The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-28

Roads. ,.s r-g MT. Chairman. Ladies and My Fellow
 Countrymen:
 am delighted to have the pleasure of being with you today in the historic county of Washington. This shouio be day long to be remembered on this suspicious occasion. It Is 2 siorious one. and I want to congratuiate you o1a the progressive spirit that IS oe- ing manifested by the fact hat you are unbuilding and laying the cornerstone for a new public building IS eyioence fhat you have a civic spirit. and you should encourage your pupno- -spir.teo citizens who are promoting tnis CIVIC spirit. I hope every lady ana sSnue- ccrr,e enthused and emulate the same public and civil spirit that the leaoers of fhis movement are doing
 you have a glorious climate with xvonderfuI natural resources that are undeveloped, and no county has bet ter opportunity in Alabama to make Us people prosperous. happy and content e6 ff you will only appreciate what nature has so bountifully given you.
 wish you would understand that ur1asa you are thrifty and industrious you cannot be happy or prosperous. It makes not difference what your beauti- fui countys natural advantages are.
  deyiIs workshop. If you want to en- joy good health. be happy and content ed, you must work. The good DOCK, ther Bible, says: srwe must earn. tneA bread we eat by the sweat of our brow" f
 Now, my friends, what want to call your attention to is that you must learn to farm by practical, progressive methods. using modern. labor-saytng implements, study your soils. 1ou, know soils have diseases and neea treatment the same as the human or any other animal. When your crops are bad or not prolific, 1t Is largely due to the fact of the kind Of fertiliSer you are using, or that your soils are not healthy and are diseased. and this can be remedied on your part If you will become intelligent farmers. Edu- cate your boys and girls so that they will become practical men and women. You will make them happy and tney will remain amidst their surrounainks where they were born and reared.
 would like to call your attention to ti,is fact, the New South since the Civil War, is buying about $36,OOO,OOo worth of corn and meat annually, when inc Old South, before the CIVIL war raised all of that. These conditions my friends. are wrong, and Wno IS 70 blame? You certainly cannot blame vour rnagnifcent climate or your pro- dusfire soils. Then the ansWer-Wno is to blame is easily told.
 we take your historic county, one or l,O50 square miles, with It's diversity of soils, with intelligent farmers, with the proper, fertilization you can raises any crop that can be raised almost any where under the sun.
 would like to illustrate just one agrtcultural product. the sugar-cane. I want to compare your countys pos sibiIities, acre for acre. With any otns CT county in the world where they raise sugar -beets. You can raise an avaraRe of twenty-five tons of sugar. cane per acre with intelligent farm methods on every acre of land you have in the county. It contains more saccha- rine juice by per cent than. the best eugar-beet in the world..' Sugar beetg In hf,gh etate of cultivation will not: aver-s age over twelve or thirteen tons to, tn q, United States, CT Europe. are worth about Sl00 an acreTDso you see,c yen have not an acre of land in the county of washington that will not raise two times the tonnage of sugar-cane. ana sugar-cane makes the best sugar and syrup; sugar-beets are only an imiia- tton.
 You must have confidence in your magnificent climate and the produc- tiveness of your soil, coupled with enc tn usiasm and industrious energy, with a progressive method. and your county will be one of the most prosperous counties in the country.
 Good Roadg. ..~. .----.4-,.
 My friends, my mission here today is to talk to you and try to spread the gospel for better roads in your lovely county, and to create enthusf- asna among you. I want the ladies to cooperate in this good work, as they ars Interested as much as the men. .s
 Alabama is one of the States rich enough to indulge in the 'extrayaEance of poor roads, but how long will IL be before the counties that have bet ter facilities in marketing their crop will be disastrous competitors.
 Our State can in. no way help its people, especially the farming clasa more than the proposition of, the Ala. bama Good Roads Association, which is engaged in the crusade for the bet terment of our much neglected country roads.
 T. know of no taxation more burden- some ana heavy on the child the -wo-: man, the man or the animal, who Is willing to do mans bidding. wherever he. is called in the pursuit of his usual peaceful avoeations shfrking not the war cry, but willing to serve his mas ter, than the bottomless mud roads
 
 The bad roads of the State have been neglected to my Knowledge for the last fof3y years. But with a few exceptions resulting in an astounding cost to the agricultural products and the great loss to the farmers who have been the chief sufferers from this neglect. The proposition for good roads Is not fac- tional, or is it partisan, but it is an economic question and a social problem of much interest which is of more ben ent to you and me than any platform put forth by any political party of to- day. Everybody should be interested in the question nor is there any way you can contribute more to the happiness of the people than the matter of how to get them interested in the build. ing up Of our neglected country roads. That Is my mission here today in be. half of the Alabama State Good Roads Association.
 The good Lord intended we should do something to better the eonditions of those taxed so heavily because of the bad roads. We should remember and feel interested in their isolated conditions: they have no social inter- course with their neighbors and are often deprived of the privilege of edu- eating their children just for the lack of ,passabIes roads.
 No wonder our boys and girls are leaving our farms, crowding to the cities where many are struggling for scant livelihood. These conditions are