The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-05

At Memphis yesterday President Roosevelt addressed the Inland Water ways Convention as follows.
 Under any circumstances I should Memphis in the old historic State of Tennessee. rich in It's glorious past and In the certainty of an even greater future; but espeebia,Iiy b,i congrstpIsts nsI hsss on an occasion like thiss when l meet not only the citizens of Tennessee, but many of the citizens of Mississippi and and when the Chief Executives of so many States are gathered to consider a subject of momentous interest to all.
 The Mississippi Valley is a mangnl- dcent empire in size and fertility 1t is better adapted to the development of inland navigation than any other valley in either hemisphere; for there more or less fully navigable. and the conditions are so favorable that 1t will be easy to increase the extent of na- vigable waterways to almost any re- aulred degree by equalization.
 Early in our industrial history this valley was the seat of the largest de- veiopment of inland navigation in .iie paTson y'es my mentioning aa srnan tat % the rst steamboat west of the Alleghenies was built by my great-grandfathers broth errafn 1911, for the New Orleans trade Pfttsburg to New Orleans But from various causes river and canal trans portation declined all over the United states as the railroad systems camr nnr business to see that the decline is not permanent: and it is of interest to re- member that thea nearly . sS sentars aha sanaio aso ization Of the Mississippi.
 In wealth of natural resources. no kingdom of Europe can compare with the Mississippi Valley and the region 4A. T.aI n- gether. and in population this huge fertile plain already surpasses all save one or two of the largest European kingdons n tnis emP,re nedn1e pecunla fnds Itself best fitted for the full develop ment of its powers and faculties.
 There has been a great growth in the valley of manufacturing ~centers; the movement Is good if It does not go too far; but l most earnestly hope that this region as a whole will remain predominantly agricultural. The peo- pie who live in the country districts, and who till the small or medium- sized farms on which they live. make ip what Is on the whole the most val labie asset in our national life.
 Importance oS Valley.
 There can be just as real progress and culture in the country a.s in fhe city; especially in these days. of rural free delivery troliegs. bicycles. tele- provements. The valley Of the Mis- sissippi Is politically and commercially more important than any other valley on the face of the globe. Here more than anywhere else will be determined the future of the United States and finded the whole western world and the type of civilization reached in this mighty valley in this vast stretch of country lying between the Al1eghenies and the Rockies the Great Lakes and the Gulf, will largely fix the type of civilization for the whole Western Hemisphere. Already, as our history shows tho West has determined our national political development, and the fundamental principle of present American politics.. political equality, was originally Western idea.
 The wonderful variety of resources in different portions Of the valley makt the demand for transportation altogether exceptional. Coal. lumber, corn, wheat, cotton, cattle--on the sur- face of the soil and beneath the soil the riches are great. There are all ready evident strong tendencies to in. crease the carrying of freight from , the northern part of the valley to the Gulf. Throughout the valley the land is so fertile as to make the field for the farmer peculiarly attractive: and where in the West the climate becomes dryer we enter upon the ranching country; while in addition to the prod- ucts of the soil there are~ also the manufactures supplied in innumerable Small. Cities Of astonishirg growth are found everywhere from the Gulf to