The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-06-28
Leads a0 Nrh ap0na Daily apers GBpouatH0n
Bankers State Association

whiskey, fur and tobacco, and have q
law enacted, as they did in Colonial North
Carolina, making them full legal tender
and imposing a double penalty, with dis
reimbursement and disqualification to hold
office, on any one who refused to take
them as such. That has always been
my ideal OF currency legislation but
promised not to press my views upon you
on this OCCASION.
ALLOW me to say, however, before
taking my seat that your occupation
the handling of other peoples money and
reserving the profits for yourselves-must
be a delightful one, barring accidents
Considering its antiquity. its respectable
ity and its scoopability the wonder Is
that more people are not engaged in it;
but it is growing in your State rapidly.
and / trust that at your next annual
meeing'-which will, or course. be held
here-there will be many more of you
to receive the hearty welcome which
now again most cordially extend 20 you
on behalf oil our people
Colonel Waddell was very happy and
entertaining in his remarks and in his
short address alluded to mention of banks
and banking in the Bible, where the rich
man gave his servants pounds and talents
and required usury of them. He was
heartily applauded throughout his speech
and closed amid an enthusiastic demon
stration.
COL. FRIES RESPONDS TO ADDRESS
OF WELCOME
The response to Colonel Waddells hap
py address of welcome was made by Col
F. H. Fries, president OF the Wachovia
Loan and Trust Company, of Winston-
Salem, N c. Friends of Colonel Fries
knew that he was capable of anything in
the banking line, but he surprised them by
his gift and grace as public speaker.
Colonel Fries said:
THE RESPONSE.
ITO the Members of the Chamber OF Com
merce of Wilmington, N. c.:
I'VE, the members of the North Caro-
lima Bankers Association. and visiting
friends. deeply appreciate the eloquent
words of welcome that have been W
aptly spoken by our distinguished friend
Colonel amred M Waddell, than whom
none is more distinguished and eloquent
in all this beloved State from which we
come and in which we are assembled. We
have been delighted and honored by be-
ing thus addressed, and ] sincerely wish
l had the gift to fittingly reply; l am
encouraged to undertake this pleasant
duty assigned to me because / am con-
scious that you will not expect more
than a heartfelt acknowledgement, ex
pressed in plain and simple words, be-
fitting the calling in which most of US
are engaged.
I'm the days of our forefathers, when
the ancestral home was the log cabin
the entrance to which was fastened by
the wooden latch, raised by the leather
thong, the owner left the latch string
hanging knotted on the outside, so that
friends might come in and make them
selves at home: the idea was a beauti-
full one, bespeaking the truest confidence
in the friends who were thus admitted
to what was in those days the hosts en-
tire possessions; but after all, this proven
bial welcome lacked the warmth and
charming influences OF such greeting
do we HdNC IcCGlNCu NncGe We dIt
met with the warm handshake and good
cheer and are welcomed into the wide
open door that leads to the unstinted hos
pitality of our friends.
ut is most delightful welcome which
you have extended to the bankers, who
come from all over the State. to this oc
casion of their annual holiday They
come from the western part, where il
greenest verdure the lofty mountain
peaks stand sentinel over the most beau
tiful land that can be found on this
beautiful earth, where the azalea, the
kalmIs, the rhododendron in greatest pro
fusion and loveliness garland the coves
and glens OF the mountains in way that
is beyond description, beyond even the
powers of this gifted orator who has just
addressed US | have just recently re-
turned from short trip to the beautiful
Sapphire country and the Translvania
mountain region an. know the bankers
of this section would misrepresent theil
country if they did not come with ioyfu
hearts and smiling faces from the midst
of those grand and beautiful surround
/ ings. They come from the Piedmont sec.
tion like our worthy president, happy
over the prosperity of the many mills anC
factories that are~spinning their yarn from
eight cent cotton, and shipping the pro
duct of their factories, fields and forest,
all over this and into foreign lands. They
come from the east, where the memory
OF eight cent cotton may cast momen
tary shadow as they think of what might
have been, but it passes away with the
thought OF the thousands of car loads OF
fruits and berries that have rolled away
and have come again with hundreds o.
thousands of dollars that have found Their
way into their vaults and safes, where
moth and rust do not corrupt-(seldom)
break through and steal They come
from beyond the State, these brother,
that have strayed from us, and whom
we are delighted to see, with evidences o.
prosperity deservedly gained and positions
worthily won, the most noted, and per
haps the best beloved of them clothed
with the highest honors that can be be
slowed by the largest association of the
best bankers the world has ever known
Happy and joyous they all come t.
this annual family reunion, and it is mos
appropriate that the reunion is at this
CONTINUED on Second Pagel