Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-24
BUSINESS FACILITIES REQUIRED.

There is now good reason for looking for
an early termination to the war in the east.
Should rCGce come, one obstruction, and a
serious one TO a revival of business activity
will be removed. At home, the financial
strength the country showed in providing the
gold wanted for resumption is arousing con-
faence, and with restoration of public con-
hdence, business improvement is certain. In
Memphis, the large receipt of cotton this sea-
son, and Its unusually speedy sale; the inn
petus given 70 the general trade Of the Mis-
sissippi by the success Of the jetties, and the
prospect OF increased exports of manufactures
and more extensive trade with the islands
and ports of the gulf ard beyond it, all give
assurances that time is ut hand when new
opportunities will open for us to increase our
trade and obtain that commercial prosperity
we have SO ardently ionged for. Longing for
is not enough; it must be accompanied by
effort and backed by enterprise. What are
we dong to avail ourselves of the
breeze Of prosperity that is approach
ing? Are we clearing our decks and
spreading our sail, and &" making all right
and tight in readiness for the good time
comingP" Let the reader look round his
neighborhood and round the city and tell
what we are doing-is it all that it should
be? 1t is encouraging to hear the ring of
the trowel where business structures are 60
ing up on Front and Main streets, and to
know that when wheat comes pouring into
the city next. fall, the Touring mill on Beale
street will be in readiness to take and grind
it. 1t is also pleasant to know that we have
two cornmeal mills going, and that an excel
lent wool-spinnipg establishment is doing
well down in Fort Pickering; but the Mem
phs cotton MILL where is that? A spirited
citizen subscribed twenty-five thousand dol
lars to start it, and sufficient public spirit
could not be found outside Of himself to sup
port his efforts and make them successful;
is that the way to prosper when " the good
time coming" arrives? There is one subject
in this connection that requires especial at
tention-an increase in Memphis of facilities
for doing business. When business offers,
we must be IN a condition to do
it, or the good times !" will
not be for us. We must have facilities for
OOlhB CNudl W bIOSO CAlobluS III OOIl-
er commercial cities, or the reviving trade
will leave us for those cities that are prepared
for the new and better state of things. In
New York, recently, it was found that trade
of certain kinds was decreasing and going to
Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. The
reason was discovered to be that freight ar
irving in those cities could be handled better,
Il I
the freight, as usual, followed the routes
where those requisites were most available
The merchants, in consequence, fastened to
connect the railroads with the docks, and
now, after the traffic of the day is over, the
cars are transferred to the ships side and the
freight at once transferred to the vessel, with
out exposure to the weather, and with ease
and rapldIty. New Orleans runs cars along
the river side to the elevator and the cotton
press, and her commerce is feeling the advan-
tage, much freight already seeking that outlet
that had, since the war, gone to New York.
At st. Louis similar facilities have helped
to transfer business formerly done
in Memphis to that city. What has Mem
phis done in this connection? Very little,
the connection at the foot of Washington
street being just enough to indicate what we
want. Without the same trade facilities as
other cities, Memphis must fall behind. If
even the city of New York found a serious
loss to its commerce for want of a proper
business connection between the railroads
and the river, what must Memphis do? If
New Orleans found its trade languishing be-
cause the railroad termini and the river were
not allowed to communicate, can Memphis
without injury allow herself to remain in the
same unprovided condition? A revival of
trade is at hand, and, in the respect we have
named, Memphis is not prepared to profit by
Il as she should. Are we TO sit in careless
apathy, and ''let things slide, - or shall we be
Up and doing, and make ready to catch the
golden drops when the rain of prosperity
shall come streaming down upon the coun-
try?