The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-03-06

David r. Francis. OF St. Louis. first
vice president Of the Southern Commercial
Congress. has addressed an open letter
to business men of the South relative TO
the work of the congress. He desis-
mates it as a movement which he believes
win make the South ready to avail it
self Of the opportunities offered by the
near completion of the Panama Canal.
lie says that IL is time Southern men be-
gan to realize the measure of this op-
portunity and to grasp the advantage
offered before il becomes too late to OBJ
tain the chief benefit therefrom. His
letter follows:
After a profound study of what the
Southern Commercial Congress is, am
convinced that it is the movement Of the
moment-the greatest single endeavor
that has come out of the South in forty
years-without political intent and with
out selfish purpose; working for all the
South all the time. So great is the value
of this movement that I consider it an
honor to be associated with it and shall
take active part in its affairs.
should Build Up Commerce.
''The moment has come in Southern
history for a constructive, positive stti-
tude towards commercial development
There is room for a change of heart
among US. Some of US are proud, like
the Pharisees, that we are not as other
men. Some of us dread the supposed
contamination of labor. Some of Us
think the South is we'll enough as ii is,
Such spirit never built and never will
build an enduring civilization. 1t is
We'll to honor our ancestors, but we
can do It best by serving our own day.
even as they h0nored and served theirs.
Thousands have done heroic service IN
the past generation. clearing away
wreeksge and building anew marvelously
and with courage; but more than 2,000
eco of our strong sons moved away. Yet
even if all of US had remained to display
quiet courage that would not be suff1-
cient in the present eXigency; for we
are TOO few.
The Southern exigency is this-in six
years, maybe five, the opportunities for
wOrid-cOmmerce that rest in the Pan
anna Canal and it's influence upon the
transportation routes of the world will
be ours 10 have and to hold. if We are
ready We are not ready. some of our
ports have insufficient docks to meet
present-day needs: the back-country to
maintain these ports is much of it
empty: our rivers are practically I'M
used: the standing timber so fooIishly
sold for a song is fast disappearing as
a permanent inducement 10 bring ships
to our ports. There are few lines of con-
tact with Europe, starting from Southern
ports; and still fewer exist to the nearest
commercial outlet Of all-S0uth America.
The Southern Opportunity.
''The Southern opportunity is this.
Coast line pre-eminence navigable
streams of nearly 2O.O00 miles measure
ment, out of the 5000 in the whole
United States; power in coal and in
streams. and streams and coal closely
related: splendid rainfall and growing
seasons, forests. understandable and
nonmetallie-in bewildering variety and IN
abundant quantity. This combination of
commercial possibilities in one region
proves an approaching commercial inn
portance, even if the Panama Canal
were never completed. A greater oppor-
tunity for commercial victory was never
given to any set of men. II is for us to
see it and to work for it, for victory
does not come from merely boasting of
greatness, past or present.
The Southern call is this: Every man
az a task, and each man at his task with
l,F-
success is part of the great growth of
the South Business men of a COM
munity should be held together by a
common interest for a greater and bet
ter community. Farmers and city peo-
pie, merchants and manufacturers. must
each come TO realize that all are closely
bound together by the prospects that be-
long TO the South Towns should forget
tealousies. States should vie with each
other in generous rivalry. The whole re-
gion should work as one without par
tisan feeling, because our nation needs
the commercial strength the South can
give It,
Let the South show the world that fits
men are not alone to be united by a
common danger as in the past; but that
they can be brought together into more
enduring strength by the common oppor-
~HInity of to-day. The Southern CONNER
ciat. Congress is the meeting place for all
such enlightened men and organizations
"a purely cooperative movement for the
good OF all
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Cotton Mills Buys Machinery