu 300,000 Manufactured products 1,000,000 "S,00(] y 000 4,000,000 $52,716,000 To say nothing of the hundreds of minor industries the products of which are not included in this com- pilation. The present production of the Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 235 Coosa valley, however, is in its in- cipiency as compared with the pos- sibilites of the proper developments of the vast resources of this valley. The facts will bear me out in stat- ing that there is found in the Coosa valley the greatest combination and variety of minerals, in the closest proximity to each other, nearest the seaboard, of any other place in the United States, and it is probable without a parallel in the world. This is a broad statement, but it is true while coal and iron are the predom- inating minerals found here, the rich fields of cotton and other agri- cultural products, intermingled with virgin forests and beautified with towering ranges of granite and cliff limestone assaying 98 to 100 per cent pure lime, must necessarily soon be fully developed, and the natural route to market this great mass of product, the route designated by na- ture is through the Gulf ports. Timbered Resources. There are 2,835,000 acres of unim- proved lands lying in the nine coun- ties immediately upon the Coosa river in Alabama. These lands are clothed with vir- gin forests, long leaf yellow pine, in- termingled with white, red and chestnut oak, hickory and many other valuable timbers. These for- ests contain not less than 3,000 feet of timber per acre, making a grand total of 8,505,000,000 feet, or a ton- nage of about twenty millions of tons, the value of which may be placed at $65,000,000. Cutting timber from this great for- est at the rate of 80,000,000 feet per annum, it would take over a hundred years to denude tnis forest of its virgin timber, and shipping at this rate, would give a tonnage of 150,- 000 tons per annum, from this source alone, whose value would be $5,600,- 000. Mineral Resources. No adequate conception can be formed of the extent and value of the iron ore deposits in the Coosa valley. The fact that this is the southwestern portion of the Appala- chian chain, can only account for the masses of rich red and brown iron ores and the great variety of other minerals found in this valley, as the richest and largest deposits of minerals are generally found in the southwestern portion of the for- mation in which they exist. Gold is found in Coosa county and elsewhere, and at one time the gold mines of that section attracted a large population. A pure and very fine grade of kao- lin is found in Calhoun and Etowah counties. Marble is abundant in Talladega, which is noted for its purity and beauty. Plumbago exists in Chilton, Coosa and adjoining counties, and it is claimed that tin has been discovered in Clay and Coosa counties, but red and brown iron ores, coal and iron are the pre- dominating minerals found in the Coosa valley. Iron exists in the greatest quanti- ties in all portions of the valley. Large iron ore mines are being ex- tensively worked at Gadsden, At- talla, and Grudup, Alabama, from which hundreds of tons of iron ore are mined daily. Brown iron ores are being very extensively mined in the Talladega, Anniston and Piedmont, Alabama, and Cave Spring, Georgia, regions, and the extent of these de- posits is beyond conception. Large and inexhaustible deposits of iron are found right on the banks of the Coosa river, accompanied by coal, and lime in great abundance in close proximity, which makes the river bank a very desirable place for iron and steel making. The present output of the iron ore mines of the Coosa valley will prob- ably reach 1,600,000 tons per annum, representing a value of $2,400,000. And we might safely say that this amount of ore could be increased to almost any amount that mankind might desire. Lime. The lime interest of the Coosa val- ley demands more than a passing thought, when we take into consider- ation that the lime deposits of this valley are probably the richest, and most extensive to be found anywhere in the United States, and the further fact that the greatest market for lime is found in the sugar refineries in Louisiana and the West Indies, and this market begins where the water of the Coosa river (the ob- 236 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, ject of this memorial) empty into the Gulf of Mexico. These lime deposits are found in great cliffs of pure lime stone, as- saying 98 and 100 per cent pure lime, towering out over the river and val- ley hundreds of feet high. They are similar to the cliff lime stone re- gion of the Ohio valley, except the cliff limestone of the Coosa is su- perior in quality, in fact the lime of the Coosa valley is unequal ed any- where in purity. The home consumption of this lime is quite extensive for building and domestic purposes, and ' thou- sands of tons of limestone are used annually for fluxing the iron fur- naces of the district in which lime is found. This, in connection with the de- mand for this lime in other States and foreign countries, for building, for use in sugar making and for fer- tilizing and disinfecting,, make the lime interests of the Coosa valley of very great importance. Prof. McCalley in his estimate of the extent of the Coosa coal fields reaches the conclusion that with an output of ten thousand tons per day the coal in this region would last 165 years. As for the quality and character of the Coosa coal, we quote from the report of Eugene A. Smith, Ph. D., Alabama State Geologist; in his re- port of the Coosa coal fields, 1895: "While different seams of coal show special differences in the struc- ture and composition, in this, as in all other coal fields, yet there are general features of similarity that distinguish these coals, as a class, from other coals. They are highly bitumous-iree hurning, yet rich in fixed carbon. Soft, easy to mine, free from bone or slate structure, and also from combined sulphur or py- rite — generally called sulphur flakes, and often and fervently maledicted by the miners in other fields. They long sustain combustion, and leave but little ash or cinder, and no clinker, and are well adapted for raising steam, for forge work, and for all other purposes of fuel. "The most important characteristic of these coals is in their superior coking qualities. They will rank among the first class of coking coals. This is not a very extensive class, though coke can be made from most of the coals in the Appalachian fields, which is distinguished as a field of coking coal, and which pro- duces over 95 per cent of all the coke made in the United States; yet all this coke that is of commercial value is made from very few seams, lying generally near the eastern limits of the fields. For it is a recog- nized fact, and so stated by the high- est authorities, that the coal in the middle or western part of the field, is as a rule not so well adapted to coking as that in the eastern. This is the case all through Pennsylvania and "West Virginia, and doubtless in other parts of the field also. Hence, the good coking qualities of the Coosa coals lying as they do on the very eastern limits of the field, would be inferred from their position had they never been tested. But ample tests have been made to demonstrate the fact that these coals are among the best of our coking coals. "It was at the Inman mines, in the Fairview district, that coke was successfully made in commercial quantities on open grounds without ovens — a fact so often referred to in statistics of the coking industry. The process was to pile the coal around small cones, built about two feet high of loose rocks, and fire from the center. These cones with the rocks all vitrified, and welded together yet stand as monuments of this unique though successful pro- cess. "The excellence of the Coosa coal and coke has been shown in this re- port, and it is hoped that their pro- duction may be very greatly in- creased in the future; the commer- cial interests of the State, and the metallurgical prosperity of the ad- jacent valleys demand that vigorous and persistent efforts be made to promote this result." The Coosa river is the natural route for transporting this coal, iron, and lime, the route designated by nature, and now that there is almost a coal famine in Europe, and it is becoming apparent that the United States must soon to a large extent supply the world with coal, the open- ing of the Coosa river is a project Held in New Orleans, December 4-7 1900. 23' of international as well as national importance. With the building of a trans-isth- mian canal, with our numerous naval coaling stations along the Gulf coast, and on the outlying is- lands of the Gulf and Carribean Sea, the item of good, cheap coal, easy of access, and capable of being trans- ported quickly ,and in large quanti- ties, becomes of vital importance. The following extract from the Cin- cinnati Commercial shows the super- iority of river transportation, both in cost and time, for such freights as coal. "The tow-boat Jos. B. Wlliams is on her way to New Orleans with a tow of thirty-two barges, contain- ing 600,000 bushels (seventy-six pounds to the bushel) of coal ex- clusive of her own fuel, being the largest tow ever taken to New Or- leans, or anywhere else in the world. Her freight bill, at three cents a bushel, amounts to $18,000.00. It would take 1800 cars, of 333 bushels to the car, to transport this amount of coal. The tow will be taken from Pittsburg to New Orleans in 14 or 15 days. It would take 100 trains of eighteen cars to the train to trans- port this one tow of 600,000 bushels of coal, and even if it made the usual speed of fast freight lines, it would take one whole summer to put it through by rail." This extract is a statement of ac- tual facts and not an estimate of what may be accomplished. Now, an examination of a map of the United States will show the great saving in distance by river from the coal fields of the Coosa to the Gulf over that from the coal fields of the Ohio. We have not given these distances in miles for the reason that the graphic representation on the maps gives a clearer idea of the great ad- vantage of the Coosa river in the matter of the saving of distance than any mere figures can give. Notwithstanding the limited and almost inaccessibility of a large por- tion of the Coosa coal fields to trans- portation, the output of coal from this field is now 200,000 tons per an- num. Manufactories. The Coosa valley is fast becoming a manufacturing center, almost every class of manufacturing is represented here. Cotton factories, iron furnaces, car and car wheel works, rolling mills, pipe works and lumber mills, are the principal industries found in the valley, though there are a large variety of other classes of manu- facturing carried on. The products of these factories find a market in all parts of the world. The export trade of the valley is quite extensive and increasing annually. The open- ing of the Coosa river to through navigation would give a water route of transportation from the very doors of a great many of these factories to all the great markets, and would stimulate the building of more fac- tories and the exportation of their products, until the Coosa valley would soon be second to none as a manufacturing center. The Massa- chusetts cotton mill, at Rome, Geor- gia, exports a large portion of their products, and the entire product of the big Dwight cotton mill at Gads- den, Alabama, is exported, which alone amounts to over $2,000,000 per annum. The Central Foundry Co., of Gadsden, and the Anniston, Ala- bama, export large quantities of cast iron pipe and are now filling a large order for Switzerland. The exportation of iron, lumber, and many other products of the factory is quite extensive. The annual iron production of the Coosa valley, though in its incipien- cy as compared with the rich de- posits of raw material for iron mak- ing found here, is as follows: Furnaces. Tons. Rome. Ga 1 36,000 Round Mountain, Ala.l 1S,000 Gadsden, Ala 2 140,000 Attalla, Ala 1 20,000 Anniston, Ala 2 ] 50,000 Talladega, Ala 1 75,000 1 ronton, Ala 2 145,000 Jenifer, Ala 1 50,000 Shelby, Ala 1 36,000 Totals 12 670,000 The value of which is about $10,- 000,00 per annum. 238 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention. Cotton Factories. Rome, Ga., cotton goods Gadsden, Ala., cotton goods... Anniston, Ala., cotton goods and yarns Other yarn mills in the valley. Tons. 8,000 6,000 5,000 2,000 Total .21,000 Which approximates in value $8,- 500,000. Car and Car Wheel Works. Gadsden and Anniston, Alabama. Cast iron pipe, 100,000 tons, valued at $4,000,000. Carpet and Cordage Mills. Anniston, Ala., 525 tons, valued at $250,000. There are hundreds of other man- ufactures of which we have no way of arriving at a correct valuation and extent of their annual products, hence they are also left out of this compilation. The annual tonnage and value of the products of the factories as above shown, is 961,525 tons, valued at $28,- 050,000. Recapitulation of the Foregoing An- nual Resources of the Coosa Valley. Tons. Valued at. Agriculture .. .. 502,000 $16,000,000 Timber 150,000 5,600,000 Iron Ore 1,600.000 2,400,000 Lime 448,000 416,000 Coal 200,000 300,000 Manufactory. . . 961,525 28,050,000 Total 3,861,525 $52,766,000 In return for this vast amount of resources, in the ordinary exchange of commerce we must naturally have almost a like amount in value re- turned to the Coosa valley, though the articles so returned being in a more refined state, the tonnage on the in-coming goods would probably be about half that of the out-going. This would give us to be handled in the Coosa valley annually 5,792,- 287 tons of freight, valued at $105,- 732,000. By the opening of the Coosa river to through navigation to the Gulf of Mexico, twenty per cent of this great mass of commerce would be transferred to the Coosa river, which would make 1,158,457 tons of freight, valued at $21,126,000 to be handled annually on the Coosa river. Then, in addition to this, it is safe to say that by the opening of the river new enterprises would spring into exis- tence and a vast amount of new traffic would open up in iron ore, coal, lime and lumber from the rich districts lying idle in the valley, thereby more than doubling the river tonnage. Taking into consideration all these facts, it is safe to say that with the Coosa river open to through navi- gation, the commerce to be handled on the bosom of this great water way would approximate two and a half millions of tons per annum, which would give 6,850 tons daily. This would require 23 steamers per day, of three hundred tons burden each, to handle this great mass of freight. Water Powers. There are many valuable water powers on the numerous tributaries of the Coosa river and many more could be established on these smaller streams; then in addition to this, the locks and dams that will be con- structed in the work of opening the Coosa river to through navigation will develop immense water powers all along that portion of the river upon which such locks and dams are built. The fall from Greensport, Ala- bama, to Wetumpka, Alabama, that portion of the river in which the rapids occur, a distance of 142 miles, is 367 feet. The total number of horse powers that can be developed from the fall and water discharge on this part of the river is 382,882 horse power. By the opening of the river to through navigation would give river transportation from these great water powers to all parts of the world, and stimulate the develop- ment of these powers and their util- ization for operating factories of all kinds until the Coosa river would soon be almost lined with factories from its source to its mouth. Con- gress should enact authority to util- ize the water powers developed by Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 239 the locks and dams constructed in the progress of opening the river. Such untilization to be accomplished in such a way as not to interfere with navigation. National Importance. The Coosa river, reaching like a bandeau across the State of Ala- bama, from Rome, Georgia, to Mo- bile, crosses every, line of railway that extends from the Alabama cot- ton, coal and iron fields, and the great pine forests, to the Gulf and South Atlantic. The cost of these elements of in- dustry, commerce and civilization is a fact that interests the people of every section of the United States. The cheapening of the cost of transportation on these necessities is a duty of the Government when it holds the paramount control of such a channel of navigation. The Coosa river- has claims to na- tional care and consideration that are not possessed by any water course in the United States, of simi- lar length, not yet open to steam nav- igation. On the banks of this river great geological systems are in con- tact with each other, the river drain- ing each of them. Such a condition is not presented elsewhere in the United States, if it is found in any other country. These systems, bearing the rich material of their full development, each contribute to industry and com- merce the indispensable element of progress in agriculture and the arts that are in universal use. Among these are coal, iron, lime, marble, granite, the slates, kaolin, mica, as- bestos, and many cognate minerals, with soils, clays, sandstone and other useful materials of great va- riety. Such geological areas are found elsewhere in the United States in perfection, and each of them is in- dispensable in the grand aggregate of our material resources, but they, are widely separated in other locali- ties, and their transportation from one field to the other is so expen- sive that their value is much dimin- ished. Along the banks of the Coosa river these several formations meet, and that river is a natural conduit of their interchange. The forests, and the productions of these several sys- tems, are indigenous to such forma- tions, and are very rich and varied. The use of the Coosa river as the commercial outlet to the ocean for this immense field of industry, in agriculture, forests, quarries and mines, is a great national duty that is devolved on Congress. Able engineers estimate that $6,- 000,000 will give four (4) feet slack- water navigation from Lock Four to Wetumpka, Alabama, which is the portion of the river now closed to navigation. This money can be more econonomically spent in six years than it can be in twelve, and more economically spent in twelve than in twenty-four. Therefore, let us recommend and ask: That Con- gress place the work of opening the Coosa river to through navigation on the Continuous Contract Plan, and appropriate six million dollars, to be spent in six years in the open- ing of this important stream, ihe work to be done according to the plans and specifications furnished previously by the engineers in charge, and that the work be com- menced at Lock Four, and continue down the river from there, and at Wetumpka and work up the river from that point, and continue in this form until completed. Extract from a paper read by Maj. C. F. A. Flagler, U. S. A., before the annual meeting of the Alabama Commercial and Industrial Associa- tion at New Decatur, April 18-19, 1900: "The Coosa river, formed at Rome, Ga., by the junction of the Oostanau- la and Etowah rivers, is about three hundred miles long; it unites with the Tallapoosa near "Wetumpka to form the Alabama. It is now navi- gable at all seasons from Rome throughout two-thirds of its length, but the lower third is a succession of shoals and rapids that can only be passed by means of locks. Thirty- one locks are neede'd on this river to make through navigation possible, and of these, four have been con- structed and three are in operation. The estimated cost of this work was $6,000,000, and $1,300,000 of this amount has been expended. The commerce of that part of the river 240 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, now navigable between Rome and Lincoln is $2,000,000 per annum, even without a water outlet; its trib- utaries drain the gold ocber and marble fields of Georgia. In north- ern Alabama, it flows through moun- tains of iron ore (both maemetite and limonite), vast beds of slate and coal, and all these covered by dense forests of long leaf pine. The com- merce to and from cities in the val- ley of the Coosa exceeds $20,000,000 annually, and fully one-quarter of this will find its way to Mobile and the commercial world by water route, when the lower Coosa shall be opened. No appropriation has been made for the locks on this river since 1896, and this magnificent waterway, after the expenditure of. over a million dollars, appears to be abandoned by Congress. On all other parts of the State where rivers merit improvement, appropriations are made with lavish hand. Why is the Coosa, the key to nature's rich- est valley in the State of Alabama, forgotten?" I am pleased to submit the follow- ing extracts from a speech of U. S. Senator John T. Morgan of Alabama, before the Coosa River Improvement Association at Gadsden, Ala., Sept. 27, 1899: "The question we are trying to solve is not new, but the rapid de- velopment of these resources gives it a new and increasing interest, as each year discloses new and impor- tant features of its commercial im- portance. Alabama began at an early day to consider the subject of opening the Coosa river to steam navigation, and the Government of the United States, for more than forty years, has contributed to this important work. That more rapid progress has not been made is due to the necessary diversion of the ef- forts of Congress towards other river and harbor improvements, for which there was a more immediate de- mand. "The time has thus arrived when it is useful and necessary to open up the navigation of rivers that form the great body of waters that flow into the Bay of Mobile. The War- rior and Coosa rivers are the water- ways to the Gulf, through which will be transported iron, coal, timber and stone, which are of incalculable value, for ages to come. As this vast wealth is developed by coming generations, the necessity for these channels of commerce will become more pressing, so that the work we are trying to promote will be here- after classed among the most impor- tant that the people of any State of our Union have ever engaged in. When an outlet to the Alabama river has been opened into the Pacific Ocean, through the Isthmus of Da- rien, we will have accomplished the true and necessary movement that above all is needed to make the coun- try through which the Coosa river flows as desirable as any region of the earth. Its beauty is simply inde- scribable in any phases that I could employ. Its fertile fields and its magnificent forests, its many water springs, and its swift flowing streams, its vast mines of coal and iron, and its quarries of granite, limestone, sandstone, slate and mar- ble, enrich this region with an avail- able wealth of natural resources that is without a rival in any other coun- try." But the real value of this extra- ordinary region lies in the fact that five different geological systems meet at this common center. Commerce consists most largely in the inter- change of commodities that are pe- culiar to these separate systems the world over, and the saving of the cost of such interchange is the chief value of this region in the commer- cial sense. The Coosa river, opened to navigation, will not only cheapen the cost of this local interchange, but it will carry out to the sea an unlimited supply of the productions of these five systems, on a single line of transportation, while in the great majority of cases, they are only to be assembled on different lines that reach the seaboard, often far sepa- rated. In no other country, and scarcely at any other place, is it pos- sible to ship on the same vessels, from the same contiguous region of origin, a cargo composed of iron, steel, coal, granite, lime and lime- stone, marble, timber of pine, cedar, oak, walnut, poplar, cherry, ash, and other valuable woods, cotton, corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, onions, peas and other exportable field crops, and Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 241 fruits, cattle, hogs, mules and horses. Such a diversified and abun- dant commerce in stable commodities cannot be found in an equal area in any country on the globe as can be gathered from the twenty thous- and square miles drained by the Coo- sa river and its tributaries. Our system of railroads are so lo- cated, that all the trunk lines are either crossed, or touched by the Coosa river. It is /competitive with all of them. The trend of the river, from the northeastern to the south- western corners of the State, cre- ates this competitive highway for the free use of the people, and makes it impossible that a trust or combina- tion between any two or more of the great trunk lines of railways can corral the commerce of the State and levy upon it discretionary rates of toll for freights. No other State has a waterway through its entire length that so completely negatives the power of railroad combinations to control the freight charges on Its commerce. The time has arrived when the demand for large appropriations for the Bay of Mobile and for the Tennessee and Ohio livers will no longer divide the attention of our delegation in Con- gress; those improvements being isearly completed are provided for, and we will be, happily, aided by the delegations from Georgia and Louisiana in getting appropriations for the Coosa river. Other advantages are of conspic- uous importance to the eastern parts of Alabama, in the opening of this river to navigation. In part, they include the effective development of a vast water-power of many locali- ties, for manufacturing purposes and in the distribution of that power, by electric wires, into the homes of skilled workmen, to be employed in special industries. Without reciting the details of a careful survey and estimates that have been ably conducted, we have before us a task that will cost us $6,000,000 to complete, so as to give four feet of water at the shoal places, in the river and to remove obstruc- tions from its channel. This sum could be expended more economically within six years, tlian if ten years were consumed in unnecessary de- lays. I therefore propose, as the ba- sis of our efforts, that we will ask Congress for an appropriation of $6,- 000,000, to be expanded within six years, to open the navigation of the Coosa river. No argument is now needed to commend this work to the considera- tion of Congress as a proper work of river improvement. For more than forty years Congress has con- ceded its importance, and has adopted it as a national enterprise. The question now is, whether we shall continue a wasteful policy of making inadequate appropriations, or take up the improvement of the river in earnest and supply the work with adequate appropriations. But Congress has dealt with this great work with a spirit of determi- nation to accomplish it, and now, that wider commercial fields are opening up to our people in islands^ of the Carribean sea and the Pa- cific Ocean, the national duty is made plain to the Government of the United States, to connect this region of abounding wealth with the sea- board by a great waterway. I can scarcely refrain from ex- pressing my conceptions of the splendid progress that will attend the labors of the strong, courageous and enlightened people who possess this favored region of Alabama and Georgia, when the Coosa river is fully opened to navigation. Already these valleys and hills afford every advantage and charm that nature could provide, in climate, soil, for- est and stream for the development of a great race of people into the highest civilization. When they are provided with proper access to the seaboard, they will bring with them sheaves of p bun dan t riches to the State, and valuable contribution to the commerce of the world. After careful reflection, I am con- vinced that, in variety, excellence and abundance of natural resources, and in their relations to each other and to the facilities and costs of transportations, Alabama has within her 52,000 square miles more wealth in the commodities that enter into commerce than is found in any like area on the globe. I will ask your attention, however, only to the fea- ture of transportation for moving 242 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, this material to market, as that is the special matter we have met here to consider. In every part of Alabama, the in- dustrial classes are in easy reach of •water transportation to the Gulf of Mexico, when our rivers are open to Bteam navigation. These waterways and the railways follow the same valley to the Gulf of Mexico, and are everywhere competing lines of trans- portation. The Mobile and Ohio R. R. is in competition with the Tom- bigbee river. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad is in competition with the Warrior, the Cahaba, the Coosa and the Alabama rivers. The Southern Railway is in competition with the Coosa and its tributaries, and with the Alabama river. The Plant System and the Central of Georgia are in competition with the Alabama and Chattahoochee, and •with several navigable streams that lie between them. The Memphis & Charleston R. R. and the Alabama -Crreat Southern are in competition with the Tennessee and the Coosa r rivers. This situation demonstrates the necessity for energetic and persistent effort to open all these waterways to steam navigation, so that our vast production shall have the double ad- vantage of rail and water transpor- tation to the seaboard. "When this remarkable combination of facilities lor transportation is completed, no equal area in the world can supply to other countries the leading staples of commerce so abundantly and at such low cost for transportation as Alabama will afford. The Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South Atlantic, almost insulate the great coal and iron districts of Ala- bama, which rise from the center of this belt of great rivers and oceans to a height which give a down grade to reach water transportation in all directions, but is not great enough to obstruct railroad lines at any point from the center to the circumfer- ence of the Coosa and Warrior coal and iron fields. It is no longer a question that this great area is a mighty factor with the future problems of the world's progress and civilization, and that a duty rests on this generation to develope this wealth in the early years of the twentieth century. The cost of the work we are try- ing to promote is really insignifi- cant, as compared with the contribu- tion of wealth and power it will bring to our country in the near fu- ture and for all time to come. When the Coosa river improve- ments shall have been completed, it will open up an all-water route to the Mississippi river via Mobile, Mo- bile Bay, Mississippi Sound, and through the Lake Borgne Canal, a distance of less than 1000 miles by water from Rome, Ga., to New Or- leans, La. The effect of this all- water route will be to develope im- mensely the country along the Coo- sa river; manufacturing towns will spring up; the innumerable water powers supplied by the Coosa will enable electrical power to be cheaply employed for all purposes, to which electricity is applicable. The power developed by this utilization of water, will be a great saver of coal, thus permitting coal which would be consumed for power, -to be turned into a commercial factor for these towns, which, being situated along the Coosa river, are more or less re- mote from railroads, will be necessi- tated to build railroad connections. This will promote great activity in railroad building, and this railroad building will necessitate the use of steel rails, locomotives, cars and other appliances of railroading made or to be made South. When these towns are built along the Coosa river, they will furnish a consump- tion of imports, brought to New Or- leans and Mobile in steamers com- ing for cargoes of coal, pig iron, steel, staves, lumber, phosphates, and other freight from Southern mines, forests, fields, mills, factories. Tramp' steamers being assured that they can always get a full -cargo, for export, will bring many imported articles, which are now imported through New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It will be very difficult for anyone to forecast the exports from the Coosa Valley which will leave the ports of New Orleans and mo- bile. Lime for building purposes, and for use on Louisiana and Texas sugar plantations, for liming cane juice, and for fertilizing sugar lands; Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, ipoo. 243 granite for building purposes, and most beautiful marbles abounding along tbe Coosa river, will be brought here for the many purposes and demands. Structural steel to be used in towns and cities of the pres- ent and of the future; cotton goods, manufactured in these river towns; flour manufactured from wheat raised in the surrounding country; corn and corn products for foreign and domestic consumption; (meal from Southern grown Indian corn makes much sweeter bread than the "Western corn, and will in time meas- urably supplant it), together with many other products one cannot now anticipate, will come down this ca- nal, and through this all-water-way route into the Mississippi river at New Orleans, to find cheap transpor- tation to the world. Most especially will manufactured cotton goods of these future towns on the Coosa river find a demand in all the coun- try south of us, including the west coast of South America and the Ori- ent. It needs no argument to con- vince anyone that goods manufac- tured by mills driven by water power (or by electricity furnished from water electric power plants), from material secured close-by, with native labor, climatic advantages, and all- water transportation will successfully rival competition. Goods manufac- tured from cotton raised on the scene; cheap electrical power; abun- dant native labor; climatic advan- tages, and all-water transportation to the markets of the world must and will successfully compete. The South, some day, will be the situs of a great sheep raising industry. The best of wool can be secured from the Coosa Valley sheep; raised on the cheapest land. Here sheep are the most healthy, and the finest wool can be raised along this river. Here will be a great center for manufac- turing the finest woolen fabrics, com- peting with the best that are now imported from England, Scotland and Europe. The mutton from these sheep will furnish the most healthy meat, and thus a great factor of sustenance will be added to the South. There will probably be a new era of elegant architecture in these towns along the river, and at Mobile and New Orleans, on account of the low price at which building stone can be had, such as we cannot an- ticipate. Many of these towns along the river will be right on the scenes of inexhaustible deposits of granite and marble, and this will furnish such cheap materials for buildings as will cause many to substitute stone for brick and wood. New Orleans, also, with her advancement in wealth and taste, will undoubtedly use largely these most exquisite marbles and granite; and it might be truth- fully predicted of this canal that it will find New Orleans built of brick, and convert its buildings into mar- ble, as Augusta did Rome. The mar- bles which will be accessible chiefly to New Orleans are various and beautiful. It is impossible to be- lieve that an era in aesthetic struc- tures does not impend with the com- ing of this canal. These towns on the Coosa river, which v;:ll be the outcome of the canal, will be strong in industries founded on iron. In the next quarter of a century there will be found iron furnaces, steel furnaces, and rolling mills, steel rail mills, locomotive and steel car build- ing plants, cotton weaving machin- ery, factories, and cognate industries. Nowhere can you assemble for a con- siderable distance, iron, coal and limestone more cheaply; they being in close proximity; assembled by water in abundance with elevation or fall sufficient to drive turbine wheels, and when made, the manufactured article deliverable by water. An- other thing, that country has not been one-hundredth part prospected, and neither speculation nor develop- ment have yet enhanced their value; thus affording to all a broad basis for competition. There is no doubt of ample water and no need of reservoirs; the es- tuaries of the Coosa river, with large and frequent rainfalls, furnish water in abundance for water power, for electric power, and light, for steam power, for domestic purposes and for water transportation. Secretary N. F. Thompson then read the following resolution rela- tive to the Coosa river and Warrior canal: "Whereas, the opening up of the 241 Minutes of The Southern Industrial Convention, mineral fields of Alabama to water transportation would offer the Gulf States unrivalled opportunities to obtain cheaper coal, iron, steel and other products with which tnat re- gion abounds, such as would enable these cities to become manufactur- ing centers as great as their com- mercial advantages will be on the building of the Nicaraguan Canal; therefore, be it "Resolved, That this Convention hereby endorses the opening of the Coosa river and the erection of the Warrior Canal, and the officers of the Southern Industrial Association are instructed to render these enterprises such assistance as may tend to facili- tate their early completion." The resolution was adopted. Secretary N. F. Thompson: I have just received the following reply to the telegram which was sent this morning to the New York World: "Dec. 7, 1900. "N. F. Thompson, Industrial Con- vention, New Orleans: "Great crush of news reason for crowding out notice. "THE WORLD." Mr. Thompson also said that a3 some comment had been made in re- gard to the absence of President Stuyvesant Fish of the Illinois Cen- tral R. R., that the following letter which he had received from that gen- tleman was sufficient to show that while Mr. Fish could not be present, yet he was in entire sympathy with the objects which the Southern In- dustrial Convention was endeavoring, to promote: "Illinois Central Railroad, 214 Broad- way. ■ "New York, Dec. 4, 1900. "N. F. Thompson, Secretary South- ern Industrial Convention, New Orleans, La.: "My Dear Sir: It is with pro- found regret that I find myself una- ble to attend the Industrial Conven- tion. I had hoped to be able to go to New Orleans at this time, but am unavoidably detained here. "Believe me, very sincerely yours* "STUYVESANT FISH. WHO KTJLES THE CHINESE EMPIRE. BY TETSUTARO INUMARU. Acting Chairman Story then intro- duced Mr. Tetsutaro Inumaru, a Ja- panese gentleman, as the next speak- er. Mr. Tetsutaro Inumaru is the Rep- resentative of Agriculture and Com- merce of the Imperial Cabinet of Ja- pan. Mr. Inumaru's address was as follows: "Mr. President and Delegates of the Southern Industrial Convention: I wish to offer my congratulations to you for the honor in allowing me to speak to-night. I am not at all pre- pared to do so, but, nevertheless, I will endeavor to speak upon the sub- ject, 'Who Rules the Chinese Em- pire?' "The reason I choose this subject is because it will be more interesting to the Southerner than if I spoke upon my home, Japan. "The important points of triumph of war consist in knowing of the power of the enemy, and the condi- tions of the customers snould be known in the necessity of the busi- ness. "I believe the boundless market of the world is the Chinese Empire, and the Southern portion of the United States has many more opportunities than the European countries to sup- ply their demands, especially auer the success of the Nicaragua Canal. Indeed, the general current of tne trade in the twentieth century is running already forward to the Pa- cific Ocean, leaving the Atlantic. "I have several ideas in regard to Chinese trade with the United States, but owing to so little time, I cannot speak upon them, so I will suggest one thing, that is, who rules the Chinese Empire? "Who do you think rules the Em- pire? Then you will ask me, does the Chinese Emperor rule? "Yes, he does, but I would state that that is the idea of outsiders. "Then you will ask me, does Budd- hism rule China? Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, 1900. 245 "Yes, it is the national religion of China, but in reply I will say, 'no.' "Then who rules the Chinese Em- pire, which includes a population of 400,000,000? "This is quite a difficult question to one who does not fully understand the customs of China. I do not be- lieve many Chinese themselves un- derstand it. Let me explain this. This is the most important thing to know in Chinese trade. One cannot succeed unless he understands this point: "This is the Confucian. The Con- fucian is the principle of the moral doctrine which existed 4000 years ago; this doctrine controlled so many million people of all classes of China during 4000 years that it is deeply impressed upon their brain until now. "If you read the history of China, you will find many dynasties, dif- ferent from that of Japan, which con- tinues one blood line of the Emper- or's house during 2500 years. "The doctrine of Confucius ex- plained the definition of the Emper- or. It says: 'Any one who practices the benevolent administration is to be Emperor.' So, in China, the hero claims and fights for this stand against dynasty, when that dynasty loses the popularity of the nation, and the nation follows a new dynas- ty, as the forefather of the present Emperor house of China got his posi- tion 100 years ago, arising from Man- churia, and the present dynasty sunk nearly to the depths of critical revo- lution. "This will show you that the Chi- nese nation simply follows the doc- trine of Confucius in the carelessness of the house of the Emperor. There- fore, Chinese follow any people who sympathize in the Confucian doc- trine in every direction — that is, trade, politics, etc. "Here is one of the typical facts: "The Murai Bros.' Company, which is the largest cigarette factory in Ja- pan (now this company is allied with the American Tobacco Company for the Oriental trade), exported good cigarettes at reasonable prices to China, eight years ago, but the Chi- nese did not wish to receive their goods. "Why is it? After considering the matter, the Murai Company finally found the reason for their not ac- cepting the goods. "On the outside of the cigarette boxes the Chinese letters were printed, speaking in praises of their goods, etc. "The Chinese are very careful, sav- ing any box or paper which happens to have any writing in the form of an advertisement, etc., upon it. "By this reason all Chinese letters are the precious gifts of Confucius, and they will be punished in the fu- ture if they throw or break any writing, and they save even a piece of writing paper to burn in a small building built for this purpose, of which there are two or three of these in each village of the interior. "Since the company found out the reason, it discontinued using the Chi- nese letters, and the company is get- ting great demands from the Empire. "As this experience shows, I am convinced and believe that every standard of Chinese customs, senti- ments, etc., come from the doctrine of Confucius. "The origin of the great trouble which happened in China last sum- mer also seems to me to aave come from the collision of the Christians and Confucians, because the mission- aries in China force them too hastily to submit to Christianity without un- derstanding this point. "Therefore, I suggest that the best and wisest policies to carry on busi- ness - successfully with the Chinese depends upon utilizing the doctrine of the Confucians, which rules, heart- ily and constantly, the population of 400,000,000 of the Chinese Empire, which is the boundless market of the Southern portion of the United States." A vote of thanks was offered Mr. Inumaru for his able address. 246 Minutes of The Southern industrial Convention, ADDRESS BY DE. TICHENOR. Dr. G. H. Tichenor (of New Or- leans), then delivered the following extemporaneous address: "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: It would be impos- sible for me to tell the delegates from New Orleans or my friends of this city anything new, for they have heard me so often and of my feeble efforts towards the cause of educa- tion, if you will pardon this allusion, that it is not necessary for me to speak to them at any length. How- ever, as I have been privileged to speak to you all on this occasion, I would just like to remind some of my old Confederate friends, the old 'Johnnies' (laughter), that directly after the war of the States our con- gressmen got together and began to discuss the question of specie pay- ment. While looking around, they saw a friend, a Confederate, whom they called 'Johnny Reb!' One of them said, perhaps 'Johnny Reb.' can tell us something that will help solve this question, so they hailed him. When he came up, he was in- formed that the subject they were discussing was how to resume specie payment, and asked him whether he could help them to solve this ques- tion. The old Confederate imme- diately answered, 'The way to re- sume — is to resume,' and I say to you, my friends, that the way to se- cure a deep channel for commerce is to dig one. "Now, gentlemen, we have heard a great many lectures in this Conven- tion on the subject of waterways and canals, but I have not heard one word with reference to a canal which concerns more than any other the City of New Orleans. I want to say to you, gentlemen, here to-night and to say what you cannot dispute. I will say what you all know to be so, that as long as the Mississippi rimr flows into the Gulf of Mexico, so long will sediment be deposited at the mouth of this mighty river, and therefore we must continue to knock at the door of Congress for appropri- ations to enable us to improve the river and remove this sediment which is continually being deposited. Congress gave some liberal appro- priations which we should be thank- ful for, but are we doing the proper tbing, are we recommending the proper thing to be done, are we go- ing economically about it, are we doing ourselves justice, doing the Government justice? Why have we not settled this question and settled it forever? Why? It is within our power to settle this question in such a way that we can publish to the world that we have solved this great problem once and for all time, and we will have a channel capable of ad- mitting the largest vessels afloat un- til such time as Gabriel blows his trumpet. (Laughter and applause.) "Few of you know that I have been advocating the construction of a ca- nal in the City of New Orleans, per- haps in the vicinity of Audubon Park direct to the Gulf, and if that scheme is consummated it will solve this question forever. It can be made forty feet deep and 1000 feet wide. We can have stationary machinery^ belt railroads, warehouses and wharf- age sufficient to unload the biggest steamers afloat. This canal would start in the vicinity opposite Audu- bon Park and would run almost in a direct line to Fort Livingston, or, by making the canal a little longer, we could utilize the bayous that are already almost deep enough for the largest ship that floats the ocean. These bayous can be used by deep- ening wherever required; in other words, there is almost a waterway already to Fort Livingston. This great commercial canal is not an out- let for the Mississippi river, for if the flood waters were permitted to flow through this canal, there would be a deposit at the gulf end just the same as we now find at the mouth of the Mississippi river; hence, locks would be placed on the banks of the Mississippi river, to prevent it be- ing used as an outlet and thus avoid the accumulation of sediment. Now I have letters which I could read to- this Convention in support of this canal from men who have announced their willingness to invest their money in it. Continue to work, con- tinue to agitate this question if you will but stop asking the Government for money. "Now, gentlemen, you know full Held in New Orleans, December 4-7, igoo. 247 well that as long as this sediment •continues to be carried to the mouth of the river, it will accumulate and cause tiouble with the result that commerce and ships will be unable to •enter your port. Gentlemen, we are intelligent, and we should show our- selves to be such. Even so unpro- gressive a people as the Chinese, would appreciate the necessity of some action in such an important matter. Here is an opportunity for enterprise! Talk about public spirit! Look at what Chicago has accom- plished. A canal cut through solid stone for miles and miles, making a waterway which is the wonder of the world, and it is just as possible for you to accomplish a similar feat if you have only the necessary en- ergy to do it. So much for enter- prise and public spirit. Had we such a canal at New Orleans as the one I have described, it would then be possible for ships to be floated from Lake Michigan down the Mississippi, through the canal and direct into the Gulf of Mexico, thus permitting the commerce of the Mississippi Valley to reach without difficulty the mar- kets of the world, at the same time saving to the producer one-half of the present freight now charged on ocean tonnage. "Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention." (Loud applause.) Judge Bossier of St. Tammany Par- ish, spoke briefly of the salubrity of that parish, and its merits as a health resort. Acting Chairman Story: If there is no further business before the Convention, as our program has now been brought to a conclusion, a mo- tion to adjourn is now in order. A motion for adjournment was then moved and seconded, and Mr. Story, at 10:45 P. M., declared the Southern Industrial Convention ad- journed, sine die. Printed by E. S. UPTON, No. 631 Poydras St., New Orleans. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS .at of the South means the Enrichme; .USINESS, NO POLITICS, NO $i 014 369 748 4 A Southernlndustrial Association Headquarters <* New Orleans, La. A CHARTERED ORGANIZATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING BEFORE THE WORLD THE GREAT UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH. NO FRIEND OF THE SOUTH CAN REFUSE TO BE- COME A MEMBER. MEMBERSHIP FEE— FIRMS AND CORPORATIONS, $10.00,WITH PRIVILEGE OF TWO VOTES; INDI- VIDUALS, $5.00. 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