The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-01-16
an ENTHUSIASTIC oovERMoHI
He Evidently believes an the Natural ADJ
vantaRes OF ms own state,

vantagsn OF His Own State,
Nowhere in all the republic can
more prolific response be had from the
soil to the intelligent cultivation OF
man. Nowhere can rer water, q
more genial climate. or summer skies
be found to bless contented homes.
These words were spoken o Alabama
by her enthusiastic governor, Joseph f.
Johnston. in his recent inaugural d
dress, and one not living there, is tempt-
ed to believe II al when that one fol-
lows Gov. Johnstonas he enumerates the
resources and capabilities Of his states
with an area OF but little more than
$4,000 square miles, says MI. john
ston, ''there is no territory Of like size
in the known world So prolific, in the
variety Of its resources; were a wall
erected around our state, cutting OK
all access, we could produce within
borders everything necessary for the
comfort or convenience of Great
veins Of iron ore and seams of coal put
at our command almost boundless re-
sources in fuel, iron and steel. Spleen
did forests Of yellow pine here stand
readyto build homes for millions of poo
pie. Building stone and marble, fire
clay, kaolin and lime exist in great
abundance; walnut, maple, oak, cher
~, ash and other 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 cot
ton, fourth, and in its manufacture
fourth.
an lumber we are near the head Of the
list.
"It would be unjust should I fail TO
include in our minerals copper, lead,
graphite. mari and gold; indeed the
only mineral that we seem to be with
outand to want most is silver.
Leaving forest and mine and coming
to our fields we find that they produce
generously cotton, corn, wheat, rye,
oats, tobacco, rice and the grasses, and
here is the home of the pear, the peach,
the grape and all small fruits. Vege-
tables are grown with great success.
and this industry is steadily develop
ing. Our splendid rivers, the Alabama.
Cossa, Tallapoosa, Warrior, Cahaba,
Bigbee and rhe Tennessee are the liquid
arteries of the commonwealth, fed by
innnmerable creeks, all fruitful in pow
er to convert our raw products into
articles of merchandise.
"Over 1900 miles of railroads ira
verse our state from north to south, and
east to west, furnishing quick transpor-
tation 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 blessed us with opportunity to la
Dor 12 months in the year without det-
riment to health or comfort. Indeed,
we can scarcely appreciate the bless
ings we enjoy in this respect when
compared with less favored regions, o
even now we are seemingly unconscious
that roses are blooming in our gardens.
and the fragrant air is sweet with their
perfume.
'The Piedmont region Of our state
shows that it's average Thermometer in
summer and winter corresponds almost
exactly 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-Main, and
karlsruhe. The average temperature
for the whole state shows about 40 de-
/, grces Fahrenheit for January, rs for
July and 60 degrees for April and 0c-
tober.
"Ourstreams aboundin fish, woods
: are fragrant with flowers, and our
beautiful seaport supplies an abundancs
! of fish and oysters for all our peoplet
. Nowhere in all the republic can moro
prolific response be had from the soil
to the intelligent cultivation Of man!
Nowhere can purer water, a o genial
climate or SUMMER skies be found to
bless contented homes.
''These are our opportunities. Thesis
the substantial groundwork upon which
a great commonwealth can be erected.
OF course all of this was not said with
] out a direct object. and continuing he
! pointed the way in which his dream "a
d great commonwealth could be re
allied. This for citizens of the state
! both actual and prospective. We wonder
l If the same, or similar, wise things
! might not be said of many another
state, highly favored by natural re-
sources md dormant wealth, Of ouI
great union.
"'This is the age of industrial de
velopment, and to that task the legisla-
tor and citizen should bend their ener'
: gies and weary not in well doing. When
we consider that we are now cultivatins
and utilizing less than one-third Of
) these resources, and that the other two
! thirds produce taxes only, It behooyer
: us to invite to our borders and give gen
Z erous welcome TO menfand money to aid
! in awakening these dormant re
= sources.
"Our pig iron should be melted ana
! our cotton spun and woven ct home
! thus giving greater employment to q
Dor and establishing home markets 70
our agricultural products.
seThe smoke OF our factories shonl'
Z be found rising in every county, an.
!, our furnaces. like pillars Of fire. shouls
= light the night.
"The production Of grasses and tn
raising of cattle should be stimulates
until we become one Of the great bee
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