The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-24
CONGRESSMAN THOMPSONS PARTY
 IS ENTERTAINED BY MONTGOMERY.
Distinguished Visitors From the North and West Experi- ence the Hospitality of the Capital Cityof Alabama.
 Sentiments of Mutual
 Esteem Expressed.

clpline and the, atmosphere of industry
 At the industrial school. Charles Harris.
 ono of the leading colored citisens Of the
 city, made speech to the party. In the course of his remarks, he said;
 We welcome you not as citizens or the
 great State where we first saw the light.
 we welcome you as inhabitants Of the
 great State where we first saw the light.
 These tpointing to the students) are the
 representatives of the negro and not the
 crap shooters and banjo pickers. We. the
 rep. esentatives do not shoot crap. We
 play pool and progressive euchre. We
 play the guitar, the violin and the plano.
 We love these people and know that God
 will forgive them for whatever they may
 do."
 At the Commercial and Industrial.
 After the tour of the city. the guests
 were entertained at luncheon at the rooms
 of the Industrial aud Commercial Asso-
 citation. Colonel Wiley again presided
 and introduced the speakers during the
 brief exercises following the spread.
 c. A. Lsaier made an address of well
 come Secretary Shaw, Mir. Littlefeld.
 MT. Barney. Judge Smith. Juige Fuller
 and Colonel Thompson made short talks.
 In the course of his remarks Secretary
 Shaw said:
 We boast of country of more varied
 and extensive resources of any on which the sun shines. We grow anything and everything that Is produced anywhere be- tween the Arctic and the torrid zones. Our mineral resources are unequalled. our commerce IS unapproached. ana we manufacture more than all the factories and all the shops pf any other two coun- tries on the map by more than two thousand millions while our foreign con1- merce yields balance of trade in our favor of five hundred millions per annum- These conditions all portions of our com mon country have contributed.
 "Rut 1t is due you of the Sunny South to have 1t said that cotton contributes to larger extent than any other one exports. But I am not here to boast of what has been accomplished. l would not console you. gentlemen, if l could. I would not teach ranauintM put So Tar s as I would inspire you to greater th5ags. The United States produces cotton for the world. A single Atatk-Texat-grow
 wsa outside swss as st n Ss nsa SaiSp sts fyet Switxerland-God bless the little bee hive-opt-third as Ia .-e aR 4 I pamaF-naes-- q seventeenth the size of sdsxas-1exp pests nor cotton manufactures than all the United < States. The world exports five hu 1dred million dollars worth of cotton manufactures. but of this enormous sum the United States gets less than twenty five millions, not quite per cent. Tt is gratifying to note the wonder full increase in active spindes throughout the South. In twenty years the United
 States has increased the number of spin-
 dies one hundred fold, but in the same time the South has made an increase or one thousand per cent. Since 1S96 the North has added 6 1-2 per cent. to the number of its spindles. while the South
 has added 100 per cent. In the aggregate since 1896. the South has started two and one-half times as many spindles by act
 uai count as has the North. But all this
 is as nothing comparedi to the posabiii- ties in new fields now open TOT your
 commercial conquest.
 ''The cotton states have an aggregate area of nearly a million square miles. less than forty thousand of which soniy cotton. Let the demand increase as 1t may and as 1t will, 1t will never attain the limit beyond your capacity to sup
 may not say in limitless quantities. You have oil, cheaper still, and likewise linn
 itless You have water power Tn aDun- dance and you have labor literally rum ming to waste Wonder is the long con- sidered and well nigh assured canal, and beyond four hundred million people whose clothing is not the skins of animals, or woolen, but the product or the lndSan worm of the Indian plant
 50 while we boast of what we have done we may well plan the consummation of our dreams or what we are to do. congratulate you. my fellow citizens, upon what has been. I congratulate you upon what is and congratulate you upon what Is to be. compared to which all that has been and all that Is are but day dreams"
 Drive to the Cedars. The distinguished party of visitors be-
 came at the close of the exercises and speech-making in tie rooms of the Com mercial and Industrial Association the guests of Hon. Warren s. Reese. who had D, epared a delightful dinner for them at his plantation home, '"The Cedars," six
 miles from Montgomery, on the Hayhe- vile road.
 The start from Court Square was made at 1:30. Taliy-ho carriages and ouggles
 were pressel into service to carry MT. Reese's guests to the cool shade Of The | Cedars," under which the dinner had | been spread. and where an interesting | entertainment mad been prepared 4 cool breeze tempered the heat of the sun and | the drive was a pleasant one. The route carried the party. which embraced forty l persons. through one of the thickly set l tied negro quarters or the city. lhe Northern visitors showed a marked tn- | terest in the homes of the negroes ana the people that were sheltered by the | houses Repeated questions were asked ! the negroes, and the local committeeman were kept busy answering interrogatories. In passing through the farming dis | trict which lies to the west of the city, | the Western and Northern visitors show | ed a thirst fo' information on farming matters that was absolutely unquench- ] able. ConRressmen from Iowa, Michigan, ! Wisconsin and Maine piled the Southern CTS with questions concerning the lease system the method of cultivating cotton, | the financial returns from the cotton crop. the growing of grain in the South. the position occupied by the negro in the | farming economy of Alabama. They ex- pIained as if in apology for their many question. You see, we came South to learn. and we are after all the informa- tion that can be had" Beyond doubt, the visitors acquired a valuable store of in- bformation.
 The Dinner in the Country. "The Cedars'' was reached after an hours drive through roads that led | through growing crops Of cotton, corn and oats. ''The Cedars'' is an ideal place for an open-air Southern dinner. Up to the edge of the yard grassy hillsides
 sloped green and inviting. made cool by clumps of stately cedars. In the rear
 are well-kept stables, yards and out houses typical of the plantation home in l Alabama' The tables were spread in the | generous yard beneath the shade of the | graceful cedars. festooned with vines and | stirred by a delightful breeze
 | The details of the splendid entertain | rosnt bad heen arranged by Mir. and Mrs Warrsn Reese. assisted by Mrs. Boiling Whitaeld, the mother ot Mrs. Reese. The