Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-17
THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS
AND GROUNDS

/ Will remember hfiat uetSSaeSn SVhi
posed of fifty of the leading citizens OF
Philadelphia appeared before them aald
made statement, with some degrees OF
eKultation, that the postal business OF
| that great city, numbering, belleVe
was the staten1eht, seven hundred thou-
sand population, paid into the treasury
daily one thousand dollars. BY COM
pairing the population and postal re-
ceipts of the two cities, you will perceive
that Memphis, In proportion to popula-
ton, on postal business pays more than
two dollars to Philadelphia's one.
\ make this comparison with no wish
to disparage the just claims Of that
great city.
The government has pursued the pol
| icy hitherto of locating custOm-houses
| i'm the different sections of the country
when justified by the trade of the city
applying. In pursuance of this policy
they have located such buildings at
! Mobile, Savannah, Charleston and New
Orleans. Notwithstanding Memphis
was a mere village in 1885, and the cities
named are older than the government,
she surpasses them all in business ex-
cept New Orleans. If it We're wise-I
am not saying it was nOt-fOr the gov
ernment to place such buildings in the
cities named, can any good reason be
assigned why Memphis should not be
entitled to equal facilities? / have
spoken of
MEMPHIS AS SHE Is NOW.
With the railroads made and being
made east of the Mississippi river, in a
very short time she will be in direct
and close connection with every city on
the Gulf and Atlantic coast, and with
all the towns and cities of the entire
country north and east ofthe Mississippi
river. West of the Mississippi she has
railroad connection with the capital of
Arkansas. Capitalists, with Tom Scott
at their head, have Il am informed) un-
dertaken to bridge the Mississippi at
Memphis, and to extend westward our
railroad system so as TO embrace much
of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, the Pa
cific coast, and many of the States of
Mexico, while in another direction ac-
tive efforts are being made to extend
railroads to Kansas, and all that section
of country in the upper Mississippi
Valley TO the borders of Canada.
The completion of these roads is but
a matter of time; they are certain to be
built, because needed to give adequate
facilities to this section of the country.
When completed they will make Mem
phis the principal cotton mart of the
Union, the great center for distributing
the productions of the North and
Northwest with the South, the South
ern Atlantic and Gulf cities, and inter-
vening cities and town of the interior.
Having said this much l might with
propriety conclude, if something within
me did not bid me to say more and cast
myself upon your indulgence while
doing so. l sometimes fear-I hope |
erT-that in asking for my section of
country a matter of justios and right
that prejudices growing out of the his
tory of the past may weigh in the scale
against US.
WITH UPLIFTED HANDS
I implOre yon, and each of you, to bury
deep, deep, deep in oblivion the str1g-
giles and incidents of the recent past
with the generous and ennobling senti-
ment that we are the offspring of a COM
mon ancestry, bound together by
thousand ties of kindred, common in
terests, and a common destiny; and
that you, and I, and all, can best dis
charge our duties here by common and
united efforts to heal the dissensions of
the past and build up this Rome of ours
to be the glory and admiration of the
world. We should remember that wars
are the concomitants of nations; that
men are but mortals, liable to err, and
that we may have wars and conflicts so
long as avaTice and ambition shall sway
the councils Of men.
History is an index of the hearts of
men as they ever have been, as they ever
will be. 1t is a sibyl unfolding its mys-
teries to time leaf by leaf. Now turn to
those leaves, and tell me, if you can,
what page there is not stained with
blood. Cast your eyes over the history
of nations, of antiquity and of modern
times, and tell me if you can which of
them there was, or is, that at one time
or another was not drenched in blood
To go no further back, run your minds
over the history of England, of France,
of Germany, of Spain, of Italy, and tell
me if you can in what period of fifty
years either of them were without
WARS, INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL.
side or which party the error lies? If all
countries in all ages have been plunged
in wars, can we reasonably hope that
We AetN OllIcI bCCOlll6 ~ WISE OI 50
prudent as to escape the follies and er-
rors of all other nations? l allude to
these matters not to stir up strife or un-
kindliness, or even uncharitableness,
but with the hope that you will weigh
without resentment the justice of my
plea.
Mr.. Speaker, / came here with no
other feelings than those of the utmost
kindness and good will to each and eve
ry one of you, l came here to say, as l
do now, if history has written a black
and bloody page between us, let us draw
veil over it, and bury the dead past
with its unhappy incidents and remen-
brances. l implore you to join hands
with me in a common effort to restore
happiness and prosperity to the whole
country.
If the sentiments expressed shall meet
with a sympathetic response on your
part, let it be manifested by your acts.
Let me say to my constituents that the
FOrty-Seeond Congress are disposed to
deal out even-handed justice to all. Let
your appropriations be such as will
literally accomplish the object in view.
Let a building of suitable proportions go
up in full view of the mighty Mississippi
to gladden. the sight of all wayfarers by
land or water. Let from its loftiest pin
nacle the stars and stripes float, to re-
mind you, and each of you, and all, that
we are still within the protecting egis of
the Constitution, and still a united
people.