Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-04-05

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are as applicable to Clarksvillo as
Memphis. Now that efforts are being
made upon the cooperative plan, let
ali read and ponder the facts as follows:
Much has been said and written
about the advantages of Memphis as a
manufacturing and distributing point,
and the necessity Of doing something
to awaken an interest in these matters.
1t requires united effort to accom-
plish any and all great undertakings, |
and as an illustration of what may be |
done in this city by cooperation. | will
first call your attention to that elegant |
structure on the corner of Jefferson |
and Fourth streets, the Exposition
Building.
Now, to whom are you indebted for
the erection of this edi6ce, and for
making the exposition success? Was
it to the capitalists large real es-
tate owners Of the city? 1t may have
been to limited extent; but let me
tell you that it was mainly to the work
ing men of Memphis flowed its origin,
its completion, its beauty and its tri-
umph. They did it by cooperation.
As a further illustration of what NAV
be done in Memphis by cooperation, l
will call attention to the Memphis
Building and Savings Association, and
the Workingmen's Building and Loan
Association. Since the first day of
January these two associations have
loaned to their members $500 to ena
BILE them to build suitable dwellingsin
which to make their families comfort
able. / am safe in saving that during
the next five years thest two associa
tions alone will pay out nearly half
million of dollars for the erection of
dwelling houses in Memphis.
Who are the benefciaries of this
large expenditure of money 1t is the
working men of Memphis-the me-
chanics, tradesmen, clerks, book-keep-
ers-all such as want home of their
own which they can embellish and
beautify, beneftting themselves and at
the same time adding to the value of
their neighbor's property and who can
estimate that additional value? They
have united to obtain results which In
dividual efforts would fail to attain.
| Now, [ would ask what the capitalists
and large landed proprietors Of our
city are doing to encourage anybody to
buy lots and build homes? The mem
| bers of these associations are working
men in our midst; they have deter
mined to stay hereto. tie themselves
to Memphis, sink or swim. What they
want to know is, will the capitalists and
men of wealth in our city do anything
to encourage them in their resolves?
What can they do? l answer, a
great deal Let them lay aside their
individuality and come together and
act as one man, to build up, if neces-
sary, by cooperative societies, cotton
mills, paper mills, furniture factories,
tanneries, iron foundries- enter
prises as will give employment to work
ing men, enhance the general welfare,
and at the same time make fortunes for
themselves to build railroads to the
west, the south and east-wherever one
is wanted to enable the manufacturer
to distribute his wares. Now, men of
money, men of property, who live here
and are benefited by these co-opera-
tive associations, just do your part
emulate their example-and Memphis
in less than ten years will number 100, :
600 inhabitants. These taxes will not
| be felt as now, owing to the great ac-
; cession to our wealth. As you stand
now to-day, each one depending upon
his own energy and force to acquire
fortune, clothing yourselves with an
individuality, which, / am sorry to say,
appears to be peculiarly of our peO-
pie, and neglecting the only means to
gain great ends-you, gentlemen, may
add something to your store of wealth,
but history, as it is now being made and
written, will place your names low down
on the monument which the working
men are rearing in Memphis, in let
tiers SO dim that they will never be no.
ticed o
Who are the leading men to-day of
st. Louis. Chicago, Cincinnati and
Louisville? They are the working
men of twenty years ago. As result
of their cooperative efforts, immense
buildings for manufacturing purposes
have been erected; and by employing
the best skill in the land, everything
which can be made from wood and iron
is being turned out for our use The
capital employed is counted by mil
lions of dollars. The Excelsior Man
ufacturing Company Of ST. Louis alone
employs over 1900 men in making
stoves and stove fixtures.
The history of our southern CONNER
cial centers teach us that something
more than commerce is wanted to keep
: them up. In 1910. New Orleans was
the third city in the Union; Charles
ton was equal in population to Cincin-
son? 1t is the want of manufacturing
) establishments which makes the differ
enee. Commerce and manufactures go
hand in hand
Then let itno longer be said of Mem
phis that, with all her superior advan-
tages, her solid men are unwilling to
cooperate for their own and the work
ingmen's good This is good time to
begin. Donot hide behind the shadow
of the Masonic Temple now being built,
aud the great customhouse building
that is to be built, but come out and
let us see that you mean business
Form company with a capital of
$500, 600; put up cotton factory; EN-
ploy a competent live Yankee from
Rhode Island or Connecticut, who I'M
derstands his business, to stock it with
the very best machinery, and with such
skilled labor as will be necessary to
educate the labor we have in our midst
to work to advantage. Then will 1873
be indeed new era in our history"