Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-03
MAGNIFICENT RESOURCES Governor Johnston Writes a
 Splendid Letter sF hffGes REVIEWING OUR PROGRESS lmbued With a Sanguine Spirit for Aabama'ss Future Prosperity and De-
 velopnent.

The Baltimore Manufacturers Record, in it's issue of January l, published letters from the Governors of the various south ern states treating the resources of and outlook for those states. The following letter from Gov. Johnston, of Alabama, appeared among them:
 Executive ofice,
 Montgomery, Ala, Dec. 19. Editor Manufacturers Record:
 Nothing gives me more pleasure than to write of the resources of Alabama, and 1t is especially a pleasure to com municate with the public on this subject through so friendly and sympathetic and appreciatiYe medium as the Manufac- turers' Record. You have so often DOT trayed, in all their opulence, the varied resources of our natural wealth that l am fearful nothing new remains to De said to your wide and growing constitu- ency of readers. Still, really good story loses little in being told again, ana In this age of competition iteration .nas De- come prime necessity, if not an actuai virtue. l have not neglected 10 stuuy the resources and capabilities Of other countries and other states, and the more I study them the more thoroughly l am satisfied that no equal area on the earths surface exceeds this state in natural wealth and variety of productions com
 
 stance Our advantage does not lie Tn the mere fact that we have coal or an ex- cellent quality for steam, iron-maklns and domestic purposes, and In quantity to supply the world for many genera tions, but in the further fact that this coal lies near the surface, and is more easily, more .eheaply and more safeiy mined than in any other of the great coal districts yet opened up. The same thing is true of our iron ores. Add to this such proximity of the coal and ore as exists nowhere else on the globe, and we have the crowning fact of our situation so Tar as material wealth is concerned.
 To this special and peculiar advantage and the forests of yellow pine, the Ter tility of soil, the variety of agricultural products and the genial climate which we possess in common with our neigh boring commonwealths, and l am sure both the investor and the settler can find in Alabama an invitation worth their while to accept.
 The question naturally arises what are the people already there doing with this natural welath? am glad to say that in spite of the poverty which they inherited from .Appomattox, the people of Alabama have made a really marvellous progress in turning the potential wealth ol nature into the lbeneficient products of the field the mine, the forge and the factory. In spite of the hard times, the crippling of credit and the limitation on demand for consumption, they are stiii making progress, and l believe the de- yelopment of the past is only foretaste of thatwhfeh is to come. very encour- aging thing to me is the strenuous and sacrificing efforts made by our peo- pie to resist and to overcome the adverse conditions of the last few years, during which they have succeeded in adding to their productive capacity and increasing the number of their smoke-stacks. Un- der more favorable general industrial conditions, confidently expect another period of development surpassing that of the last decade, but without that element of land speculation which always leaves so many burises to cripple the feet of en-, terprise. H7ns
 During the very hardest pinch of the panic a larger percentage of our iron fur naces continued in blast than in any other of the great iron districts and their production more nearly kept pace with. their normal output The natural condi- tions which exist here enable us to econ- omize in the cost, of iron making, and our furnaces met the stress of the fight for life by establishing the fact beyond all controversy that Alabama can and does make iron cheaper than any state or country in the world, and she is now selling and exporting no inconsiderable quantity of pig iron to England, Ger many, Italy and Spain. Our ironmasters have achieved these results, not merely by the old and familiar expedient of re- ducing wages, but by economies in all the details of their business by utilizing y-products, by better methods which have increased the output from the same labor, machinery and material, while im- proving the quality. The outlook is sat- isfactory, for the cost of production with our chief competitors, especially in Eu- rope, will steadily increase, thus improv- ing our opportunity to relieve by foreign shipment glut at home.
 ..The steady advance of our cotton mill industry Is maintained, with bright prom ise of more active development in the near future. tInespite of the great devel- opment of our minerals, cotton growing continues to be the chief industry of the state. By the natural law of progress from the raw material to the machine, Alabama should long ago have become a great cotton manufacturing center. While iron making has gotten ahead and attracts by far the more attention, it has acted as a stimulus to the whole field of manufacture, and our people are be- coming imbued with a good deal of en-; thusiasm on the subject of cotton mills. Those in operation are remunerative; sev-. eral have begun operations in the last few months, some are being constructed, and a number of communities are plan ming and organizing for still more
 Our farmers are feeling the stress of low prices, and there. is very little money among them; ibutSthey are steadily pro-
  of life at home and becoming yearly less dependent on the west, for grain and meat. The importation of corn from other states has practically ceased. Hard pressed as they fave-been through the era of falling prices, yet as compared with those of many other states, particu- larly in the nofthwest. our farmers owe less money, are freer from mortgage and in a condition to honestly and sincerely invite immigra tionsffom less favored re- gions. The tendency to diversity their products was never so marked, and it is bringing such results as encourage per- severenee. along that line. Many Localities are givtngsspetiaf at ttention to vegetables and friitjfaising and grape culture. h. deed, this branch of soil cultivation has already become quite an Industry, adding largely Ato the incQpe of the state and demonstra ting to the homeseeker that he can profitab1y employ his energies in other crops than cotton If he so desires. F
 The-lumber industry continues to grow in importance as the use of our southern yellow pine becomes mure general The output has Hens sfaifiy we'll mainfained, and the niAs have never ceased adding improved machinery and bettering theft auniDmenfHf thuQ Tp611cfov cocf v1d <<af-