The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1923-03-09

would have to recite the entire roster
OF your association.
when / think Of the power that Is
yours to WELD, is it any wonder that
feel bowed under the weight of medi-
ocrity as l approach the task of en-
deavoring to have you consecrate your
lives and abilities to the education Of
our people along constructive lines.
In your field OF endeavor you have
wonderful opportunity, and, here, to-
day, l invoke the spirit of service,
and bespeak your most earnest coop
Grafton in the serious work that must
be done before we can rise to the
heights of statehood that we have a
right to attain.
with the intense state pride and
love of tradition that fills the heart
OF the average Georgian it would al
most seem that Selling Georgia to
Georgians' is more or less OF an empty
phrase, but to those who have made a
careful study Of the resources that
God has so manifestly blessed US with,
and of the psychology of our people,
we see before us Brobdingnagian
task.
I'm the selling of Georgia to Geor-
CLANS we are confronted with the ne
cessity of overcoming the thoughts
and habits of century. For years
the trend of written thought and ora
torical effort has been filled with the
pleasing idioms of chivalric speech to
the extent that there has been foster
ed a complacent and self-satisfied at
titude toward life. There has been
built up belief that we have reached
the ultima thule of all human progress
and that the day Of making traditions
| is over, when as matter Of fact we
have only been marking time, and
along some lines have even been
retrograding. While out oratorical
lips have dripped honeyed compli-
ments to the glory of Georgia man
hood and womanhood, we have allow
ed ourselves to drop to the disgrace
fully low point of forty-fourth in mat
ters of education; while we have been
writing lavender scented tones on
crinolined dame and gallant squire the
soul Of the thinker has writhed IN
agony as he saw our mineral resour-
ces being shipped away to be manu-
featured into finished materials by
other states; while we prated with
iustifiable pride Of traditions other
divisions of our country have been
making great strides in manufacture
through development Of their water
power, and our streams still run IN
harnessed to the sea; and while we
have INDUCED in countless dreamy
s;estas, we have seen our farmers
shackled with seemingly unbreakable
bonds to a cross Of cotton and the in
iquitous systems Of farming and cred
it's that have grown up around that
commodity.
"In addition to this our hearts can
not help but be saddened by the
thought that we have failed to herald
to the world the virtues of our people
/ and the glories Of our possessions. AS
result we feel the scorching sting
of criticism in the oft-repeated state
ment that we live in land Of moon
shine, lynching and illiteracy,' instead
of an Eden Of opportunity, awaiting
the magic alchemy Of the forge and
the retort of the manufacturer and
the scientific development of agricul-
| ture to transform it into a golden
blaze of wealth.
ooh! Member of the Georgia Press
Association! / hope that can bring
/ to you a vision of the Georgia that is
to be-a Georgia of highly educated
men and women, a Georgia OF indus
4 trial activity with splendid cities filled
with busy factories, and Georgia of
a happy and prosperous countryside
established upon the solid foundation
of sane system of farming and mar
keting. If can bring to you that
picture and can enlist the concerted
power Of the institutions you repre-
sent, in five years there will be a new
and greater state rising Phoenix-like
from the ashes of the old.
"a salesman, to be successful, must
first sell himself. Perhaps we have
not realized the extent of the natural
blessings that we have been endowed
with, and it may be necessary in or
der to catch the inspiration to famil-
iarize ourselves with the resources OF
our state and in this way arrive at
own conclusions.
Mineral Resources. -.
! "On the authority of the eminent
DR.. s. w. McCallie, state geologist, we
find Georgia rich in mineral resources
beyond computation. In state docu
ments he informs US that our geolog-
ical formation accounts for an unusual
diversity of minerals, which for com
mercial purposes cover range not to
be exceeded by any geographical di
vision of the same area in the world.
"This mineral belt extends entirely
across the state with its southern
boundary running from near Waynes
boro to Columbus. 1t can be divided
into two sections-the Piedmont pla
teau and the mountain region. AL
that vast stretch of territory is rich
In marble sranita slate iron coal