The age-herald., 1899-11-05
SuDr6[006UOf M0Qi6 6itv, Destined to b6
 th6 S0uth'S Metropolis. TELLS PR0DU6T|0NAND EXPORT


 -----~-------~~~~~- ~---~-~-~----~-----~~ portation at certain seasons of the year through the Alleghany, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. Birmingham, through the wonderful energy and perseverance of one man will soon enjoy this additional facill- ty. refer ito the "VanHoose canaP' and Hon. J. A. VanHoose. I say ''VanHoose canal" advisedly for the reason that his energy and his indomitabe work and intel ligent perseverance in its behalf has not only made it possible but practically as- sured its success. By all means it should be named the "VanHoose Canal" as monument to his untirng energy and perseverance.
 By reference to the statistics of the pro- ducts of the Pittsburg district it will be seen that while they have only thirty blast furnaces in Aleghany county they have sixty steel mills or finishing mills. In other words, Pittsburg finishes more product than it makes in crude form, and draws it's raw ma terial largely from other out lying districts, some of which have been shipped from Birmingham It Is signih- cant fact, about which political econo- mists have written and industrial writers have talked for many years, that the profit for that section of country that markets its raw materials in unfinished state Is rea- lively small. Not ton of pig iron Is ship ped from Alleghany county, perhaps 5000 tons per day is brought in there and work ed up from other districts. When the pro- ducts of the mills and factories leave Ale ghany county they go direct to the con sumner and the manufacturer gets the ben eft of all the profits from the raw mater ia to the finished product To such an ex- tent has this been carried that the Pitts burg district of today Is prepared to finish largely more than it can manufacture. In order to get the full benefit of the great natural advantages which we possess on account of the great abundance of good coal, good ore and cheap pig iron, we must finish the product and deliver it to the con- sumer in the finished state. Pittsburg can well afford ito say that we will let the out lying districts make the pig iron and ship 1t to us and we will convert it into the finished products and make the profit If the product of the blast furnaces of the Birmingham district today, which is ap- proximately 5000 tons daily, could be con- verted into finished product it would real ize perhaps four times as much profit as it received for it now. This would practical ly mean quadrupling our population at once. This is not only true but the time has arrived when other furnaces can be built and operated proitably and the pro- duct converted into finished forms and sold wherever iron and steel is used. This as- sertion is based upon the terse but truth full quotation from Mir Carnegie's letter in which he says: "Wherever ton of steel is made cheapest to that point must gray itate the manufacture of multifarious fin- ished articles" The undisputed fact that a ton of pig iron is made cheaper today in the Birmingham district than any other point in the world is positive proof that steel can also be made cheaper in the Bir- mingham district than any other point in the world. This being true, all other in- terests and industries .that consume steel for manufacturing other various products will go to the point where they can get 1t cheapest. Pittsburg ships her coke average of sixty miles and her ore over thousand miles. Birmingham ships her coke and ore an average of less than twen- ty miles. This is the secret and this tells the whole story Where you can assemble the raw ma aterials at lowest cost there is the cheapest point of production. With the pig iron properly made, the manufacture of steel becomes a simple process. Nature supplies the raw materials, management and other appliances are the only other re- quiSiteS to success.
 There are many other lines upon which interesting comparisons might be insti- tuted between Alleghany county, Pennsyl- vania, and Jefferson county, Alabama. I will only refer to two, area and popula- tion.
 Aleghanyeounty has 757 square miles. Tt contains the cities of Pittsburg, Allegha- ny, McKeesport, and other burroughs, and 53 townships. The population of Alleghany county in 1880 355, ,S96 today 1t is con- servatively figured at 1,0S3, ,204. Tn 1880 the assessed valuation of property in Allegha- ny county was $l90,0O0,000; today 1t Is $516.- 000.000 This enormous increase in values. has enabled the county 10 reduce its tax levy from three and three-quarter mills to a little over two mills.
 Jefferson county, Alabama, has an area of 1,s72 square miles, or practically 50 per cent. more than Aleghany county, Penn sylvania. Population in 1880 was g, 272 in 1S90 SS,501; 1899, 125,0OO, estimated.
 The stratling facts of the growth and de- velopment of Alleghany county Pennsyl- in Ia ty, Alabama. Alleghany has coal and river transportation; Jefferson county has coal, ore, limestone, doamte and soil that is equally as fertile, and a climate very much better.
 It is true that Alleghany county is sur rounded by more populous country than Jefferson county, but notwithstanding this fact, we have other considerations that will help to make Jefferson county, within the next decade, what Alleghany county Is today. The immense lumber interests con- tiguous to Jefferson county can be brought within it's borders and worked into the fn- ished product. The cotton fields, not only of Alabama, but other surrounding states, will bring their products to Jefferson coun- fy, either to be manufactured or shipped. Building stone, sand stone suitable for making glass, Portland cement, and many other articles too numerous to mention, can all be manufactured in Jefferson county, and marketed al profit.
 These conditions will only become true and these prophecies only fulfilled, in the event that we realize the fact that no coun- try can become rich and prosperous that sells its crude or raw materials.
 As before stated, Alleghany county draws not only from Pennsylvania, but from many of the other surrounding states, the crude products or raw materials that they require in the manufacture of the various articles of commerce which they make
 It is universally admitted that the cheap est labor is employed in the producing Of crude or raw materials; that, in order to obtain the largest returns. the manufac-