Booming Ann Arbor!

Mk. Edi'tob :- Several btuinflSB I rienda tu w hom the lubstancc of these suggestions have been made, have urged their publieation. SIkhiIJ you and yourcity cotcmporaries oodcui iu their judgement that the suggestions, whicli are hastily written, are timcly and ii enough praatical value to recommend tbem, In whole or part, you are at llberty to publUb Uieui. There Is au evident feeling among our cltizena thai oma oonoerted public effort slicmld be made to promote the business inlcrcM., ,1'ilir city. [til B rommon er. ror to aseume tbat the ontalde world know ni .uní the attractlons ot Ann Arbor as favorably as we wlio live hcre know our beautiful city. Vet while we rest on th is as.-umption, younger bat nNt enterprUng towm by liberal advertlslng, uttract to themselves the active and entergetic memben of the oommanlties wbo ir leeking new loeatlom forbu6iness or real' Oen ce. As one method ef giving initial expres lion lo th's general feellng the following plan, whleb witli various modifloatiODI bai been rocoeitfal In ether towne, Memi ti afford b feasible way for prompt action, at a Beaaon wben many ohangeiare made, in Bpreadiag Information to atrangeri about our city. A way which is simple, Inexpenalve, and also effectual in keeping before our own people M well as otbers the fact tliat Ann Arbor la a city in ev" ery way worthy to bc advertiscd. To awaken interest aiul secure uniteJ oo-operatlon let a public meeting, well advertised, be ealled at a time and place to snit business men and others iuterested As au evidence thst any action taken mi - der such niovement is authorized and repre x ntalive some organiz ation sbould be formed - say "The Buginess Asaoclatlon of Ann Arbor." Leaving open for full COnsIderatiOD and maturity of plans or propoaltlona, the questioa of eSering special inducements to manufacturlng interest, the immediate effort I suggest is as folloj: The appoinlment by this meeting of a committee repreaentiug the vaiied Intereste of the city, to prepare and report- or witli power to print - a condensed eouiprehensive statement of snch length as can be pnnted In plain type on the back of half a sheet of letter paper- and perhal s a still more condenseil statement for note paper and envelope - in English, Germán and other languages f necessary, lithographed if desired. The statement to comprise a brief summary of all infor. mation needed to give strangers a faii idea of our city and its advantages as a place of residence and business, öueh as 'ts locatiOB, altitude, beautiful shaded streets, gravelly soil, excellent sanitaiy eindition,frce( O.n from epidemie disease, luw per cent. of general sickness and mortality rates, beautiful, fertile and healthful gurroaiiding country and suburbs, piipulation, centre of fruit raisins interaata, Agrtealtanü, lloiticulturalandPomological 80016116?, county seat of Washtenaw, a county of over 40,000, distance fioni Detroit and Toledo, competitivo R J!. patsenger and Rrelght ratcs, and fa cilities for shipping and manwfactaring - water works, telephone with state exchange and witli Vpsilanti In free circuit electric light plants - gas, mercantile aiu mannfacturing interetts - banks, hotels public buildings, cliurches- f reidora from debl and ow tixes, rents, insuranee, dominant tone of society moral and law abiding - public waidi gramniar, and justly l'ainou.-i llih School - seat of the State Iniversily of Michigan, furnisliing unlarpaaaed eduoational adrantages, tnlarginíí opon t lie facilitit'S afl'orded in iti Literary, Scientific and Professional Ooileges of Medicine, Law, Dentlstry, and Muslo witli Itl 1100 studenls of men and winnen trom all partí of this and other eountrie its observatorle8, its laboratories forsclen tifie and mecbanlcal work, its libraras miueuDM of science, art, etc, etc. Circular .-tatemciits for enelosure in letters eau be made more full coneerning the University or any feature of special interest in the city. A friciul suggests an ad" inirable idea, i. e., the ciiculatini of larger illustrated circulars on tiesue paper. The committee tor preparation of such statement should cootein a representatlve of each city paper. The experlencu and judgment of newspapcr mon make them c-l'i cially competent for the work, anti our owu pubishers could pabttah them - and the letter heads that wou ld go on the blank sitie of many of thern - dividlng the printing s they or the committee might agree, at Oottom pricef, as samples of their work and liberalily. The preM work for a large nninber of these, I am informeel, can be done at a very low rate, so that business men cun have theli canls or letter hcads on the other side for hut liltle if any more than the ordinary cost of letter heads. And stationera could procure and sell the paper to Dltlzens and Itodentl with or without heading at little if any over cost of clear paper. The circulation of these notices by e.iticeai wnuld ailvertise the l'niversity as well as the city, and the Universi y authorilics and stmlcnts could circuíate many thousands of them and thus advertise Ann Arbor as well as the University. The value of farms iu the vicinity of Ann Arbor and a market for their produce wou ld be Increased by the growth ol our city. All country people doing business at Ann Arbor and its P. O., the, vanous authorities of the county, the city the schools, Corporation?, tirms, business men and wonien, and citizens would be niuUially bcnefited in disseminating such noticc-. Our 1'. M. iniornis me that this P. O ronda away trom 2Ö00 to 0000 letters daily. With coHoerted effort it need not costtwo hundred business men and citizens an average of over $1 each above their ordinary expense for correspondence to secure the distribution of 100,000 sueh notie-es in i single year. The city may have depended too nuich on the University in its earlier history, and given too liltle encouragement to manuf'acturing an 1 industrial ente! pi .-es that créate demand for labor, activity in business, and circulation of moiiey all the year, College towns have been notcd as poor business towns, as wlien most colleges were establishcd all our towns rere ¦mal], and the teudency of popalatlon and social iiiïluence in ooniiiiunities of college life, it must be admitted, is not favorable to the growth of industries of manual labor. Notwithstandiug the large ntimber of students in all colleges, and iu our l'niversily in particular, who have worked more thau the legal ten hourn aday, and will tgaln - though Ann Ubor will always be bcst and uiO9t widey known tlirough the University, both lie town and the University will bj bcnaáted by our grmvth of busiueas and topulatloa. The inte reste of the Univcréty uncí (he city are not diverse but idetltcal and mtttuaL Aini Arbor hasshown bj appreoiaUoD of (hl Inivcrsity by the íumy substantial aeknowledgements of ts Interests, by doimtions to aid in Ihe ¦ivi Hun of public buildings on the cani3ns and observatory, aggregating slnce [800 nearly if not quite $20,000, in addi;ion to its liare of taxes. And if missapprehended nolions tbat the infhience of college life is prejudicial to pbjrsteal labor and developmeiitof business have obtained lieretofore, surcly the University is doing uiucb tbat ought to counteract it and secure the respectability nul QObility nt physical toil, in the establishment of a laboratory of ractical work ii tlic uiechauic arts and engineering, and in the extensión of its elective system, maktng it more thanever a Umversity in fact as in name, where almost universal knowleilge can be acquired. It would scein reasonable tliat a place witli sucli facilities for practical study of science, arts, and mechanica, is favorable for the establishment of manufactures reqolrlng skilled labor. Tfaankl to the early conservati9m of our city, we have not been boomed at the expense of a large city debt that in inany imbitious towns has proved an awkward "boomerang." Few cities of the country have so sinull a tax. Our city tax is less than xi per cent., and more than one huif of that is school tax. For the city proper the tax is less than J per cent. Thiiiiks, too, that Ann Arbor is a mora1 and luw abiding city. However mucli we may have in commou with all cotnmuniUea to regret that we bave either immorulity, vice or crime, when compared with other cities of its size it is a matter of proper gratification and but just to the truth and to ouigelves, to state what the faots wilt warrant, and statistics show that the vicious and criminal element is exoepllonally tmall, and the standard of MN i ty is above the average of the cities of 10,000, in this or any state, in moráis and chrisiianity, and observance of jjooc order and good government. All this conservatism in government and moráis has laid the foundation for stable, progressive growth, and enables us to oö'er more substantial inducemente to those seeking new homes or places for investment or establishment of manufactories or business that does not take a vacation. The plan is elastic and adaptable to any Viiriations of detail. No one individua or business should be advertised at the expense of others, but the city in genera is advertised by all. Every citizen writing letters can help in inviting business and residents. And with the same unaiiimity in eucouraging and building up Ann Arbor, its population could in a few yearí be doubled, and these picturesque suburbs and liilleidcs be corered with beautiful homes. And u hen in response strangers come to us to live or engage in business, Ie tliein see that our inducements are not al on paper. Meanwhile, why wait for strangers to come and oceupy open fields and send Ann Arbor's capital away fo investment? Why not begin and oper ate and conduct our own boom by develop ing home industry with home capital, aiu welcome all aid trom any source in estab lishing and maintaining manufactures and business that goes on all the year These are questions such au associatioi could prolitably discuss. Proyidence ant fortune help those who help themselves