Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-10-27

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abroad will be met on the shortest no
tice. In paying a poor tribute 10 oul
good workers in the common cause, W,
as people cannot forget the substan
tial evidences OF human sympathy and
anxious solicitude that have been ten
dered us by distant strangers as well pI
nearer friends. Messages Of heartfelt
thanks have been sent back to the nortl
and the south, to Maine and TO Texas. to
California and South Carolina. aud tC
nearly all the leading boards Of trade
Our hearts have been tonched with
princely contributions from the wealthy
and by the little treasures Of moldy
coin bequeathed by a dying child
in q far of State. The churches
the secret benevolent societies, the
uniens and the various branches oI
trade and industry have all come to ouI
relief and helped to hold up the hands Of
the good Samaritans who go about doing
good among the sick, the dying and the
dead. Such proofs of the universal
brotherhood OF man only come out
so bright in times Of unusual
calamities, and the exceptions, il
any really, are too few to fur
nish a contrast too Insignificant 10
be remembered. Our gallant workers
have gone TO the rescue in the spirit OF
fearless iremen, who rush to burning
house determined to save the inmates
at the point Of their own lives. But the
day of deliyerance cannot be far of, and
the stimulating sense Of high duty will
be succeeded by other thoughts directed
to the future Already we hear of men
settling in ST. Louis, or other cities
where epidemics are less frequent,
aud where it seems easy to
make money aud educate their children;
others say. in despoudeucA', they would
20 ii they could. To all such we would
say, make haste slowly. Memphis has
been sorely afflicted, but these epidem
les have been produced and fed by arii'
licial causes, which can asd wiA be re.
moved. The people say it, and they
are in earnest No man can be elected
Mayor or to the General Council who
does not stand on & broad sanitary
plank, aud that, with honesty and com
potency, is about the only plank neces-
Ssry. A great revolution is about TO
be wrought. The working masses, too
poor to run away with their large fami-
lies six mouths every year. have said it,
and if the biz rcal-estato owners object,
they will find out their error. A single
years misfortunes cannot destroy a
city with the vitality, prestige aud geo
graphical position OF Memphis, although
il must be confessed we have relied too
much upon mere position. That is one
great cause of our present troubles. For
the future we must all work shoul-
der TO shoulder until past mis-
takes are corrected and our losses
retrieved. A worse epidemic once
visited Norfolk, but that did not
destroy the future Of the place; it is
as healthy now as most places with like
surroundings. New Orleans has been
terribly visited, but escapes this year;
her greatness has been impaired by mis-
rule, and not pestilence. The measures
for self-preservation that must follow
our terrible trial ought to have been
adopted many years ago; the necessity,
however. was not so obvious, and the
plea of economy was the pitiful excuse
for filth. We have faith in the future Of
Memphis even in this trying ordeal and
believe THAT an intelligent as well as eco.
nomicsl administration Of public affairs
will in two years advance our fortunes
more rapidly than ever before on the real
road Of solid and permanent prosperity.