Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1901-06-22
ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD Co
NEW YORK, NAV 28, 1901.
.'IFF VI'FNi sFItFg " tV7IF
To the Honorable R. h. Fulton, Ill. D.,
Chancellor Of the URirCrSity Of
NiSSiSSipBiS

TO the Honorable Il. II. Fulton, Ill. d.,
Chancellor Of the UHircrSity OF
MiSsisSippis
DEAR SHIT is with sincere re-
gret that | am forced to forego the
honor of accepting your fiattering in
vitation to address the University OF
Mississippi Pray make my excuses
and accept this letter as being all
that, in view of other engagements
which keep me here, | can do at this
time, for "The Development Of the
Material Resources of Mississippi"
You will, perhaps, pardon some pre-
fatory words of personal explanation
touching my relations to the Uniyers
ity over which you preside, and the
STATE by which it was endowed.
The first Mississippians whom l ever
met were members of the University
and also members of a College Fra
ternity which still fourishes in your
midst. They had come to New York
shortly after the close of the Civil
War; to make the acquaintance of and
to show their brotherly love toward
us of tne North, while yet the losses
and sorrows of war were fresh in all
our minds, and bore with such peculiar
severity upon them and their families
in the South. was but a boy just
out of school, and yet this first offer to
Clasp hands across the bloody chasm
has not been, and can not by me, be
forgotten.
The published letters of Justice La
mar show that long before he, in 1874
made the speedy restoration of order
at the South possible, through his mag
nanim0us and eloquent eulogy on Sen.
ator Sumner, he had thought out and
written out the peace-begetung plea
with which he closed that memorable
address, MY Countrymen, know one
another and you will love one an
other" 1t is not fair to assume that
ms teachings in the University, as Pro
fessor of Ethics and Metaphysics, must
have had somewhat to do with your
undergraduate bringing to us in New
York the divine message of healing Sc
many years carrier,
Not only did the clergyman who had
married my father and mother-the
gifted, eloquent and charming DR.. Fran
els l., Hawks-become one of the Board
of Trustees named in the Act of 1874
to incorporate the University, but my
whole course at Columbia College was
passed under the Presidency of one OF
your predecessors as Chancellor; | re
fer, of course, to the late DR.. f. A. 2
Barnard, of honored memory.
My first visit to the State was in the
autumn Of 1877, in connection with the
organization of the Chicago, St. Louis
and New Orleans Railroad Company
This gaXe me the privilege of making
who then presided oYUr the tedefal
Court, and was for so many years
Chairman of the Board of Trustees OF
the University.
1t has since been my good fortune
to know many of the Alumni, among
whom may be counted so large a mum
Der of those who have represented, anC
now represent, the State in Congress
and are, or have been, administering
justice on the Bench and practicing al
the Bar.
also am, and have been for many
years, freeholder, taxpayer, and, il
a sense a farmer in Mississippi; an(
having devoted nearly a quarter of {
century of hard work to the materia
development of the State, may claim
to speak thereon from experience, il
not with authority.
If all that | have to say shall not
in every particular, coincide with you
views, and those of other citizens o
the State, let us hope that this vii
be set down to an honest difference O.
opinion on the part of one who is {
| well.wisher and a Co-worker.
The resources of Mississippi are es
sentially agricultural. Alone of al
the Southern States, it lacks minera
resources. For, after all, Florida ant
South Carolina export phosphate rock
Louisiana furnishes both salt and sui
phur, and Texas has of late begun t,
produce petroleum.
To contrast Mississippi with tn
equally agricultural Northern State o
Iowa is natural and may prove In
sJructiye.
Mississippi was admitted into tn
Union in 1917, as the twentieth State
and Iowa in 1916, as the twenty-ninth
The next Census, that of 1850, show
ed that Mississippi had more thai
three times the population of Iowa
| (606,526 against 192.214.)
Although Iowa has long been NOR
populous than Mississippi, the Censu
of 1900 shows that in density of popu
lation there is no very great difference
Iowa having 40.2 and Mississippi 33.
inhabitants to the square mile.
But, on looking further, we fin
that Iowa contains one city of over 60
600 inhabitants, three of from 5000
to 10000, four of from 10000 to 10000
and one of from $4,000 to 10000. Thos
nine cities have in the aggregate
population of 2S2,355. In them dwel
more than one-eighth of all the peopl
of that State.
In Mississippi, on the contrary, ther
is not single city of $4,000.
Furthermore, the eighty-eight vi
lagos, towns and cities in Iowa, havin
population of over 1000, contai
612,203 persons while the thirty sim
lar municipalities in Mississippi col
tain only 13S,0S6. That is to say, tn
urban population of Iowa is more tina
fourfold that of Mississippi.
Without claiming any special virtu
for an urban population, it must b
admitted that in the mere matter {
wealth, urban communities excel tn
rural.
On the other hand, during the d.
cade from 1890 to 1900, the total popl
lation Of Mississippi increased in
greater ratio (20.3 per cent? than di
that of Iowa (16.7); or for that matte
than did that of any one of twent
States, including Tennessee, Kentuck,
Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nebraska an
Kansas.
Like Iowa, Mississippi Is withor
any great commercial markets, or mai
ufacturing and distributing center
within her own borders.
The marked differences noted aboy
must be traceable to the character {
the people, the way In which thes
States were settled, and the habit
thereby engendered. The developmer
of the Northern States and of til
Southern States has proceeded on rad
cally different lines From the begil
ming, all works Of public utility wer
IN the North, created through joint n
tion, and, very generally, by NEAR
Of joint stock companies. From II
earliest days the little saw.mill {
grist.mill, the small manufactuIln
plant, the turnpike road and the to
bridge. were. at the North, built an