The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-31

tive, a thing that is not true anywhere else, and l look to see in the southern states a development unparalleled in any other portion of our great land. Here in the south you have a popula- ton descended almost exclusively from the loins of the men and women who founded our republic. You are not nearly on the threshold of a great commercial development; you are over the threshold, it has begun. You have entered on an extraordinary period of great industrial development. I want to see the south aroused with a spirit of industrialism, and nevertheless, I earnestly hope that in taking your full share of that material development you will not lose the fine quality of your forefathers. That you will keep their capacity of fealty to a high ideal" Now d paragraph from the address of ex-President Taft. who was at that time President of the United States and acted as chairman of this conven- tion:
 The commercial and industrial de- velopment of this country for the last twenty years has been so great that the statistics startle us. An examina- ton shows that proportionately the commercial and business growth of the south is greater than that of any other part of the country"
 Lastly, I quote from the address of President Wilson. who also spoke at this meeting in part as follows
 T have heard men of the north say that there were spread upon the south as a sort of precious asset some of the noblest, choicest and most honorable traditions of our national life. Mo- where else in the country has there been more ,unbroken and continuous traditions, reaching back to the great formative period of our republic"
 Alabama bases it's invitation to the settlers from other states on those tra- ditions. We do not seek those who may come among us seeking corn whisky or-wild women, but to the 100 per cent American and the 100 per cent substan- tial citizen Alabamas la tch string hangs outside the door. From the Georgia line on the east to the Mis- sissippi line on the west; from the winding silvery waters of the Tennes- see on the north to the guff-kissed shores on the south Alabama has been more bountifuly blessed by resources of inconceivable value than most any other state.
 Today lands in Ala bama are compar- atively cheap in price, lands which may be bought as low as s15 per acre are producing in diversified crops s57.13 per year. These are government fig ures. Alabama holds the champion yield of corn and cotton per acre of any state in the union. This year she ranks as the leading state in the pro- euction of peanuts, and one of tho counties of Alabama has more cattle on it's luxuriant grasses than any county in any state of the union
 The crop values of the thirteen southerns tates in 1919 were greater than they were in all the states of the union in 1909. The average per acre crop value for five of these southern states was $69.17 per acre. while the average for the five great grain states of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas was $32s7 per acre. This shows a difference of $36.30 per acre in favor of the southern states, or no per cent more for these southern states than for the five great grain growing states. Add to this the price land can he bought for in Alabama, our climate and our 100 per cent American citi- zens, and you at once see why thou sands of the very best farmers are com ing to Alabama
 w. M. MATTHEWS
 Commissioner.
 Birmingham, August 30, 1920.