The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-11

can nor send his surplus to market without the cost of transportation com suming the difference between the cost of production and selling price, there l is no profit, and we grow poorer day by day as our mines are worked out, our forests cut down and our lands ex- hausted. What we consume at home does not addSto our bank account nor cancel our mortgages. 1 hold that the est factor in the development of Ala bama's resources and the accumulation of her wealth. There are only three
 methods of moving that which we sell in foreign or domestic markets, rail- roads, rivers and dirt roads, and over the latter s5 per cent. of the products | of the country are moved first and last, the products of the mine only except
 rof transportation by rail need not speak. Its importance is understood, and adequate laws have been passed by the present Legislature covering this subject.
 "River transportation is so different from that by rail that the question must be considered from an entirely different standpoint
 Great water Way Systems.
 "Alabama is greatly blessed with rivers and waterways susceptible of be- | ing rendered navigable. We have more than 1000 miles of rivers. all of which are. or may be made. navigable, and all of which flow to the Gulf at Mobile. l our only seaport. the Tennessee alone I rich agricultural land. vast cement, coal and iron beds. through virgin forests and. marble deposits. These rivers be- long to us. they cannot be used as they are for our free use. The Fed l eral Government has Jurisdiction and it Is its duty to improve and make navtgable all these rivers and deepen the harbor at Mobile so that ships of twenty-seven or thirty feet draft may receive the products floating down these rivers, and carry them to the bie cost or ~9sd is st 'as srest fssh
 producer. The Birmingham district produces more freight In tons than Liverpool and London combined, and of New York. It is largely cheap, 1 heavy product and must be hauled at a minimum cost. When our rivers are completed the greatest coaling station in the world will be located on Mobile Bay. Every ship that goeskhrough the canal loaded with our products must ing this way with products in exchange for ours will have exhausted their sup ply and must also take coal on this
 side for their return: This will all be the Alabama. the Warrior and the Big bee. Alabama will receive no material
 benefit unless we can reach the canal by water. We can not go by rail. We can not afford to sit down and rely up- on our natural advantages for suprern- acy. The diffculties may be overcome by artificial means. abundance of cap ital and cheap transportation. Trans pcrtation by water is five times as
 cheap as by rail These rivers when
 improved will furnish the surest means of regulating and controlling railroad I freight charges.
 'The water power in Alabama. all
 things considered, Is perhaps the mosts
 valuable asset of the State and has the aath fnr dAU
 resources. All of our power at present
 is produced by coal and is necessarily T more expensive than water power. The
 rivers in Alabama with the water pow
 about two million horse power. The
 water power at Muscle Shoals alone.
 on the Tennessee river is equal to six
 teen thousand tons of coal per day. or
 sixteen mines, mining each one thou-
 sand tons per day. would be required
 to produce the same amount of pow
 CT, or in other words, the eQuilvalant of,
 sixteen thousand tons of coal per day,
 Shoals and is absolutely worthless
 Tt must be remembered that our
 hausted. but goes through all the ages.
 We are burning our coal for power purposes at a rapid rate. It Is grow
 time tim in the future become exhausted. l Electric power produced by water is
 the cheapest in the world. With the water power of Alabama developed troll 1 ly lines will be constructed in every portion of the State. They will come 1 in competition with and regulate rail 1 road rates, both passenger and freight
 nest consideration of the Alabama Leg
 islature and every possible encourage l ment given 1t.
 Let us now for a moment consider | the importance and magnitude of the transportation over the common high ] ways or dirt roads of the State We | have in Alabama @ifty thousand miles of so called public roads: three and one-Quarter per cent are improved. w have one mile of road for over thirty six inhabitants but only. enc mile of improved road for every thousandth in habitant. We spent on our roads last year. one million, seven hundred and | fifty thousand dollars including cash ty-seven ~ssnts per mile or eighty-six cents for each inhabitant. France maintains her splendid system of roads et a cost of forty;eight cents for each
 money and efforts on our roads last school system. still we have the
 thirty times as much to haul a ton a
 mile over our dirt roads as 1t costs over railroad and seventy-five times of money and labor is due to the ab- sence of system of road construc- | tion and maintainance.
 T beg you gentlemen to give us | foundation on which to build good | roads for Alabama. Before you ad- | journ create & highway commission. | Make the Commissioner of Industries and Agriculture its president. and au-
 thorize the Governor to appoint two | associates. Require this commission to | collect and disseminate information on 1 the subject of road building. authorize | the Governor to appoint one of the pro | fessors of engineering either at the | University or Auburn to act as state l highwSy engineer. Make it his duty to visit the different counties and lo-
 calities engaged in road construction,
 advise with those in charge of the
 work as to grades, drainage and the
 best material for road building.
 Grades. drainage and materlnl are
 the essentials in road construction,
 These gentlemen will all be glad to
 serve without compensation Except ac'
 tual expenses. The president appoint
 ways Commission. without my knowl-
 adge. The law does not attach any
 salary to this position. l accepted 1t
 because l thought l could be of service
 and benefit to Alabama and the South.
 For the same reason these gentlemen { will serve Give us a start Don't be
 afraid of the people. They are leading
 in this fight for good roads. The agi-
 tation will go on until the work or
 road building will begin in earnest. But
 we will never have good roads in Ala
 bama until the State aids the counties
 in the work. Twenty-two states are
 counties in road construction.
 Uni n at