The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-17

I Tn gladneSS; you are welcome from north | and south, east and west, from hill to valley, from valley to valley, shall be as generous as our alluvial soil and as warm and rich as our precious sunshine" Judge Banks Address. The address of Judge Banks was as | follows:
 Governor Jelks and Fellow Alabama | ians:
 Speaking in behalf of the men and | women whose destines have led them to seek abiding places in other lands
 and among other people-speakng in be- half of these to you who have remained within the sheltering arms of the mother l state, fighting her battles, solving her dif- | ficult problems, developing her resources, | building up her waste places and ex- | tending her commerce, and who in turn | are the recipients of her bounty and her blessings, 1 thank you for this glori- ous and generous welcome. It would in- deed be a cold and callous heart that
 would not swell and almost burst with emotion at this reunion upon the sacred soil of our common state of friends and kindred who have been so long separated by time and space Since the people of Alabama, through their distinguished | chief executive, speaking with the voice of deepest affection, bade those of us
 who were in distant places, Come Home, Come Home.' time has moved with lead- en feet and both you and we were m-
 patient for this joyous ihour when we would again look into eyes that grow moist with tenderness. and listen to voices that have echoed in our memories through the intervening years As we stand with uncovered heads beneath our native skies, and drink in deep drafts of our native air. and feel beneath our feet the soil of our native state, and look into
 the faces of the men and women who
 have made Alabama the synonym for
 honor and integrity the world over. we
 thank God that she is the state of our na- tivity, and that her traditions and ideals have been woven into the very warn and wool of our lives.
 Wanderers though we be, citizens by adoption of other states, in the great si- fences of the night when the throbbing
 machinery of the worlds traffic and trade
 has been hushed into stiffness, our hearts
 grow hungry for the food that can only be supplied from loves inexhaustibIe
 granary. Whether driven into foreign
 climes by adverse winds, or lured by
 the beckoning hand of fortune, we have come back to Alabama. to stand on her classic hills, regnant with mnieraI wealth | and gaze upon her broad fields white with
 the harvest. and again drink in the per- fune Of her blooming gardens. As the
 Jew returns 10 Jerusalem, and the Mo- mammalian to Mecca, we have come to
 kneel with uncovered heads and unshod feet at the altars of our youth and re- ceive the benedictions of our beloved mother state.
 Alabama, Alabama, imperial landl How proud thy mountains rise! How sweet thy scenes on every handi How fair thy covering skies!
 But not for these. o not for these. l love thy fields to roam.
 Thou has a dearer charm to me. Thou are my native home.
 I've stood beneath Itala's cline. Beloved of tale and song:
 On Helvin's hills, proud and sublime. Where natures wondrous throng; I've strayed by Tempes sunIit streams.
 Where gods of old did roam;
 But ne'er have found so fair a land
 As thou, my native home
 We love the people of the east and
 north because of their imperishable con
 tributions to the art. the literature and
 the wealth of the world. We love the
 people of the west. because they have
 reclaimed the arid lands of d great desert
 and made them fill the store houses of
 the world with golden grain. They smote
 the barren rocks of their mighty noun
 ta1ns. with the magic rod of industry and
 energy, and behold yellow streams of
 wealth enriching the anaemic arteries of
 the nations commerce; but best of all we
 love old Alabama. because upon her soil
 our infant feet took their first tottering
 steps, and listening to the music of her
 cathedral pines our ears were filled with
 the harmonies of the world. We love her
 because her heroic and indomtabe peo-
 pie have rescued her from the devasta-
 tions of a ruel and bloody war and placed
 her in the front rank of our countrys
 progress and prosperity. We love her be-
 h
 and loyal and true, and because her daugh-
 ters-our sisters-are the most gracious.
 the most beautiful and the most ire