The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-28
OPEN THE RIVER AND THE
 STREET.

STREET..
 The merchants and property own CTS of Lee Street have given sso.ooo for the opening of that thoroushfare, and expect to spend much more on 1t. They. of course. hope to be commer-t cially benented. and 1t will be q great thing for the city of Montsom- cry.
 On the other hand. not as much as this amount Is being asked to open the commerce of the Alabama river to the city of Montgomery. The bene- hciai results of this will be immed- late. and it will create perpetual dividends to posterity. It will be an advertisement to the city of Mont gomery that will give 1t an unprece- dented commercial position. It will make Montgomery the largest inter Tor distributing point in the South. Goods can be brought here via all water from New Orleans, New York. Tampa, Cuba, and European ports Goods can be brought to Montgomery by barge from Pittsburg, St. Louis, Kansas City. Cincinnati. New orleans and Memphis at rates far lower than. to any other interior point in the South. The city's fathers who are giy-.. ing their time and energies to the upbuilding of Montgomery have made study of its possibilities. They know to what immense proportions Montgomery will grow If the river is only used, and in their wisdom they, formulated the plans for the city wharf and submitted it to the people who voted that this expenditure be made by the city. The wharf by it-' self cannot secure the desired re- suits: the river must be navigated. and 1t is now again up to the citi- zens of Montgomery whether or not they shall reap the dividends that can be obtained by the use of this river. It is a question that is not alone up to the merchants. but 1t is up to the doctors. lawyers. real estate holders, bankers. ana in fact every citizen of Montgomery to see that this river is utilized. It is a business proposition with no chance for Montgomery to lose.
 Birmingham and Atlanta have re- peatediy stated they would give s5o,- 100000 for this river; and if they can build such substantial communities without the advantage of such trans portation, what on earth would be the size. of either of those places If they had the Alabama river7
 Some days ago we offered to ac- cept subscriptions to this project. and We are still waiting to hear from some of our enterprising citizens. The soliciting committees of merchants are seeing all of the persons they can. but everybody cannot bss reached. The pride of, Montgomery is staked on the successful organization of this line. We have talked l. about it, we have boasted of what we were going to ao: and,now as the time to- step for ward and show the stun out of which we are made: or else acknowledge that we are dead community and are incapacitated to take advan- tage of one of the greatest gifts that God could bestow upon a. city,
 Let every citizen come forward and subscribe something to the fund for the promotion of this enterprise. be 1t large or small The Advertiser shall be glad to receive and acknowledge such subscriptions. either as a contri- button. or for stock to be issued, in shares at par value of s1Oo per share
 Twenty thousand dollars has been raised by. our entsrpristng merchants and. only about sfd!ooo Additional is needed, to start operations. Come for
 ward promptly and willingly.