The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-14
rRANsFoRTATIoN THE KEY.
That Wfu Unlock The Vast Store
 Houses of The south.

That Wfu Unlock The Vast Store Houses of The south.
 While the educational conference of the. Methodist Episcopal Church. recently meeting in Atlanta. was es- peciaiIy devoted to the subject ex- prsssed in is hafne. the Rev. pr. Lee prominent in Georgia: and through out the entire South, took occasion to speak of the material riches. of the Southern States and it is a story not oped wealth-and the undeveloped wealth Is more largely halted by lack of facilities for transportation than from any other cause.
 sDr. Lee declared that the 2t,0o0.o00 ueople of the South were more favored in mineral and In agricultural riches than any like number of people on the globe and ,sit is within the bounds of the most carefully prepared oficial statistices to state that pr. Lee was moderate in his declaration of natural resources pertaining to the South. The reports of the Geological Survey of the United States give testimony to the fact that the known supply of iron and of steel ores of the South equal the. known iron and steel ore of all Europe: that the coal area of the South is equivalent to 62,000 miles. or fifty per cent in excess of the coal area or Great Britain, Germany, France and Russia combined: that the coal of Ken lucky and West Virginia. alone and. to say nothing of the mines of Alabama and other states of the South. Is of the undoubted, value of $10.000,000, ,000, counting at ten cents per ton.
 There is gold in Maryland, in Georgia in North Carolina and in Virginia; there Is coal ands there is iron in the greatest abundance in the South; her cotton crop has averaged. in recent years $700 ,000,0 900 annually and yet, magnificent though the results of the cotton crop are. the S700. 0.000.000 re- presents but one third of the field pro- ducts of the South and 1t is not alone In field products that she is rich but In all things that go to the making of prosperous commonwealths. save in one thing-Transporta the key to development and tosrcontinued pros perity and advancement. t e
 The rivers of the South are magIiif- cent higlways--as Nature created them-but the highway Is valueless unless the products of mine, field and factory can be transported over it at all seasons Of the year, accommodating itself to all classes and conditions of trade; commerce, and agriculture, af- fording an easy, cheap, convenient and A continuous route to-. a. market. regulating rates as no Legislation can regulate them, avoiding freight con-. gestionS and bringing producer and consumer together as business de- mands. .-~ ss .f.
 The railways have admittedly failed to advance with, the Legitimate de. mands of trade and commerce. The improved inland waterway under the broad and liberal policy. ,inauguEated and continued by the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, involving fixed and a definite plan of improve ment, with adequate annual. appro- priations and with continuous work, is the policy under which. alone ques= tion of transportation can be solved Transportation Is the key to legitimate development of the natural resources of any community whether on the Itne of the route or at a distance from it. It Is, transportation that regulates the price and 1t would be the inland water way as competing vehicle of trans portation that would compel cpnsidera- ton for shipper and receiver by the management and control of all meth ods of transportation.
 The inland waterway improved would be the key that would unlock the gate that stands in the way of complete development of the magnificent riches of the South.