St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-01-09

AN eptTnVslAsTlC GOVERNOR.

AN ENTHUSIASTIC GOVERNOR.
He Evaaeusly Believes u he Nssasal A.
vaatagss sf an Own ssas&
.Nowhere In al the republic an
more prolific response be had from the
soil to the intelligent cultivation ct
man. Nowhere can Purer water. .
more genial climate. or summer s1ses
be found to bless c0ptented homcs.
These words were spoken Of Alabama
by her enthusiastic governor. Joseph =.
Johnston. in his recent inaugural ad-
dress. and one not living there. b tempt
ed to believe il all when that one f0i-
lows Gov. Johnstonas he ehnmerates the
resources and capabilities OF bis state:
with an area Of but little more than
$4,000 square miles." says Mr.. john
ston, ''there II no territory Of like size
in the known world 10 pf0llAe In the
variety Of its resources; were . wan
erected around our state, cutting on
oil access, We could produce within our
borders everything necessary for the
comfort or convenience Of man. Great
veins Of iron ore and seams Of coal put
ut our command almost boundless ~
sources in fuel. iron and steel. Splen-
did forests of yellow pine here stand
ready to build homes for millions Of peo-
pie. Building stone and marble. dre
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 ws
take rank ~ the fourth state In thu
union: in iron ore, third; In coal We
stand fifth; in the production Of cot
ton, fourth, and In its manufacture.
fourth.
"In lumber we are near the head Of the
list.
ut would be unjust should fail -
include in our minerals copper. lead.
graphite. mari and gold; indeed the
only mineral that we seem to be with
cut and to want most II 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 n steadily develop
ing. Our splendid rivers. the Alabama.
Ccssa. Tallapoosa. Warrior. Cahabe.
Bigbee and the 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 5000 miles Of railroads tn
verse our state from north to south. and
east to west. furnishing quick transpor-
tation 10 market for our producta
"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 ~ with opportunity to 10
Dor 4: months in the year without det-
riment to health or comfort. Indeed.
we Gun scarcely appreciate the bless-
ibgs we enjoy in this respect when
compared with less favored rrg:ona, for
even now we are seemingly unconscious
that roses are blooming In our gardens,
and the fragrant air II sweet with theis
perfume.
"The Piedmont region Of our stats
shows that its 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 eli.
mate Of Frankfort-on-the-Main. and
Carlsruhe. The average Temperature
for the whole state shows about 70 O.
grces Fahrenheit for January. IS fos
July and 60 degrees for April and o.
tober.
"Ourstreams abound in flsh, our woods
are fragrant with nowern. and ous
beautiful seaport supplies IN abundance
Of fish and oysters for all our people
Nowhere In all the republic can most
prolific response he had from the sosl
to the intelligent cultivation Of man
Nowhere can purer water, = more genia'
climate or SUMMER skies b found d
bless coutented homes.
"These are our opportunities. these
the substantial groundwork upon which
. great commonwealth can be erected
OF course all Of this Was not said with
out q direct object. and continuing h<
pointed the way In which his dream o'
great commonwealth could be re'
allied. This for citizens Of the state
both actual and prospective. We wonder
II the same. or similar, wise thing
might not be said Of many another
state, highly favored BY natural re
sources and dormant wealth. OF oul
great union.
This 10 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. Wnen
we consider that we are now culftvstine
and utilizing less than one-third Of
these resources, and that the other two
thirds produce taxes only. it bebooves
m to invite to our borders and give gen.
erous welcome TO men and money to aid
In awakening these dormant re'
oourcea.
"Our pig iron should be melted and
our cotton spun and woven at nome
thus giving greater employment to IN
Dor and establishing home markets to-
our agricultural products.
"The smoke Of our factories shou1f
be found rising in every county. and
our furnaces. like pillars Of fire. shooli
light the night.
The production Of grasses and tn
raising Of cattle should be stimulated
until we become one Of the great bec1
raising states Of the union.
There seems 10 be no good reesos
Why our productive lands should no
become Q great center for the MANN
facture Of beet sugar. and By its ex
portation to sister states and furthel
store to IN increasing income: canning
establishments should utilize fruits an(
vegetables that now too often rot On on
farms.
behind these splendid resources VI