Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-02

er those who have misled or deceived
them
The past is beyond recall, but the fu-
ture stands a willing handmade to re-
ward patriotic endeavor
l shall not now discuss the cause of
education that pleads to us with infant
lips for opportunity to elevate and bless
our children and our commonwealth nor
OF other matters of grave Importance
to the people of the state. These I shall
presently consider in q message to your
general assembly; l prefer now, for the
brief time, shall ask your attention, to
speak somewhat of the resources and
capabilities of the state we all love.
With an area of but little more than
hfty thousand square miles, there is no
territory of like size in the known world
SO prolific in the variety of its resources;
were wall erected around our state,
cutting off all access, we could produce
within our borders everything necessary
for the comfort or convenience of man.
Great veins of iron Gre and seams of coal
put at our command almost boundless
resources in fuel, iron and steel. Splendid
forests OF yellow pine here stand ready
TO build homes for millions of people,
building stone and marble, fire clay,
kaolin and lime exist in great abundance;
walnut, maple, oak, cherry, ash and 9TH
er hard woods, await the hand of man for
manufacture or the adornment of our
homes.
In the production of pig iron we take
rank as the fourth state in the union; in
IRON ore, third; in coal we stand fifth; in
the production of cotton, fourth, and in
its manufacture, fourth.
In lumber we are near the head of the
list.
1t would be unjust should fail to in
clude In our minerals copper. lead,
graphite, mari and gold; indeed the only
mineral that we seem to be without and
to want most is silver.
Leaving forest and mine and coming
to our fields we find that they produce
generously cotton, corn, wheat, rye,
oates, tobacco, rice and the grasses and
here is the home of the pear, the reach,
the grape and all small fruits. Vegeta-
bles are grown with great success, and
this industry is steadily developing. Our
splendid rivers, the Alabama, Coosa. Tai
lapoosa, Warrior, Cahaba Bigbee and
the Tennessee are the liquid arteries of
the commonwealth, fed by innumerable
creeks, all fruitful in power to convert
our raw products into articles of mer-
chandiSe.
our state from north to south, and east
TO west furnishing quick transportation
to market for our products.
When we come to our climate we find
that the Giver of all good things has not
stayed His hand, and that He has bless
ed us with opportunity to labor twelve
months in the year without detriment to
health or comfort. Indeed, we can
scarcely appreciate the blessings we en-
JOY in this respect when compared with
less favored regions, for even now we
are seemingly unconscious that roses are
blooming in our gardens, and the fra
grant air is sweet with their perfume.
The Piedmont region of our state shows
that its average thermometer in sum-
mer and winter corresponds almost ex-
actly with that of Berlin and Hamburg,
whilst Mobile and the lower part of the
state correspond largely with the cli-
mate of Frankfort-on-the-M Main, and
Carlsruhe. The average temperature for
the whole state shows about 40 degrees
Fahrenheit for January, rs for July and
go degrees for April and October.
Our streams abound in fish. our woods
are fragrant with flowers, and our
beautiful seaport supplies an abundance
OF fish and oysters for all our people.
Nowhere in all the republic can more
prolific response be had from the soil to
the intelligent cultivation of man. No
where can puf0 water, a more genial
climate, or SUMMER skies be found to
bless contented homes
These are our opportunities, these the
substantial ground work upon which a
great commonwealth can be erected.
1t is our duty and our privilege to util-
ize these blessings.
This is the age of Industrial develop
ment and to that task the legislator and
citizen should bend their energies and
weary not In well doing When we con-
slider that we are now cultivating and
utilizing less than one-third of these re-
sources, and that the other two-thirds
produce taxes only, 1t behooves us to in
vite to our borders and give generous well
come to men and money to aid in awak-
ening these dormant resources.
Our pig iron should be melted and our
cotton spun and woven at home, thus
giving greater employment to labor and
establishing home markets for our ag-
ricultural products.
The smoke of our factories should be
found rising in every county, and our
furnaces, like pillars of fire, should light
the night.
The production of grasses and the rails
ing of cattle should be stimulated until
we become one of the great beef raising
states of the union.
There seems to be no good reason why
our productive lands should not become
a great center for the manufacture of
beet sugar, and by its expectation to sis
ter states add further store to our in
creasing income; canning establishments
should utilize fruits and vegetables that
now too often rot on our farms.
Behind these splendid resources we
have patriotic and hospitable people,
equal laws and an incorruptible judiciary
securing to those who may come amongst
us generous welcome and ample protec-
tion to life, liberty and property. Were
these facts made known to the people of
the north and west, where trying cli-
mate and a dense population are con-
stantly multiplying the difficulties in the
struggle for existence, 1 am persuaded
that the course of empire would be di-
verted to the south and that many OF us
here present would live to see our state
as great in population, enterprise and
wealth as she is now in resources.
We have nothing to ask OF the federal