FOR THE SOUTH 



PRESIDENT HENRY CLAY WHITE 



No portion of this great republic offers sincerer congratula- 

 tions on this notable occasion than that for which I have the 

 honor and the privilege to speak. That particular region which 

 we call "the South" has abundant cause to recognize this cele- 

 bration as commemorating a most important event in the history 

 of this happiest and wealthiest of the nations of the earth. The 

 people of the South in times past contributed their full share of 

 patriotic energy to the establishment of the civic freedom which 

 is the foundation of our national happiness, and, today, in 

 larger relative proportions than elsewhere within our borders, 

 they are devoting their intelligent endeavors to the winning of 

 the great agricultural products which, at last, are the foundations 

 of our national wealth. In this, the occupation of the large 

 majority of our people, we, no less than our fellow-laborers 

 elsewhere, have come to know that intellectual power and tech- 

 nical skill are now necessary factors in its efficient and economic 

 conduct. It is interesting, but not remarkable, that agriculture, 

 the earliest of the industrial arts, should be the latest to which 

 systematized intellectual effort should be applied. All other 

 arts are, essentially, creative; agriculture alone is, or may be, 

 simply directive. Before the smelter, the manufacturer, the 

 builder, or the engineer proceeds about his work he must have 

 intelligent appreciation of many natural laws which determine 

 the effectiveness of his finished product. But plants will grow 

 and cattle breed with promise of sufficient fruits to satisfy man's 

 needs, with need for little else than mere mechanical tending 

 at his hands. Necessity, and not choice, has, therefore, deter- 

 mined the industrial fields in which man's intelligence has, 



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