The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-20
NORTH CAROLINA AT HOME
 TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT I

| material well-bclng, though necessary
 dation, and that upon 1t must be raised
 the superstructure of higher life T | the commonwealth is to stand as I Attention to Education.
 | More and more you are giving eaa' | and attention to education; and educa,
 ,len means the prcmotond not c,,,onnyybl on1y 9
 which rests upon individual rights ant upon the recognition by each individua
 absr he as %arSs dutss a tss we xena
 intellectual freedom. The man mus
 be decent in his home life, his pri' self enough The man who falls to bt | honest and brave both in his poll l'oal franchise and in his private busi,
 is not | easy thing. Only those communities are fit for it in which the average in command. of self-restraint, of wise dis interestedness combined with wise self interest; where the individual possesses common sense, honesty and courage. And now I want to say a word to you on special subject which all the country is concerned. but In which
 North Carclin,i has special concern
 The preservation of the forests Is vital to the W slfare of every country: China and the Mediterranean countries offer examples of these terrible effects of upOu lHt pnySlCdI SctkTd- phy. and therefor. uhtimately upon the national well-being. of the nations. One of the most obvious duties which our generation ewes to the generations serve the existing forests. The prime difference between civilized and unciv- pies each generation works not only for for the we'll Seing of the gsnnerations yet unborn. and ii we permit the nat stroyed so that we hand over to our we thereby prove our unfitness to stand in the forefront of civilized people.
 Our Forest Wealth.
 One of the greatest of these heri- tages is our forest wealth. It is the tains that are. most valuable to the nation as a whole, especially because of their effects upon the water sup ford to turn m these mountains over to the unrestrained greed of those who would exploit them at the expense of longer befo-e assuming control. in the interests of the public, of these forests for if we do wait. the vested interests of private parties in them may become most serious as well IS a most ex- nensive task to oust them. If the Eastern States are wise. then from the Bay of Fundy to. the Gulf we will see, within the next few years policy set on foot similar to that so fortunately carried out in the high Sierras of the West by the national government. All the higher App 1lachians should be re- served, either by the States or by the natio1: I much prefer that they should be put under national control. but it is a me.e truism to say that they will not b. reserved either by the States or by the nation unless the people of the South show strong interest there
 Such reserves would be a paying in vestment, not only in protection to
 aa Se re ass1p aaa soutisri mountain forests $ obSious against the floods which, in the recent past. have. during d single twelve month. destroyed property officially valued at nearly twice what 1t would Reserve.
 The maintenance of your Southern water power Is not .ess Important than they are injured your manufacturing interests will suffer with them. The perpetu ttio1 of your forests, which be on. of the first objects of your pub lie men. The two senators from North Carolina have taken an honorable part that the ~ people Of @ North e Carolina rolf sn'1T or Of any other Southern State, have quite graspe1 the importance, of this move IllrIl lo lHc IGVSlODTneEH and prosperity of the South.
 The Confe Ierats Veterans.
 tod1 Ihe position I5 h or h h"'or in yt nr parade epans t The They T Sy n tneip dssds eefIee Gee credit upon their descendants and upon all Americans. both because they did their cir duty in war and because they did 'nen, their sons, will not only prove that they possess the same power of fcalt, sG an e9l b t Rat rl. wl also s60w the ff that their fathers. the Confederate Vet erans, ,howod that they possessed in the ranks Of WAT, ;he industrial future of this great and typically American commonw 2alth is assured.
 The extraordinary development of industriaiism during the last half cen above all to the revolution in the meth ods of transportation and communica- tion; that Is. 10 steam and electricity. to the railroad and the telegraph.
 When this government was founded commerce was carried on by essentially the same instruments that had been in among barbarian. nations. ever since history dawned: that is, by wheeled ve- hicles drawn by animals. by pack boats rp on ,9yd d, this meant s tbad dnd r0IH merce went in slow, cumberouS and ex- pensive fashion over highways open to all Normally these highways could not compete with water transportation. if such was feasible between the connect ing points
 All thls has been changed by the de- velopmeat of the railroads. Save on the ocean or on lakes so large as tu be practically inland seas. transport by water has wholly lost it's old position Of superiority over transport by land while instead of the old highways oper to every one on the same terms, but of very limited Us -fulness we have new ighwaYs-railroads- are owned oN IrlNate corporations. and which are practically. of unlimited. instead of linn tcd, usefulness The old laws and old customs which were adequate and proper to meet the old conditioi.s nee,i radical readjustment in order to meet these new conditions.
 The New Commercial Highway.
 The car11nal features in these chang ed conditions aro. first, the fact that the new highway. the railway, Is. from the commercial standpoint, of infinite ly greater importance in our industrial life than was the old highway. the wag- Highway. the railway is in the hands If private owners, wheras the old high way, the wagon read, was in the hands of the State The management Of the new highway, .he railroad, or rather of the intricate web of railroad lines which cover the country. is a task in finitely more difficult. moro delicate, and more important than the primitive in order the old highway; SO that there is properly no analogy whatever be- tween the two cases. do not believe in goysc nm mt ownership of anything private hands and in particular should most strenuously object to gov ernment ownership Of railroads. But believe witt equal firmness that 1t is not to exercise a supervisory and regu- latory right o|er the railroads; for 1t is vital to the we'll being of the pub lie that they should be managed in 2 nfr{4 nf rd