INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
OF 
Governor Hoke Smith 
July 1, 1911. 
ATLANTA, GA. CHAS. P. BYRD, STATE PRINTER. 
1911. 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
Mr. President a11d Gentlcme11 of the (lc11cral ~lsscmbly: 
1 sympathize with the earnest desire ,,hielt I know you feel to make your present session eoutribnh all possible to the welfare and permanent progress of the people of our 8tate. 
Tl1e last gubernatorial campaign involved, first of a 11, tlw presenation of legislation 11assed in 1'.l07 and l!JOS. This legislatiou marked an ep()(li in om history. 
Of the laws then passed, first in importarnc 1:-; our franchise muendnwnt to tlie ( 'on:--titution. This amendment will permanent]_\- protec-t the Stak ,1gainst dangers almost indeseribable. Its value is far-reaehing, not alone at the ballot hox, hut in tlH solution of the raee problem. 
At the same time laws were passed ('Overing the registration of voters, regulating primaries and sePking to make our elections pure. 
l commend these laws to your support. \\'itl1 t>xperienct\ 110 doubt, they ean he improved hy mnendrnent, but no change Rhould be made in tlwm which will lessen their efficiency. Our eh~etions must he kept upon the highest possible 11ltme, free from every undue influence. 
In this connection, I suggest that the rna11agers 
3 
 
 of our State-wide 1,rimaries should be paid as managers of our regular elections are paid. 
The State-wide primary virtua1ly settles ,vho :-:hall hold offices in Georgia. The regular election serYes but Hmall purpose except to confirm the re,;nlt. of the primar). rl'he public and not the candidates should bear the expense. 
As an additional mode of improving our eledion law:-, l suggest that no longer any occasion existR for our October elections. They can well be abandoned and at our November elections, when Congressmen are selected, we can select onr State ticket. 
This would s:we bringing the people twice to the polls for reg;ular eleetions the same year, :md almost ('ertainly insure n larger Yote in the regular elections. 
RAILROAD COMMISSION. 
Our new Hailroad Connntssion law, adopted in Hl07, has made it possible for the Commission to rPr1der broader and more va luahle service to thti puhli,. It plact1d undn the supervision of the Commission exprpss companieR, street railroad companif';.;, dock and wharf <"Ompanies, terminal arnl terminal station <"Ornp:rnies, telephone and telegraph companies. gas, electric light and power companies. Indeed, practicall)- all public service companies in Georgia are now subject to the supervision of the Kailrond Commi:;;sion. 
PnhliC' st1rviee <'ompanius nre, to a large Pxtent, t1ssentially monopolies. They exercise privileges under elrnrters and spe('ial grants from the State in the interest, not alone of their stockholders, but of the entire public. These corporations, created by 
4 
 
 the State, owe duties to the public, and supervision by commissions similar to that whioh we have created in Georgia is the only known means of compelling these rompanies to recognize the rights of tl1e public. 
J:>owER OoMPANIEs. 
Let me illustrate by power eompanies the importanee of bringing these additional eorporations under 8tate supervision. It now seems probable that tl1e water powers of Georgia will drift into the hands of a few eorporations. Their use is essential to the general prosperity and growth of tlte State. lf the industries and the public at large in Georgia are to receive their legitimate share of benefit from the:-;e develornents, it must ('OlllC through tlie exereise by the State of its power to eompel the:-;e <ompanies to give reasonable service at rea:-;ounl,le rates to the publie. By plaeing them under the supervision of the Railroad Commission the pnblie <au b(~ guarded against the arbitrary eonrlud of tl1ese quasi public corporations. 
'l'he people of Georg-in pay to the railroads mH1 public service companies over :-;ixty millions of dollars a year. This sum is constantly inereasing. There is enough for the ( 'ommissioners to do if they devote their entire time to the service. I believe the trne policy should be to increase the pay of the Hailroa<l ( 1ommi:-;sioners and require their entire time. 
In its work the Railroad Commission largely repl'PSents the Legi:-;lature. I urge a policy whid1 woul.d :-;et>k not to hamper the Commission in the disL'lwrge of its dutie:-;, bnt to stimulate it wisely nnd justly to guanl the rights of the public, while nt tl1e same time 
 
 it rf'rognizes also the rights of the corporations undt--r its supervision. The corporations, when dis;-;atisliecl with the action of the Commission go into the ('Onrts with their complaints. It would seem not improper that the Legislature should, as the ocea:-;ion 1equires, express itself with reference to prol,lt>rns i1wolving public poli('y ('omwded with the work ot' thP Commission. 
lH\li(vp the freight rates to ,md from the ports 
or Ot>orgia to all interio1 r)Oints in Georgia shonlll 
h<> ea refnlly revised h_v the Railroad Commission. '!'lit! irnportanre of this question g-rows out of the 
fad that prnetirnlly all the railroads of the State, \Ylii<'li rea('h from the ports to interior points in (leorgia, have for ~-ears been ('Ontrolle<l by those iut1,rested in railroads strefrhing_ North and '\\'est ouhide of the State. 
'l'nke tlw f'ase of the Central Railroad. l1'or many years it "as controlled by the Sontliern Rail\\'a_v eompnny, which lrnd long lines rP,Hlting into thP \\' f'f-:t aml into the North. It was to the interest. 1\ip1efore, of thof-:p eon trolling our Georgia railroads to havP snch rate:-s fixed to and from the ports of Ot>orgia as woulll lll'eYent, as far af-: possible, thP .-:liipment of freight to and from points in Georgi,1 through our port:,;, and force it to he shipped over lheir long rail lines from and to the North and We:-st. 
As water trnnsportation is so much rheaper than mil transportation, 0111 freight, when hauled largely hy watPr anrl only a short distance by mil, should he earried at priees mlwh less than those c-harged for )ong rail hauls )forth nnd '\Vest. 
 
 
 Under normal conditions the great bulk of the non-perishable freight shipped into and out of Georgia should go by Georgia ports at rates with which 
the long rail lines North and vVest could not com- 
pete. With our Georgia Railroad to our ports con- 
trolled in the interest of the long lines stretching North and West, an influence has existed for years to keep the rates on our freight to and from Georgia ports so high that transportation through the ports would be hindered, and that the long rail lines North and West would do the carrying for the people of Georgia at greater charges than those which should be placed upon a section contiguous to splendid ports. 
I insist that Georgia freight rates to and from the ports of Georgia should be fixed solely upon the basis of reasonable compensation to the local carrier uninfluenced by the interests of railroads outside of the State. 
If, based upon this principle of reasonable compensation, these rates can be reduced, then the shippers of Georgia are entitled to have them lowered. Excessive rates should not be charged shippers in Georgia to enrich railroads outside of Georgia. 
This question interests equally every point in Georgia and applies to shipments into Georgia an<l out of Georgia equally. 
The present Commission has recognized by a vote of three to two this principle. 
A general revision of our Georgia rates to and from the ports of Georgia, based upon the principle to which I have referred, would be most beneficial to the State and not injurious to the railroads of 
7 
 
 Georgia. On the contrnry, it should increase their business and thereby increase their profits. 
I suggest that the Legislature appoint a committee to investigate this question with the end in view of fixing a policy in Georgia, which will require a recognition of the doctrine that Georgia transportation to and from the ports shall not be controlled in the interest of long rail lianls outside of Georgia. 
CONVICTS AND Goon RoADS. 
Many regard the Act passed at the extra session of the Legislature in the fall of 1908 as the most important legislation of the period I am considering. It is the Act which broke up convict leases and put the convicts upon the public roads of the State. 
When it was before the Legislature many good men opposed it because they believed it would be impossible to handle the conviets upon the public roads. Now, it is safe to say that 90 per cent. of our people realize its value, and rejoice in the good that is being accomplished. From one end of the State to the other good roads are being built which are absolutely essential to the improvement of farm conditions and to the removal of isolation from rural life. 
The good work must go on until Georgia has, in every part of every county, a road which will put the farmer's home in easy access to his county site. 
HIGHWAY COMMISSIOK. 
I join in the recommendation for the creation of a Highway Commission. I do not believe it would be proper to give such a ('ommission authority to fix where a road should be worked, but with a nonpolitical Commission, authorized to select a capable 
8 
 
 road engineer, information could be gathered and plans and suggestions made of great value to all the counties in the State. Such a man should be able to furnish information as to how the best machinery can be bought and what the best material for road building is. He should make his office a clearing house of information and co-operation for the various counties of Georgia in their road building. 
AKTI-LOBBYING BILL. 
Among the bills which were considered at the session of 1907 and 1908, was the anti-lobbying bill. At that time each House lrnd a bill of its own, and neither Honse would agree upon the bill prepared by the other Honse. I very cordially recommend the adoption of an anti-lobbying bill during this session, and I trust no disagreement between the two Houses may make such action impossible. 
FINANCES. 
I renew my recommendation made more than two years ago for the creation of an audit department, so essential to the proper management of the business of the State. 
I will not, at this time, discuss the financial condition of the State further than to urge the great importance of making proYision by which to pay the teachers just ns prompt]~- as nny other obligation of the State. 
PAY OF TEACHERS. 
It is utterly inexcusable to employ teachers for 
an agreed monthly compensation and then not pay them when the service has been rendered. 
9 
 
 Under our system of collecting taxes our ad valorem taxes are not due until December 20, and yet the appropriations for the current year are made chargeable in large part to the ad valorem taxes. 
Our current expenses, other than the appropriations for pensions and the public schools, are met by our current income, but to meet the appropriations to pensions and to public schools the ad valorem taxes are required. 
Two years ago we had a surplus on the first of January of something over two missions of dollars with which to begin the fiscal year. This paid the pensions and carried the demand upon the appropriation for schools until about the first of August. By that time it was exhausted and payments to school teachers were necessarily delayed until the December collections from ad valorem taxes. 
If the appropriations since that time have not exceeded the revenue, we can handle our finances by the enactment of two provisions. 
Those corporations which make their returns to the Comptroller-General and pay their taxes directly to the Treasurer, pay annually about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The amount of their taxes will naturally be increasing year by year. 
An amendment to the Constitution providing that the taxes of these companies should be payable on September first, would relieve greatly the pressure which, at that season of the year, has heretofore been upon the Treasury. 
Our ad valorem taxes have been made payable so late in the year because the State is largely an agricultural State, and it has been deemed expedient to 
 
 await the sale of fall crops before requiring the payment of taxes. 
'l'his reason does not apply to the corporations making their returns to the Comptroller-General, and I do not believe it would be any burden upon 
them to change the time for the payment of their taxes to September first. 
TNcm:ASE BonRowrnG PowER OF GovERNOR. 
In addition to this l suggest that the borrowing power of the Governor be increased to $500,000. 
\Yhen the Constitution of 1877 was adopted and the limit of $200,000 placed on the borrowing power of the Governor, the amount of business done by the State was very much less than it is now, so that a borrowing po,,er of $500,000 will relatively be less now than $200,000 was in 1877. 
Of course, it should be provided that the Governor make only temporary Joans and that he pay off the Joans when the ad valorem taxes come into the treasury. 
IKAUGURATE GOVERNOR IN ,JANUARY. 
In this connection, also, I desire to urge the importance of changing the time for inaugurating the governor and installing the new State house officers to the first of ,January. 
'l'he Governor is required to manage, to a large extent, the finances of the State. Our fiscal year runs from .January first to .Tanuary first. The same Governor should have the opportunity to plan and manage the finances of the State for the entire fiscal year. 
There are many things connected with the Gov- 
11 
 
 ernor 's office and with the State house officers which are all in the midst of execution on the first of July. 
Take, for instance, the returns, assessments and arbitrations connected with the property of those corporations which make their returns to the Comptroller-General. The work is done from the first of May to the first of September. It is most unfortunate to change officers during this period. 
.Again, consider the movements of the military. They go into camp usually in July. All the arrangements must be made for them to go into camp prior to that time, and yet the money to be used to meet their expenses and the physical handling of the encampments depend upon the judgment of the Governor who is in charge after the first of ,July. 
Other reasons could be given, but I do not deem them necessary. 
I urge that the Legislature meet the second Tuesday in January immediately after the biennial elecfion and hold then a short session, at which both Houses can organize, the result of the election be declared and the Governor and State house officers installed. Twire out of six years it wil1 be necessary also for the Legislature to elect a Cnited States Senator. 
At this first short term of the Legislature, committees could be appointed and bills introduced. Eight or ten days would be ample for this short term, after which the Legislature could adjourn to a summer session. 
While this would cause three sessions of the Legislature, there woul_d be no necessity for increasing the number of days that a Legislature holds, and the 
12 
 
 increased expense to the State would be but nominal. The advantage in the management of the business of the State would be very great. 
REMODEL COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 
For several years the teachers of Georgia have Geen urging a modification of the laws applicable to our school system. Last year a bill passed the House, but failed of action by the Senate. Again bills have been carefully prepared looking towards an improvement in our school system. I will not consume the time to discuss these bills in detail, but I believe measures substantially upon the line of the bills prepared at the instance of the teachers of the State should be adopted. 
GOVERNOR'S MANSION. 
An important business question which will be before you will be the disposition to be made of the Governor's mansion. 
Two years ago I suggested its sale, and expressed the opinion that probably it would bring $200,000. At that time this price seemed high. Now we have been offered $350,000 for it. This simply illustrates the growing value of the property. 
I believe the wise course is to lease the property for a long term of years. If the property were sold, and according to the terms of the Constitution the proceeds applied to the redemption of the bonded indebtedness of the State, the purchase of the bonds could scarcely be had on a basis of more than 3% per cent. The property can be leased on a basis much larger than this, and when the lease is over the people of the State will still own the property. 
13 
 
 We may not live to be present when the lease closes, but we have had many blessings from our ancestors, and we can afford to do something for our descendants. It is hard to estimate what this property would be worth at the end of ninety-nine years. 
\VESTERN & ATLANTIC RAILROAD. 
Xo more important business problem is presented to the State than the ,restern & .Atlantic Railroad. 
I favor the extension of this road to the ocean. Four years ago I suggested that convicts could be used for this purpose'. Xow, the convicts are b_usy 
. . upon the public roads of Georgia, and will be busy 
for several Years to come. 
A RE-LEASE OF THE PROPERTY rs NECESSARY. 
Corporations leasing so large a property must make their plans much in advance of the lease to properly handle the property. I regard it as essential that a new elase should be made of this property, 'and I belieYe the wise course is to make the lease for quite a long term of years. rl~he rental might increase at fixed periods. 
I suggest that Representatives of the House and Senate be appointed to take this subject under consideration, to negotiate with reference to a lease and report at the next session or the Legislature. 
In making a lease, I wish also to suggest that the State should reserve its valuable frontage on Lloyd, Pryor, ""\Vhitehall and Broad Streets. Either, under the new lease, the road should stop at Forsyth street, or else it should pass under improvements made above it and the property on these streets ought to be held and used independent of the lease. 
u 
 
 In the city of Chattanooga there is valuable property belonging to the State not essential for railroad purposes. If, under a proper arrangement, Market street could be extended, the property on the right of this street, as you enter Chattanooga, has, at the present time, a rental value of approximately two hundred thousand dollars a year. In considering the question of a new lease, it is most important to lease this valuable property separate from the railroad. 
-we should unalterably oppose the sale by the State of the \Vestem and Atlantic Railroad or of any of the property connected with it. It will pay today the interest on that for which it would sell and the increase of value which time will give is a profit to which our descendants are entitled. 
I suggest also that the Commission charged with investigating the question of the lease of the present property, carry their investigation further to determine whether an extension of the road to deep water could be leased and include such a plan within their work, if feasible. 
LABOR BUREAU. 
I wish to give my cordial endorsement to the creation of a labor bureau. I will not discuss in detail the character of the measure which I think should be adopted. I feel sure that a well-prepared bill will be presented at this session and its value will be apparent. 
In connection with this subject, let me urge that our laws fully protect children from confinement in factory walls, both by age limits and investigations to see that the laws are enforced. 
15 
 
 COURT PRACTICE. 
Complaint is frequently made of the law's delay, of the granting of new trials and of the crowded condition of our appellate courts. 
I wish to recommend one simple change in our mode of practice which will tend greatly to relieve the conditions which produce complaints. The remedy I propose is not original. It is the practice in the Federal courts, in the courts of the States adjoining Georgia and in the courts of all the States with which I am familiar. 
Under our present practice a case is tried and the losing party takes the record and hunts through it for errors made by the judge. Any small mistake, even a mistake of inadvertence, which the trial judge has made, can be the basis of carrying the case to the appellate court and frequently obtaining a reversal, when, if counsel had called this error to the attention of the court during the trial, the error would have been corrected. 
The general practice outside of Georgia is to- require counsel in the trial court to except then and there to errors and give the trial judge an opportunity to correct them. I strongly recommend the adoption of a similar practice in Georgia. Once adopted and put in force, it will be found that the trial judge will correct most of his own errors before the jury retires to consider the case. The Jaw's delays will be greatly lessened and the expense of new trials to the various eounties in the State much reduced. 
16 
 
 NATIONAL GUARD. 
I desire to bring to your attention two matters connected with the National Guard. 
The appropriations made to the National Guard are intended for the maintenance of the organization. The Adjutant-General's oflice plans the mode of handling the guard by the use of this appropriation. The expense, when companies of the guard are called out for riot duty, is heavy. Its uncertainty and possibility render it almost impossible to intelligently plan the use of the fixed appropriation. 
'l'he riot duty expenses should be paid from the contingent fund or made a special fund designated for the purpose in the appropriation, and the Department should know what will be available for general expenses. 
'l1 hat part of the work of the National Guard which consists of escorting defendants to trial and staying around the court house at the trial seems to me of doubtful propriety. The trial of a criminal in a community so excited that the National Guard is necessary to prevent violence is scarcely compatible with proper legal procedure. 
I suggest that some provision be made by which the Governor can have discretion as to the venue of trials, and, instead of sending the National Guard to protect the defendant's life in the county where the crime was committed, the Governor should be authorized to hold the defendant and direct that the trial be had in some other county. 
17 
 
 INSURANCE AND BANKING LAws. 
Our insurance and our banking laws need remodeling to bring them up to the progress of the day and to the volume of business now done. 
I suggest that a commission of two members of the House and one member of the Senate be appointed with the right to select two experts in each of the particular lines, to investigate these subjects and report at the next session of the Legislature. 
CORPORATION LAWS. 
Our corporation laws are in many respects lax and imperfect. ,Vith too great ease charters are obtained in the superior court and, after they are obtained, the companies organized are, as a rule, free from responsibility and supervision or control. Any kind of scheme, meritorious or otherwise, can be put upon the public. No report is required to the Superior Court or elsewhere showing the manner in which the charter is being used, the assets of the corporation handled or the manner in which its stock is being disposed of. 
rrhe result is all sorts of bogus enterprises are being floated at the expense of the people of this State. r:L1he promoters fees for obtaining the charter and selling the stock consume the assets contributed by the public at large. 
I believe it to be of the utmost importance that a strong commission of memhers of the Senate and House be appointed to take this subject up during vacation and to prepare a chango in our laws so that corporate life shall not issue from the State and be used in the careless manner which is now permitted. 
18 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
I commend for the Geological Survey an appropriation which will enable it to begin the work of swamp and overflow land survey, and also waterpowe rinvestigation in the State. Both of these lines are most important and will be of great service. 
I do not believe that agricultural soil surveys properly belong to the Geological Department. It is rather the work of those especially versed in agricultural questions. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The laws of the State providing for fertilizer and oil inspection can be modified so as to largely in, crease the income of the District Agricultural Schools. 
If the Legislature would create a commission composed of the commissioner of agriculture, the president of the Farmers' Union, the president of the State College of Agriculture, the director of the Georgia Experiment Station and the president of the State Agricultural Society, and this commission was given authority to obtain free access to all matters connected with the Department of Agriculture, bringing before them, if necessary, appointees of the Department, this Commission should be able to suggest amendments to the fertilizer and oil laws which would enable the commissioner to better protect the interests of the farmers and to do so at much less expense than that which is required under the present law. Such a result would increase the protection derived by the farmers and also increase the income of our eleven district schools. 
19 
 
 DEVELOPMEXT OF ..AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS OF THE STATE. 
T,here is no more important subject than the development of the agricultural interests of the State and the improvements of the conditions of rural life. The wealth of Georgia comes primarily from her soil. The oppoi't.unities in this State for diversified agriculture surpass those of any similar section. The net profits of the farm make or mar the prosperity of every other line of occupation in the State. 
,Yith our wonderful op1rnrtunities for diversified cultivation of the soil, it is a lamentable fact that even as late as 1910 Georginns expended $170,000,000 for corn, oats, hay, meats, dairy and poultry products, mules and horses raised outside the State. The exact figures, taken from the Farmers' Union News, are as follows: 
Corn ________________________________$58,930,000 Oats ________________________________ 39,336,000 Hay--------------------------------- 23,680,000 Meats, dairy and poultry products ______ 38,427,000 Mules and horses _____________________ 10,000,000 
Total __________________________ $170,373,000 
FJvery dollar of this expenditure should have been saved by the production of these commodities in our own State, and they all could have been raised here without lessening any of our other crops. 
Under even ordinary conditions the diversification of the crops of Georgia and intensified farming would be of immense advantage to the State, but 
20 
 
 now, when we know that the boll weevil has almost reached Georgia, it is absolutely essential that every possible effort should be made to cause the production in the State of all that is needed for foodstuff by our people that we may be the better prepared to stand the loss which the boll weevil may cause. 
In nearly every county in the State you will find one or more farmers producing from seventy-five to one hundred bushels of corn to the acre and producing other crops in the same proportion. But these farmers rotate their crops and cultivate their soil with knowledge not possessed b~r the average farmer. 
The attention of the State has been aroused and this is the psychologicn1 time to revolutionize the farming of Georgia, at least so far as very many of the farmers are concerned. They are ready to make progress. They wish accurate information. It is the duty of the nation, and the State to give it 
THRO-CGH RURAL SCHOOLS. 
,re cannot be too deeply interested in the rural schools, but the best improvement in tile rural sehools will take place when the farm and the rural home are improving at the same time. 
I urge the adoption of legislation remodeling our school system. 
I urge that authority be given the board of education to appoint a pumber of rural school supervisorn, who shall act with the State School Commissioner to arouse and develop our rural school work. A reasonable sum spent upon these school supervisors will immensely increase the proficiency of the work done in the rural schools. 
21 
 
 They should co-operate with the County School Commissioners. '11hey should reach the rural school teachers and assist in holding institutes. '11hey should use the press to constantly discuss rural school problems as they are connected with the farm and farm life, that parent and teacher and child may grow by the information furnished. T1he time has passed when any capable educator believes that the school house does its proper work where it fails to connect the work of the school house with the future life of the child. 
THROUGH STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. 
There is work to be done by the State College of Agriculture which will serve the grown farmers and, at the same time, serve the rural schools. 
rrhe extension and demonstration work now being done by the State College of Agriculture should be greatly increased. 
An agricultural soil survey should be instituted. Improved strains of corn, cotton and other farm {lrops should be developed. Live stock industries should be encouraged. Boys' and girls' industrial clubs should be fostered. Publications should be prepared and distributed giving definite information on topics in which the farmers and farmers' boys and girls are interested. Correspondence and readin_g courses should be maintained. Research and discovery of new truths concerning agriculture should be promoted. 
The College of Agrieulture should be made a co- 
22 
 
 open1tive clearing house of agricultural information for the people of the State, old and young. 
AGRICULTURAL SOIL SURVEY. 
Referring more in detail to the agricultural soil survey, it is known that the three elements of plant food are nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. A soil :-illl'\'(~Y in Brooks county shows practically no potash. A soil survey in Bartow county shows ample potash, all(} yet the farmers of Brooks and Bartow counties are buying the same connnercial fertilizers and putting it upon their soil. 
By the use of $10,000 in co-operation with a similm sum which will be furnished hy the National Gov0rnment, agricultural soil surveys can be made in a sufficient number of eounties in the State, the soils in the eounties being classified and analyzed, to furnish the farmern in every eounty in Georgia praeticall)' aecurate information as to the plant food in nny partieular soil which he cultivates. He will then add that commercial fertilizer which his soil needs for the partieular plant cultivated instead of wasting his mmW>' hy haplrnzard purchase. 
Referring to the work of improved strains of seeds and as an illustration to show what ean, in this way, he aecornplished, the College of Agrienlture has developed a cotton seed that is praetically im- 
mune to anthraenose or holl rot. It has been sent 
to twenty-six places in the State, where it is being grown. The suecessfnl development and use of this seed would save the farmers of Georgia approximate]>' ten million dollars a year, for they lose now eotton worth about that much from this disease. 
Seerl development through the colleges of agri- 
'23 
 
 culture in other States have increased immense_ly the net profits which the farmers of those States have made by their labors. 
Georgia owes as mmh to her farmers as any State in the Union, and we must not be behind in serving them and thereby serving all the people. 
Boys' and girls' industrial elubs should be organized in every rural school in the State. 1 wish every hoy in every rural sehool next year would join a ('01'11 club and cultivate his pateh at home. Ji_Jvery g-irl should be a member of the girls' industrial elub and study home making nnd home hygiene as a part of her school work. 
'l'he State College of Agrieulture, with the cooperation of the rural ~whoo] supervisors, <'an ac<omplish this result. 
I believe that $50,000 appropriated to the /:Hate College of Agriculture for tlie next two years, to be used npou lines l have suggested, would be the be1:,t investme11t ever made hy the people of the State. I have gone over with the trustees the line of work which -would be done. While it is not feasible to undertake exadly to elassify the way in which the money wonld he used. the tentative plan is a:c: follows: 
24 
 
 B'or general extension and demonstration 
work ________________________________ $12,500 "B'or agricultural soil survey _______________ 10,000 For boys' and girls' club work _____________ 10,000 F'or plant improvement and distribution of 
,eed --------------------------------- 5,000 ~'or horti('ultnre _________________________ 2,500 For pcmltr>, live :-;to<'k and dairy husbandry_ 10,000 
Total ____________________________ $50,00U 
Upon most of the lines, we will he able to obtain from the National Govermm~nt, through the Department of Agriculture, appropriations equal to the State appropriations. 
Never before in the l1istory of the Rtate have the farnwrs heen so nady to meet work of this kind and to utilize it. 
Never has therf' lwen a time when it was as important as now tlrnt intf'nsified, seientific methods should he followed on the farm. 
The immense rrtnrn whiC'h it will hring to the farmers, and, therefore, to everybody, ran srarcely he estimated. 
The line of work proposed will also earry knowledge to the hop; and instruetion to the girls worth more than any $50,000 ,ve ran spend in the rural schools. 
If it \\'C'l'(' nfwcssar~ to take this sum from what otherwise would go to the rnral sehools, it will he worth far more to tlw rural schools than the money spent directly in them. 
 
 With this work done from the State College of Agriculture, with the information distributed through bulletins and through the local press as well as through personal Yisits and farm institutes, in a short period the majority of the farmers of Georgia 1Yill be cultivating their land almost as successfully as the very best are doing now. 
"\Vith this work from the State College of Agriculture and with the rural school supervisors for whom I have asked, the proficiency of the rural school can be doubled. 
Instead of crying "Back to the Farm," the duty is on the State and ::N"ntion to help make the farm rcnnmerntiYe and help relieYe rural life of some oi' its burdens. 
'('here are other subjects whirh I knon- will be before you, hut which I cannot discuss now. 
] helieYe this Legislature will he memorable for its constructive work. 
Let us lay aside all ])artisan 1ilans and lalrnr earnestly together, moved alone by the desire to build up Georgia and serve our people. 
2f5.