The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-08-26
Il. ADDRESS OF SENATOR SMITH .
The Democratic Voters Of the State Of South Carolina

the request Ol the TT6SlGeQL LQdL
the railroads, telegraph, tele-
phone and cable lines were turn
ed over to the government during
the war.
While serving as Chairman of
this Committee l discovered that
the lack of growth of the COM
merce of the Southern ports in
comparison with the Eastern and
Northern ports was not due to
natural causes but to the dis
elimination of the railroads in
their rates to the various ports
and the discrimination of the
government in the matter of ap-
propriations for dry docks and
harbor improvements since the
Civil War. The country does not
realize that the government in
the last so years has expended
for naval stations and harbor
Improvements north of Hatteras,
distance of roughly $50 miles,
nearly s700,00O,000, while south
Of Hatteras, a distance Of over
1900 miles, only 70,000,000.
The North Atlantic has Is dry
docks; the South Atlantic and
Gulf has one, small one, at
Charleston. During the past
session of Congress two bills were
introduced by Republican Sena-
tors which would discontinue tie
appropriation for the deepening
of the channel of Charleston, and
the construction a tremendous
dry dock at that place. 1t was
by my efforts in the senate that
these bills were not passed and
the work in Charleston is now
going on.
While I was Chairman Of the
Interstate Commerce Committee
and the railroads were under the
control of the government, 1 in
stituted and led the fight with
other Southern Senators for an
equalization Of import, export and
domestic rates with other Sec
tions of the country: I was sue
cessful in this fight.
Since the roads have been re-
turned to private ownership they
have sought to reestablish the
old discriminatory rates against
Southern ports, 1 intend to keep
on with the fight to prevent this
and at the Democratic National
Convention I, wrote and had in
corporated in the platform that
plank which pledges the party to
stand for equality of rates, both
import and export, for the ports
of the country, to the end that
there might be adequate and :air
facilities and rates for the mob
ilization of the products of the
country offered for shipment.
The equalization of freight rates,
import, export and domestic. and
equal harbor facilities mean more
than anything else in the rejuve-
nation and expansion of the
direct foreign trade of Southern
manufacturers and Southern pro-
ducts through Southern ports. I
have taken leading part in Sc
curing the ALLEGATION of ships by
the Shipping Board to Southern
ports and have had considerable
success.
With the increase in our for
eign trade, the South will be able
to take advantage of the oppor-
tunities offered, with it's conse-
quent prosperity. It is not gen.
orally known that most of the
larger cities of the Middle West
are closer to the ports of Charles
ton and other Southern ports
than to the port of New York.
In this connection, while dis
cussing transportation, might
say that while ranking member
of the Postoffice and Post Roads
Committee, I collaborated and
fought through with Senator
Bankhead and others the Good
Roads Act which appropriated
s200,000,000 for the government
to cooperation with the states in
the construction of good roads.
The construction of good roads is
one of the greatest needs which
confront the people of this state
as we'll as the country at large,
and I pledge myself for the fu-
ture as in the past, to fight for
any proper measure which will
lead to the construction of better
roads.
One of the very many evils
that resulted from the Civil War
was our financial condition under
the Banking and Currency Act
of 1868. This system was in ef-
feet up to the time of the
present Democratic Administra-
ton. Panics were frequent and
the victims Of these panics were
the weak and unbefriended. In
1913 was passed the Federal Re-
serve Act, the greatest construc-
tive piece of legislation enacted
since the Civil War. This Act,
together with the Farm Loan Act,
was passed by virtue of a direct
personal appeal of President Will
son to representatives and sena-
tors who were> friendly to him.
With this measure, as we'll as
every other measure, voted with
the President and did all in my