The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-13


| few officers and then they went after
| their annual reports In q manner that
would have delighted the heart of old
Joe Cannon himself. Before the first
days session was over they had good
| deal of business behind them, ana
| when they adjourned last night they
were we'll on their way to the most
important discussions.
one OF the best speeches made before
the convention, though 1t touched OH
| religious matters only in an Incidental
| fashion, was made by Richard IL Ed
monds, who welcomed the delegates 10
| Baltimore. Mr.. Bdmonds said many
things that most of the delegates knew
or would have known had they thought
about them. but he said them in a
way that appealed to the good sense
of all his hearers. Speaking about The
future OF the South, Mr. Edmonds SAID;
That the South is to be one of the
worlds greatest industrial centres IS
no longer questioned. 1t is accepted
as a proven fact In this heaven
favored land wealth will increase be
yond the dreams of to-day. The states
represented in this convention now
have a total wealth of s26 000.oO0,oOo'
or $4,000, 100000 greater than the
wealth of the United states in 1850,
In twenty-five years this wealth will
have grown to s75.o0oooo 600 or more
This is like lifting the veil from the
future and showing the Wandering
Children the glorics of the Promised
Land Yet not word that Mr.. Ed
monds said was in anywse e%agger-
ated. In fact. he stated the case con-
servatively when he predicted this fu-
ture for the South during the next
twenty years. lie might have been
within the bounds of probability had
he said that the South. in 1885. would
have a wealth of more than 100000
100000.
one of the greatest troubles of the
South during the last decade of prog
ress has been that our people have
failed to realize the truth of such
statements as this. They have not APP
preciated the vast resources of this
region and the vast natural wealth
at our hands If we choose to utilize
It. Our people have never vet fully
awakened to the fact that we have the
richest and most varied agricultural
soil in the world, as fine and produc-
tive mines as there are in America, a
vast store of coal and coke and water
mower enough to turn the wheels of
every mill from the Potomac to the
Rio Grande.
Even as it is, however. the bow
of promise is in the skies. Last year
the South manufactured more than
half the cotton it raised, and 1t raised
more cotton than in any similar
wear of hot weather; we produced more
grain we marketed more produce ana
we sold more manufactured articles
! than ever in the history of the South.
We did better in a word than we
have ever done. but We have not yet
done half of what we can do.
The South. in the midst of this for
| ward movement. needs to learn one
lesson well. and that is, that it is aa
easy to raise the best as the worst, a.
easy to manufacture the finest pro-
ducts as the most inferior. We have
| every advantage that nature can give
and we should use every advantage tc
| the utmost. We have as intelligent
| and Industrious people as can be found
in any part of the country, and the,
should be trained until they are in
dustrally the equal OF any other peo-
Pile. We should not stop with manu-
featuring fifty-two per cent. of our
home grown cotton into coarse do
mestics, but we should learn to manu-
facture the finest cotton goods and get
the best prices for them. When we
manufacture furniture, we should
make 1t as substantial and as hand
some as the best that the West car
produce, and when we raise apples, we
should pack and ship them so that they
will command the markets of the
world
The South will surely come into its
own, but the south can best come int
its own by growing the best, making
the best and getting the best prices il
the best markets.
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IN THE SAME OLD WAY.
President Taft is getting into a peel
of trouble in his efforts to deal hon
estly with the tariff question. FL