The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-01-04
How Build or Not Build Up
Town.

When Cain had killed off one-fourth
of the people on the earth leaving
only three, then he went into the land
OF Nod and builded q city, it is evil
dat tat he did not sit around like a
lump G.. . log, and growl about the
Nod real estate and people. He was
not himself, perhaps, the most eAem-
plary of men, and if he had some
reason to emigrate from the land of
his birth, he did not NOPE and whine,
but got hold of a piece Of ground and
went to work to do something. The
man who could build up a city under
such auspices, is the kind of material
we want in this town; and we will not
inquire too infinitely into his antece-
dents, SO that he takes hold like a
man and be good at last.
But what is moro, Cain did not ad-
wise his son to "go west. and get out
of the old dead town" He named
the city after him, believed in it,
worked for it, brought his goods there
and kept his money at home. Does
anybody suppose that when strangers
came to Enoch, (name of the city,
with any notion of going into bust
ness there, Cain told them it was a
dead old town." that 1T was eStab-
liShed by a murderer, that the water
was bad; its merchants all sharks,
and it's mechanics botches--that the
town was not healthy and would
never amount to anything no how"
Does anybody suppose that when he
wanted to invest a few dollars in dry
goods he hustled off to the city, or
that he only went to the merchants of
'EnOch" when he wanted a favor
wanted "a little time?"
Do you think he ever went away
from home to get lumber that could
be had at better rates in ''Enoch"l
than elsewhere, or to Cincinnati for
cheap buggies when the home manu-
f~acturer" could meet every demand
with more stylish and subrtantial
rigs?
Do you suppose he went mOping
around about taxes beirg too high in
Enoch and no one there knowing any
thing about business?. No, sir. He
evidently wasn't built that way. If
taxes were high, oe got up and hus-
tied to increase the value of property,
so that there would be greater values
to tax. He built homes and encour-
aged others to do so. If city lots got
too low he bought up a dozen or two,
scattered here and there, for the
double purpose of personal profit and
strengthening values. On these he
,ut up plenty Of houses at reasonable {
good ones, too, so that when
my one came to Enoch he did not 4
have to move into an old tumble-down
or move on He improved and I,
oeautifed every lot. kept the weeds
down and set out trees on the lots
md in front Of them, even where he |
I'D not build, thus adding to the val c
ne OF each lot and adjoining property q
IS well. He found that it did not t
lake so much money to run a comely, S
we'll kept town as it did adilapidated, f
1od- forsaken one, and there were four
the values on which to raise the c
required money. That's the way
Ne lowered taxation not by sitting on
stump and bowling about it. If a f
nan wanted to run a factory, or some c
,ther enterprise, he was not afraid d
the fellow wanted to make some mon o
", but told him to sail in and I'll .
help you all I can. A business that +
1oes not make money is no good. We $
want every legitimate business in a
Enoch to make money, and piles of d
ID /,