The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1908-11-26
Whole Number 1879

w tiS lldlhSlS vi l1e WOTluj IHey are
essential to your very existence as a
prosperous and growing community.
Great as are its natural resources, hui
man existence in this Piedmont region
would be possible only on a relatively
primitive scale, and your splendid ag-
ricultural and industrial development
would have been impossible without
modern means of transportation. The
railroads which traverse your section
are, therefore, your railways. They
are part of you-the veins and arteries
through which flows the life-blood of
our commerce. Your interest in the
healthy expansion of your railways
and in their ability efficiently to han
die your commerce is identical with
the interest of mau in the healthy
operation of his circulatory system
and in the unobstructed flow of his
blood through his arteries. Your agri-
cultural, industrial, and commercial
growth can continue only if you are
served by carriers able to transport a
constantly increasing volume of traffic.
Just as the clogging of the arteries
would be disastrous to human life, so
would the choking of your highways
be disastrous to your life as commu-
nifty. Healthy prosperity for your
railways, therefore, means enlarged
opportunities in every field of human
activity in your locality. This eco
nomic truth was very aptly stated by
a manufacturer of cotton goods in your
sister State of North Carolina, who
recently declared to me that he consid-
cred every addition to the facilities Of
the railway by which his mills were
served as an increase in the efficiency
of his plant and an addition to its val.
ue. What this man said of the de.
pendence Of his business upon the ade-
quacy of transportation facilities may
be said with equal truth by the farmer
and by every man engaged in produc-
tion or manufacturing
Mr.. Finley pointed out that this
view of the railways as helpful factors
in economic development is of specia
Importance in region like the South
ern States, rich in natural resources
and capable of almost indefinite growth
in population and wealth. Referrins
to the Importance of transportation t
agricultural and industrial develop
Ement in the Southern States, he spoke
at some length of the interest of thu
farmer in good country roads, an(
said:
"Good country roads increase tn
profits of farm operations, add to The
value of all farm property, and broad
en- the social life of the residents of ru
raj communities. But the interest O
the farmer in transportation is no
limited to the provision of good coun
try highways. He must depend OF
railway transportation in larg,
measure for placing his products il
their ultimate markets. The best mar
ket for large proportion of his pro
ducts, where it is available, is a nearb,
consuming centre, such as manufaC
turing town, and especially is thi
, true if the industries of that town in
clude those which use as their ray
materials the products of neighborin
: farms. Spartanburg, with its marke
. for farm products of all kinds, an
I with its industries drawing raw mate
! rials from the surrounding region is a
excellent illustration of what const
tutes an IDEAL home market for a farm
: ing community. But the very exist
! ence of such an industrial center dt
pends upon transportation. The ra'
materials for its factories, the fuel fC
its power plants, and the supplies {
all kinds used by its inhabitants, mus
be carried from far and near, and til
products of its industries must !
!. shipped to markets where they are j
; demand. Destroy the transportatia
J facilities of such an industrial cent?
! and it will die; restrict them and
{ will cease TO grow. In either even
:: not only the town itself, but also I'll
; agricultural community surroundin
Z it, will suffer,
: "Contemporaneous with your pr
! gress in agriculture, the last quarter
, a century has witnessed remarkab
4 industrial development. A generatiC
: ago manufacturers in other localiti
! thought of the South only as regiC
; from which raw materials were to
Z drawn by the manufacturers of 9th
: sections and other countries. They d
Z not then give serious consideration
! the possibility of effective competitiC
r. from this section. You had a china
: favorable at once to the efficiency
J labor and to low cost of living, pro
9 unity to sources of supply of raw m
Z terials, the possibility of cheap pow
Z: development, and last, but not least,
{. population capable of being trained
X a high degree of technical skill. II
essential conditions for an industri
3 development are all here. 1t need
4 only the faith and courage of such m
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