The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-04
Men of National RenOwn to Address Southern Com
 mercial Congress
RENEWED IMPULSE
 GIVEN WHOLE SOUTH
Charleston Is on Eve of Once More Regaining Prestige She Formerly
 Roasted as POrt-What the Convention Will Do
By HOLLAND

By HOLLAND
 New York, December 3.-(Special.) )-Six years ago a representative body of busi- ness men of the south--agriculture, man. ufacturing and transportation being well represented-met at Atlanta. The discus sions and the addresses were of nation wide interest. In fact, this meeting first disclosed to many people living in other sections of the country the extent to which the development of the resources of the south which began in reality and earnestness about the year 1880 had reached One of the addresses was de- livered by the late George Westinghouse. It was the last public utterance and one of the rare ones which MT. Westinghouse made. Perhaps not consequent upon the counsel MT. Westinghouse gave. but cer- tainly fully sympathetic with 1t, has been the almost marvellous development of cleo tric energy into which water power is con- verted and now utilized over large areas and in some of the most popular cities in the south.
 George w. Perkins spoke to the mem- bers of this business congress. and when he returned from Atlanta he spoke with enthusiasm to his friends of the industrial development then in progress throughout the south.
 Gatherings of this kind in the south, in the Mississippi valley and in the far west have always been followed by increased commercial and industrial activities. Therefore it is presumed that the seventh annual convention of the Southern Com mercial congress, which is to be held at Charleston, S. C., in the mid--weelk of this month, will be reflected in additional inn pulses-of which so many have recently been observed-which have led to in- creased commercial and industrial activity throughout the south.
 This meeting is regarded of importance enough to justify a. proclamation by Rich- ard I. Manning, governor of South Caro- lima, in which he recommends to the peo- pie of the state that they regard them selves as the host of the convention and through every organized body be repre- sented in this convention and its deliber- ations.
 WHAT CONVENTION WILL DO
 The convention is expected to discuss practical questions associated with every department of commercial, agricultural and industrial activities. It is also to have a special responsibility, for it will consider how best to celebrate the semi centennial of the establishment of peace throughout the United States.
 The. United States as a whole is to be represented at that meeting, although the membership of the association is confined to those who dwell in and have business activities in the southern states. But those who will address the meeting rep resent every part of the United States. The federal government is to be well rep resented there. and the President himself, although he may not be present. is to be represented by his Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels; his Secretary of War, Lindley N. Garrison, and his Secretary of Labor, William B. Wilson. Former Pres ident William H. Taft will address the members, although he has not yet made choice of his subject.
 On the night of December 13, Dr. Nich- olas Murray Butler, president of Colum- bia university, who for several years has made special study of commercial, industrial and educational conditions in the south. will deliver the chief address, having chosen as subject, 'The Changed Outlook" Dr. Butler is to have good company, for the president of Har- yard university, Dr. Abbott Lawrence Lowell is to speak, and also pr. John G. Hibben, president of Princeton university
 Very likely one of the most interesting of the addresses will be that delivered by Willard Straight who was long asso- ciated with J. F. Morgan & Co.,, and through his familiarity with commercial and industrial conditions in Cuba is for tified to speak with authority respecting the large trade relations which have al- ready been established between the south and Cuba, which will undoubtedly be much increased by reason of the highly improved transportation facilities which now make it possible to transport freight, without breaking cargoes, back and forth between Key West and Havana.
 Were the conditions at the time of this meeting similar to those prevailing year ago. then the gathering would be char acterized by hope rather than enthus- 'asm. Now there appears to be no part Of the country which has responded more rapidly to the new impulses created with in year than has the south. For sev- eral weeks communications have been coming to New York which tell of re- vival-or. perhaps. increase is a better word-of prosperity throughout the south In some respects 1t resembles the sud- denly created prosperity upon the Pacific coast, although the south was earlier to feel the stimulating influences occasioned by our foreign trade than was the Pa cific slope. One of the features of south ern industry that is often spoken of here as most gratifying is the increase of di- versifled agriculture. The south, of course, will be always pre-eminent in the growing and harvesting of cotton, but It Is likely to gain, relatively. as great Importance in the production of corn and other grains. The same kind of tonic which pervades the business atmosphere in the north and west is stimulating the people of the south. And 1t is in that spirit that this important convention will meet, on December 13, for a session of four days. Just at this time. too. Charles ton IS especially fortunate because a few days ago there began the first shipment of coal from Charleston to foreign port. this being only a beginning of what is likely to make Charleston one of the large exporting cities of the United States. The city is surely to regain and increase it's former prestige as port of foreign commerce.
 Munchausen the Second