Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-18

derived from spirits, and the evidence
appears so strong that a considerable
number Of atheists have been con-
verted by its means.
WHEAT from the Illinois and Des
Moines rivers is shipped down the
Mississippi to the Ohio and thence to
Cincinnati, where it is converted into
-four, and then.sold in the Memphis
market. The cost Of transportation
is twice that Of direct transfer to Men,
pbis. The truth is that the cost Of
labor and fuel in Memphis has been
so great that millers, like other man
ufacturers, have been expelled from
this city, and it is palpable that if we
cheaper fuel and labor and
thus are enabled to compete with
mflIers of northern States, they would
be induced to build Touring and
other mills in this city. Here the
ofal commands twice the price given
for it in northern cities, and yet such
is the cost Of fuel that Memphis flour
ing mills have found it impossible to
rival those beyond the Ohio. Mem
phis can only succeed as a manufac-
turing city by cheapening fuel. Dur
ing the past winter the Memphis and
Charleston road, without facilities for
its transportation, reduced the cost Of
coal twenty-five per cent. The Selma
road viii compel a greater re-
ductiOn, and in this fact
consists the future prosperity of this
city. Coal will build factories, lessen
the cost Of living, cheaper the cost Of
production, multiply population thus
reduce taxation, and, public burdens
lessened, the value Of property viii be
enhanced. The natural and necessary
inference from these plain facts is that
if we will only endure for a very brief
period, burdens slightly augmented
by the Selma railroad tax, we will add
infinitely to our ability to pay, and
men viii no more be taxed till prop
erty becomes ~valueless. Such is our
present condition that if we stand still
and pay, we must be beggared; if we
pay for progress our ACKNOWLEDGMENT
is sure. Now we pay TO go backward F;
then we pay and go forward. In 1850
and '56 St. Louis was in the very con-
dftion Of Memphis to-day. The people
ofSt. Louis never faltered. The credit
Of the city was ruined, taxation was
enormous, and industry paralyzed.
The people saw how the world
moved. They saw how Chicago
grew great, how a railway sys-
tenn was perfected which covered
by a network Of iron rails the whole
country west Of St. Louis, even AS St.
Louis to-day traverses with its rail-
road combinations the country east Of
Memphis. Did st. LOnis play the
towards part and bow before the
majesty and enterprise Of Chicago?
Were her merchants and taxpayers
stupefed? Did they propose to stand
still while Chicago grasped even the
trade Of western Missouri and of CEN
trail Illinois. St. Louis was hedged ia
by iron rails that were projected from
Chicago a. the suns rays shoot forth
from the blazing disc. st. Louis built
a Selma road to Springfield, another
to Kansas City; it sent out iron arms
that gathered inthe wealth Of Illinois;
it sent messengers of trade down to
Iron Mountain and others into coal
pits east Of the Mississippi. St.
Louis grew apace, and at this hour
the fortunes not only Of Chicago but
OF Memphis are overshadowed by the
progressive greatness of St, Louis.
Our relations to st. Louis are precise
Iy these Of St. Louis TO Chicago in
1867. Our conduct in the conflict
with st. Louis should be guided by
that Of the prominently prosperous
commercial capital of Missouri in It's
contest with Chicago. Natural, geo.
graphical, commercial and climatic
facts. all cooperate in pOrtending the
triumph and sggrandizement of Mem
phis, which possesses, over st. Louis
the same natural advantages which
enabled st. Louis to expel Chicago
from the natural boundaries Of It's
commerce. Railroads penetrating
States and Territories, south and east
and west Of st. Louis, were multi
piled, and as these became numerous,
burdens Of taxation were subdivided
among a population more rapidly
multiplied. Are these facts to be
questioned? Are they not writ
ten in glazing capitals upon
the pages Of census tables?
Do we not behold them in dangers to
which Memphis trade is subjected in
Arkansas, and have we not assented
to the wisdom Of st. Louis as a rail-
bodybuilding city by u cOndemna-
ton Of the conduct Of roads in Missis-
sipDi subsidized by St. Louis? Must
we commit suicide by inaction? Or
shall we use the advantages which
nature offers in the proximity Of coal
fields of Alabama, in the excellence
of climate, in productiveness Of soil,
in the c-easeless navigability Of our
rivers. In the wealth of our endless
forests? Build the road to Selma We
must, or we have learned and gained
nothine.fr from the conduct Of St. Lonis
and cur narrow selfshnes5 will be
measurable only by our unmixed stu
DfTff,v