The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-12

e. u liz III IINdiI a VI
Banking last Tuesday night Richard
III. Edmonds, editor of the Manufac-
turers Record, speaking on THE
South: the Worlds Greatest Bank"
said in part:
Mature has given to the South a
bank with a larger capital and larger
deposits than n bank ever created
by man.
THE capital and deposits Of this
bank are available for the enlarge
ment of business operations to an ex-
tent sufficient to enrich, not simply
an empire, but a world. Through the
countless age Of creation the capital
has been produced and the deposits
laid ava by the work Of nature. For
the time being, the resources or TINS
great bank may not be in as llqulo
form as the cash which is In your
vaults. Nevertheless, these nature
made deposits are vastly greater IN
value than all the of all the
man made banks of the United States.
These resources are already Delng
tapped and made to pour forth a
stream Of wealth to overflow n
make fruitful the whole land. We
are beginning to check against this
fund. Fortunately it is SO large that
we shall never receive that solemn
warning against an OverdraWn &C
u which ~frightens so many de-
positors in your banks.
AT creations dawn, nature IN its
mighty work, stretched out the val
leys and the plains of the South with
their fertile soil, and then piled
high almost limitlesS stores
of coal and iron and other minerals.
Then in it's most benevolent mood in
order to furnish the best conditions
known to man for the utilization of
these stores Of wealth.. it cut these
maintains bV m2ny IiVorS thai thGV
might furnish transportation to the
sea. Their utilization will help to
meet some of our present problems
which are becoming more and more
pressing as the business Of the coun-
try expands beyond the facilities Of
the railroads to care for it. For
years We thought of their value main
ly in terms of water transportation
an possible freight regulators.
New Value of Rivers.
But these rivers have another
value besides that of water transpor-
tation, and this new value, we a "
discovered, exceeds the old value. In
these rivers we find a liquid deposit
account IN which to draw. AS they
come tumbling down mountain sides,
then pass through the Piedmont e.
gion and on to the Atlantic coast and
the Gulf, they have. through cen
turtles been running idly to the sea.
Millions and millions of unutilized
power v been gong to waste. Now
we are beginning to chain or harness
these mighty streams and create
hydro-electric power which is becom-
ing available in nearly all parts OF
the South for the operation of fac
tories, the lighting of cities, and the
running of railroads. This power is
now being utilized for running in
terurban railroads, especially in the
central south where several hundred
miles have been constructed, or are
now under contract, paralleling
steam roads. These roads are beins
constructed at an outlay greater thar
most steam roads, because they ar,
being built on the most scientific line.
with the best roadbed hat can b,
made with heavy rails and with ever,
facility provided for the cheap an,
expeditions handling Of freight as
we'll as of passengers.
Within the last three years, tn
hydro-electric work that has bee
carried out in the South, includip
that which is now under way, repre-
sents an actual outlay of probabl
will be required before the plans a.
ready formulated, and many G
which have been financed. will b
carried to completion.
1t is possible to handle the river
of the South in such a wav as I
NoN vi lily AAS dS IuuC
electric power as all the stear
power now used in all the factorit
of the South.
When nature. in it's creative worl
was bringing forth this Souther
land of ours, it lowered it with
richer wealth Of resources, a rich,
bank in capital and deposits. than ar
any other area known to mankin
Here are deposits of coal more pote,
for the creation of wealth than al. IL
capital of all your banks. 1t is il
creasing in value more rapidly ths
the swelling volume of your deposit
The world is growing hungry f
coal. Europe, even before it put
pick into the ground. and much
its coal has been mined, had less n:
half as large a coal area as the Sout
ern states. If we exclude Russi
which has nearly two-thirds of t
coal area of Europe and which "
probably not be largely deyeloDed i