Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-12-20
T. ON the President and Di-
rgCSOTS.

That the necessity which imrel7 u3 70
appeal TO Tin city OF Memphis and TO the
county of Shelby for subscriptions 20 the
capital stock of this company may he sp-
preciated, the following statement Of
iaets is made:
HOW To DOUBLE oUR WEALTH BY TX
PENDING TT.
PAipably enough, the South Is poor 10
money, and rich in bOundless resources.
The development OF these can RlOn
make wealth abundant. Since our avail
able riches are very little, we mus use
them the more wisely and husband them
the more ~jssiOusly. The North has GU
stripped Us in wealth and population TO
the very eXtentthati it has more railroads.
Our condition Is such that We can build
but few Of the many needed. Ia deter
mining which or several pr j5cted lines
should first be constructed, it becomes Rn
important inquiry whether Northern in
terest5 do mt require the existence OF the
line Of rosd designated. II the CONNER
cial necessities OF the North demand the
! construction Of any possible road, how
ever costly, it will be built. The North is
rich "a we are poor, snd more thorough
IL and justly than any people on the
globe, DO our Northern fellow country
men comprehend the inestimsble value
IF railway lines. There Is no North
western State or city without interest in
the Memphis and Selma road bnt no
Northern emporium could afford 10 con-
strnct q read from Selma to MemphiS
and from this city to Vinesnnes
or Louisville. II we build the
Selma line, there are three or
four Northern cities which would COM
pete st once for the vast trade eGncsn-
trated at this point. St. Louis would
hardly bs content with . railway con-
necti0n with Mobile, through Columbus,
Ky, when It might share in the trade Of
the richest districts OF two States by tap
ping the Selma road st Memphis, and
thus II Iron Mountain Road would be
ssil-creStive. Northwestern cities would
compete with st. Louis, and if no other
agencies were accessible the road from
Paducah would be dragged down from
the Northwest by the Tssistless attractive
force of wealth heaped up in Memphis
and gathered from the mAtchles5 region
between this city o Selma. Il is our
trus policy to build all possible railroads
but while u resources are limited, cur
whole strength of intellect and capital
should be directed to those lines which
will force Northern wealth to build for US
other roads. Our resources, by such 8
policy employed ia using them, are praG-
Iicslly doubled. When We have built
the road to Selma, we may rest assured,
In the very act, that we have finished
two reads from Memphis to Northern
and Western cities. The necessity FOR
roads leading towards the North is not
lessened by facts sugge5tedA The state
ment made affects only tha mode and
means of their creation. We would not
Anrunafa faapo thaTr voFtT1 - -, r.-rEar-1
or fail to promote the ends of their de-
signers-but the cheapest, wisssi, and
speediest mode Of securing Northern, is
10 psrfeet q system of Southern roads
c0nverging at Memphis.
COST OF THE SELMA ROAD.
A statistician, vino has taken the nsins
to examine the census reports OF 1850 and
inquire into the resources of the several
counties penetrated by the Selma rosd,
tells us that il will bring to this city, the
fret year after its completion, twenty
millions of trade, TO be increased in value
eyeFp year with constantly augmented
density OF population. Ten per cent
would be = moderate exaetion TO be levied
by trsdesEnen upon this twenty millions
of cotton, corn, fruits, potatoes, lumber,
and coal. Two counties in Mississippi,
LOwndes and Monroe, penetrated by Inc
line OF this road, in 1860 produced ninety
eight thousand cotton DAlss. Probably
two hundred thousand, certainly one
hundred and fifty thousand bales, will
be brought annually 20 this market By
this road as soon IS completed, and the
humber will be increased with the eon-
stantly increased density OF population.
ESch bale viii leave certainly live doi-
lars 10 this city, and thus, from the influx
of cotton alone Memphis will gain
annually $4,000. Marshall county,
Mississippi, produced 45, 600 bales La
.faystte, 1900; Pontotoc, 1900; Cal
houn, 1000; Y~allabusha, 25,9e0 Tippah,
5000 0~hickas2w, 5000 to which adj The
products of Lowndes and Monroe coun-
ties and we have 225. 600 bales, all of
which were foTVsytisd 10 Aohils or Now
Orleans. OF ID, 900 bales brought 10
Holly Springs, only 5000 came 10 HEM
PMS. The Reason i'd That the road which
passea Holly Springs leads away from
this city and cotton coming from that
must aG LasE1faIraI fr0.a
u road 10 another. With direct Gnd
hourly communication with Holly
SnfinGs. TIE two poiats are placed pTac-
ticslly side by eide, and the smaller inte-
riOr town becomes a delightful suburb Of
the large and prosperous city.
WHAT MEMPHIS GAINS.
In view of these plain facts and Of the
rapid Increase Of production to follow in
creased density OF population, the aug
msntation of real estate values IN Mem
phis would b3 represented by q greater
sum In figures than the whole cost ofthe
rosd TO Selma. Each railroad built has
doubled the assessed value of Memphis
wealth, and therefore it is trus that rail-
roads have cost this city nothing,
HOW We ARE PRoFITED.
The Selma rosd penetrstes the dnest
cotton-growing region in the world. The
counties Interested produce one-tenth OF
the whole cotton crop of the United
states, and such will be the facilities for
its distribution st Memphis by land or
water. that the greater portion Of lhis
crop will fed here IFS FIRST market. Un-
der systems OF industry now established,
other agricultural projects will be haTdly
less valuable than the cotton crop, anu
whatever is sold or bought by farmers,
made prosperous by easy intercourse
with the markets OF the world, must psy
tribute to the enterprise and energy OF
this railway-buildirg city. Mefehsnts
Of Memphis, having choice of modes Of
transportation, can gather goods or aus
tribute agricultural products, by river or
railroads. as eheaply as trsdesmen Of any
other city. In fact, the completion o.
this Selma road, drawing hither by re-
sistIess force other lines, from the North
and Northwest, will make Mem
phis the great emporium of trade
for the central valley OF Missis-
sippi. The present assessed value
of Memphis real estate greatly lessened
because when made there was an uDpre-
cedented stringency in the money mar
ket' IL thirty-tWo million dollars. When
aver the Mississippi Central and Mobile
and Ohio roads are blsected the first at
Holiv Sorings and the second at okolo-
"a. nv mis- Selma road, the trade OF this
civ will be augmentsd Rilh its property
vainaa by nearly or quite ons-half. The
Mennhis and Charleston r0sd, which
pave rs no trade beyond Huntsville,
Ala. and penetrates no rich couatry
save a narrow distriot IN the valley OF
fine Tennessee, doubled the wealth OF
Memphis. If the city lost its stock SUD
serinfion OF half q million, there would
sfiu be credited not less than ten mil
ions in its account with the city, to the
Memnhis and Charleston railroad. Even
more benefieent results will flow from
the construction of the Selma road. Il
touehes no unprOducsiv9 region till 1t
enters the coalfieIds Of Alabama, 10
miles southeast OF Memphis. To fact The
mineral and agricultural wealth OF dis
.-:ot. ~ aoupfrv trihntaFy "a his road IA