Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-09-19
MEMPHIS.
The City's Progress and Res~eurces---A
Document for Circulation by Busi.
ness Men and Property Holders.

We have been furnished with proof
sheets of the following disqualification"
a chapter from the forthcoming Annual
Report of the Chamber of Commerce:
THE FORTUNES OF
Preceding z of this annual report
give adefinite and proximately accurate
idea ofthe commercial resources ofthis city
A table, the aggregates of which are made
up weekly, shows the quantity or value of
imports. Every fact affecting the local
/ cotton crop is presented with statistics
showing its preferred routes to manufac-
turing cities. Other tables show the
course given products of this and ada
cent States by railway and steamboat
lines. The railroad system of the city as
il exists, and as it will be perfected within
a brief period, is defined so clearly that
this pamphlet sent abroad will enable the
reader to form an accurate apprehension
of the present and future resources
n attractiveness OF the city and of the
country which sustsins 1t. 1t is shown
how liberal and devoid of local selfish
ness is the legislation of b Chamber OF
Commerce, which proposes to give every
packet line a wharfbcat and exempt for
eign and local tradssmen ron the opera
ton of laws that had origini in indefensible
local selfshness; how it has fostered
every scheme of public Improvement and
I AlANCA GNGAN A6AA ~ AAA
f~nterposed 10 adjust differences between
merchants, and 10 alleviate burdens i'm
posed by local and State authority upon
the commerce of the city; and how 1t
has co-operatcd with other cities in
ing the reformation Of Federal laws,
which compelled merchants Of the int
riOr to paw all tariff charges at once with
out the credit system which has given
tradesmen of New York q monopoly oil
the business of importers. The progress
Of manufacturing establishments, their
number and capital and the rapidity OF
the city's expansion, which expended in
buildings completed during the past six
months and under contract, three
fourths of a million dollars, Illus
trate the wonderful growth Of Mem
phis more rapid than that of any
rival in the valley of the Mississippi In
| 1850 twenty years ago. the population of
Memphis was SS4I; in 1850 (ten years
laterl it was 22,623; now it is 40,230, show
ing an increase of eighty per cent, no
surpassed by that of any city OF the
Union. Meanwhile war, n calamity hard
ly recognized in the north, desolated
districts and States to which Memphis Is
Indebted for all its Rein
vigorated, like the tabled giant, by its fall
this enumeration o inhabitants was made
in midsummer when vast number ofpeo-
ME were absent, and when an amendment
to the charter contracts the area Of
the city and gives to b county 645l Of
the city's inhabitants. Population thus
lost and absentees added to the aggregate,
as defined by Federal census takers, make
the whole number at least fifty thousand.
A table, useful to merchants and muni.
cipsl o~fice-holders, showing the popula'
ton of each ward and civil district, sp-
pears in another place.
When we rehect that the city govern
ment sustains q free school system unsur-
passed in skillful management Ii hber-
aIity of endowment by that of any like
educational organization IN the United
States; when there are thirty-One other
hourishing schools and academies sus-
tanned by Individuals; when there are as
many churches, in proportion to pOpula-
ton, as schools, it is wholly impossible
that they ave spoken truthfullY OF Mem
phis who have said that either life or for
tune were unsafe because Of any peculiar
modes of thinking or moral idiosynocra-
eies of the resident population. Despite
misspprehensions of facts, which cause
this city to be regarded by the ignorant
abroad as an abode of murder and
crime, simply because it stands Oh
the great highway of nations at a
point where villainy rests when
| moving with coming winter towards the
| south, and, when spring smiles, towards
I EAAC NDAAAF NNGPASC ~ WV
which railways are connected with one
another through the city, and the cOnse-
quent diversion of traffic and travel; de-
spite the want of cheap modes of inter-
course with neighboring villages, Memphis
has continued to prosper, and its future
expands before US as bright as gilded
mists of sutumnsl sunset, that glow in
matchless splendor and rise beyond the
great river from the richest valley in the
world.
1t is proper to advert to tn eregret with
which b declaration of President t. a
Nelson, asserting the im~possibility of his
retention of the Presidency of the Cham
Der Of Commerce, was received, not only
by the members of the association but by
intelligent citizens who recognize the
value of his services to the institution
whose fortunes and conduct he has so
wisely directed and TO the city and peo-
pie whose best and wisest local laws owe
origin to the Chamber of Commerce. Mr..
Nelson's official relations to two potent
private corporations and his own mercan-
lille pursuits requiring his whole time and
attention, his abandonment of the Office
which he has administered for three years
past, became unavoidable. His nomi-
mated successor, Colonel A. 7. Lacey, will
ill the position worthily and well, and
we may confidently look forward to long
years of usefulness for b Chamber OF