Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-17

ers have assumed proportions which far
surpass those of any previous period.
But admit that we are not progressing.
| especially In manufacturing to the extent
and degree that our size and the importance
| of our position among the large cities Of
the union would indicate and Justify. The
| reason for this exists in our failure to at
tract outside capital to the proper degree
and Of course there must be an explanation
also for this In my opinion the explana-
/ tion is not difficult to find. 1t lies. think,
in the fact that we are undertaking to main
tain city government beyond our means.
Except for our high municipal credit we
would have gone to pieces long ago and the
capital which should be invested in our
business enterprises is represented in bonds
and other evidences OF Indebtedness for the
! purpose Of enabling us to put on style and
! live In strictly first-class manner. Our
wide streets and extended area for the ex-
! penditure OF public money explain a large
portion Of the difficulty
What is past cannot be changed, but for
/ the future we should endeavor to check
/ every pubic expenditure which has not a
I direct and positive advantage to Justify the
expenditure. Municipal economy in all its
/ branches, with consequent lessening of the
| burden Of taxation, will do more to encour
age investment of foreign capital than any
/ thing else we can now do. The possbil-
! ities for the future OF Omaha are greater
today than they have ever been. We have
| everything here to interest capitalists and
1t remains entirely with ourselves to utilize
properly these advantages"
! j. II. Millard, president Omaha National
/ bank: Il dent see but that the people of
this town are doing very we'll AS far as
their ability goes they appear to be doing
everything they can to help the town along
l think the people are pretty loyal and
pretty faithful, and l don't know of any
considerable investments of the character
mentioned being now made by Omaha people
elsewhere"
! Fred Davis, cashier First National bank:
! How can The Bee be so misnformed as
to say that capital is not being invested in
such enterprises in Omaha? l can see a
substantial gain from year to year. These
enterprises are not, it is true, coming as
/ rapidly as / should like to see them come,
( but they are coming, and investments in
South Omaha are notably encouraging. Those
enterprises now here are doing well and
don't think it can be justly claimed that
I we are OUT OIL Tue race Dy any means.
f. p. Kirkendall, wholesale boots and
shoes: THE capitalists of Omaha are not
educated commercially as are the capitalists
| of many surrounding cities. Look at the
commercial enterprises now here-some of
| them started in years ago to combat rivals
which were then rich and which are still
! in existence. In some of our neighboring
cities the capitalists made their money in
commerce and that is the avenue they seek
| for it's Investment. ! believe in the still
hunt in securing the location IN Omaha of
manufacturing and commercial enterprises.
l believe that the citizens of means can we'll
afford to create a fund of from $4,000 to
100000 to encourage the establishment here
of manufacturing and jobbng houses and
l would be willing to put up my share Of
such fund. Such a fund could be used for
| encouraging the building of such enterprises
here until the time comes when the towns
facilities for the advantageous distribution
of goods has become established, when such
encouragement would be no longer neces-
sary. That would not be for long, in my
judgment"
H. T. Lindsey, wholesale rubber goods ut
is because the men of capital and bankers
here haven't been shown. The men of that
class have made their money out of real
estate, banking and other than commercial
avenues, and they don't seem to realize how
to get into commercial or industrial enter
prises, while men Of capital in some of our
neighboring cities have made their money
out of commerce. If our capitalists could
be led to investigate the commercial and
industrial opportunities presented, I believe
they could see plenty of opportunities for
profitable investments in those lines. But
there are bankers here who don't get down
into this section of the city once a year
and don't know anything about what we
have or are doing here except from our de-
posits. When we do get any of them into
our stores down here they Invariably express
surprise at what they find."
Benjamin B. Wood vice president Mer-
chants National bank: II don't recall any
Omaha people who are making any very i'm
portant investments In other communities
There may be some, but don't know who
they are One thing which think initiates
against Omaha is taxation, especially in pre-
venting the location here of industrial and
business enterprises from abroad. | also
think that the newspapers are in meas
ure responsible, because of their tendency
toward pickering, reminding one OF the pa
pers in country towns rather than those Of
the large Cities
c. S. Hayward, president OF the CONNER
cial club: II think the representations that
capital is not being invested here are over
drawn While We perhaps have not done as
much as we might have done, can't think
the town so much of frost as some people
seem determined to consider it. Omaha will
IL, 70 fp
vestments in such industries with any of
the cities around u.s. l get heartily tired |
of hearing the town criticised by those who |
do not seem to know what Omaha is doing |
What western city has done so much as
Omaha in the past Ave years? / believe that
great good would result in a commercial !
way from solidfed effort on the part OF
all jobbers manufacturers and shippers gen.
orally, and believe that it will come. Some |
Omaha people are always talking about what
Kansas City has done or Denver has done.