The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-15

f''NN'N'>''N mingham Railway. Light and Power com pany, talked interestingly yesterday afternoon of the progress of Birmingham in recent years and of the efforts made by the corporation of which he is presi- dent to contribute to the upbuilding of the Birmingham district.
 Tt goes without saying" began MT Jemison, that no city of the Union has made relatively more substantial progress Physical evidence of this fact is presented on every side. For thirty years we have had here in the Birmingham district an ex- cellent boiler but we have lacked the fuel to run it. By that I mean our natural resources have been, as they still are, unlimited, but we have lacked the capital requisite to develop them.
 Brmlngham's Development.
 Tn the last four years a diligent ef- fort has been made by persons who have the welfare of Birmingham at heart to get a large amount of capital for invest IlenL III GlTluIlSH Hdlll anu lhc ioh hiiiS ham district. These men have conclu- sively demonstrated that here hidden In this valley are great natural resources that may with sufficient labor and suf- fcent capital be converted into enor- nous wealth, and thereby build up here a community of great social and indus trial power.
 ba thaX confronted with the fact that this was, as it still is, new and undeveloped, and, in certain sense at least, frontier com munity The great city that rightfully should rise here and that will, in case wise policies are adopted and pursued, surely be realized here. is still in the making.
 "It Is true that our progress has been But great as our growth has been, it Is only faint suggestion of the yet greater rewards that are to be won here provided that wise counsels prevail. We have thus far only begun to scratch upon the surface of our opportunities.
 Birminehams Population.
 Birmingham now has, with it's subur- Fi"NfN'V This population is, however, widely scat tered; and, though we all hope and many of us believe, that the territory interven- Ing between Birmingham and all suburbs will speedily be so developed that in the years to come we shall have here really great city many times larger than 1t is at present, all of us recognize that that wished for result can be accomplished only by courage, patience, industry and dis appreciation of conditions that confront us.
 If we are to carry forward the great work we have begun" continued Mir Jemison impressively, i've must first of all recognize that that work has really only recently started; and we must real ize also that, in order to continue on a scale of constantly increasing magnitude, we must invite, obtain and, most of all, retain, the confidence of the financial world.
 T am a southern man-Alabama born and Alabama bred. All my interests are here. My life work has been done in this state, and most of 1t has been done in this city I hardly need to add that my sympathies are sincerely with the people among whom l have lived so long and among whom I expect to continue to live throughout the remaining days of my life.
 The State Needs Money.
 with all their virtues, however, our people are relatively poor The money nec- essary to project and to execute great nlans for fhe develonn,ent of n,,r ott,, and state must be got from the financial cen ters of the world. Of these Birmingham is not yet one, though some day it will, I believe have a commanding rank among them.
 From these financial centers of the north and east and New Orleans money has been obtained for in- vestment in Birmingham, and 1t has been obtained in increasingly large amount. Without 1t, Birmingham would today be a village. and the Birmingham district an untouched industrial field
 "As I contemplate the future, feel strongly that care should be taken by all persons who are sincerely interested in the development of Birmingham that nothing is done which would likely alienate from Birmingham at this crit ical stage of It's development the sym pathy and support of the financial world.
 we should see to 1t that no unwise action, however well meant 1t may ba is permitted to arrest or even retard the wonderful development of Birmingham and the Birmingham district"
 MT. Jemison paused. as though the in- terview was over.
 8. R., L. & Co.'s Policy.
 ''Would you be willing, MT. Jemison," he was asked. ito state in your capacity as president of the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company. what has been the policy of that corporation in the gen eral movement to develop Birmingham and the Birmingham district"
 "I have no desire" said MT. Jemison, '.to intrude upon the public with a state ment of what our company has done. is doing and would like to do, for l am not in the habit of advertising our work or plans in the newspapers. think the re- suits speak for themselves. But since the question has been asked, will not