The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-12

James H. Mccoy in the Alabama Chris
 tian Advocate.
 IN posse. the North Alabama conference
 has great college at Owenton, a | suburb of Birmingham Geographi- cally and Geographically, its location is not surpassed by that of any college in the south. Here eight trunk lines of railroad converge, with other great lines reaching out after the enormous tonnage of this mineral district that already ex- ceeds the cotton tonnage of the entire south. It is within street car communica- tion already with population of 175,OOO Within sight of the hill on which 1t stands are industrial plants with annual pay roll of $43,O0O,O00. What will be its human and material environment in ten years, the prophet hath not arisen who can tell Conservative business men who are not given to building castles in the air, do not hesitate to predict that the Birmingham district will double its population in ten years. It is as certain as any future event can be, that the inexhaustible mineral de- posits of this section will make Brming- ham the largest and most influential city south of the Ohio river. While this is being written, the Commercial club and
 
 vertising for 10000 more laborers to meet the immediate demands of the district When it Is remembered that we can mako iron and steel cheaper than these products can be made anywhere else in the world, 1t can be seen very readily that there are hardly any limits to be set to the pos sible wealth and population of this mar velously favored section.
 Lying right across the track of the in- evitable expansion of this population, the college has fifty-five acres of land, situ- ated on the North Highlands as beautiful as anything on the famous South High lands and destined to be gilt-edged residence property in the not distant fu- ture. For strategic location and for po- tential health, the North Alabama con- ference college presents challenge to the faith and farsightedness of the Methodists of the patroniZing conference
 But the college in posse Is one thing; z, esse 1t Is another thing. We have barely made a beginning toward the work of building here a college commensurate with the local possibilities and the de- mands of the Methodist church in North Alabama. Our land holdings are as yet only potential asset. We have but one building and that is eclipsed 1 n size, cost and general appointments by num- Der of the city school buildings within sight of it. We have no dormitory worth the udIle, no enuOWmenL, prdCtlCdlly no scientific apparatus. The faculty is de- pendent for support entirely on tuition fees and the assessment levied annually by the conference for education. I say these things not to disparage the school, but to call attention to stern facts that our people must face. do not forget that the time element enters into the growth and development of great enterprises; nor am I unmindful of the fact, which I glad Iu hot hoc a marvelously efficient work under the Limitations that have surrounded it. What we have done is but an augury of what we might do, if these limitations were re- moved. Owenton geographically, has un- questionable advantages over both the State University, at Tuscaloosa, and the Polytechnic Institute, at Auburn, not to mention the incontestable advantages which Christian carries over state school. And yet. there are more Metho- dist boys at Auburn than we have at either Owenton or Greensboro-almost as many as we have at both places-to say nothing of the number at Tuscaloosa. We have lost large numbers of these Meth odist boys to our state schools simply be- cause we have not provided the adequate modern college facilities and equipment that are in demand
 In any serious consideration of the edu- cational situation in the North Alabama conference, there are some things that we must regard as settled; some hypo- theses upon which our future procedure must be taken.
 We cannot, we will not, abandon the field of Christian education. Ours in this field is the right of eminent domain We occupy 1t by grace of our ability to do a work that can be done in no other way and by no one else. We are no apologists m assuming the function of an educational agency. Under the broadest and truest definition of higher education, we are no