Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-02

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oialiy, of our own O lywith thoseof o'her
marts in the South. we are but REMINDED
again that there ia local reason, home
cause operating. apart from that felt
roughout the county, circle within
q circle, 40 70 speak7whieh makes opr
condition something worse than that Of
our neighbors, and tends to render the
future uncertain and opaque. mot.
vithstanding the disturbed condition Of
political affairs" says aCharleston coieml
porary, "the business prospects ofthe city
are decidedly encouraging. There great
reason Why Charleston is likely TO have
a brilliant commercial future Her mer-
chants, undaunted by the disappoint.
menta Of the past and not discouraged
BY, present political purturbalions, are
psrssvsringly and geographically progress
ing in the work oflayipE q solid basis for
their mercantile transactions and open
ing new sources of revenue andlnew IA,
cilities for travel aud trader Allowing
this to be correct, let us draw the com
parison. To what extent does there
exist co-operation kanong the mer'
chants Of Memphis in laying the
basis for future transactions, or
what efforts are being pat forth towar1
keeping up present facilities for trade
and travel or opening and sustaining
new ones. With the utter impossibility
of securing so much as o quorum on
change at the regular meetings Of our
Chamber Of Commerce occurring only
monthly, with one or more of our local
packets laid up and others eking out .
miserable existence fromysheer lack OF
that patronage conferred by Memphis
shipuers.- on lines run in the. direct
interest p of rival cities, i and
with little or no encourage-
msut held out & to those , willing
upon small. iaducenent, to enter our
trade--with such an array Of facts boldly
staring us in the face, how shall we
answer such queries ? Yetit may be that
thus far the fault, if fau II there be, rests
with ourselves, and isl attributable simply
| to lack Of corporation and concert Of
action on the part Of our merchants and
traders. But as we had started out to say
there Is still another reason beyond any
apathy or depression, which has operated
and must continue to operate against
us. In : this we allude to the
reckless and ruinous administration
of our affairs, both State and county
the one keeping back capital and popu'
lation, and both expressing with over
taxation every branch of trade and in
dustry, and paralyzing the native energy
and enterprise Of our people. Remove
these, place the MANAGEMENT of affairs
in the hands. -of-representative white
men, who, by possessing the confidence
and respect of those among mthey
live, will secure that of strangers, dis
pense with the costly machinery EN-
ployed in keeping wealth, sintelli
gence and responsibility out o
position, and substitute machinery fol
the manufacture Of the staples of thu
country and then - and we fea1
not till then, with the Commercial
future Of Memphis brighten and mag
nifty, until she falfills the destiny which
the God of nature has purposed for her
| As it is, We can but look forward TO
summer of unprecedented dizziness in al
branches Of trade, and can only hope TO
an improvement in the fall upon tn
grounds that our business men will have
profited blythe lessons Of the past, and
| returning sense of reason may agaii
govern those who exercise the politica
power of the country rooVJ
| A NEGRO BURGLAR KILLED IN TIL
SUBURBS. Some days since an attemp
| was made by negroes to fire and plunde
| the premises of Mr.. s. N. Guest, at tn
corner of South street and Hernand
| road, and since that time Mr.. G. and hi
neighbors have kept regular night.
watch, with the hope Of discovering,
possible, who the guilty parties might be
At an early hour yesterday morning
their vigilance was rewarded. Mr.. g., IL
company with Mr.. Lewis Mehrnm, dis
covered, shortly before dawn, negr
loading his arms with fuel in the wood
house Of, the former, and ran toward hin
with view to effecting his arrest. o.
seeing them emerge from the house
however, the darky took to his heels
when Mr.. Guest and bis neighboi
after calling to him to halt, drew thei
pistols and fred The thief continue
his fight, but after running about fv
hundred yards. from the house droppe
dead, one ofthe shots fred having takel
effect under the right shoulder blade
Mr.. Guest, on seeing tbs body of tn
deceased, recognized it as that of Henr
Taylor, q negro man residing in tn
neighborhood. At later hour in tn
day Coroner Cotton. being notified, hel
an inquest on the body, the jury render
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