ADDRESS OF WELCOME By- % EMMET O’NEAL, GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA DELIVERED BEFORE THE SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL CONGRESS, MOBILE, ALABAMA, OCTOBER 27, 19 13 MONTGOMHHY, ALA . BROWN PRINTING COMPANY PRINTERS AND BINDERS 1013 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/addressofwelcomeOOonea 'cV<- T(X I! o- SPEECH BEFORE THE SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL CONGRESS, MOBILE, ALABAMA, OCTOBER 27th, 1913. Delegates to the Southern Commercial Congress , Ladies and Gentlemen: The high privilege has been accorded me of extending on behalf of the State of Alabama a cordial welcome to the dele- gates of this Congress, and the numerous guests who have honored us with their presence. The gathering in convention of such a distinguished array of leaders in the commercial, industrial and political life of this and those other countries with whom we desire to culti- vate closer trade relations marks an important era in our commercial history. The commanding position which the City of Mobile occu- pies as one of the principal gate-ways of that greater com- merce which will follow the completion of the Panama Canal, as well as the gracious and charming hospitality which has always characterized her people, make it extremely appropri- ate that this prosperous City of the Gulf should have been selected as the place to celebrate the completion of the most stupendous engineering project ever undertaken. The material advantages which we confidentially expect to reap from the building of this canal would alone justify us in celebrating the completion of that colossal enterprise, but above and beyond that its construction will ever stand as an enduring and mighty monument to that indomitable Ameri- can spirit which, triumphing over the opposing forces of na- ture and tropical disease, has successfully carried out its un- crttertaking in the face of manifold and seemingly unsurmount- able difficulties. Where France surrendered, America conquered. Where DeLesseps failed, Goethals triumphed. An Isthmian Canal has been the dream of the ages. We ^ can now, after weary years of struggle, triumphantly pro- claim that that dream is about to be realized. Its completion will mean that the people of the United States will attain ^ their hopes of commercial supremacy — that supremacy which comes not from acquisition of foreign territory, from triumph in war, but from our superiority and leadership in all the arts of peace. It will mean that the Great Father of Waters will 4 be restored to its ancient position as the arbiter and regulator of our great internal commerce. It will mean that our ports will be whitened with the argosies of the nations, bringing to our shores the products of every land and clime and taking in exchange the surplus products of our fields, of our mines, our forests and manufacturing establishments. It will mean that the larger part of that great tide of commerce which now pours its golden tribute into the ports of the East, will find an outlet through the ports of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and that the South will once more regain its former financial and commercial supremacy. It will mean the reali- zation of the prophecy of Commodore Murry, that “what the Mediterranean has been to Europe, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea will be to the people of these United States.” It will mean closer and more friendly trade and commercial relations with the governments of Central and South America and the teeming millions of the Orient, with wider and more profitable markets for our surplus products. Especially for the South will it mean an era of unprecedented industrial development. New railroads will be constructed in the eager rivalry for a share of the growing commerce of the Gulf ports. New ships will be budded, new mines opened, new factories erected, and the farmers of the South no longer sowing in tears will reap in joy — that joy which comes from a knowledge of remunerative prices in the markets of the world. It will mean that the people of the whole country looking out upon a wider horizon, freed from the tyranny of industrial monopoly, stimulated by the knowledge that the heavy hand of governmental taxation has been removed from across the pathway of their progress, will move forward with greater strides in every field of industrial development. To the hearts of the people of Alabama, the opening of the canal brings the proud and stimulating reflection, that what- ever else it may mean, it is at least a monument to one of Ala- bama’s greatest sons. Who will ever think of the canal with- out thinking of the great Senator from Alabama? As the days go by it is universally recognized that to John T. Mor- gan of Alabama is due the credit of creating that dominant, irresistible public opinion which forced the construction of an Isthmian Canal. Bitter, unrelenting, powerful opposition he met and overcame — the array of all the combined influences of the great trans-continental system of railroads, which steadfastly opposed the construction of an Isthmian Canal as hostile to their welfare and interests. Yet, in spite of public apathy, secret and open enemies, he labored so persistently, 5 with such marked ability, with such a mass of information, with such convincing logic and unanswerable arguments, that he finally forced the American Congress to agree with his views, and impartial history will forever link his name with this, the greatest achievement of engineering skill of all the ages. A short time ago, a member of Congress from Alabama standing by the side of Colonel Siebert, himself an Alabamian, was inspecting the works under charge of that great engineer at the Gatun Dam. In the course of their conversation Col- onel Siebert said that all the difficulties which he had over- come had been forecasted by Senator Morgan, and that he had secured more accurate information as to the geology, topography and soil formation of the Panama Canal from the speeches and writings of Senator Morgan than from all other available sources combined. In a personal letter he wrote me on July 29th, 1905, he wisely forecasted the future when he said: “Our work is not yet ended, but its final success is so far assured that no enemy can now defeat us. I know that trouble and base intrigue still confront us in getting a canal anywhere across the Isth- mus but the stone has been loosened from its seat on the mountain and no obstacle can long prevent its removal through its own gravity/’ Now, that the hour of final success has almost struck, we can proudly proclaim that it was John T. Morgan of Alabama who loosened the stone from its seat on the mountain, and that, looking wisely into the future, he but uttered the lan- guage of prophecy when he triumphantly declared that no obstacle can long prevent its removal through its own gravity. Who can doubt that it is directly due to the untiring labors of John T. Morgan that our shores are 4,000 miles nearer to the markets of the world than they have ever been before? No greater geographical event has occurred, since from the far-off shores of Spain, Columbus brought his tiny fleet across the wide waste of the Atlantic. Columbus realized his vision when he found a new world. Morgan’s dream became an actuality, when the new world was drawn into closer contact by this great work. As Alabamians we can justly rejoice that when the im- partial historian writes the narrative of this mightiest achievement of the race in overcoming the forces and power of nature, that three of the greatest names which will be imperishably linked with the construction of the Panama Ca- nal were furnished by the State of Alabama — Morgan, Gorgas 6 and Siebert. Yet, while it is a source of gratification that our State has contributed so splendidly to the success of this great achievement, we should not forget that what Morgan conceived Goethals has successfully accomplished in the face of difficulties that appeared insurmountable, with marvelous efficiency, irresistible energy and notable economy. As Amer- icans, we share in the just pride that his fame is forever established as one of the foremost constructing engineers of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, It is a singular coincidence that at the very time geographical limitations are struck from our (commerce by one great American, political and legal shackles are being stricken from it by another. While Goethals wrought out the great ambition of Morgan and achieved our physical liberation from the obstacles of nature, our great President, our most honored guest today, was guiding and directing the policies, now most happily crowned with suc- cess, which freed us from the grievous burden of an unjust and iniquitous system of tariff taxation, unshackled com- merce, and gave us the invigorating breath of that newer free- dom, under whose stimulating effects the American people will move forward to greater and more lasting triumphs in all the fields of commercial and industrial life. In the great con- test in which he is now engaged, for the restoration of indus- trial freedom and social justice, he has consecrated to the service of the people his great learning, his superb states- manship and his masterly leadership, and he will not lay down his arms until he has broken the chains of monopoly and given us a currency system freed from the domination of the selfish special interests, — a currency system sound, elas- tic and capable of serving the needs of that industrial and commercial activity and expansion which will follow in the wake of a just, wise and equitable system of tariff taxation. The national importance of this occasion is accentuated by his presence, and I am sure that in carrying out the great program of constructive legislation in which he is now en- gaged, that despite criticism and powerful opposition from sinister and selfish interests, he is sustained by the over- whelming majority of the American people, who deep down in their hearts believe that at this critical juncture in our affairs, the man and the occasion have met. Ladies and gentlemen, the State of Alabama is deeply ap- preciative of the honor done our State by holding within our borders this meeting of an association which has been such a potent factor in the industrial development of the South. 7 Alabama is not only first upon the roll of States but possesses every resource necessary to a great and prosperous common- wealth. We have a soil capable of producing in abundance every variety of product known to the temperate and semi- tropical zones — a soil which, under the influences of modern scientific methods of farming, has practically no limit to its possibilities. We possess every variety of resource, both min- eral and agricultural, and rank today as first in the produc- tion of brown ore, third in red hematite, third in the total production of iron, and fifth in coal and steel. Our inexhaust- ible resources in clay and cement material, in building stone and marble, promises an industrial development which we have never realized. Navigable streams sweep through our borders, furnishing easy and cheap methods of transporta- tion. No State in the Union is blessed with a more perfect system of waterways than Alabama. When these streams are all opened to navigation, when the obstructions which now check our growing commerce are removed, the State of Ala- bama will possess easy and cheap method of transportation throughout its borders, — transportation which cannot be the subject of monopoly, and which will guarantee that the bulk of our products will always find access to the markets of the world at the lowest possible cost. In water power we stand near the head of the list, and when the enormous power which is now flowing wasted to the sea is developed and harnessed, it will furnish the white mes- sengers that will herald the newer and grander commerce of the future. We possess a climate unsurpassed, as mild and as health-giving as the most favored sections of the Old and New World. From the blue waters of the Tennessee to where the Mexican Gulf marks our southern boundary, with valley and hill and mountain, with prairie and table-land, the richest soil, interspersed throughout with springs and streams of purest water; where has nature been more lavish in her gifts, and what State can compare with Alabama in the possibilities of its future? Where among these commonwealths of the Un- ion can any State be found to whom an Alabamian should yield the palm of superiority? During the last decade the value of our agricultural lands increased over 116%, and the Southern States, which since the close of the Civil War had been producing less per capita in farm values are now beginning to produce the most. The Central Western States, long the synonym for abun- dance of agricultural wealth, showed a 56% increase in crop 8 3 0112 062133845 values, whereas the Southern Atlantic States showed an in- crease of 138%. The development in Alabama and the entire South has been steady, substantial and permanent. It has been a long and dreary struggle to overcome the loss of wealth and wealth-producing power which followed in the wake of a great civil war, hampered in our struggle to re- adjust our economic conditions by hostile federal legislation and further weakened by the enormous immigration from our borders, estimated at two and a half million people, caused by the misgovernment and chaotic conditions engendered by the era of reconstruction. With the crushing burden of debt, with loss of credit, the overthrow of our economic and indus- trial system, and the misrule created by unjust, unwise and bitter sectional legislation, it is not remarkable that our edu- cational and industrial development was retarded, that the great tide of immigration which poured into the ports of the East found its outlet in the undeveloped West, and that the South was avoided because the impression had been indus- triously cultivated that life and property were unsafe in our borders. We give thanks to God Almighty that the days of sectional animosity have forever passed, that the States of the South are recognized as parts of our common Union of States, and that no hostile hand is raised by the federal gov- ernment to check our progress. With a population homogene- ous, loyal to the traditions and noble ideals of the South, we also recognize that the complexity of modern civilization has largely widened the sphere of governmental activity and that our progress cannot be sound or lasting until by wise and just laws we establish social and industrial justice. We should not heed the voice of that narrow spirit of con- servatism which would forever bar all wise reform or pro- gressive legislation and which will always in lugubuous tones cry out: “Let well enough alone.” We must either progress or retrograde. We must strike from our statute books all laws which deny equal opportuni- ties to our people in the stern struggle for existence. We must secure greater efficiency and economy in the adminis- tration of our State governments, and by wise laws safe- guarding our people against the unselfishness of powerful special interests, guarantee to every citizen, the rich and poor alike, the equal protection of laws founded in justice, breath- ing the spirit of a wider and wiser humanity. It is my earnest hope that the deliberations of this Con- gress will be of material benefit not only to our section but to the entire country, and that the blessings of the Most High will guide your counsels and crown your labors with success.