Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-24
Add to Material Development.

yelOpeG on lines from galveston, New vi
leans and Baltimore.
Add to Material Development.
when once established such regular lines
unquestionably add greatly to the material
development of any country. but TO secure
them the importing and exporting trade OF
the section to be served must be a growing
one and the country must be attractive to
settlers and thus the steamship line and
the commercial interest it ministers to are
dependent one upon the other and the wei
fare of the one reacts upon the other /
have in mind IN this connection the regular
service inaugurated by one of the largest
transatlantic steamship lines between Bal
timore and one of the ports of Continental
Europe as long ago as 1865 under trade
auspices such as l have described. This
line, which began as a monthly service,
has gradually developed until II now main
tains. and for a number of years has main
tanned, a weekly service by large and COM
modous steamers to the advantage of the
port of Baltimore and the Advancement Of
a large section of the country tributary to
that port.
Il take It there Is a general consensus of
opinion that the south needs a large in
crease In the strong arms and willing
hcnds of workers of every description, of
settlers and small farmers well as of
laborers, agricultural, mineral and indus
trial. of such a force. In other words, as
has contributed so much to the magnificent
development of the soil. the mines and the
factories of the north and the northwest.
This development has unquestiOnably been
due to the enormous supply of labor that
has flown into the country from Europe in
the last thirty years, without which we
should still be dependent mainly upon the
products of the soil, and should still be
agricultural nation"
At the conclusion of Mr.. Schwab's address
he was rendered hearty vote of thanks.
Alleged Decline in Trade
Mr.. Mccarthy of Mississippi offered
resolution setting forth that American ship
ping - foreign trade has reached lament
able state of decline, and it is desirable
there should be American ships for foreign
trade. and that as Congress appointed
committee to investigate the subject. there
fore that the parliament heartily indorses
efforts to secure American merchant
marine, and hopes Congress will take steps
to help it at the next session. The resolu-
ton caused some bitter discussion because
of its political nature. The resolution was
referred to the committee on tranSpOrta ion.
Charles NJ. Jessup representing the New
York chamber of commerce. was introduced
and briefly thanked the parliament for al
lowing him to be present to listen to the
discussions
John J. Barnes of the New York produce
exchange said he bore the greeting of his
organization He introduced Mr.. Charles
Rabidan of the same exchange who talked
of Cuba and the advantages of trade with
that country and the Spanish-speaking
countries south Of the United States.
The Southern Industrial Educational
League. composed of the women OF the
south. by resolution made an appeal for
recognition by the parliament. The resolu-
ton was referred to the proper committee.
Communicate tons were handed in by dele
gates from various points along the At
lantic coast and were referred to commit
tees.
Mr.. McRae OF Wilmington, n. c.. said
his town is the only free port in America
south OF Bangor Me. This does away with
the charges heretofore assessed by the Har-
Dor Pilots Association.
Then an Agricultural State.
Senator Simmons of North Carolina talked
Of immigration He was on the program to
talk this afternoon. but he was present
this morning he was called on.
He said, IN part:
when the war closed the people of the
south had but one occupat ion namely. that
or farming With it's magnificent rivers ana
harbOrs with water power ample to run
the factories Of the world with practically
ineXhaustible deposits of coal and ore and
minerals, with the finest forests perhaps
on the continent, with lands capable of pro-
ductng cotton enough to clothe the people
of the world, with all of these and its many
other wealth producing resources the south
was undoubtedly poor. In the midst OF
riches we were in poverty, and why? Be
cause we had no money, and our people did
not have the technical Industrial training
needed to take advantage of these boun-
teous resources. The problems OF those
days were, therefore. money and Industrial
training. These problems have now been
measurably solved, but in their solution
another problem has been evolved.
1.-The agricultural, commercial and indus
trial activity and expansion which followed
successful solution of these earlier prob
lens, outrunning the increase in our popu-
lation, have created a demand for labor
which cannot be supplied from our own
population. and the south is today as the
result, struggling with a labor famine
Let me illustrate with conditions which
now exist in my own state, and which I
believe to be typical of conditions exist
ing in the south generally, certainly in those
southern states in which there has been
marked industrial development:
Need of Labor.
Twenty years ago North Carolina was
dlstinctively an agricultural state. Nearly
its whole population was engaged in agrI-
culture. At the beginning of that time, with
$1,000 square miles of territory, we had
population of only about /, 300, 600 people a
population manifestly inadequate to the ag-
rtcultural demands of so large an area
To-day North Carolina has 1925 manu-
featuring establishments, most of them
established within this period, employ
Ing $4,000 wage-earners, nearly every
one Of whom have been drawn from our
rural population. while there has been prac-
tically no accessons to this population to
supply the drain except of natural Increase
The resulting condition. therefore, In North
Carolina today is a depleted rural popula-
ton on the one hand. while on the other
our factories have practically exhausted the
source from which they have during these
years drawn their supply.
las a natural and inevitable result there
Is In nearly every part of the state today
both from the factory and the farm, an
urgent demand for more labor. This dou-
BILE demand has brought about labor
scramble, SO to speak, between the farmer
and the manufacturer, which Will of neces-
sity continue as long as the demand for
labor is in excess of the supply. In these
conditions unless labor be had from
elsewhere neither Of these occupations can
further increase and expand it's operations
without in direct proportion contracting
the operations Of the other. Is it not evil
dent, therefore. that we have reached, or
nearly reached, our limit of agricultural
and industrial development If are to
rely in the future, we have done in the |
past for our labor supply solely upon the |
natural increase In our population?