Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-06-09
MEMPHIS AND KNOXVILLE.
Letter from Major Sykes-Recessiiy for
the Construction of che Read
Through B0IiVar-A Last
Appeal.

the Construction OTGhe Read
Through BOIiVAr-A Last
Appeal.
We urge the following letter upon the
special attention Of our readers, and hope
it may inspire those most interested to
take immediate action in the direction
indicated:
EDITORS APPEAL thank you for
the kind mention, in Saturdays AP-
PEAL, OF my efforts in behalf of Mem
phis. l must ask the privilege Of COM
municating through your columns some
information which | consider to be i'm
portant, and to offer some additional
suggestions and then let the subject
| drop, so far as l am concerned, and
leave it to those most interested and
most to be benefited that they may take
such action as they think proper. l
went to Bolivar to meet the board OF
| directors Of the Memphis and Knoxville
railroad company and to ascertain
whether they intended to build their
road from Bolivar through the iron
region into the rich grain and provision
/ districts Of Middle Tennessee, and con-
meet it with the New Orleans road al
| Bolivar, 80 as to turn all the trade and
! pbuI al lLS MSdllu Vi lLdl IGSlOu lulO
/ New Orleans. | found that even now
| only One-siXth Of the cotton shipped
! from Bolivar GENES to Mem
| phis, with q prospect of de-
| crease unless something is done.
/ Upon consultation with the directors, L
| ascertained that they were anxious to
| bring the road to Memphis if they could
| get reasonable assistance in this city and
| county. They only ask an additional
| subscription Of one hundred thousand
| dollars in Shelby and Fayette counties,
| including Memphis, to enable them to
! build the road from Memphis to Hen
/ dersOn station, q distance Of eighty-six
miles; and when the benefits to be de-
! rived are considered, this amount ap-
pears Insignificant. What they will do
| if they do not get this subscription, they
! do not say, and l did not ask them.
| There are some persons, however, vino
| wish to build the road from Bolivar east
| as far as Pulaski or Fayetteville, and
west as far as SOmervilie, so as to turn
| the trade of Fayette county through
| Bolivar to New Orleans or st. Louis.
This is not the feeling of the president
| and directors of the company. Under
| these circumstances, what will Memphis
| do? l have been a resident of Shelby
| county since 1868, and my observation
| since that time confirms me In the Opiu-
| ion long entertained that Memphis Dos
sesses natural advantages equal to those
! of any city on the Mississippi river, but
to make these advantages available re-
| quires energy, enterprise and public
spirit. However valuable it may be in
| itself, commerce alone will never make
or sustain q city Of any great
proportions. There must be a creation Of
| UdjueS as well as an exchange Of com
nlOdatjes. LsbOring men, mechanics,
manufacturers. and even ordinary day.
laborers, are what give life and power to
cities. Unless Memphis becomes man.
ufacturing city she has reached her
! highest point, and there is danger OF
retrOgresslOn. 1t is true she is heavily
indebted, and it may be thst much OF
| this debt was, to say the least OF it, IN
wisely contracted; but the only way to
| decrease the debt relatively is by in
creasing the wealth OF the city, and thus
enabling her to pay; and this can only
be done by an enterprising people. Ever
since my attention has been directed to
it, have been satisfied that q railroad
from Memphis through the iron regions
on the Tennessee river, and into the
rich agricultural districts OF Middle Ten
nessee, would do more to give life to
Memphis, to revive her trade, and t.
increase her industries, than the ex-
pendlture OF the same amount Of money
in any other direction. The building of
this road would not interfere with the
building Of any other road, but would
increase the power of the city to build
other more extended and more COSTLY
roads, and would at the same time give
her the means OF manufacturing,
which the other roads would not.
The trade Of the country within one
hundred miles Of Memphis would make
her great city, and yet much, very
much, Of this trade she now does not
get. 1t is to bring back and make Sc
cure this trade that Memphis needs a
system OF cheap railways which will
give her cheap local transportation.
am aware that there has been for some
time project in contemplation to con-
centTate system Of railways at a point
on the Mississippi river above Memphis,
so as to draw the trade Of the West Ten
nessee counties away from this place,
but thought, and yet think, We should
concentrate our energies and our rail-
roads upon Memphis. 1 have done all
l could to turn all railroads in this d.
rectiOn. While railroads do not Of
themselves create wealth, they are the
means of developing a country and of
causing an increase in its wealth in the
same manner that they increase cities. |
States and cities have increased In
wealth, population and productions in
the exact ratio in which railroads have
increased. Witness the States Of Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri,
and the cities of Chicago and st. Louis.
Although my efforts in this behalf have
not been so successful as / could have |
desired, yet when take into considera- |
ton the peculiar condition of the |
country during the last two years, l am
not discouraged, and still hope that |
others more able and influential than /
myself will advocate these improve. |
ments until they will eventually sue |
coed. Mere natural advantages will |
neither make city nor an individual. !
1t requires constant effort and persever- |
ing labor, and there may be such thing |
as city dying Of natural advantages if |
they produce lethargy and destroy enter
prise. L SYKES