Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1919-01-24
COMMERCIAL CLUB
One Should be Organized for
ftuntlngdOr

suggestion of last weeks issue, that
the merchants and business men of
Huntingdon should wake up and plao
things worth while for the year 1919.
And nothing, in my opinion, could be
better as start toward this than the
organization of live Commercial
Club, where such things could be dis
cussed among ourselves and then gone
into in an orderly, organized manner.
No town could have been in much
worse condition than was Huntingdon
when our last Commercial Club came
into existence. The town was badly
in debt under the warrant system and
its warrants were worth only ON 70
to 80 cents on the dollar; number
Of unpaid judgements hung over tae
town; taxes were collected in loose,
slip-shod manner; no sinking fund was
provided for payment of outstandi ia
bonds, the streets were a quag mire
of mud and filth; in short, there were
no real business methods in existance
in the management Of the towns az
fairs. But all this was changed under
the wise, energetic action and infu-
ence of our Commercial Club. A
new city charter was drawn up and
passed through the Legislature; set
Of good, live men and progressive
citizens were nominated by the
Club and elected by the people to the
position Of Mayor, Recorder and Al.
dermen, and after they were elected
they thought enough of the honor
conferred to put some time and real
thought into the needs of the town.
And the credit Of the town evolved
from the worse kind to par excel
lent. Such thing as a city warrant
perhaps to be paid SOME TIME.
was relegated to the waste basket,
and real cash was placed in the bark
to the credit of the town to meet
its obligations when due.
This Commercial Club was The
means of all our rock streets: all
the shade trees, we now enjoy as we
walk down our streets in nid-sum-
mer; the influence that caused the
old iron fence, that made our Court
House look more like prison stockade
to be removed and nice concrete walk
to be put down around the lawn in
stead; it was the cause of our first
concrete sidewalks and of all that
have been put down since around our
square and on our streets; it father
ed and encouraged the several splen-
did County Fairs which brought
pleasure and profit to the citizens
Of Carroll County. 1t encouraged
our progressive real estate dealers,
who in turn brought many new citi.
zens to our town and county and
thereby caused our town and county
property to double and treble in value
and under the encouragement of this
club the Ladies Civic Improvement
Club built number of splendid little
parks and otherwise beautifed the
town until it was the pride of US all,
it encouraged everything that would
bring more business to our merchants,
and did other things good for the
town and county too numerous to
mention here.
Huntingdon during recent times
has been slipping back into some of
its old time, rocky, slip-shod ruts.
We all talk something should be done
but nobody does it. 1t takes orga-
nization and team work to succeed,
and nothing is better along this line
than real, live, progressive Com
mercial Club. Perhaps we might
even get respectable train service
and better telephone service, if we
ORGANIZED and lent our assistance to
other such organizations of other
towns around us. / suggest that the
head of our city administration,
Mayor Watson, see our business men
and call a meeting for the organi-
cation of a commercial club at the
earliest possible date. And further,
by all means should we resolve 10
assist and encourage the efforts Of
our Ladies Civic Improvement Club