The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-18
DECLARES FOR
 IMMIGRATION Montgomery Business Men
 in Meeting. SPEECH FROM GOVERNOR Monthly Session of Commer-
 cial Association. Interesting Suggestions by MT. Doug lass as to Solution of Negro
 House Servant Problem--Mr.
 vandIver Talks of River.

Business men of Montgomery at the regular, monthly meeting of the Com mercial and Industrial Association last night discussed methods of encourag- ing foreign and Western farmers to immigrate to Alabama.
 The feature of the meeting was the address of Governor Cunningham on the subject of immigration and the fea- ture of his speech was a declaration that before the Southern States could successfully compete with their North ern sisters other labor than exclusive negro labor must be provided.
 Charles G. Apercrombie also address ed the Association on the Convention of the Interstate Cane Growers As- sociation and Hartwell Douglass, chairman of the Immigration Committee, in his report recommended that some- thing be done to relieve housekeepers from the burden of negro house ver- wants.
 About forty business and profession al men assembled in the reading rooms of the Association at 8:3o o'clock. Pres ident A. G. Forbes of the Association presiding.
 Must Diversity Crops.
 In calling the Association to order. Captain Forbes referred to the low price of cotton and said that the sole salvation of Alabama lay in securing laborers and agriculturists from other sections who are able to raise other crops than cotton.
 He referred to the coming of the Hor- ticultural Convention and the Sugar Cane Growers Convention to Montgom- cry as an encouraging fact that more diversified crops are going to be raised in Alabama.
 The monthly report of Secretary L.. L. Gilbert was read. He called atten- tion to the work of the Committee on Improvement in Building Methods in securing a uniform system of buildings in the downtown district, giving bet ter protection to the property owners and lower insurance rates. He also referred to good work being done by the Comittees on Lumber and Forestry and on Transportation. The latter committee is considering and working on a project to establish a Freight Bu- reau in Montgomery to work in con- Junction with the Association. Remarks of Mfr. VandiveP.
 President Forbes asked W. F. Van- diver to report on the work of the committee appointed by the Alabama River Convention to urge Congress to make an appropriation to give the Ala bama River a uniform depth of six feet
  MT. Vandiver reviewed the organi- zation of the Committee and told of the work before the subcommittee of the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the HouseS He said that the Commit tee worked under many disadvantages. The River Convention was called too late and the report of the engineer recommended very small appropria- tion and differed from the requests of the River Convention in that 1t covered the Coosa River In addition to the Ala bama River.
 After his return to Montgomery he said he entered into correspondence with Congressman Burton. Chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee He paid a high tribute to Mir. Burton and to Colonel A. A. Wiley and Con- gressmen Bankhead, Taylor, Bowie and Hefiin.
 Mir. vandiver said he intended to Invite Mir. Burton to come to Mont gomery but he refrained from doing so when he thought of the rattletrap wharf at the river. He said that he had reason to believe that an appro- priation would be secured of over $25.- 900 but he did not at the present time care to say on what he based his | hopes.
 At the conclusion of the report Mir Vandiver was thanked for his work by the Association through the Presi- dent and was assured that the City Development Committee would at once look into improving the wharf. Would Hire White Servants. Hartwell Douglass, Chairman of the