The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-02-08
MAY IL, 1875,

$4,000 inhabitants, DenisOn will hav
about 1900; and if in ten years tn
county should reach 10000, as W.
think it will, Denison will have abou
5000 inhabitants. Within Is year,
Denison will have 5000 inhabitants
and Crawford county $4,000 popula
ton. In giving these figures we have
eliminated every specially favorable
circumstance as we'll as every special
ly adverse, and confined ourselves tt
the ordinary, regular and necessary
growth of the county.
Much can be done of course by oul
citizens to accelerate the growth Of
our village as well as retard it. Il
the spirit of improvement which has
manifested itself this spring is con
tinued and expanded a great change
will take place.
'The necessity of incorporation
will force itself again upon public
attention at no distant day.
"The next important step is an in.
dependent school district, making our
high school a county school free OF
tuition to all scholars within the
county
"Next in Importance is the forma.
ton of Manufacturing Aid society,
which would at least undertake to
give all necessary information upon
manufacturing subjects, etc. For in
stance, not day should be lost to
take measures whereby steam mill
and hotel can be secured.
There is another mistake which
merchants are apt to make and that
is to discourage, instead of encour-
age similar enterprises. We hold that
the attractive power of the village to
draw trade from the circumference
of the center is sufficiently increased
by new establishments to augment
the trade of ALL
1--WE have purposely made sober
and moderate estimate of the future
of Denison and of Crawford, county,
because it will be by far better for
us all should our expectations be ex-
ceeded by the facts than that we
should be carried away by enthus-
iastic predictions.
Our leading citizens owe to the
community the reciprocal duty, to put
the capital which they have drawn
from the people to the best possible
use. Thus they will best serve
themselves and the public, and make
Denison a desirable place of resi-
dence."
There is something almost pathetic
in these words written by J. Fred
Meyers for the Denison Review, May
IL, 1875.
Denison has fallen far short of the
sober and moderate" estimate of it's
future. The town is now about where
the old time Review editor thought
It would be in 1895. 1t has thus TAX
en- us about sixteen years longer than
he estimated to attain our present
growth.
A large part of this may be at
tributed to the slow growth of the
county. He did not foresee and no
man could have foreseen, that Iowa
as whole would lose in population
during the decade just past. If Craw-
ford county had population of So
900 Denison would approximate 5000
Inhabitants. The growth of town and
county are linked together. Our in
terests are in common. All that we
can do to build up Crawford county
will build up Denison.
Reyerting to the editorial above
quoted, it becomes us to be honest
with ourselves and to consider just
how much OF this lack of growth is
due to ourselves. Have "our leading
citizens put the capital which they
have drawn from the people to the
best possible use?" If the moneys
which have been invested in mines
had been invested in Denison, would
not this have been better city, and
a much more desirable place OF resi-
dence? Have we done our full duty?
Well-nigh 36 years ago a manufac-
turing aid society was urged. What
could have been accomplished in these
SO years had such work been sys-
tematically done? Are we not just
as far from the establishment OF a
genuine Manufacturing Aid society as
we were at that time? We have the
steam mill and the hotel, but how
much more could we have had?
Why would not the idea OF Offering
free high school tuition to the chill
dren of the county be good one to-
day? The cost would be something
more, but it would bring large num-
Der of the best youth in the county to