The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-19
ALABAMA BUSINESS MEN MEET IN THE GULF CITY
Ninth Annual Session of the Commercial COnven- tiOn--Annual Address of President
 Charles P. Lane.

as his distinguished friend had said what he would have said had he had first call. | He could but add to his words. In com | ing to Mobile" he said, we cast aside l all business cares. When they say Come | to Mobile,' we knew what 1t means. This | Is evidenced by the delegation from the Tennessee valley wire grass and black belt, the mineral and manufacturing centsrs. We come to you os Mobile with words of ment of Central and North Alabama and | are glad to see that the spirit of i'm | provement. and signs of prosperity are also here. We found street paving m 1 progress. fine hotels, new and handsome business houses and a movement of prog ress generally.
 Tt is not now as 1t was In former years when there was feeling of jealous envy among the cities of Alabama. One Is now glad and proud of the prosperity of the other. We arc one common people, all striving for the advancement and up- building of the grand old State. What helps Mobile helps Birmingham. Mont gomery. Selma, Huntsville and the ither cities. Mobile has always enjoyed a na-
 tional fame and hospitality and we are all grateful and thankful to be with you.' At the conclusion of Mir. Strauss's re- sponse, Mir. Hamburger asked the privi- legs of the floor and said the Committee on Arrangements had decided upon q change of the program for tomorrow. The Committee had decided to have the co,i- vention board a bay steamer tomorrow afternoon, go to Point Clear and there hold the night session.
 K. H. Stickney, Jr., of Anniston stated
 that some of the delegates were compelled to return home tomorrow night and un- less they could come back, to catch the midnight train they could not accept the | fnVftQtinn AsfA minutes was taken to discuss the matter l and finally on assurance of Messrs. Craft and Hamburger. that the boat would be l engaged to bring those back who desired to return the invitation was accepted. Delegates were then requested to give l their names to Secretary Gilbert.
 | Aiter this. President Lane. in deliver lns ms annual address, spoke as follows: I Gentiemen of the Association:
 congratulate you and the State of Ala pama upon this splendid assemblaRe of tnoughtful. successful business men. You
 are here for an unselfish and useful pur- pose; you are as the sentinels of the States progress. you place your hand in teiescoptc effect before your eyes and scan the remote distance as well as imme-
 aisie surroundings, seeking in patriotic
 .J1y ,,hiny 10 discern a path or an object
 Whlcn leads to Alabama's moral or com
 mercial welfare. assure you I enjoy the distinction of presiding over this
 oody. come here, gentlemen, not as an
 instructor seeking to dispense informa-
 learn and one who appreciates the wis oom or the old Arabic saying. which de- nect little. He who knows not and knows that he knows not. is sure to learn
 tive city of Mobile There, is vast
 neid of subjects worthy of presentation
 70 your consideration, and were I one of
 . nose rapid,hre guns which could cover tne vast held of important subjects in a
 rev words, would gladly do so, but un- der the existing conditions, will not dis tress you by such effort and will limit my address briefly to three subjects
 IT In the earnestness of my crude ex- pression, l should say anything grating kindly pardon it with the charity of your torgfving power and say he meant we'll The nrst of these subjects is one that appeals to the thoughtfulness of every thinking mind. It is the disturbed rela-
 ton developing in our State between the
 common mass and the Corporations of Alabama. There is a spirit being evinced
 m this State which, if not communistic 1 In its conception, is communistic jn its 1 tendency, which spirit, if not checked sooner or later. will amount to a destruc- tlve giant in our land. This spirit, my countryment. is evinced by disposition
 10 make war upon corporations, to rule ana ruin. it Is cloaked under the capti- Vating masquerade of legitimate regula- dons. Capital of the aggregation of capi- tai under the style of corporate name ia
 70 Alabama one of the most potent and beneficial factors of development As steam Is to our great mogul engines which naul our iron ore, our coal, cotton, lum- Der and other products of our science and labor. so is the aggregation of brains and capital under corporate creation the | steam of Alabama's development and progress. Destroy or cripple the useful
 hess of corporations. withdraw State en- | couragement from them, and you commit RES A -.k velopment.
 Let the demagogical adder stick his poi sonous fang into the warm progressive l blood or developing corporations, and you
 destroy the greatest agency of Alabama s progress. Corporations are regulated by
 the same natural business laws which | control individuals, and capital under a
 corporate name. have always found l corporations developers. Development Is | the purpose for which the capital Is
 united. never knew a corporation to
 have cow-catcher attached to it's ca | boose, and run backward living in the
 dead past thing of the dead past as
 are some of the muxzle-loading individ-
 uals who excite hatred toward them. l Wheresoever an unfriendliness toward | corporations is developed in a community an absolute absence of progress Is found You can readily ascertain upon investiga- ton that ignorance is the real seat of | this community's trouble and until the cause Is removed by higher education | there are no hopes for this community's $ progress or prosperity. If there is a
 characteristic of my nature which I en- deavor to cultivate, it Is a sense of pub- | lie gratitude. Individuals and corpora- ttons may have their faults but as an | Alabarnian, when I realize that the rail road corporations of this State have been
 the greatest developers of this States s civilization and progress, cannot refrain
 from an endeavor to stay the vicious hand which would cripple their prosperity.
 thereby destroying their usefulness to the State N '-Ae
 Remove the glove from that hand which
 is raised against them. you will find that
 1t is the hand of the demagogue, and a
 demagogue Is only a political Iand-cra b.
 one which Nfattens alone upon carcasses
 which have fallen by the wayside in the
 race of progress.
 The relation between the business men ana the demagogIe is as remote as it Is possible to be. They are antipodes. their hussines pursuits their objects are diff | ferent. They travel always in opposite | directions. the path they leave behind
 them: one of prosperity the other a dss- | truction. demonstrates the usefulness of ones existence. the curse of the other While we should protect upon eduita- | hle principles the rights of the citizens against all railroads or corporate en-