The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-07
THINKS DEAL FINE
 THING FOR DISTRICT DeBardeIeben Writes About U.
 $. Steel Corporation TELLS OF POSSIBILITIES But Points Out If Legislature Con- tinues It's Drastic Measures the
 Steel Corporation Will Go
 Slow In Alabama.
TELLS OF POSSIBILITIES

] To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Evil often comes from good, and light springs out of darkness. So the financial ] cloud which has overhung the country has dropped good fortune into the lap of Birmingham. l refer. of course, to the absorption of the properties of the Ten nessee Coal Iron and Railroad company by the United States Steel corporation. It means the development of the Bir- mingham district on a scale which none of us can measure at this time. I had been accused of having some imagina- tion, and for 30 years l have carried in my brain q picture of what Birmingham should be--a city larger and more popu- lous than Pittsburg-the industrial and commercial metropolis of the south. In the light of this recent occurrence I am firmly persuaded that this picture may become a realty much sooner than I had thought
 Truly, we can thank God and take cour- age for what has come to Birmingham and Alabama.
 l know the magnflcence of the wealth contained in the properties of the Ten nessee company, and with due modesty say that I have a greater appreciation or the marvellous nature of the bargain than have the directors of the mighty corpor- ation which has secured 1t. I know that whatever has been done heretofore in the development of these properties is 8 mere scratching on the surface. There are val uable deposits of ore and coal, unknown to the present management, that can be unearthed.
 This is the thought, then, which should cheer and inspire us all--this property has not passed into unfrendly hands. Here- tofore it has been kicked around like a football but has now found a permanent home with the largest industrial corpora ton in the world, which has ample capi- tai to care for it and build it up to it's fullest proportions.
 Those who are familiar with the history of the Tennessee company are astonished by the progress which the company has made under successive change of manage ment. But after giving due credit to the brains and pluck of all the men who have hitherto managed the affairs of the com pany, 1 none the less freely declare that the Tennessee company owes its standing in the industrial world to It's vast de- posits of coal iron ore and limestone If the raw material is here, d thing which cannot be replaced, it simply leaves mis- takes in machinery or plants to be recti- fled with money.
 Therefore the logical conclusion is that the steel corporation will develop it's new and invaluable holdings to the further- most capacity, supplying all the money needed for such purposes.
 I have said that there is no limit to the possibilities of development by the new management. Some of these are so obvious, however, as to be regarded as fixed certaintes. One is a large increase in the output of steel, in rails and other forms. This, of course, signifies an eN- pansion of furnace operations and coal mining But the most gratifying thing that l perceive that industries of every kind in the district will be benefited and multiplied by this policy We want more water, for instance. To the steel corpor- ation it will be a small undertaking to pump water from lock No. on the Coosa river to the mountain top, whence it may flow by gravity all over this valley, and
 
 the orders for that pipe.
 In many other ways the operations Of the steel corporation in this district may be expected to benefit every other interest in it. The more the prospect is scanned the more convincing it appears.
 Great things are truly promised us by this new turn in our affairs. When are they to become realities, now or in the distant future? The answer is with the people of Alabama. Their representatives who are to assemble in Montgomery to- day have the power to utter it.
 If radical, destructive legislation is en- acted, if the country is put on notice that there is to be no more building up allowed in Alabama, but that a period of tearing down has set in, the steel corporation will come to halt until the temper of the lawmakers changes and saner spirit takes possession of the people. The steel corporation can afford to wait-to shut down every one of it's plants in this dis trict if need be-until a more propitious season.
 I believe it will be strongly influenced by the attitude of the legislature toward the railroads, as railroad facilities are vitally essential to successful operation of industries. Tonnage must be moved in and out with the greatest freedom or profits will shrink. Moreover, the steel corporation will read in any hostile legls- lation against the railroad a distinct threat against itself, as it is a railroad builder also.
 On this point recent news item throws some light. It reports that Judge Gary and MT, Prick, representing the steel cor roration. had conference with President Roosevelt for the purpose of ascertaining whether the proposed taking over of the Tennessees property would provoke ad- verse action on the part of the federal government. The inference is that the deal would have been dropped if the Pres ident had replied in the affirmative, and 0 still more significant deduction is that the President encouraged the merger. At any rate, he must have declared "a hands off policy.
 The incident deserves the careful thought of our own state officers and law-makers, as showing the extreme eau tion with which capital Is now proceed ing, halting at every step where govern mental interference is regarded as pos sible.
 In my opinion the solution of the rail- road problem lies in the building of more railroads and the increase of compe- tition with the consequent enlargement of facilities; ~and when that comes about who can serve Alabama better in this work than Milton H. Smith?
 I have predicted that Jefferson county