The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-01-05

community promotion. Different 10
caitieS have different needs, different
communities their peculiar advantages
and adaptabilitleS to development along
certain lines. Indeed no two COM
munities or localities are the exact
counterpart, in all particulars, Of any
other communities or localities IN
either their advantages or their posi-
bilities of development. Nor are the
students Of community promotion al
ways agreed, or always correct, in their
diagnosis of the Ills which retard COM
munity development and progress, or
in their preSCrip tiOns 10 correct these
Ills. But the writer's Of all OF the
volumes that have been written, the
fathers of all Of the theories thought
out, are agreed upon the following in
dubitabIe facts: That no matter what
the natural advantages a locality may
possess, Nature is impotent TO de-
VelOp those advanta ges without the as
slstance of man; that no locality or
community can enjoy the full fruition
Of its advantages OF accomplish q max
iTnum of development and progress,
without the close cooperation OF ali
OF the individuals which make up its
citizenship, and the interests which
constitute its business and social life,
and that no commSnity may hope to
enjoy a stable prosperity undfsturbed
by periods Of acute stagnation of bust
ness, without a. diversity of industries.
Facts. like comparisons, are some
ones self odlous by directing atten-
ton TO facts that are patent TO every
one has many times been known to
have q salutary effect. And, at the
risk Of making myself OdiOus-at least
to some OF my roo 6"rs. venture here
to call attention to some very unpIeaS-
ant to ali OF us, and to many OF us,
aCutely embarrassing, facts, about
Pensacola. It's institutions and the pre-
pOnderatIng element of its citizenship.
Pensa cola ought to be a city OF more
than a hundred thousand souls-a, city
filed with COntented, busy, prosperous
men and women with no cares OF the
morrow to disturb the balance of their
thoughts as to what the morrow might
bring TO them in want or woe. Its geo.
~raT hical situation as to the center Of
population OF the nation and of the
nations agricultural and industrial
centers of activity, it's delightful year
around climate and its manifold other
natural advantages, should guarantee
this.
With its superb Iandlocked harbor,
lcapable. as it is. of accommodating all
OF the ships that sail the seas. and ac-
cessiOle to the open waters of the Gulf
Of Mexico by the Intervention OF but
seven miles from its anchorage and
docks Pensacola ought to be the bust
est seaport on the entire gulf coast
With its geographical situa ton and
marvellous natural facilities for water
transportation, Pensacola should be a
hive Of commercial activity. both do
nlestiC and export, that would engender
the envy Of a dozen of her neighbOrs
which have developed into metropolises
while she has been marking time.
With It's climatic conditions and its
contiguousress to the great iron and
coal fields of Alabama; with the cot
ton fields of the entire southland AZ
its very gates; with forest resources
OF both hard and soft woods as bOun-
tiful, almost. as the sands Of the sea-
shore at her feet, and quite as Access
sible: with waterpOwer within half a
dozen miles of its corporate limits
awaiting development to furnish mo-
mentum to operate hundreds OF plants
in various industries. Pensa cola should
be a manufacturing center second to
none in all Of DixieIand.
But Pensacola is not q city Of hun
dred thousand souls-a city filled with
contented, busy, prosperous men and
women; it is the greatest, the most
busiest seaport on the gulf. Nor is
Pensacola d hive OF commercial activ-
ity OF metropolitan proportions in any
line whatever, save the single eXCep-
ton, Of its fish business. And to say
that Pensacola can lay claim to any
distinction, whatever, as an indus
trial center in d single line Of manu-
facturies, would be an absurd viola
lion of truth.
There are reasons for these condi-
tons; somebody, somewhere, is re-
sponsible for their existence.
Through all of the viCissitudes Of q
third Of a century / have been resi-
dent of Pensacola. I have seen Pen
sacola emerge from the swaddling
clothes OF q fishing village to It's pres
ent state OF development. l have seen
men come and go-men, who with
might and main, with brains and en-
ergy and toll, some Of them native
to the soil others from afar-lnen, with
intelligence and patriotism and a gen
uine spirit of self sacrifice, who have
tried and tried and tried, to develop
PenSaCOla's resOurces-to make Pensa-
cola the busiest seaport on the gulf;
to develop Pensa cola into n hive Of
commercial activity; to establish here
the factories and FORCES, the spindles
and looms, the wood working plants
and furniture manufactures, which
would prosper here. and which through
their payrolls, would fill Pensacola with
contented, busy, prosperous men and
women and boys and girls.
Partial success has crowned the ef-
forts of these heroic men, 1t Is true:
but lets be candid with ourselves. and
on our honor say, whether or not, their
efforts have been rewarded a. they
should have been; let's give rein to our
minds in retrospect, and like men say
yes, or not, TO the following very peril
nent questions:
Hasn't the burden OF Pensacola's de-
velopment TO it's present stage been
placed upon too few shoulders?
Have you. and I. and our neighbors
next door and across the street, borne
our equitable share Of the burden OF
this development?
Have you, and 1, and our neighbors,