The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-23
RICHARD EDMONDS FINDS
WIDE AWAKE SOUTH

| III III dI tlCIc pI1utCu IA s''S -
facturers Record, Editor Richard
| Edmonds has the following to say OF
the outlook for prosperity in the
/ south:
A two months swing around the
circle in the south makes one feel
that what has been counted as Op-
timism in regard to this section is
really but rank pessimism, SO far
above all that the Manufacturers
Record has claimed is the broad,
sweeping development that is taking
place not only in the villages and the
towns and the cities Of the south,
but in every phase Of its agricultural
Ork. and still more strikingly in
the movement of men and money Of
Europe and America now focusing
on the south. Not until one travels
over wide sweep Of territory can
he quite grasp the whole panorama
that is being unfolded in southern
development.
The little towns, scarcely known
OF fifty miles away from home, are
proportiOnately doing about as much
as the big places. They are alert.
energetic, full of enthusiasm, build
ing sidewalks and streets and i'm
proving the country roads, putting
up finer residences, building schools
and churches, and giving every evil
dcncc of increasing prosperity.
And speaking of churches, there is
probably no more striking evidence
OF increasing wealth to be found
than the remarkable activity in the
church building throughout the
south. Not only are churches being
erected with an activity that is some
what astonishing. but these build
ings are in many cases of the nest
superb architecture and costly to a
degree that is the highest evidence
of an enormous expansion in wealth,
and of a Willingness to spend that
wealth for the bcttcrmcnt of man
kind The whole south is develop
ing church architecture which
promises TO make it unique in the
world for the beauty and adaptable
ity of these church cdiliccs.
And while the village and Tie
country town are growing as are the
big cities, equally rs strong evidence
OF southern progress is seen wh"r
ever one familiar with the agricul-
tural interests of the south looks
from a car window and contrasts
present conditions with the situation
even five years ago. In every dircc-
ton there are seen more and better
tarmhOuscs, better painted homes,
better outbuildings, and a thorough
ness of cultivation which speaks vol
umcs for the advancement made dur
ing the last few years in farming
methods
In this full-r0undcd growth the in
crcasing prosperity of the farmer, the
enlarged demand for agricultural
land, the doubling and in many cases
the quadrupling, of farm land val
ues, the growth of villages and of
towns and cities, the broader spiri;
of municipal improvements, the
enormous expenditures that arc be-
ing made for church and school
the skyscrapcrs, the grca.
Eotcls. the advancing Industrial ac-
tivities in all these there is a sure
evidence of a broader and more gen
cral progress throughout the south
tEan that section has known since
1860 In times past we have had
some years of great Industrial ac-
fivity even though agriculture was
depressed by low prices. In other
lines we have had 4 stimulation to |
farm interests by temporary high |
prices for cotton cOincident with de-
in financial or Industrial af-
airs of the nation. Here and there
Individual towns and cities have
grown. sometimes at the expense Of |
'ther places and of the country dis |
riots. But never before in the las, |
vail century has there been such m |
'dfanec movement which in its
march to higher grounds of pros
"rity includes the farmer, the mcr-
hant, the manufacturer, the bank
II, and, in fact, the countryman and
he city man alike a nation born
n a day is scarcely more marvellous
han the now life which has conc l
o the nation - the south within the
asst few year.
Florida folk find it somewhat diff
icult to keep track OF the great in
,rease in population in evidence in
very part Of Tho south. and indi-