The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-11
COWART WRITES ON STATES RESOURCES Shows Advances Made in
 Past 30 Years
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK
Says One of the First Questions an Immigrant Asks Is What School Facilities State
 Offers

In an official paper entitled Ala bama's Progress and It's Causes" Lee Cowart, state commissioner of immi- grafton gives some vital informa ton in connection with this state and the relative advances in the past 30 years.
 Considering education the prime es sential for the influencing of immi- grants, he points out at the beginning of the paper that In 1880 the state spent $500 900 for chools, that in 1900 the amount was $924,464, while in 1910 the schools were given s2,s2o,Ss5.
 As to taxable values, the state offi- cial points out that the assessed prop erty in 1890 was s27O,4OS,432. In 1910 the taxable property was. $5oS,56S.610.
 The true wealth of the state, says Mir. Cowart in the paper, is $1,SoJ,- 900, 900. In 1910 the true wealth was given at s774,0o0,O00.
 3ssfhe paper dealing intimately with the interesting facts in connection with theIs.ate follows:
 z Tt is perhaps natural that Alabama of all the states of the south, because of it's double endowment of agricul- tural and mineral resources. should, as it Sdid, furnish the most sympathetic field for that spirit of progress, which, in the past decade. has inspired the southern states to greater progress than any other decade In their history has witnessed re
 Tt was but natural that Alabama, the richest in minerals of all the south ern states, and among the richest In agricultural advantages. should have led the states of the south in its in- crease in wealth and been among the leaders in increase of population. This double asset of potential wealth equipped Alabama for it's great marcn forward in the past 10 years.
 Tn the outset it is well to consider some of the census figures which re- fleet the material progress of Ala ba ma in the past 10 years. We may examine, for instance, the school figures, for whenever a good citizen contemplates moving from one state to another he wants to know someth.ig of the schools in that section, to which he proposes to take his children. As far back as 1880, the year that really marks the beginning, not only of the real growth of Alabama, but that of the en- tire south, Alabama spent $500,000 in the cause of the public schools. In 20 years that amount has grown until in 1900 it totaled s923, ASA. But in the last decade-that between 1900 and 1910-- the public school fun0s went forward With leaps and bounds. In 1910 the total amount paid out for public edu- cation in Alabama was $2,620,335. In fact, Alabama gives nearly wo-thirds of it's entire income to the cause of education. It goes even farther-it gives an amount equal to all the money raised by direct taxation to the schools of the state, and the other expenses are borne by license charges and funds obtained from other sources.
 Amy man who thinks of coming to Alabama can come with the absolute assurance that he will have ample school facilities for his children, and that he is coming to state that excels all other southern states in school fa- elities. ..-
 ''The census figures relating to assess ed property in Alabama are eloquent tes- timonials to Alabamas advance. In 1890 the asesed value of taxable property in Alabama amounted to s270, 40S, 4S2. In 1919 it had jumped to s50S, ,56S,610. The tan figures of 1911 will probably show many million dollars increase. These figures are sufficient to answer the question of any man who would ask: Is Alabama growing? What is to be it's future?'
 The States True Wealth
 Again, the figures relating to the es- tmated true wealth of Alabama pile proof upon proof of Alabama's advance In 1900 the estimated true wealth of Ala bama was s774,000,00 in 1910 it had jump ed to M, 300, ,000,O00 Few states of the union present such proportionate increase.
 There are some other figures which show how raply, in this era of progress, individuals increased their wealth. In 1900 the capital of all national banks in Alabama amounted to $3,4S0.000; and the individual deposits in those banks to s1O,- 93s, s,S9023 In 1910 the capital in national banks in Alabama was sS, ,750O00. The in- dividual deposits in the aggregate had n A IL eration of these figures shows how rapid 1y the A1abamaians are drawing divi- dends from the common prosperity of their state.
 "In 1900 the output of iron ore was D. 750,2H long tons. In 1900 the output had jumped to 497O,OOO long tons In 1900 the production of coal in Alabama was s,3e4,215 short tons; In 1910 the production had jumped to 15.0000O0 short tons.
 "The richness of the Alabama coal and Iron fields has drawn to this state lead- ing capitalists and expert mining men from the Pennsylvania coal and ore fields. They say unhesitatingly that pig iron can be made cheaper and steel can be made cheaper in Alabama than in any other state in the union This one fact Us largely responsible for the millions of dollars put into mining and making of iron and steel by the shrewd business men Of the United States Steel corpora tion
 Cheap Living Expenses
 This fact should be taken in connec- tion with another fact that never fails to impress the man from the north and the west who comes to Alabama, the ,cheapness of labor and living expenses.
 These men, who are often farmers who have prospered and who are good business men, keeping tally on their ex- penses, what they say is quite reasonable for it is in line with the experience of the large corporations with Alabama invest ments which go up into the millions. The Advantages, which lie in the heavily in- creased market price Of farm products, grown under conditions in which living expenses are at the mininum have m- pressed the thousands of western and northern farmers who have come to make their homes on Alabama farms.
 The stir and energy of the devel- opment of the past decade are reflect ed in the figures which relate to the population of Alabama. The popula ton of the state in 1900 only totalled 1,S2s.697. In 1910 the total had in- creased to 2,13SO93. In as much as Alabama is still largely an agricul-