The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-17
.B.F. .YOAKUM SPEAKS ID BUSINESS MEN An Appreciatiye Audience Hears Him in St. Louis HOW BIG IS ST. LOUISE" "To Build Up This Country Rapidly and Successfully, We Should
 Work Together-We Want
 More Team Work"
 
HOW BIG IS ST. LOUISE"

St. Louis. January 16.-( (Special)-
 F. Yoakum, chairman of the Frisco lines, delivered an address before the
 Business Mems League of St. Louis to- night A large and representative au-
 dience was present and as MT Yoakum
 Is an attractive speaker. he had the
 closest attention from beginning to end, his theme was "The Relations of the
 River and Agricultural Development to
 St. Louis.' He said in part:
 Sometimes my friends in the east ask me, How big is St. Louis? and ex- | pect me to give the census figures. l lalways reply, St. Louis is as big as the Mississippi valley l never regard St. | Louis as bounded by the limits of St.
 Louis county. That Is only it's lawful boundary. From transportation
 standpoint. St. Louis Is a distributing center for a rich territory larger thad
 two or three of the empires of Europe.
 "1f I should ask my friends here a 1 favor, 1t would be to show me how l
 can best aid in the development of the city in which 1 had the good fortune
 to do my most successful work. If l have had any success, It has been on account of the help and cooperation | of men and interests in St. Louis. Of the commercial divisions of the United States, l belong to the southwestern
 group having come from Texas to St Louis, where I put in some of my hard
 est work, and am temporarily away because of the demands of business Tn herefore we can talk frankly and sen sibly together on all questions affect
 ing the welfare of St. Louis and the
 southwest.
 1 ITO build up this country rapidly
 and successfully. we should work to- gether We want team work No one horse can move the heavy load, but
 when the full team goes against its
 collars together, the wheels begin to turn. In cooperation there is strength We must forget the mistakes of the
 past and all work for the future Fault
 finding handicaps efficiency. We should | look upon the problems of St. Louis l Just the same as we do the departments of our own business. As sales man. agers for St. Louis we should strive
 to create new customers as well as i serve old ones with the same enterprise
 that we show in stimulating our own tHVl itS, anu III seeking economies m
 production and facilities in distribu- ' ton.
 Through your commercial organiza- | tions you are promoting the commercial l business and upbulding of St Louis | Through the farmers organizations, of which there are a large number in the
 southwest, they are promoting the best 1 interest and development of their busl. | ness
 l nm al lxnt.
 among some farmers that there is a feel l ing of antagonism by commercial organ | izations against the organized efforts O. | the farmers to better their condition l This impression should not prevail, ant | commercial organizations, financial, mer | cantile and manufacturing interests car | help direct the farmers in the channels o
 commerce that will benefit them rathel | than have them follow the advice of the
 officeseeker who has no interest except 6 selfish one to hold the farmers sympathy | for political support
 | Tn conclusion, let us all concentrate oui | efforts toward the upbuilding of St. Louis | by building up the country that supports ' 1t. both to the east and west. This worl, should proceed upon the principle of deeper water on the Mississippi river and | a business along it's fertile valley that will | help support a full fleet of high class I
 tensve system of railroads to the far
 west to bring the traffic of that section | to this big trade center and feed the deep draught boats at the St. Louis wharves loaded with commerce for al | parts of the world. Let us not forget | that the vast producing area to the south. west and west of you still requires | 17S,OOo new miles of railroad to give Il what 1t needs to equal the transportation | facilities h9efc nf ha tsv | east of you. We should get ready for the | opening of the Panama canal, when or account of the increased business to Cen | tral and South America, and other coun- | tries reached through the canal, there will be traffic originating in St. Louis and surrounding territory and passing through the Mississippi valley gateway | that will be far in excess of any that we have. or than the most sanguine can an- ticipate"