The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-07
GAOSDEN'S PLAN
 ID HELP COUNTY
McGaughy Talks About Need
 For Immigrants
MAYOR DISCUSSES WORK
ModestIy Calls Attention To Some of the Progressive Things Gads- den Is Doing For Public
 Advancement
BY WALTER HARPER

| Gadsden, September 6.-(SpeciaL)-"I | is pursuing in the interest of educa- tion and the encouragement of the az rjcultural interests of Alabama" said S. McGaughy, vice president of the First National bank of Gadsden. "Agriculture is the foundation of all our prosperity and the base upon which all our industrial and social happiness
 must be anchored. We have as hne lands in Alabama as can be found on the globe when all the conditions are taken into consideration.
 "The irrigated lands of the west are valued at hundreds of dollars per acre | in the face of the fact that the per petual expense of irrigation is very heavy. God gives the moisture, the sunshine and a thousand other bless | ings to the farmers of Alabama. Our lands are inestimably productive of a large variety of crops and yet we place small value upon our average acres This should not be so. This will be changed when we get the proper ap- precldtlOn ol oui duNahto5OS III <Ai" | bama.
 ''The tide of intelligent agricultural immigration in this country has been toward the northwest. That great country and western Canada is rapidly filling up with a class of farmers that will develop the country. But there | are disadvantages in this country | though the lands are fertile. The win ters are severe and long. The grow | ing season is so short that only one crop can be grown
 "In Alabama the seasons are much
 more favorable, the lands cheaper and l can be made just as productive as those | in the northwest
 "The people of Alabama should de- wise some systematic method of ad vertising these advantages among the people who are moving westward There is a movement on foot among | the business men of Gadsden to ac- | complish something in this direction | We will go before the next legislature | of Alabama with a bill to allow each | county or Etowah county in particu- | lar to appropriate certain sum of | money annually for advertising pur- poses. Our plan is to send men and literature into those sections where the best farmers are seeking homes and
 farm lands.
 | I feel sure that it would be an easy
 matter to induce healthy and profit
 able immigration into Ala abama if the
 proper steps are taken.
 | "The bakers, the merchants, the pro- ] fessional men, in fact all men, should
 be interested in any movement for the
 agricultural development of Alabama. We want more farmers that are intel | ligent and progressive, more planters
 who will grow surplus crops and i'm prove the farms of this state. We have | too much waste land Prices of food
 stuffs are too high and they will re- | main high until more stuff is produced.
 "Prosperity on the farm means pros perity In the towns. Poverty on the | farm means poverty in town and the l crippling of every business enterprise" l MT. McGaughy is one of the leading citizens of Gadsden as well as one of
 the prominent bankers of the state. 1 Before coming to Gadsden he was cit- l izen of Birmingham.
 Mayor Murphree Talks found Mayor w. T. Murphree in his | law office on the fourth floor of the Stocks building, which, by the way, is an office building that would do credit | to most any town.
 | Mayor Murphree is tall, wiry fell | low with an unconscious Lincoln pose Lincoln's characteristic pose was to | take his knees up in his arms with | his long, bony fingers locked in front | of his shins. His face was usually bent close to his knees.
 | Mayor Murphree bends forward but his feet are planted firmly on the car pet and his hands are locked between | the knees and like those of sch ool girl watching the changing shadows of evening playing across some dreamy | meadow.
 Mayor Murphree is thoughtful and deliberate. There is nothing boastful about him. He weighs his words care- fully and never hands them to you un- | til they are thoroughly polished, in- spected and sorted.
 | The stuff hes mands you is good live
 dope, but it is not the windy kind that Is often served up to the newspaper
 man by public servants who are awake
 to such excellent opportunities to send a
 message of self-congratulation to their "adoring" constituents.
 Contrary to the rules of the lawyer on the defensive. MT. Murphree required me to ask leading questions. "Yes, Gadsden has continued to grow
 and prosper during my administration as mayor
 | Yes, if I must confess. we have con- structed one and one-tenth miles of pave ment. It Is claimed that they are as