The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-16
MUST RAISE FUNDS FOR STATE EXHIBIT State Industrial Association
 Meets Here Today. PRESIDENT LANE CHEERFUL Has Received interesting Letter from Kentucky Showing the Various
 Schemes In That State
 to Raise Money.
PRESIDENT LANE CHEERFUL

SCnCTlCS UT indl SA0AS
 to Raise Money.
 Charles P, Lane, president of the Ala bama Industrial and Commercial associa- tion, accompanied by R. R. Poole com missioner of agriculture and industries, arrived in Birmingham last night to at tend the meeting of the association today at noon. At this meeting a movement will be started by which Alabama will be represented at the St. Louis exposition by creditable state exhibit. Unless all signs fail. the men behind the movement say that all the leading counties will fol- low the pace set by Jefferson county and S25 GOO or $300oO will be raised.
 Mir. Lane says that one reason for the backwardness of the industrial associa- tions was the continued belief that the state would finally come in and make the appropriation. Now that this hope Is lost he expects the various business or ganizations throughout the state to get to work with a vim.
 Proud of Jefferson.
 Jefferson certainly has done herself proud" said MT. Lane and with such sn example before them the other coun- ty boards throughout the state will not fail to do equally as well in proportion. The board of revenue of Jefferson and the Commercial club of Birmingham are to be congratulated
 The meeting will be called to order at 12 o'clock in the club rooms of the Conner cial club in the old First National bank building
 Some time ago MT. Lane wrote to Ken lucky for information concerning the plan of raising money for an exhibit in that state and has received the following re- ply:
 Letter from Kentucky.
 Louisville Ky, September 26, 1903. -"Mr. Charles P. Lane President Alabama
 Commercial and Industrial Association, Huntsville Ala.
 Dear Sr--Your recent letter to the editor of the Courier-J ournal asking for information with regard to Kentucky's plan for raising money for the states representation at the worlds fair, has been handed me for reply.
 First, let me say, we regret very much to learn that the Alabama legislature fol- lowed in the very selfish wake of the Kentucky general assembly, as raising money by private subscription, for pur- pose of this kind is simply an 'up-hilP job, no matter in what community.
 "Our association has been actively at work since the first of last November. It has fifteen directors, corresponding in importance to commissioners in other states, none of whom received one cent of compensation Immediately after in- corporation and the election of officers and directors, general finance commit- tee, consisting of about twenty-five mem- bers. was appointed and out of it has grown numerous subcommittee covering the different commercial and industrial classes of the state.
 Many Sub-Committees. For instance, we had sub-finance com mittees on coal, crude oil, financial in- stitutlons, manufacturers, live stock breeders, lumber firms and corporations. dstilers and liquor dealers, tobacco firms and corporations, railroads, mis- cellaneous corporations. etc. These com mittees went actively after their respee- tive classes. In addition to this, we had committees in every county In the state to solicit subscriptions from concerns not
 
 the state unanimously approved the movement at their 1902 convention and recommended contributions from their fi- nancial institutions on the basis of one tenth of one per cent of their capital stock. Up to this time about fifty banks and trust companies have responded, some giving one-tenth of one per cent; others one-fifth and still others contrib uting without any regard to the sugges- ton made by the state association. Next. the coal operators of the state-that is representatives of companies which mined in 1902 majority of the coal ton mage for the entire commonwealth-me and approved the plan, appointing a committee to fix a sliding scale basis upon which subscriptions were asked. Something like $3500 has come from this source, and I failed to state that about S4000 is the total to date from the bank ers The distllers have given about $2500, the brewers about 5000, the live stock people about s500 the lumber peo- pie about $500, etc. We failed to get anything whatever out of the railroads.
 Corporations Must Help.
 "As this would indicate. our batteries have been turned chiefly on corporations of the state believing that they would
 
 movement We have introduced two pop ular plans but neither worked well. One was the purchase of 25,000 souvenir but tons, on which was a picture of the Ken lucky building at the Worlds fair. These buttons cost us about 1900 and the sales to date have been less than 5000 They were offered at Sl each, with the belief that Kentucky had 25.O00 citizens who were not able to give more than a dollar to the fund and would be willing to contribute that amount The people, however, seemed to look at the proposition as paying dollar for a cheap button, than as con trbuting $1 to the state building at the exposition. The other popular plan con- templated sending the most popular teacher in every county in the state to the Worlds fair at the expense of the association. the popularity to be deter mined by ballot, school children and the public generally being invited to vote at ten cents each. This plan was exploited with the greatest vigor. One hundred and seventy-eight of the newspapers of the state kindly consented to run an cleo trotype thirteen inches deep and two columns wide, giving details of the con this, personal letters were written to 10000 school teachers, 36O0 postmasters, every bookseller. county judge, mayor. etc, in the state. The state was flooded with large posters.
 Another Scheme Failed.
 "One hundred and twenty-five thou- sand blank ballots were distributed in addition to a quarter of million that went weekly into the homes of Kentuck- fans through the different state papers.