The Cairo bulletin., 1911-01-18
BOOST CAIRO COMMERCIALLY
SUBJECT OF EARNEST TALK
BY CAIRO'S BOARD OF TRADE
Annual Meeting al Alexander Climb Grill Room
Largely Altended---Favor Traffic Bureau,
Booster Fund and Elk'S Building
Officers Elected

was AeCUSMAeu III Inc WOfld OF con-
merce In every State: it could be
taken 10 a bank in Texas or South
Carolina or Louisiana or West vi.
GINA and money could be borrowed
upon il. Tie freight rate feature was
2 big one and had to be looked after
carefully and constantly. He would
not eriticise railroads, for they gener-
ally appreciated heavy tonnage, ami
If the Cairo Board OF Trade could
combine all shippers ana go after
what is needed unitedly. pessistently
and intelligently, there would be no
! difficulty about gaining concessions
where they We're due MS. RaiLoa |
companies 10 not want to kill bust
ness, but promote It astuniformly as
possible. All jobbers. lunsbermen and
shippers or receivers of freight gen
orally should belong to the Board OF
Trade and lend to it the strength OF
/ their support Cairo is as favoraby
situated as any point in the United
States. He aad heard criticism be-
cause the people have not taken full
advantage Of their opportunities. The
wholesalers seemed TO draw a circle
and instruct their travelling men not
to go beyond it, This was wrong.
Cairo could get more business anil
ought to go after it with all possible
energy.
c. 5. Carey spoke for the -ur8er,
men in the absence OF NJ. S. Carter.
He said there could be no doubt teat
" traffic bureau existed in Cairo
| the evils complained of in the ma e.
, of unfayorable freight rates would
| have been promptly corrected or not
allowed to come into existence. Rati-
| roads prefer to deal with organiza-
tons instead Of individuals. He was
not inclined to utter any criticisms
against the transportation companies.
Their interests and these Of en- o
shippers were identical, ard the lan,-
bermen had always found the rail-
roals inclined to be Feasonahla. He
cited an instance where an arbitrary
order had come raising switching
charges. and the protest made bv tSa
Cairo lumbermen was promptly re.
cognized as irst AMI the old Ia es
restored He felt that the Board o.
Trade ami lumber interests wer-
closely allied, but the Importance q
union between was not as generally
and as thoroughly appreciated as ne
thought It should be # all Interests
could get together much could te
done for their advancement and for
! the general advancement of the city
that could not be done in any otta..
way. One OF the most importan,
things was the systematic gathering
( OF statistics showing the volume Of
traffic from year to year, upon which
demands for concessions could Re
based and made effective; and these
could Re usel effectively also in ai-
vertising the city. He was sorry al
i Cairo lumhermen were not members
OF the Board
H. Fl. Mussman, commercial agelt
OF the Big Four railroad, said Hore
could be said Of the relations of rail-
roads to Boards Of Trade than lie was
prepared to say The railroads would
be much interested i'm statistics show.
ing the volume Of business done In a
community; they watched these care
fully in the big shipping centers
Railroads always took a prominent
Ipaft in the development of resources
land could Big depended upon to inn
prove TRANSPORTATION facilities where
these seemed to be called for with a
promise of results Time was when
! the railroad was the dictator in bust
ness relations with community. The
time was passing and had passed to 2
I great extent. becarse of the focma
/ ton of commercial organizations, O."
I shippers ORGANIZATIONS. Such organi-
cations were the creations OF the last
i eight or ten years, and they were NOT
4 only effective as Factors In protecting
or prom citing LEGAL interests, out were
welcomed by the railroad companier
generally, because they were founl
to be fair In their demands aud az
lford---l o medium for an exchange Of
views to The benefit OF all concerned
Railroads generally desired to do
what was right and misunderstood
iHps aud embar easements could BE-
easily ayoiled wnen there Is an earn
est and organized effort to do 10.
Cairo was ereditably represented BY
organized business forces In the
Board OF Trade, Commercial CLUB,
Lumhermen's association, Retail MeT.
chants association and jobbers asso-
:. citation. They probably could exc
greater force II united than separate
~. Mr.. Mussmane urged citizens gen
erally to stand by and support the
men who were trying to do some
timing for the development OF the
commercial and Industrial interests
of the city.
Mayor Parsons was to speak of the
! city in its relations to the Board OF
: Trade. but begged to digress for a
few minutes to say something con-
corning river Improvement in which
; the city was SO vitallY Interested
: Five years ago he said 1t had been
, atFGn.,tt IN w l,,ra ,,rnnqin nNt mon n