Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-01-25

Thirty-one citizens Of Tacoma have
Joined in the effort 10 organize a Cham
Der OF Commerce IL that city, and will
perfect their plans when q membership
OF forty persons, each paying 800. ID
secured Speeches were made BY q
number Of gentlemen at the prelimi-
nary meeting last Tuesday, none Of
which we're bstter than that of q CON-
parative stranger, A. J. Parker, report
ed as follows by tbs Ledger:
am a stranger here, but wherever
i've take an Interest. have been iiv-
ing here abuut SIX months. | have been
| inquir,nR, with 9th sr men, since came,
What shall We 90 to be saved? One
man will say. Call On lac railrO I'd, and
the railroad will save you.' Another
Will say, Call on the Cascade DivisiOa,
and that Will move things to save you
And anoth would call on something
else to save Us. II Portland would cease
20 grew, it would save Tacoma! IL Sc
| ,ttie would cease to grow, 1t wsuld save
| Tacoma! You have ali read the fable
| OF the farmer who cut the grass. At
| first Ee thought he would call all his
neiRhb0rs over for a frolic, and then be
intended 70 have them help do the cut
ting then he thought better of it, threw
on his coat, and he and the boys went
IN and the sparr0ws went out. You say,
We have splendid scenery r and you
have it. You say We kave splendid
water ! and you have it. But il that is
all muscle will do, it will not be of much
good. l am glad to see this demon
| stratio2. and to see the people
show that they are alive. l thought
they were dead. thought they had
been asleep, this would have been a
good day to wake up On. I tell you,
MIR. Chairman. that the Lord helps
them that help themselves. like the
remarks of the last gentleman. They
strike high. They aim at the head
Quarters-COngress. But a board of
trade goes to Ine bottom of the thing.
You don't find the foundation on the
top Of the house. The foundation must
come first aud the other comes after
ward. These are an old mans ideas,
but l have been there, Eli . In the
first place, Mr.. Chairman, this com
munity must bind itself together for
the interest Of the community, and not
soil town lots to each other. Wind is a
good thing, when 1t is in place. Chin
music is good thing, as far AZ it goes,
but wind and chin music Won't buy
furniture and lumber. But, Mr.. Chair
mas, to get back to business, you want
board of trade first. A board of trade
consists Of something more than talk
ing. In that enterprise the community
must band together for the benefit of the
community. st. Joseph, Missouri, slept
lOag time and thought that it was the
natural railroad center. aud that it was
10 central location that no railroad
could 60 round it. And bless your soul
it became SO central that nearly every
railroad went around it. II fell asleep
to dream that it was a railroad location.
II afterwards woke up and built II
bridge across the river for a half a mil
lion dollars, and offered it to Jay Gould,
and he wouldn't take it. Finally he
took the bridge, paying about $4,000 OF
its debts. There WAS an opportunity
frittered away, when q board of trade
would have been of some use. But the
town had ten or twelve wealthy block
heads, without the brains of a canary,
who left everything To natural location.
The people of kansas City went down
into the pockets of jeans and invited
ivory IouIOhus ouu tucy OoAos XNOW W
get back again, you. go out here to
grocery store for q cabbage, and where
does the cabbage come from Athou-
sand miles from here. You buy pota-
toss. Where do they GENE from? A
thousand miles from here. And this
when you have the finest soil on earth
to raise them here 1t is best to have a
potato patch of one acre here than to
have a thousand lots changing hands
and nobody improving them. We can
swap lots smong ourselves thousand
times. but what is the benefit Not
one cent A Beard of Trade is to be
organized for what ? 1t must aot as
one man representing the unit of tho
community. No one man must say to a
soap boiler. This is good place to
make soap,' bat the Board Of Trade
must offer as al individual to help that
soap boiler establish h,mself here in
business. Aud it must bs the same
with other manufacturers. The Board
of Trade has done more for st. JO in
ten year. than all the old graybacks
ever did. We must do like them, aud
say to manufactures 8, Come here +; this
il The placs to go into business. Here
you can take mp our business PROPOSE
tiOn, and as q community we will stake
our veracity that it will pay, and that We
will aid it to pay"