The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-31
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NSOhhAnuC0 AAOAk1 a6C OASJ
 great value to the south in aiding ex- porters to get their products to South America and other countries. At the present time, MT. Harding asserted, cotton was selling for 35 cents per pound in South America, with not a ship available to export southern cot ton there.
 The rural credits bill MT. Harding declared, would mean that the farmer can borrow money for long time on his real estate and at an interest which will at no time exceed per cent. This bill, stated the speaker, Is one of the most important as far as
 the south is concerned, which has been introduced by the democratic adminis- tration.
 Its passage means that the farmers
 of the south will have money to put into scientific farming and diversifi- cation," he said. Ut also means that the farmer will be able to better cul- tivate his land and to be in a better
 position to hold his products until he can acquire from his would be pur- chasers their true value.
 MT. Harding's speech was as follows: EFFICIENCY VERSUS WASTE We are celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of the historic city of Tus- caloosa and the eighty-fifth annual com mencement of our great university. AL though upon such an occasion our thoughts naturally take a retrospective turn, 1 shall not in my remarks dwell upon the past, rich as it is with lessons of it's trials and triumphs, nor will I pose as prophet and attempt to rend the veil of the distant future l shall speak instead of the present and of that immediate future which lies within our horizon, and which we can make what we will.
 LESSONS OF EUROPEAN WAR We are living in most critical period of the worlds history, stupendous era, full of opportunity and fraught with grave responsibility. The frightfJl holocaust on the other side of the At lantic, with it's appalling sacrifice of human life, with it's enormous waste and with its pandemonium of calamity and woe, has aroused in the hearts of the people of this country mingled feelings of horror and of pity, but also it has in- stilled in our minds a better and higher appreciation of our duty to ourselves. to our country and the world.
 "No longer are we lulIed into a false sense of security because of our splendid isolation, no longer do we feel that we enjoy permanent immunity because of the 5000 miles of ocean waves that separate us from the shores of Eu- rope; but we have as a nation come to realize that our surest guaranty of peace lies in preparedness for war. The first steps for military and naval prepared ness have already been taken, and be- cause of this we are confident that we shall escape any part of the tragedy now being enacted on the three conti- nents of the old world. This confidence is intensified because of the calm judg- ment and consummate skill of the Pres ident of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, who has so successfully han died a grave international crisis, main- taining friendly relations, while preserv-
 ing our national honor and dignity. It is not necessary, therefore, to discuss at length at this time and place, prepared ness from a military sense, but it is well that we should consider it from a com mercal and industrial standpoint.
 EFFECT OF WAR ON COMMERCE
 ''Out of the misfortunes of others has come to a great extent the marvellous prosperity with which this country Is blessed today. The temporary depression in the United States which followed inn med1ately the outbreak of the war and which was due to the sudden and com plete collapse of credits and to the in terruption of the accustomed means of transportation and communication throughout the world, was followed by a speedy readjustment which brought with it from the warning nations and from noneombatant countries whose trade had been principally with the powers at war, millions upon millions of dollars worth of orders not only for munitions, but also for the ordinary necessities of life, which have been pouring in upon this country so that it has been enriched, ac- cording to the estimate of some authort- ties, to the extent of about $3,000, ,000, 900. This golden flood has fairly deluged some of the states to the north and west of us.
 Alabama and her sister states of the south, while feeling to some extent the impetus of better times, have not re- ceived the proportion that with a better