The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-28
Busy Six-HOur STAY

stay of President Wilson in Mobile,
speeches by Majority Leader Oscar Un-
derwood, Secretary of the Navy Jo-
sephus Daniels and many others marked
the opening of the seventh annual
Southern Commercial congress here to-
day Delegates from all sections of the
south heard President Wilson utter dis
tinctive statements of a new angle OF
the policy of the United States to-
ward Latin America. heard Mr.. Under
wood advocate upbuilding of the Amer
lean merchant marine as the best moth
cd of gaining commerce believed to be
due the south because of the opening
of the Panama canal and other speak
ers tell of the opportunity that awaits
Dixie when the canal is opened to trade.
The programme early in the day as
far as 1T affected President Wilson was
delayed and instead of the delegates
hearing him speak twice. as had been
planned, he delivered only one address
because of lack of time The President
let it be known that this administra-
tion would look to moral rather thar
material interests for pacifying our
southern neighbors and this stirred the
delegates to a line of thought unex-
pected
AS the late Senator Morgan of Ala
bama was one of the early advocates
of a canal across the isthmus. Gov. EN-
met O'Neal of Alabama took for the
slogan of his address introducing Pres
ident Wilson, Alabama Did It."
Fletcher's Address
Senator Duncan u. Fletcher of Flor
ida in his annual address told of what
the congress had done in the past year
and what was expected of it during the
next Among other speakers at the
morning session was Congressman G.
W. Taylor of Alabama, who welcomed
the delegates to Alabama
Inn, n t~r..
wood at night was the address of Clar-
ence Owsley of Fort Worth, Tex, who
recited the enormous loss to the south
ern planter through waste in handling
and marketing the cotton crop. He said
this amount was about SIS a bale or an
estimated total of s70.000.O00 this sea-
son. Methods of eliminating this waste
already advocated were reiterated by
him with the. statement that this elm
ination would work as great a good to
the south as what was expected of the
opening of the canal.
Mr.. Underwood emphasized the point
that without shipping controlled by the
United States this country never could
gain the increase in trade it expected
from the opening of the canal He
pointed out that now about 10 per cent
or the material imported and exported
iiSo and from the United States was
carried in American bottoms. In fos-
terfng American shipping lay the best
chances of gain through opening of the
canal. said Mr.. Underwood
Daniels Makes Talk
One of the principal addresses Of the
night session, but which was not de-
nvered until late. was that of Secre-
tary of the Navy Daniels who smoke
of "The Relation. of Our NAVY to the
Panama Canal"
Conceding the vast benefits that will
accrue to commerce through the .open-
Ing of the Panama canal. Secretary
Daniels told the delegates to the South
ern Commercial congress tonight that
the opening would not double. the ef-
ficiency of the navy He denied claims
that the furthered mobility of the fleets
would add so much to the sea power of
the United states. H.e acknowledged
however, that such mobility would rem
der the navy much more efficient
During the long campaign.to induce
the American people to pay the mil
lions necessary to construct an 18th.
mian canal said the secretary, zone
or the strongest arguments for the
large expenditure was that such a
canal would double the efficiency of
the navy. We Were told also that 1t
would make for effiency in the armv
and make the United States the die.
tator OF the western hemisphere and
the mistress of the seas
Now that the canal is nearing COM
pletion and the day is near at hand
when ships will sail from San Fran
cisco to the Caribbean in about 24O
hours as against 1924 hours il took the
oregon to sail around Cape Horn, We
are told that the building of the canal
demands twice as large a navy as for
merly and that control of the canal de-
mands large standing army on the
isthmus."
Secretary Daniels referred to the dec-
laration of Count Maurice De Perigny,
a celebrated French explorer, that this
gigantic and remarkable work of the
United States is insufficiently protected
in military sense" The Frenchman
calculated that 25,00O men would be
barely sufficient to guard the waterway.
Truth Lies Between
But in these statements" Secretarv
Daniels continued. ''as In almost all
other things. the truth lies between two
extravagant assertions. The canal will
not double the effectiveness of our navy
but 1t will greatly increase its ability
to defend every part of the coast on
the Pacific as well as on the Atlantic
1t will nor virtually multiply the num-
bers of the army. 1t Will make neces-
sary Notifications and troops, but It
need not be nearly so expansive or re-
quire one-hah so many troops az our
distinguished Frenchman predicts.
NO great achievement comes without