The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-22

| 1925 Second Ave.
purely local demand for their products.
Their very existence depends upon access
| to distant markets which can only be af-
| forded by continuous lines of transport
| tation managed by men familiar with the
| needs of this section and in thorough
| sympathy with the aspirations of its peo-
pie.
Such railway service you have had. The
| roads, dependent for their business on the
| development of commerce along their
! lines. have put the cotton and cotton
! goods iron and steel, coal lumber, and
| fruits of Alabama and Of the south into
| the competitive markets of the United
| States and of the world without regard
| to length Of haul To do this it has been
| necessary for them to make liberal adjust
ments of rates, but their managers have
| looked to the future. realizing that the
ultimate prosperity of the properties conf
mited to their care must be based upon
| the prosperity OF the south. Among the
! first to recognize the Industrial possbi-
| ties of the they, they have believed that
| 1t would be best for the roads in the
end, to be guided by broad policies and
to accept rates on southern products
| fixed by the competition of other produce
| ing localities and other carriers. 1t has
| been due to this policy that southern cot
| ton mills have been able to sell their
| products in New England. and that iron
and steel from Birmingham have been
sold in Plttsburg and are being carried
past that great center of the iron and
| steel trade to more distant markets
where the advantages of distance favors
| Pittsburg.
Future DEVELOPMENT.
As your present prosperity could not
! have been obtained without the eo-opera-
ton of your railway lines. so Is your
| future development dependent upon their
| ability to keep pace with your growth
| and to Increase their facilities as your
/ demands Increase. Your consumption of
| raw materials and your output of fin
| ished products will call for increases in
| the car supply, for additional locomo-
| tives, and for additional tracks, in termi-
| nails, switches, aud main lines, and the
| preservation of your ability to compete
| successfully IN the markets of the world
| VIII depend upon these additional IA
| cilties being provided.
What | have just said applies with
! equal force to all southern localities, but
| the birmingham district has an addi-
| uonal interest In the maintenance and
| development of the prosperity of the rail-
! ways OF the south and In their continued
| extension and Improvement. The rail-
| ways are among Blrmingham's best Gus
| toners. and it Is to the personal interest
of every individual Interested i'm the
growth of this city and In the expansion
of Its business that the railways. and
especially those of the southern states,
should prosper and that their purchasing
power should be increased
1t Is not necessary for me to tell u
birmingham audience anything about the
ft,..
structlon or the magnitude of railway
purchases of coal. You are all familiar
with the extent of the demand for steel
rails for track extensions and renewals,
and you know that steel Is practically
supplanting wood as material for
bridges and trestles and Is being used
more and more extensively in the con-
struction of both freight and passenger
cars. The railways are among the best
customers of your coal mines, and 1t has
been estimated that their purchases of
Alabama coal amount to about 100000
tons per year. 1t is plain that anything
tending to njure the railways of this
section or to curtail their ability to ex-
tenu and improve their lines, to in
crease their equipment, and to buy fuel
and supplies would be seriously Injurious
to the great business interests of the
Birmingham district. II is equally .plan
that anything tending to preserve or
to increase their power to expend money!,
for these purposes must be highly bene-
fetal to this community.
Agricultural interests.
Miners and manufacturers are not the
only people in Alaoama who are inter-
ested in the prosperity of the Midway
lines CT the state and in the improve
ment of transportation facilities. Not
withstanding the vast development of in
dustrill enterprises during the last quar-
ter of a century Alabama is still dis
tnctively an agricultural state. In cot
ton production 1t ranks as the third
state, with an annual crop averaging
], 300, 900 bales. Cotton continues to be the
principal product of the state, but di-
versfed farming is coming to be tho
rule and not the exception. and no state
in the union surpasses Alabama in the
number of agricultural products that can
be grown successfully All the staple
field crops flourish here. For instance.
the corn crop of the state amounted to
47S4g 1872 bushels last year. and your hay
crop was worth about s1,5Oo,0o0 Fruits
and vegetables of all kinds are being
produced in increasing quantities each
year and stock and dairy farming are
rapidly growing In Importance.
With the Investigation of farming.
TRANSPORTATION becomes Of more imports
ance to the farmer. This Is especially
true of the grower of fruits and vegeta-
bles, whose products must be placed in
distant markets In the shortest possible
time If they are to arrive in good con-
dition and command the highest prices
In Georgia 1t might not be conceded that
Alabama peaches are the best in the
world. but in Alabama 1t is at least be-
lieved that they are as good as the best
They are among the earliest. If not the
very earliest. on sale in the northern
markets each year. and they are in de-
mand at the highest prices in every
northern city from Boston to Chicago.
The success OF this fruit industry Is ab-
soluteiy dependent on the railways. It
has been built up through their agency.
for prompt and efficient rail transporta-
ton 10 the north Is absolutely essential
TO the prosperity of the grower of Ala
bama fruits. berries and vegetables.
The Alabama farmer, fruit grower and
gardener has also a very direct interest
in the upbuilding of the industrial cities
of the state. the prosperity of which
depends IN such large measure on eff
cent transportation and upon the pur-
chases made by the railways In a little
pamphlet giving facts about Birmingham
/ find the following paragraph. which
illustrates in a striking way what the
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