The age-herald., 1900-12-23

for manufacturing, if coal, coke, iron and
 steel were laid down at their docks at any
 thing like the cost of transportation which
 is officially stated to be remunerative for
 coal on the Mississippi from Pittsburg to
 New orleans namely, one-third of one mill per ton per mile.
 have it from good authority that some years ago the Rothchilds, after careful in-
 vestigation through experts sent for the
 purpose, declared that they regarded the Gulf of Mexico as destined to be the Medi-
 terranean of the western hemisphere. That in time to come the cities on the gulf would be the great reservoirs for receiving the commerce of foreign nations and for deliv- ering the products and manufactures of the
 States tributary to them; and that, on ac- count of the geographical and climate con- ditions, the States bordering on the gulf
 were destined to be the future seats of the
 busiest, most prosperous locations nf man
 in the western hemisphere.
 ? am warned by your motto, No section alism,'' not to undertake to iocalize or to limit to any one point section the bene- fits of this open waterway .tading up to the heeart of the coal and iron fields of Alabama; and yet I cannot resist the op- portunity-may not more correctly say cannot be guilty of~the want of courteous regard?-in making at least a brief mention of what this waterway means to the citi- zens and to the interests of this city, whose hospitality we have all enjoyed. Practical ly, men of New Orleans, no limits can be placed upon the benefits which your city, would derive from cheap coal, iron and steel unloading at your docks from steel barges, right out from the heart of the coal and iron fields of Alabama Men are &C., customed to measure things, distances and values by figures, and hence the old adage that figures do not lie" You have built up wonderful city mainly upon one prod uct-cotton. In this do not intend for one moment to ignore your claims as a sugar. rice or grain market. But, inasmuch as for years you have been so successful in win ming wealth and influence through the handling of cotton, permit me to lay be- fore you some figures upon the tonnage which the Alabama waterways, in connec- tioh with your Lake Borgne canal opens up as a possibility to your citizens. I quote from an address delivered before the New Orleans Progressive Union last June by the Hon. H. Dudley Coleman of this city words which l trust will never prove tedi- ous to any American, and which should thrill the heart of every man who wishes well for New Orleans and would delight 50 see her further extend her usefulness and influence: "The capacity in tons of coal possible to be shipped through these in- provements aggregate 15, COG, 900 tons per an- mum. This represents 10000 trains of 20 cars each a half million coal cars of 60,000 pounds, 30 tons capacity each: 15,000,0 060 short tons of 2O00 pounds each, which equals fin weight six entire annual crops of Amer ican cotton at 10000, 900 bales per annum. Granting that New Orleans receives 200o.- 900 bales of cotton per annum, all of which is not exported, 1t would take thirty years receipts of cotton to equal one years ca pacity of Alabama coal output through the Birmingham and Warrior river canal and the Coosa river improvements. With prop railroad facilities and terminals New Or leans ought to export in coal alone every year ten times the weight of all the cotton she now receives I do not see how any thing can be added to such statements, es- pecially when they seem absolutely correct. The time will come, and 1t will come just as quickly as you men who have your homes and interests in New Orleans say that 1t shall come,Iwhen to her ether sources of wealth and growth will be added manufacturing. Given cheap coal, iron, steel and lumber, no reasonable limit c3n or should be placed upon what she could manufacture The location of great foun- dries, machine shops, ship yards and docks are no idle dreams. They will assume visi- ble form and stand as facts just as soon as you New Orleans men say they shall be builded, and shall stand as lasting monu- ments to your far-sightedness and energy And finally best of all, speaking as an Ame rican to Americans, what is true of New Orleans will be true of every gulf city. What is true of Alabama and Louisiana w,ll be true of every gulf and bordering State. This new life, the permanent pros perity enjoyed by these States, will be re- fiected and distributed in the interchange of products from every other State in our union and other countries, and it wifi all add to the happiness, prosperity and great ness of America.