The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-04
OSCAR STRAUS
 IN SAVANNAH Secretary Speaks at a
 Banquet. WILL GO TO COLUMBUS Former Georgian Glad to Be at
 Home. Occasion Was the Twcnty-Fifth Anni- erssry of the Board of Trade.
 Judge speer Also De- Hvers Address.

Savannah, Ga. April 3.-The twen- ty-ffth anniversary of the Savannah Board of Trade was celebrated today.
 Some weeks ago a large delegation of members visited Washington to in vite the President members of his Cab- inet and others srominent in official life to be the guests of the body upon this occasion. Hon. oscar s. Straus. Secretary of the Department of Com merce and Labors however. was the only one of those invited who found his work and engagements would permit of his acceptance. Today he and other distinguished visitors were entertained in many ways. The crowning feature of the celebra- ton was the banquet tonight which was largely attended by representative | business men of Savannah and a num- her of neighboring cities.
 l Judge Walter G. Charlton. of the Su- perior Court, presided as toastmaster. and Right Rev. Bishop B. J. Kelley of i Savannah opened the occasion with prayer.
 Judge Emory Speer. of the United States District Court, spoke on ''The | President of the United States" and was followed by Mir. Straus on "Our Commercial Age"
 1 Hon.. J. Hampton Moore of Philadel- phia spoke on "The Atlantic Coast l Waterways" Hon. James Byrne of New | York on "The Investor and The Per- l ills of Cape Hatteras' was Athe subject of Congressman John H. Small of North Carolina. Governor Hoke Smith also spoke.
 l Speech of Mir. straus. | Mir. Straus made 1t plain that he was I glad to be in Georgia. He will go from here to Columbus and will also visit Talbotton.
 The speech of Mir. Straus was as fol- lows:
 Fellow Georgians:
 T come among you not as stran- ger. but as returning son, and as such deem 1t a rare privilege and q to take part in this anniversary cele-
 eNiy first reeplIeetions and fondesi affections are Georgiaa. Here I formed A B C's, and drew in those inspira' tions that have ever been my guide and guardian. I shared with the older among you those sad and painful ex. rose up and out of them, as you have done. with the consciousness that tho wisdom of God surpasses human under standing, and that we and the genera tions that follow us should never cease to be grateful to Him for preserving our country one and indiyisible.
 Georgia was founded in a military age. and no colony Tn ancient or IT modern times had nobler beginning or Q more philanthropic founder thar the colony of Georgia. It was the hrsI economic condition of the poorer class' | es. The people the great Oglethorpt brought with him, and those who fol. lowed in his path, had been racked and | hx, others by religious persecution. The colonists, though coming from differ ent countries of the old world-Britons Morayians: ana saiTOnrgers~iWsers dn beriss IT of suffering. By the direction of Ogle' thorpe. both slavery and rum were pro hibited.
 Savannah began as a dry town, and I understand you have recently revert ed, in honor of the principles of your founder. to its Primesvaln n dryness' Esss Ds Sc unnumbered might have been spared the whole Southland If the cardinal principles of Oglethorpe could have aside from all humanitarian consider ations, what slavery and militarism meant. They dignlfied idleness and de. graded productive occupations. one oi the greatest blessings of our industrial and commercial age Is the fact thai it has dignifled labor. and In dignity ing labor has unlocked the handspring of personal initiative, energy, and en- terprise, which lie at the basis of ouI | wonderful growth and prosperity.
 "The example of the people of the United States. not only in the liDertS they enjoy but in enfranehising nf workingman, and in giving him the ma terial rewards of labor, as we'll as thl honors that true merit deserves. has yielded powerful inhuen9e nd, m ds'Ta: eTSrS and lords come to us from foretgr lands, and crave the hands of the faii daughters of our captains or idnstry and do not even reject the millions that their fathers. the horny-handed sons oi toll, have accum ulated
 Our Age Commercial.
 Our age and generatloh IS pre1emI the United States are in the forefront both fin the rewards they reap anc in the prosperity they enjoy; Tn. spirit of commerce has contributet more than all other causes toward bringing together the various sections of this great nation which. in ltl Sites and expansion. has wiped ou sectionalism and made us one united people. , ,.sr..r commerce. said the great historian Lecky, have been the steady support CTS of English liberty. Yes. commerce in it's modern development Is based up on mutuality. and every ship that car ries ifs products to foreign climes fl a G messenger of peace and good will Commerce thrives along the highway of peace. and it speaks the universa language of peace. No agency Is work ing more steadily toward the ideals O international peace than the agencies of commerce.
 "Appreciating all this as I do ant appreciating also that the iTeal con dition for all nations would be to saw the millions that we are now spen0 ing on armies and navies and use then in promoting the economic welfare O the masses yet so long as other ma tions. though progressing toward tha ideal are far from it's realization, great country such as ours, with sucl a tremendous seacoast and with grea irternational interests can best serv the cause of peace and hasten tn ideal condition by a navy adequate fl strength and efficiency to give It tn proper weight in the promotion O beare in the council of nations.
 we say the North and the South the East and the West; their interest are one economically, politically an 1 Commercially. It Is that reason. an because of this commercial expansion with the network of railroads. runnin from the Atlantic to the PacifcS an from the Lakes to the Gulf. carryin the products of the mines. the farmi