The Tupelo journal., 1909-06-18
Municipal Growth.

upDulldlng. But having reat
with interest communications
from your citizens in relation
thereto, and having had in the
past some humble part in the
business of town building, / pleaC
that as an excuse. Experience
shows that towns with favorable
conditions may draw to then
! sufficient trade to build up large
mercantile establishments with.
out a corresponding growth in
population, but it is never posi-.
BILE to acquire or hold together a
large permanent citizenship,
without adequate mercantile and
other commercial facilities.
The merchants of Tupelo, in
order to hold the trade of its cit
liens, must be able to offer them
merchandise in quantity, quality,
and price, such that all things
considered, it will be to the in
terest of the town people to buy
from the town merchant. For
tunately these conditions your
merchants have doubtless fully
met, and if so. further upbuilding
lies in the direction of increased
population at home, and the wild
ening of the circle that bounds
your trade abroad. The great
est good is accomplished in town
building when trade and perma-
nent population increase togeth-
er.
In the matter Of Increased pop
ulation, it may be taken as an
axiom, that allowing for the few
who are able to live on the incre-
ment if invested funds, no lar
ger population can be maintained
than can find regular profitable
employment: profitable invest
ment for capital, and remuner
ative wages for the workers. To
furnish employment at the same
time for labor and money there
is one way, one only; the estab-
lishment Of productive industries
The best industries for a towns
upbuilding are not the kind that
must of necessity handle large
quantities of raw material on a
small, often very doubtful, mar
gin Of profit, andin which
freight, fuel, and raw material,
like a trinity Of evils loom large
and black on the balance sheet.
Such industries from the very
nature of the case can afford to
it's employees only the lowest
Lying wage, and as a result,
such labor contributes but little
to the prosperity of the merchant
or the public veal, and but rare
ly attaches to the soil by building
homes.
The most valuable industries
both to the investor and to the
towns so fortunate as to have
them, are the kind in which by
the use of skilled and high pric-
ed labor, a small amount of cheap
raw material is converted into a
product which carries a large
and fixed margin of profit.
The EMPLOYEES of such indus
tries receive high wages because
of their skill, and the employ
ment of such skill makes it
possible to turn cheap raw ma.
terial into a high priced finished
product, profitable in a cores
ponding degree, both to employ
er and employee. AS genera
proposition, where the stock OF
industrial corporations is owned
by the citizens of a town, thai
town derives direct benefit from
the whole difference between the
| the cost of raw mateli ial used.
and the selling price of the fin.
Iished product, and the extent OF
the benefit will be in direct pro
portion to difference between
those extremes. Skilled labor
can turn a ton of steel, costing
| few dollars into hairsprings
worth more than a ton of gold.
/ Skilled laborers in permanent
! employ, at once become libera
patrons of the merchant, ano
what is more important, home
builders ami valuable citizens
Such industries need not be large
Some OF the most prosperous ant
rapidly growing towns OF the
country are those having a mum
Der of comparatively small indus
tries, in which the man knowing
most about them and having a
vital interest in them, is IN dl'
rect control Of them.
i AS to increase of trade with
out direct increase of population
!! it can of course only be had b.
drawing from the surrounding
country. In order to draw sucl
trade these things must be had
adequate supplies of desirable
merchandise, an open and com
fpetitive market for every prod
uct of the farm, and above all
easy, alI-the-y -year-round. com
munication between the farm
and the town. In this last re
quirement lies capsulate a riddl