The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-30

Being a competitor of the Steel cor poration, the high compliments paid to the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad company and his reference to the suit against the Steel corporation were looked upon with that much more sig nificance, Mir connors being one of the partners of the firm of Connors- Wey- man Steel company, with plants in Bir- mingham and Atlanta.
 That part of his paper is reproduced as follows:
 almost personal to us in contemplation of what 1t means to the steel industry of Europe and our friends in that indus try. who by their visits to this country and our visits to them have cemented the ties of friendship for many years.
 Conditions Are Unprecedented
 'The first three months of this war. which all of us hope, will not be greatly prolonged, has demonstrated that we are confronted by conditions never before imagined and that it is necessary to con- slider new methods of conducting business along lines in which there has been, in our lifetime, no precedent That chaotic business conditions resulted immediately from such a cataclysm of destruction of property of financial stress, of the dis location of the worlds commerce, has not been surprising: that the United States has not suffered more, that we have been enabled to maintain confidence in the stability of our institutions, and in the ultimate recovery to normal con- ditions, is matter of congratulation. That buying in many lines has been con tracted to cover only immediate needs has perhaps been natural, but if reports from numerous centers of consumption may be credited, many warehouses are comparatively bare of supplies, retrench- ment has been overdone, and with the cordial cooperation of the various depart- ments of the government in devising measures to assist in financing the cot ton crop and providing suitable financial machinery, with the Influx of demand for materials for foreign consumption, many of which have never before been exported in such large quantities from this country: with the exercise of the ingenuity of our people In manufacturing for our own consumption articles here tofore imported from abroad and thereby giving employment in new lines of in- .dustry, it may be not only reasonably hoped but expected with assurance that
 
 settlement of all these vexatious and on- erous difficulties. a new era of ex- banding business will dawn.
 This country has never failed to overcome every obstacle. We have all seen how. from the desolation and des- pair of the civil war, the south has risen triumphant and taken it's place as the factor in the world to which It was destined by it's natural re- sources and the courage of its people. Even so this country, which has suf- fered from the effects of the European war in every other respect save the loss of men and property. almost as if it were belligerent, this country Is bound to rise victorious over it's vicissitudes, its people animated. en- ergetic and confident from coping with and conquering every difficulty '
 Bowron Frequently Applauded
 In remarking upon his address and other proceedings of the institute, MT. Bowron drew fire many times and was roundly applauded at frequent inter- yals by his audience. He declared he could Ego John Penton's editorials ons better" in telling what he thought of the prosperity of the country as pro- noted by the newspapers, tariff leg islation and the "watchful waiting of the interstate commerce commission" T can make speech on this matter any time and red hot off the bat" he declared to President Gary, who was presiding. Being told that he was linn ited in time, he stated he would pitch in and when the gavel falls I'll light cigar"
 Tn commenting upon MT. Bowrons address. Mir. Chamberlain stated that the Birmin gham district had had a check cred career in it's iron and steel development but 1t appeared at last to have reached a solid basis and he wanted to congratulate the men of brain and brawn who had toiled faith fully for years and years toward that end.
 L. F. Block was optimistic. "I ven- ture the opinion.' he declared, that in spite of predictions and forebodings to the contrary, this country will rise to the occasion and bring about satis- factory results from the conditions ex- isting on account of the Europeon war"
 E. M. Hagar stated he was too linn ited in time to make a speech, so he told an anecdote, got away with it., and sat down.
 Edmonds Makes Impressive Talk
 R. H. Edmonds, editor of the Manu- lecturers Record. made a most impress sive short talk. stating briefly but dramatically the reason why the south was or rather had been backward in the development of the iron and steel resources of It's lands. claiming there fore the civil war and its results. He impressively pictured the conditions in which the war left the south. showing how 1t was impossible for development of any of its natural resources to take place except within the last few years.
 A. I. Findley, editor of The Iron Age. when called upon by President Gary, stated that he believed any man who had "a whack at the members of the insti- tute every week had no right trying to make speech on the floor of the con vention at o'clock in the morning, New York time' and sat down.
 John A. Penton. editor of The Iron Trade Review, spoke strongly and com pellingly of the various charges that in recent times had come to be laid at the doora of prominent iron and steel