The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-12
Richard H. Edm0nds Talks of
 Is Development
SOIL IS BARELY SCRATCHED
Interesting Comparison of Wealth of the South With That of Entire United States Forty
 Years Ago.

Years Ago.
 Richard H. Edmonds, editor of the Bal timore Manufacturers Record and a di- rector of the Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron company. after spending sew eral days in Birmingham, returned east yesterday afternoon. He visits this city frequently. but 1t has been three or four months since he was last here.
 In speaking yesterday of Birmingham's and the souths growth he said: While I keep constantly In touch with l the district, I was agreeably surprised to see the rapid progress that Is being made here in building operations Every time I come I remark the solid Improvements, but this time I have been more im- pressed than ever with Birmingham's development along metropolitan lines.
 sTf we would rightly measure the in- dustrial potentialities of the country at large. and especially of the south, we must study the situation not simply in the light of the past. but with due at- tentlon to the revoiutionizing changes which have come about in the worlds affairs of late years under the stimulat- ing effects of medern conditions wrought by railroads and machinery We must also study the future with full appre- citation of the fact that our country now has population of sO.OOO. 600 people, the most active and yirile which the wor1I has known, compared with only S0,0O0,OOO in 1860.
 Impressive Fact.
 "The fact is the south alone now has a population only about 100000 less than that of the whole country forty years ago. And the total wealth of the south, according to the last census. is just about the same as that of the United States at that date or about s16.OOO,00o,O 900. The value of our manufactures is now nearly equal to the total for the whole country then. In 1860 the value of the lumber product of the United States was $95, ,0O0, 0O0 Now the south alone Is annually marketing over $2Oo, 100000 of lumber and finished wood working stuff. Then the total output of pig iron in the whole country was only SS0,000 tons, whereas the south is now making nearly 100000 tons year and the production for the whole country Is at the rate of 100000 tons a year, and even this Is so far short of the consumptive demand that buyers are searching Europe for iron and steel to meet their pressing necessities. "In 1860 the country mined 5.700000 tons of bituminous coal, while the south Is now producing about 55,oO0,Oo0 tons and the whole country about 25O.00o.0o0 tons The output of petroleum was then 5OO.- GOO barrels, now 1t is over 165, 900 900 bar rels. The total valuation of all property was then 16,1OO 0oO, 900. now 1t is about l $94, 900. .OO0.0 900. The entire street car mile- age was 400 miles operated by horses and mules today the south has 5000 miles operated by, electricity.
 Great Changes.
 These randum figures give some idea of the tremendous change which has been made during the last forty years and the greater part of 1t should be cred ited to the last twenty. for even as late as 1880 the United States mined only 42- 900 tons of bituminous coal and made only about S,50O,OOo tons of pig iron.
 "The population of the United States increases at the rate of nearly 25 per cent every ten years, which will give us during the next ten years gain of near ly 10000, GOO. and in the succeeding ten a gain of about 25OOO,OOO. In other words, we are every decade adding to our total population an increase almost as great as the present population of the whole south. Moreover, the industrial activity, the constructive period, 1t may be called, of railroads, office buildings, giant mu- nicipal and private undertakings which we have seen in this country for tho last ten years will now be seen through out the world.
 "Everywhere the railroad Is pushing into new regions and Mexico, South America, Africa, the Orient are all to follow our lead in these vast revolu- tionary changes.
 Hardly Commenced.
 "The south itself has hardly com menced its real development We have simply been scratching the ground to find out what we have and now that we have demonstrated to ourselves and to
  advanetges for the creation of wealth no other section of the world can equal the south, the activity of our advancement must be far greater than anything which we have yet accomplished.
 We produce three-fourths of the worlds cotton crop and yet we have only 100000 spindles out of total of 6,000,- 900 in Europe and America. We have more coal and iron than the north and yet Pennsylvania alone, though 5000 square miles smaller than Alabama, has $350. .0O0,000 more capital invested in man ufacturing than the fourteen southern states combined.
 We have one-half of the standing timber of the United States and can duplicate the entire woodworking inter- ests of the country. We have more oil than has been found elsewhere in the United States, if not in the world. and oil avio ox,tIx