Arizona republican., 1903-10-24
For a Larger Board of Trade.

Two months ago. the live citizens or santa Barbara, California, decided that the public welfare required a lar ger and more effective board of trade. Canvassers went out among the people and by the first of this month had se- cured three hundred new members Santa Barbara now has the largest and most flcurishing board of trade in its history. and it is reported that gCoi results from the increased ac> tivity are already noticeable.
 The object lesson presented by san ia Barbara should be needed by Phoe- nix. The local board Of trade is active and efficient, but its membership should be greatly increased. An in creased membership would mean far greater efficiency. approximately, for the influence of board depends large ly upon the extent to which it has the community in sympathy with 1t Every young and growing city has found ir a wide-awake board of trade its greatest lever for moving things for achieving positive advancement. Examples are so numerous that 1t Is not necessary to cite them.
 But it is worth while to recall some Of the things the Phoenix board of trade has done To go no farther into the past than two years ago, We have:
 The Phoenix and Eastern railway:
 The beet sugar factory,
 Water storage.
 Two years ago, all of these great enterprises seemed impossible of ac- complishment along the lines they have have been carried out. By securing the right of way for the railroad. the board Of trade made the constructlCa of the road a certainty, and few of our citi- zens yet realize the magnitude of the project The beet sugar factory could not have been secured at all, had it not been for the efforts of the board of trade. and 1t is hardly an exaggeration to say the same Of storage. To say the least. had Il not been for the untirmg energy and ineXhaustible faith of the active members of the board. the ranchers of the valley could not have been massed into a compact body, and . contract with the government would now be a matter of the distant future, in all probability.
 Perhaps it may be said that in some of its minor undertakings the board has not exhibited the best judgment. For example. in the past in the matter of immigration literature, entirely too much stress has been laid upon the claims of this locality as a health re- sort It has been brought to the atten- ton of The Republican mere than once that men of wealth have declined to build homes in Phoenix and some wealthy families have decided not to come here for a winter because they feared that there was too much of d tendency to make the city a resort for sick people, and some membership has been lost by the board because Of the same complaint. But these are things of minor importance. and they belong tc the past.
 Phoenix has reached the metropC.i- tan stage in it's growth. Hereafter. it will become more and more a city. and the board of trade will have still larger concerns. The membership has never been sufficiently large. and it is remarkable that so much has been accomplished. The officers of the board will do well to initiate the example of their brethren at Santa Barbara. There should be a determination to increase the number of members until 500 ac- tive citizens are or the rolls. and this can be done
 And with a membership of 500 the board of trade can form flying wedge" whenever necessary, and bear down all obstacles that lie before Phoenix. Mesa. Tempe. or any part of the valley.