Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-02-24
lcoMNUSIcATED.1
Nashville and her Railroad Connec-
lions.

| PATRIOT. for the purpose. propose to discuss
the subject which heads these lines. / do 40
under the impression that the citizens of the
city generally, have not probably given it
such consideration and scrutiny as it
demands of them. and with view to attract
their attention to dangers which, in my es-
| timation, surround them. / state in the
| outset that have no other or further interest
in the subject than shall appear on the face
of these papers. or than citizen desiring the
comfort and convenience, the growth and
prosperity Of his city and state should feel
| Never having had personal insight into the
| private affairs of any of the roads. or pro-
posed roads radiating from Nashville,
! | feel the lack Of much information which
might he of interest to the public, and
| pertinent to the inquiries propose. shall,
| therefore. deal az much as possible in
generalities, and avoid as much as possible
details / shall refrain from unnecessary
criticisms of persons, and censure of the acts
of Companies; but believing that Nashville
has reached point in her career which re-
quires of her citizens to look these matters
fully in the face. my candOr shall not be
suborned by over-nice delicacy, nor my
respect for persons prevent fair and frank
discussion of the public interests.
1t is not now to discuss the utility. advan-
tages and benefits of Railroads TO public and
private prosperity. There was a time when
men of acute and comprehensive business
mind hcsitated and higgled about their
proprirty and expediency; when it was
| theorem. to doubt the truth of which, was
not only pardonable. but held "a praiseworthy
prudence That time is gone The patient
and laborious men who bear the compass,
chain and level and Tevel in figures, have
cut their diagrams all over the face of the
country illustrating and demonstrating It's
| absolute truth. They have united its solution,
! indelibly, in the mountains on the plains,
across valleys and over rivers; and now point
! to dccaying hamlets GROWN into thriving
towns, towns to fourishing cities, and cities to
cmporia of wealth and magnifccnce as the
| application and the result. They have left
| us nothing to doubt, nothing to argue, moth
| ing to prove on this head. 1t is destiny now
to have Railroads. 1t is a decree of the age
| that no city fOurishes without its railroads.
Applied to this city, it is as unavoidable as
it is unalterable. She must have them or
she must make up her mind TO take her scat
by the waysde of Progress, and witness the
triumph Of the times and of neighbOrng
communities at great distance, or be ex-
cludcd altogether from the view.
assume, them, in the beginning, that
Nashville cannot reach her proper destiny
without turning TO account all her resources
ard availing herself of all the advantages
which nature has placed within her reach.
This throws upon her the obligation and
responsibility of meeting all competition,
and to combat with equal effort whatever
other city or community may seek to wrest
from her grasp, that which she has by natural
right.
The first inquiry is, what are the natural
commercial and business rights of Nashville?
A correct answer to this question, in a meas
ure, defines what it is her duty to secure and
retain. without now entering into the minu-
tie, embraced in it, l assume that she is enti
tied to the exclusive trade Of the whole of
middle Tennessee, from the Tennessee river
to the Cumberland mountains, and from the
northern TO the southern boundaries; to the
exclusive trade of a strip or belt of Southern
Kentucky, from twenty to thirty miles wide,
and extending the entire length of middle
Tennessee; to the exclusive trade of North
Alabama, from Florence eastward; to the dry
Al, oc, Iore
portion of West Tennessee; of Mississippi,
from Pout0toc eastward. and from Aberdeen
northward. and the same Of the whole of Ala
bama north from Tuscaloosa; to the provision
trade of Georgia. from near its centre north
ward, and to the same of Alabama as far
south as Montgomery; to the dry goods trade
and that of machinery and manufactured
iron. of a portion of East Tennessee, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and
West Tennessee. She is also entitled to the
great stream Of through travel from New Or
leans to the North and East; to the through
travel from the States southeast to those of
the northwest. She is OF right the emporium,
the seat of iron manufactures of all descrp-
tons. the manufacture of agricultural nipple
mcnts and house furniture for parts of Ken
lucky, Georgia, North Carolina. South Caro-
lima, the greater portion of Tennessee and
Mississippi and the whole of Alabama; and
she might meet, on an equal footing, all other
contestants for the trade of Louisiana and
Arkansas, in the articles last enumerated. |
She is entitled to iron in It's crude state in as
great abundance and at nearly as cheap q |
rate as any other spot in the United States. |
There are a few, but very few localities, III |
the Union where iron is wrought, which have |
better advantages, and none that can CON- |
pete successfully for the trade above indicated |
in these commodities
Ii is deemed unnecessary, in this place. to |
enter into statistics, though itsnay be proper
hereafter.
And what are the facilities for working |
this iron in its crude state, and bringing il |
into forms OF beauty and ability, making |
it the decoration of every house hold, and |
placing il in the hands of mechanics and |
farmers a very lever in elevating them
selves to wealth. and raising the country to |
its rightfnl standard in the scale of prosperity.
The prime element Of the answer, after
providing the raw material, "a the |
cost Of labor-which, in turn is dependent
on the cost of living-whieh again is regulat-
ed by the production OF provisions, the cost
OF clothing. and the multiplied conveniencies
comforts of life. ] cannot. without trans