Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-12-20

4lJS VIII ~ nee cu-0peLate generously J
with tie city. Memphis, fac terminus (
and great beneficiary OF tia contem. !
plated road, must bear q share OF bur
Gens while m-onopoizing 70 such at 10
caicgiable extent the benefactiors of the (
road. Onr shops, foDndries, mechanics,
miiiers, tTadesmen, aud iab0rers Will ab.
sorb a large portion of the moneyed
wealth applied To this great work, and it
becomes our province 10 share alike the
burdens aud blessings Of the enterprise.
We must lie aXed somewhat that we
may receive contributions of incslcula-
ole wealth, drawn by this highway CT
commerce from broad, rich districts OF
adjacent States.
WHAT MEMPHIS SHOULD SUBSCRIBE.
We would not state the sum which
Memphis aud Shelby county should sub
scribe to the capital stock OF the COM
pany. No sum less tha1 q million dol
lars would be denied the enterprise by
any citizen Of Memphis who has ira
ver3ad the counties which his F0sd viii
penetrate. The little village Of Ok0lOna,
ID Mississippi, its resi- estate valued ct
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
has subscribed $50, 900, or 0ne-fftb Of its
whole wealth. Aberdeen, whose real
estate is assessed at one million dollars.
has subscribed SIG0 600, or oue-tenth of
the whole wealth OF that beautiful little
city. II Memphis invested her wealth
IS literally and wisely as Aberdeen and
OEol0ns, and the necessities of the rail-
way corporation demanded 1t, the sub
seriptiOn Of this city would be three mil
lions. Il the city invest a million dol
lars, q larger sun, before the completion
OF the ToAd, viii be expended in the city
bpthe compsDy. Our WI people would
10 fact u the money on which the city
pays t6Juj0 annual interest. Ia other
words, the city will have borrowed a mil
lion dollsrs to be loaned or distributed
among its own citizens. But we DO not
ask for anything ike so large a sum.
MEMPHIS las EVERYTHING TO GAIN
AND CAN LOSE NOTHING.
This government of 3 city, having the
area and population OF Memphis, costs
almost as much as hat OF q mighty me-
tropols. All the machinery and adj
juncts OF municipal legislation are here
in full operation, causing expenditures h
almost as great as IN st. Louis or Chica-
go. Il municipal affairs be honestly adj
miaistsFed. the city would be in infin- /
itely better condition, with its present 4
public debt doubled, its real estate es-
sessed et seventy-hvs or one hundred
millions, instead of thiTty'twO millions,
and its csDsus showing q population in
creased ia the same ratio. Such will be
the condition OF Memphis soon after the
completion OF the Selma read. The
same relative augmentation Of property
values and OF population would aIe5t the
county OF Shelby and tins wealth OF both
the city and county would OutCrOw and
OvershEdoW public Indebtedness. p
PROMPT ACTION REQUIRED.
II the road to Selma be not built, and
speedily, the several counties, towns and
districts, the cotton growing districts Of
central Alabama, Its coal fields and pine 4
forests, with the richest counties of Mis-
sissippi, will seek outlets for their pro
dactions over other lines. The CONNER
cisi wealth Of central Alabama already
seeks its way to Southeastern Atlantic
cities, aud it is not impossible that Eas-
tern Mississippi may cause the system Of
roads which already connects Southern
Georgia with Alabama 60 be extended
20 Mississippi. If the Memphis and
Selma road be built, il constitutes for two
thirds Of its length, a part Of the shortest
possible line from Memphis to Savannah
aad Brunswick it gives "a control OF a
mighty cotton field it furnishes the best
bituminous coal at ten cents per bgshei
il opens = wide district covered with pine
forests 10 bissets and renders i%nocuous
W. A1aAAAt&A1 A-llN ~ 4D1El 4LAE4 AS
sums from the wealth and trade Of Mem
phis. In fact, the Memphis and Selma
rosd must be built. There Ia not 3 pub
lie advantage or private necessity which
does not demand 1t. This for once there ia
no diversity OF opinion among orr peO-
pie. As to the value and mode OF con.
struotiDg other roads, men differ. To the
case before US We must palpab,y 40 the
work for ourselves, CONSCIOUS, when the
task il achieved, thst railway lines viii
be drawn nither from all directions, and
point TO this, their common center, IS the
suns rays 70 its brilliant disc, or, Sc DON,
velgIng roads constitute spokas 20 Bos-
ton, making 1t, il = OF lis aspects, the
hGD OF tue universe.
RIVAL RoADs-BLUNDERs OF RAILWAY :
BUILDERS.
Through the past three years the Mo-
bile and Ohio and Mississippi Central
Fosds have diverted from mis- city q large
share Of thai traffic and travel to which
Memphis was geographically entitled.
T6e population and pT0Guctivenass OF
adj scent States have 65sn increased, and
civ cotton 9hd tsSGe TuFy naTu U1frTv1Tri
the whole country, given accessibility
Lnd consequent value TO lands, and will
ultimately cause the addition Of large
farming populations TO districts OF Mis-
sissip0i and Tennessee, TO which Mem
phis is the nearest and natural market.
The Memphis and Selma road, crossing /,
the two above designated and 3 third, /;
projected, from Canton through Abe.-
deem, Miss, 20 Decatur, Ala, will re-
t-ievs errors OF railway builders anu
remedy consequent misfortunes 70 which
kIempais has bssn subjected. q city
will surely be the ultimate gamer because
OF the fxistenee 0f sa6sf OF these great
t~horoughfsres. They hays enriched and
Formulated 3 country to be made by tho
Selma road necessarily tributary to the !
wealth Of Memphis. They will be )
harmed in nothing, sino5 the Selma road
will stimulate traffic aud travel, and ere !
ste more Of both than 1t can divert.
There is, therefore, no necessary antago-
nism in interest aatween these roads.
COURSE OF TRADE AND Travel CON-
TRoLLED.
Cotton grown in Maury county, In {
Middle Tennessee, is now shipped by {
rail to Daeatur, Ala, thecce to Grand :
Junction. and thence to New Orleans. {
Bach bale is taxed five dollsrs for the [
whole distance. This direction is given
to cotton by railway managers. Per- [
hays, too, the producers deem New Or
leans the bstter MARKET 0sesuse IL Is the
larger city, 3 reason that cannot long ex- !
ist @hen the Little Rock and Selma !
ara built. When the Memphis
and Selma road reaches Aberdeen and
Columbus, Mississippi, the whole trade Of I
that matehless district OF country viii be :
drawn to this city. Memphis, and the :
citizens Of Shelby county, will own
largely Of the stock in the Selma road, =,
and control tariffs imposed upon freights.
Cotton will be brought hiiher, il need be, :
at 8 nominal charge. Mobile In this !,
manner, has managed the Mobile and
Ohio r9ad. Mobile invested millions 10 !,
the great highway, and had the right to
resp every legitimate advantage from J
her expenditures. A cotton bale once
on the Memphis and Selma road viii
not change ears or changeits course, and
cotton bales will bring their owners with
their wives and children. There are
groceries, calieOes, saddles, harness, T,
plows, wagons, agricultural implements, :
grist mills, furniture and building mate
rials-eYeTy conceivable commodity and
material which men and women use and
consume will 0s bought by the farmer
6ho follows his potatoes, corn, wheat or
cotton to this city.
TO THE CITY AND