The Wilmington morning star., 1940-11-16
NEWMAN SPEAKS
BEFORE EXCHANGE
Revitalized Chamber OF
Commerce Needed Here,
He Declares

Development of tourist trade, in
dustries and port facilities by a re-
vitalized chamber of commerce was
cited by Harriss Newman yesterday
at the Exchange club luncheon as
the only workable solution to make
Wilmington the city it should be.
"About 1888 a new feeling began
to creep into a Wilmington that had
judged itself the garden spot of the
world which could afford to give up
the progress other cities made with
their labor disputes and foreigners"
said Newman, a former state sena-
tor. people began to ask themselves
why Wilmington had failed to be-
come a city like Charlotte, Green's
boro and Winst0n-Salem."
Newman said that many of the
circumstances making Wilmington
what it : is today we're beyond the
control of the citizens. A necessary
element for development, he said, is
rich agricultural background, which
Wilmington lacks. He cited the vast
rice fields in early Cape Fear history
that moved to Texas and Louisiana,
the naval stores trade that vanished
with the pine trees, and, the great
amount of cotton that subsidized be-
cause shipping costs were too high
to bring a product to Wilmington
that could be sold where it was
grown. He added that now Whining
ton is one of the largest petroleum
products terminals in the United
States.
A reservoir of cheap labor from
the mountains and cheap power plus
a key family extremely interested in
the development of a certain indus
try added to the larger cities up
state, he said. The rich families in
Wilmington invested their money in
northern stocks and industries. The
stable wealth built up by wholesale
companies disappeared in 1920 with
good roads and chain stores, he
said.
THE development Of a city is a
scientific proposition" said New.
man. Men with experience regard
less of wealth are needed in the
chamber of commerce who will give
their energies. A chamber of COM
merce is either good or bad. If it is
bad, the businessmen should join in
and revitalize it."
Too much energy is lost, he said,
in several departments working
alone without cooperating for one
end. He cited the field representa-
tives to bring business to the port
and the Wilmington Tariff associa-
ton which he said should be in the
same building as the Chamber of
Commerce.
Horse shows, golf tournaments,
motor racing and beach events should
all be sponsored by the chamber OF
commerce, he said. With one of the
finest ports in the world, which has
proved its Importance in years past
as the largest port for naval stores.
cotton and now petroleum products,
and two of the best beaches in the
world, Newman said Wilmington
should certainly be on the map as a
wonderful winter resort. He gave as
examples Augusta, Ca, and Pine
IF Wilmington wants to escape
being secondary" Newman added,
people must stop Dragging about
its limitations and boost it's through
an active Chamber of Commerce
with the citizens behind it - and
then we will put Wilmington across
Two new members of the EXCHANGE
club were announced yesterday: Rus
sell Stone*and DR.. r. T. Ronner.
Clayton Holmes led the group in
singing 1.-THE Old North State" and
j. Arthur Brown was in charge OF
the program.
Next weeks meeting of the =.
change club will be at Higgins oys.
ter roast at Z o'clock Friday night.
n