The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-09


deemed it in so short a time from
frontier to a land OF homes farms ana
thriving towns.
He spoke in the highest complimentary
terms of Texas educational facilities,
and urged upon the peopre the necessity
OF the education of their children. The
President dwelt at length upon the sub
jcct of irrigation, complimenting the peo-
pie of Wichita Falls upon what they
would accomplish in this direction.
At the conclusion of the speech, the
Presidents special left for Frederick, Ok
lahoma, where the President will debark
for his hunt
Praises Prairie Country.
The Presidents speech here was as fol-
lows;
Il know this country well. 1t is just
twenty-five years ago that | first went
into the great west, the real west up be-
yond the Missouri, in North Dakota. At
that time / saw great stretches of level
prairie without a house where now are
thriving towns. but | dont know that l
ever have seen any greater transforms
tion than from what | am told has been
taking place during the same time in
your own country / have now been
travelling for four days through Texas |
want to congratulate you upon your
forethought in your great irrigation
schemes here. What you have done Is
not only of very great Importance to
this community but 1t is OF the utmost
Importance by the way of example to all
of our eastern people. | have had the
good fortune to spend many years of my
life in the western country. When | be-
came President, one of the things to
which 1 have devoted attention was to
try to bring about a fuller development
of irrigation, and thereby of the re-
elimination of agricultural lands in the
semi-arid regions. l naturally take a
particular interest in what you have
done in that regard. The welfare of the
great western country, and that means
in its essence the welfare of the United
States as whole. depends upon the en-
couragement given to the home-maker'
that Is the crop we want to grow, the
crop of home-makers. The men who
really can conquer this continent for the
republic, are the men like Mr.. Burnett
and others who have come out here
when there was a frontier out into the
land of the Indian and buffalo, and there
made ready the way for the civilization
that we now see OF the United States.
Great is your debt of obligation to those
men. | came down to Texas several
years ago to help raise my regiment, and
when we returned from Santiago. l told
the men that we would surely have to
have a reunion of the regiment of San
Antonio under the walls of the Alamo,
where the regiment had been raised At
last the opportunity came when | could
arrange to have the regimental reunion
here. and at the same time visit your
great and wonderful state.
Admires the Citizenship.
II admire Texas not only for its won
derful material advantages, for its agri-
cultural pasture and industrial resources,
but above and beyond all of this for the
character of its citizenship. for the char
acter of its men and women | have been
received In Texas in a way for which
cannot sufficiently express my gratitude
and appreciation. We look at this country
of ours, we of the United States. not as
something for today only, but as some
thing that is to last through the ages We
are trying here in America on the largest
and most complete scale that it has ever
been tried. the experiment of having a
free people govern itself by itself and for
itself ,(Cheers and applause) We are