The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-19
BIGGER RICHMOND
ONE END IN VEN
Union With Manchester VIII
Enable City to Make Good
Showing.
WILL BE BENEFIT
TO BOTH PLACES
Many Material AS Well As Senti.
mental Advantages to Come
From Union--Interest-
ing Figures.

Consolidation of Richmond and
when contaminated, viii q
run the population Of Greater Rich
mond to figures bordering closely on
100000. and that will mean much To
the bigger community.
True, Richmond already has a pop
ulation considerably in excess Of 100,-
poo, but the addition of Manchestor's
/ 5000 will add materially to the total d
ngures
In April Uncle Sans census for
1910 will be taken and 1t IL essential 4
that Greater Richmond make a. f1no
a showing as possible in the census
estimate. 81
These are essentially days Of biz
towns. People like to flock to biz
towns. They pass by small towns to
get to the big ones.
Population Is particularly an NJ
tractive item to manufacturers look
ing about for new sites. Many Of
them pass over cities under 1e0.OV0
and there are some who do
not consider places under 150. 600.
Advantages NJ Home.
In a measure, that would he 44AA.-
situation viewed at . distance. Viewed
at home many BENEFITS and ADVANTAGES
may be noted II union Of the cities
is brought about. Chief among these
would be the community Of interests
growing out of consolidation, and the
consequent closer bond OF feeling BE-
tween residents of the two places.
Aside from it's estimated popuia-
ton of $1,000. Manchester would cora-
tribute an area OF SIS acres. embrace
tEg twenty-four miles OF streets. II
would also contribute much valuable
water front property to the greatek
community. This would be an espG~
cially valuable asset. inazmuch * 4n
practically all OF Richmond's water
frontage Is now In use for manUxSc@
turing, shipping and similar purposes.
Manufacturing enterprises, attracted |
By the bigger city and the mos de-
sites on the river. would l00A
Richmondward. whereas other places
might prove more alluring IL Rich
mond and Manchester were not one
and the same.
spend More Than Million.
Fully appreciating Its opportunity,
Richmond stands ready to spend
more than 100000 in putting
Manchester on a plane of modern Ina
provements fully equal to those en-
joyed by Richmonders themselves
In order to bring the communities
II
poses first OF all to construct bridge
on the site of Mayo Bridge at . ccst
Of s350.000. Furthermore. 1t Ii pro-
posed to spend 100000 in renewing
the southern end OF the present Free
Bridge to conform to the northern
end and to make 1t more available
for traffic and travel
Other contemplated improvements
are as follows: Modern police and
A.
ton OF a gas system, 100000: iu1~ i
provement to water system. $100.o00:
construction Of sewerage syStenas
$4,000.
The terms Of consolidation call for
extended street improvements in Mani
chester. additional lighting facilities.
and last but not least, the lowering Of /.
Manchester's tax rate from $1.50 On
500 to $40 on 800.
Valuations Compared.
As comparative proposition. Mas
chester would not materially cOn-
tribute to the assessed personal lnd
realty values OF the combined cities.
the total value OF Manchester's real
and personal property for 1903 bethg
assessed at $3,74S.s05 as against 80
sessed values of $4,000, 900 for
Richmond for the same year.
To the union of the two cities. 4
Manchester would contribute hond-
ed debt of $5S2,000. but that would
be Offset to large extent by assets
Richmonds bank depostts--an ex-s
cellent index OF the prosperity and
business of community--are close To-
SIS. 200. 900. With the addition x N
Manchester's they would necessaTilYs
be larger.
With consolidation. RichmondsaR
postal receipts would be larger. ~
manufacturing sales would be in-
creased and 80 would its jobbing saIea
Ali these figures could be used n
advantage in advertising the bigger
city sl
Again, the matter Of q ntrailtrare.S
portation point r. an item OF no n1ea
significance In the consultations Co.,
ton. For instance. II Richmond A0
Manchester were one ana tho n414'
place. additional rates could not nv
added by railroads in tran1pof1ln4
freight from one side Of the river N0s
the other. when such freight has been
shipped from some other point &
Some oppnnenfa OF cnna0fl0o410
across the river say that MancheqeDTss:
would lose its identity II taken 114a
Nv richmond. Seemingly, sssch- rc,sII 4
be the case, hut az 3 matter Of I'm
It would not be. BROOKLYN bar E6a@
a part Of greater New York TOR p0&&
years and yet Brooklyn It'll rstN1
its identity.
chesterians who now spend o0134 q
their money on this stde Of ~ No1
would not earn tns SspusAsleS II
being disloyal 70 their hc4no tp
They would be spending th6lx !
money In their own city.
M NJ M s@s5s$ Ss4