The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-07-04

:
eeiyed Tor rhahys.al day. And rif tias
informatiol leads him no inquire sti1f
lfurthef he eau soon ascertain IA as
lhrtef a period Iyorif state has grown
from a comparatively small to a large
population and from great natural
|reSources undeveloped to Z mining
land manufacturing Industries and TO
1agricultural production that are now
source not only Of. immense profit
but Of honest pride to all your citi-
tzens. : r.. y ~ '..g' ...
I 1t Is not my purpose today >, to
dwell at length upon either the his
ltorical or statistical features of. your
development, although shall use a
lew figures and estimates to some
Ithing OF vastly more consequence-
Ethe causes OF your progress, the
basis upon which Your prosperity
rests. '>. -, =. = <
| West Virginia entered into the full
enjoyment of statehood June 20,
1853. Uponrh seal is the inscrip-
ton" Montani semper liberi't--
"Mountaineers are always free"
The spirit that prompted such "a
motto gives me the first clue. That
is the spirit of the, typical Ameri-
can citizen. OF West Virginia's ear
ly pioneers 1t is said: "The men OF
the West were hard frontiersmen,
ajority Of them soldiers Of the re.
yolution and their Immediate des-
cendants, without estates, with little
but an honorable record OF patriotic
| service and their strong arms, for
their fortunes. They had their land
| patents, which were certificates Of
patriotic service in the revolutionary
war, and they depended upoh their
! own. Labor for the new home IN; the
wilderness. And tt was also said
OF them: 'They enjoyed climate
as general as that OF the Italians
who dwell on the slopes of the APP
pennines; they. had forests more
valuable than those that skirt the
upper Rhine; they had mineral
wealth as great as that which has
given England her precedence in the
manufacturing p progress of the
| world" And here Is a further ex-
PLANTATION of yoHr. progress. in the
statement, "They were anxious for
| self-government." When a people
Of a state or a nation are
hl1od with r+hot da,ino ,,a ,,o ou.,
to meeting the responsibilities OF it's
realization, progress and develop
ment are ~natural results. =. -
AS have sought reasons for your
| progress ]. find still another in this
clause Of your constitution: "The
legislature shall foster and enconr-
age moral, intellectual, scientific and
agricultural Improvement; they
| shall whenever it may be practicable
| make suitable provision for the
| blind, mute, and insane and for the
!. Reorganization OF such Institutions or
learning as the best interests of gen
Eeral education in the state may de-
4 mand." 80 ;7' 49, ~
So OF, course fully understand that
you do not differ from many of the
other states In the American union in
the hardy character Of your pioneers
and in the emphasis you have always
placed upon the. necessity for educa-
ton and for the care Of the unfor-
tunate. But these things account in
a measure for your progress as they
| do for that Of the others and leads
me to a point wish to make today,
that back Of your Industrial growth
has been the indomitable spirit OF
your liberty-loving people,
| A senator Of the United States,
when advocating the establishment
of the, state in 1869, safd:- This
proposed new state contains within
its towering hills and mountains
| treasures richer, perhaps, than can
be found within the limits of any
other state. in this Confederacy.
The products Of the state, in the four
| decades that have passed since West
Virginia began It's existence, would
seem to show that the enthusiastic
senator did not overestimate the
value Of the new commonwealth s
reso urces.
Let some recent figures tell the
story. In the year 1904 the coal
mines Of the state yielded 32,6O2,-
| 819 tons Of fuel, putting the state
third in rank In the amount of that
| product. This was a gain of more.
than 100000 tons over that Of
the year before, which was itself
gain Of 4,766,000 tons over the
yield Of 1902. An exceptional fact
| connected with the increased amount
Of the product Of this material is
found in the further statement that
for "a years there has been only one
| instance where the yield Of the
mines. was not greater than in any
preceding year. In the same year
the state produced 2,283,O86 tons
Of coke, nearly oneLtenth Of the
whole amount produced in the coun-
try, and thus took rank as third In
h Of cd al cz Il IL