Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1866-10-26
TENNESSEE, PACIFIC Or CENTRAL
rs fnH RAILROAD. rIs i..
TO the People of Tennessee


To tie People of Tennessee % -i 9ci17
rendered by complimentary vote the
Presidency Of she Great Central Railroad Of
Tennessee, chartered by recent act of the
Legislature, did not feel et liberty to de-
cline, notwithstanding the difficulties of the
position, and the ceaseless energies which
will be necessary, IL this important enter.
prise is TO be carried through. Having
established myself in the State, and located
my pecuniary and other interests here, I have
direct and tangible interest in all that
makes for her prosperity. and especially the
prosperity Of her wealthy and beautiful cap
ital. A citizen Of the South, identified with
its fortunes for veal OF for woe, devoted to
its welfare and interest, I have applied my
self from early life to the DEVELOPMENT of our
enterprise and wealth., and have lived long
enough to witness the most gratifying re-
suits and the abundant success of hundreds
|of undertakings, regarded in their incipiency
to be impracticabe. In the twenty years
which include my connection with these
movements, may be condensed the whole
history nearly of our internal improvement
system-a system which cemrnts and binds
together our States which has built ND our
cities and developed our interior; added in
hnitely to the value Of our lands and TO our
PHYSICAL moral and other comforts The
most OF these roads have in addition, paid
handsome dividends to their proprietors and
stockholders and all will undoubtedly do
so when our affairs again become sett,ed.y
Notwithstanding what has been effected,
an inspection Of the map, and a considera-
ton Of the character of the country dem
onstrate that we are but In the middle and
not at the end Of our abors. Vast and i'm
portant connections are yet TO be made !;
great sections are to be opened wealth now
inaccessible is 10 be brought forth the
mountains, the sea shore and the rivers are
to be brought nearer and nearer to each
other. Another twenty years of construc-
tion will not do more than bring rs to the
stand point which Northern States have
reached to-day in their railroad results and
yet these States still press on. Sir Morton
Peto, the eminent English railroad pro-
jector, stated in bis recent visit to this coun-
try, that T" it was impossible to drop a rail
road anywhere in this country that would
not pay" ...... ......' -,
1t is gratifying to know that the people
Of the South are awake upon the subject of
their material interests, and that they are
reviving and pressing with spirit and energy
all the great railroad enterprises or concep-
tions which were interrupted by the war,
and that they have risen from the ashes of
their misfortunes with renewed spirit and
energies, and with the vast improvement
which the conflict engendered. 80,
When our political affairs are settled, and
that cannot be long delayed with people
so eminently practical as the American, and
when all the interests SO loudly call for it,
the South will enter upon career of pros
perity which nothing in the past has equaled.
Her vast resources will invite capital and
labor from all the world, and will compen.
safe many fold for what has been lost. Man
ufactures will spring up everywhere, our
abundant mines will be worked, our towns,
and villages and cities will exhibit life and
activity. We need not apprehend any pause
in the advance OF such q people.
In l845 ! visited for the first time the
great west as delegate TO the Convention
at Memphis, where nearly all Of the South
ern and Western States were represented,
and well remember the enthusiasm which
was began to be engendered in behalf of
internal improvements, and the plaudits
which rang through the hall when Mr.. CAL
HoUS, the President, declared that in regard
to all the railroad schemes in contemplation,
he considered that which sought 10 connect the
Southern seaboard wih the Mississippi Valley
as the most important 1t threw open mar
kets for Western produce at all times and at
all seasons The Mississippi might be block
AIDED and the produce Of the valley would
not be left TO perish "In less than t,centy
years, sand he, the West wiu be engaged in de.
iberdtions 10 eztend its connections tcih The
Pacific, as IL is now with the Atlantic, and the
connection riH be as intimate nth the one as
with the other"
In a series of brief papers, of which this
is the first, delayed until the disappearance
of the epidemic from among us propose,
fellow citizens, to discuss, land trust thai
you will give me your careful attention, and
that the newspapers Of the State will repub.
lish the series,) the whole subject of our
railroad system what affects the railroads
exercise upon town and country how Nash
vile stands in relation to them, and what
will be its future; what is the duty Of our
property holders and capitalists; what are
the proposed advantages Of the Central or
Pacific Railroad-the country which it will
traverse, the practicabiity of the route, its
cost and mode OF raising it, and will the en-
terprise prove remunerative2 10 rr
When the series is completed, shall en-
deavor to meet the people Of the country to
be traversed by the road, but bespeak in ad-
vance the cooperation of its active and
leading citizens upon whom the success ofl
the enterprise must in great part depend.
Your Obedient servant,