The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Bankhead D Nomigated in Caucus
 70 Succeed Senatoy John 7. Morean
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, interests. I believe Alabama is the rich est state in the union, richest in resources and in citizenship. Where can you find another 52,OOO square miles so rich in coal, | cement, timber, agriculture and water l power.
 Great Possibilities.
 The development of these resources has only begun. The surface has only been | disturbed. Our cement possibilities are the greatest in the world. We are now en- | tering on a cement age. It will largely take the place of iron and lumber for | building purposes. Our water power when ] developed will turn more splndles than there are in the union today. Out cotton crop last year brought to Alabama sS5 for each man, woman and child within the state.
 Our forests are producing millions an- nually; our coal and iron and the cheap ness with which we produce 1t Is the mar vel of the world. With all these vast and various clements of wealth why are we not richer may well be asked. Upon the solution of two problems, the inquiry may be answered. Capital for develop ment and adequate cheap transportation. 1 These two essentials can be had only by well directed, energetic and conservative action.
 Let us briefly consider transportation, which is more important than production How are we benefited by production if we cannot find a profitable market fon that which we make? It must be re- membered that it is only the surplus which we sell that makes us richer. If the farmer or manufacturer can not send his surplus to market without the cost of transportation consuming the difference between the cost of production and sell ing price, there is no profit and we grow poorer day by day as our mines are worked out, our forests cut down and our lands exhausted What we consume at home does not add to our bank account nor cancel our mortgages. I hold that the question of transportation is the greatest factor in the developments of Alabama's resources and the accumulation of her wealth. There are only three methods of moving that which we sell in foreign or domestic markets. railroads, rivers and dirt roads, and over the latter 95 per cent of the products of the country are moved first and last, the products of the mine only excepted.
 Of transportation by rail I need not speak. It's importance is understood, and adequate laws have been passed by the present legislature covering this subject.
 Transportation.
 River transportation is so different from lHdl ny Idll lldL Iue QupSIlOn must De considered from an entirely different standpoint
 Alabama is greatly blessed with rivers and waterways susceptible of being rem dered navigable. We have more than 200O miles of rivers, all of which are, or may be made. navigable, and all of which flow to the Gulf of Mobile, our only seaport, the Tennessee alone excepted. These rivers run through rich agricultural land, ro~t virgin forests and marble deposits. These rivers belong to us, they cannot be used as a basis for a combination into trust, they are for our free use. The federal government has jurisdiction. and 1t Is its duty to improve and make navigable all these rivers and deepen the harhor at Mobile so that ships of twenty-seven or thirty-feet draft may receive the prod ucts floating down these rivers and carry them to the markets of the world at the least possible cost. Alabama is a great freight producer. The Birmingham dis trict produces more freight in tons than Liverpool and London combined an1 nearly twice as much IS the great port of New York. It is largely a cheap heavy product, and must be hauled at a min imum cost. When our rivers are improved and the Panama canal is completed ths greatest coaling station in the world will pc ipCdltu ull MDDue IEN. ENefN SnlD that goes through the canal loaded with our products must Goal on this side, and everyone coming this way with products in exchange for ours will have exhausted their supply and must also take coal or this side for their return. This will all be Alabama coal, foated down the Coosa, the Alabama, the Warrior and the Bigbee. Alabama will receive no matern benefit unless we can reach the canal by water. rq. to sit down and rely upon our natural ad- vmtages for supremacy. The difficulties i may be overcome by artificial means.
 abundance of capital and cheap transpor- tation. Transportation by water is five times as cheap as by rail. These rivers when improved will furnish the surest means of regulating and controlling rail-
 road freight charges.
 Water Powers.
 The water powers in Alabama, all things considered. is perhaps the most valuable asset of the state and has the greatest possibility for developing our resources All of our power al present is produced by coal, and is necessarily more expensVe | than water power The rivers in Alabama with the water power properly controlled
 will develop about 2000 000-horse power 1 The water power at Muscle Shoals alone bu lilt ltuHtStSt ilftls tAuhi lp io,bvJ tons of coal per day, or sixteen mines, mining each 1000 tons per day, would be required to produce the same amount of power or in other words, the equivalent of 16, GOO tons of coal per day, is running in a stream over Muscle Shoals and s absolutely worthless.
 It must be remembered that our power produced by water cannot be exhausted
 but goes through all the ages. We are
 burning our coal for power purposes at a rapid rate. It is growing dearer and scarcer and will sometime in the future become exhausted. Electric power pro- duced by water is the cheapest in the world With the water power of Alabama developed trolley lines win be constructed in every portions of the state. They will come in competition with and regulate railroad rates, both passenger and freight This question should receive the earnest consideration of the Alabama legislature and every possible encouragement given it.
 Let us now for a moment consider the importance and magnitude of the trans portation over the common highways or dirt roads of the state. We have in Ala bama 5000 miles of so-caled public roads,