The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-27

address you tonight In the interests oh the candidacy of a distinguished ciuzen of Alabama.
 Tn obeying this request it Is not my purpose to take any part in any factlonai contest that may exist in this state, 10 make any suggestions as to the character of the delegates that you will select, or to interfere in any manner in your local affairs, but merely to present the reasons which induced the state of Alabama at it's recent convention to propose to the democracy es the nation as candidate for nomination for the presidency of the United States oscar W. Underwood.
 "As citizen of another state who claims the right to share with you your just pride in your splendid history and the illustrius names which you have fur nlshed the nation, and the splendid rec ord which you have made since the close of tha civil war in building up great and advancing civilization, am con- strained to believe that I will meet with that welcome which has ever character ized tho gracious hospitality which has distinguished the people of this state.
 "No Alabamian appearing before a Georgia audience can feel himself to be a stranger. A large part of the territory of Alabama, as you all recall. was once a part of the state of Georgia; much of our population and customs and our laws were Georgia bred. Upon one of the streets of Montgomery recently noticed an illuminated advertisement of a pro- duct called 'Alaga. The name appeared in large letters at the top and beneath were the clasped hands of our two states. As looked upon 1t could not but think that in all that affected the welfare of the south, in all that made up for it's advancement and stood for it's progress we had always been united by a com mon interest and inspired by common purpose not only to preserve the noble ideals and proud traditions of the old south but to walk hand in hand to meet the problems of the future. I could not but indulge a hope that that union which had been consecrated by common sufferings, common sacrifices and com mon triumphs would continue throughout all the days to come. In peace and in war the sons of Georgla-her Cobbs and her Towels, her Toombs and her Steph4 ems, her Grady and Gordon, her Hills and her Lamars, her Colquits and her Lumpkins-had wrought faithfully for the common veal, and I rejoice that the state of Alabama was at this critical juncture of national affairs able to give to Geor- ga-her sister state-the services of a great man who you will am sure help us to place in the highest position in the national service which the suffrage of the American people can elevate him.
 Southern Candidate
 The recent convention which assem- bled in Alabama made political history. For the first time since the close of the civil War a southern state presented to the country a candidate for the presi- deney of the United States. That act on our part was of deep significance 1t meant that the era of sectional prescrip- tion had happily passed and that the wall of prpill6ica which had lone barred a southern man from the White House had been broken down by the silent but irresistible forces of an en- lightened and patriotic public opinion. IL means that the country is now re- united both in word and in spirit, and that we have at last realized the dream Of the fathers as expressed in the pre- amble to the constitution of a more per feet union of sovereign states, united now and united forever.
 T sincerely believe that the people of the whole country will welcome the op portunity of showing by their ballots that the south is fully recognized as an equal in the councils of the nation, and that character and fitness, and not state lines, should be the controlling factors in the nomination and election of the President Of the United States.
 "Oyer 40 years have passed since the power and material wealth of the south disf ppeared in the wake of a great civil war. Over 40 years have passed since the south lay prostrate, with every home filled with mourning and women wearing heSsable garments of woe to those who were sleeping their last sleep on hun dreds of fields of battle; with wealth which had been accumulated for oyer a century destroyed by the greatest act of confiscation known In history In 1860 the estimated wealth of the United>States was $16,0OO,000,000, of which the south owned $6,o00, ,000,000 or nearly 30 per cent. In 1870 the 10 southern states had lost over two and one-fourth billions of wealth, or nearly 1T per cent of her prop erty But since that time that same unconduerahle spirit which sustained our armies in the field was manifested in all the avenues of peace, and under the most adverse conditions the process of reha- biitation with accelerated motion went on and grew until today we are the most progressive section of the country.
 Industrial Progress
 "A recent report of the census bureau shows that in the last decade the south has made the most remarkable indus trial progress in her history and that she furnishes an unlimited field for the in- vestment of capital. For many years after the civil war the south produced the lowest per capita in farm values, but she Is now beginning to produce the most. That census report shows that the cen- tral west, whose fertile soil was long considered the worlds granary, showed only an increase of 56 per cent in crop values as compared with an increase of 13s per cent in the south Atlantic states.
 "4is was recently said by Golfers Weekly this industrial progress in the southern states Is the most important economic phenomenon occurring on the American continent. The impressive ex- panson which took place in the west 25, and even five years ago, is now going on in the south and with this difference that our development Is taking place without advertising and without those feverish spectacular and speculative methods which formerly characterized the rapid expansion of the west.
 smother fact of deep significance dis closed by that census report is that in the last decade the whites in the rural parts of the south have increased 154 per cent and the negroes only 6.s per cent. The rural south is tnererore rapidly becoming white and this condition will be accelerated by the immigration now pouring into our borders-composed of the hardy, intelligent and industrious farmers of the west-seeking investment in our rich and cheap farming lands.
 The south then is today the na- tion's greatest asset and valuable pos session. No other section can rival her in resources or the possibilities Of development. She is not only the greatest in coal and iron and mineral resources but greatest in climate and in her domination and control of cot tcn production and the cotton trade of