The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-31

 would have come to them.
 POSITION OF THE SOUTH
 '"The south, since that day, back in | 1881, when we members of that class | made our final bows upon the rostrum
 in Woods hall, has made great progress
 in all lines of industry, in agriculture, in | manufacturing, in mining in banking and in commercial pursuits, as may be exemplifed by the statement that the
 banking power of the southern states is
 now greater than that of the entire United States at that remote day. But our section, nevertheless, has not
 yet become highly specialized in the arts
 and sciences, and in manufacturing, but | is still essentially an agricultural region and still has cotton as it's prncipal money crop. Because of the inability of the cen | tral powers to import cotton on account of the rigid blockade which is being
 maintained, the south has, during the
 past year, been deprived of market for
 nearly one-fourth of it's export crop, so | that neither its manufacturers nor it's 1 farmers have reaped that measure of profit which has come to the same classes | in other sections. The south is, how ever, an important part of the United States, and is interested in common with all other sections, in the maintenance of national prosperity. Already there are |
 is beginning to turn it's thoughts toward peace and perhaps it may be the mis- sion of our southern born President to point out the way.
 AFTERMATH OF THE WAR l Restoration of peace will necessarily
 bring about important changes in the
 worlds trade and just wha. these l charges will b. and how they will af- f feet business conditions in this country, are problems which are being studied ! carefully by p--b lcists and business men. These are vital questions here in the
 south as in other. parts of the country,
 although we mayeno be as dit ectly af-
 fected as other sections for the reaso !. | that a smaller part of our business has come fro, foreign countries vI has been connected with war material. We should, l however. md ready to support the gov- ernment any measures that it may be
 necessary adopt in order to retain the | legitimate foreign trade that we nave
 already secured, to extend still further
 our business intercourse with South
 American countries, besides maintaining a proper balance in our trade relations with the nations now at war.
 American bankers are permitted under
 the federal reserve act to establish branches in foreign countries and can | thereby facilitate transactions involving l I and it is practically certain that law will soon be on our statute books cre- | atlng tariff commission, whose duty Will be to make close study of chang ] ing conditions and to recommend from time to time such notifications of our present tariff laws as may be advisable. do not speak authoritatively, but l nope that as measure of commercial
 preparedness, steps will be taken to en-
 courage the manufacture of dyestuffs in | this country, to protect American firms | aga1pst foreign dumping and to provide l heavy penalties for foreign concerns en- gagged in unfair competition in the United | states. American merchants and manu-
 facturers seeking to compete with those
 Of other nations in the markets of the world should be permitted to engage in
 the contest on equal terms with their | competition and we should therefore | favor some arrangement that will en- | able American exporters to secure for
 eign trade in competition with the car tels and combinations of Germany and other countries.
 AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINE l "A serious drawback to the develop
 ment of our foreign trade is the utter | Ilnadequacy of our American merchant marine. The south has felt this per-
 haps as keenly as any other section of lhe country. we nave been handicapped very greatly in exporting cotton by lack
 or ship room and by abnormally high
 ocean freights. Rates to Liverpool on | cotton have for several months past frequently ruled as high as S15 per bale. or cents per pound, or about 10 times | the normal rate, and this excess has. to | a great extent, come out of the pockets
 of the southern farmer. Coal is selling
 at SSo per ton in Buenos Aires, but no | to z
 Alabama coal to that market American | shlpyards have been very busy for the past year or more, as private capital has
 been attracted to shipping by the un-
 usual profits obtainable, but in normal
 times this activity cannot be expected to ! continue.
 l our wage scales are much higher than | tnose or foreign countries, whose ship | plng IS also, in many cases, subsidized l and' In order to estab blish an American | merchant marine which can be used in the carrying trade in time of peace and ! as a naval auxiliary in time of war. | government intervention and aid seems
 necessary The shipping bill passed the rouse or Representatives a few days ago, With the support of practically I'll the southern members, and will. in all probability, pass the Senate and become law before the adjournment of Con gress.
 RURAL CREDITS
 Another measure of supreme impor
 tance to the south is now in conference
 the rural credits bill The south for a.
 great many years has labored under the
 curse of absentee landlordism and it has
 suHered from the evils of too extended
 tenant farming system. Hardly more
 than tithe of it's productive capacity | mas been utilized, for lack of both capi- | tai and labor. With the exception of l Texas, the southern states have not at l tracted their proper share of immigra- tion, either foreign or domestic. Too
 many of our rural population have found It impossible to make any substantial | headway, and finding themselves wear
 after year lacking all of the luxuries and
 many of the necessities of life, have lost
 ambition and have settled down to
 breathe the sodden atmosphere of a
 hopeless and aimless existence.
 The rural credits act will open the
 way for the organization of national farm l loan associations which. in co-operation Uvff ha foIn