Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-11-07
THE TENNESSEE CENTRAL opp..
CTFIc RAILROAD.
Closing Appeal.
MR.. DEBow's LErrERs-No. XVI.

And now, citizens, having talked myself
as it were, out of breath, or rather out Of fig-
ures, reach at length a conclusion. The
labor has been to great extent one of love
and If you have followed out the argument |
closely, which the vanity of writer always
takes for granted, 1t will appear that the /
subject demanded no less, and that each con-
secutlve paper Of the series, bears upon and |
supports It's main proposition, to wit: That |
we must build the railroad to Knoxville, |
which 1t Is altogether in our power to do.
Figures may lie; they often do; but in this |
inventive age what will not? From an |
idiosyncracy of mind, however, l am in |
clined TO place as much dependence upon |
them as l do upon rhetoric or stump-speak- |
ing, which, in general, have the great adyan-
tage of auditory.
visited your State for the frat time a
mere boy, climbing on horseback the noun
tains from Carolina. Reaching Greenville,
in East Tennessee. l read upon a sign-board,
"ANDREw JOHNSON, Tailor" Presto,
change-that man is President Of the United
States.
came again, long after, sent by the city
of New Orleans, to advocate railroad which
should connect the Crescent City with your
NdPlAdi, tAlC ANhAhd III VI Il SCIGlAAG WHICH 0dS
originated in 1887, and had slept for over
twenty years-came by the slow and devious
stage route, up hill and down, by Summer
Vile and Jackson and Columbia; what
memories linger of whole DAYS of suffocaiing
dasg of battered head and stifined Joints, of
stifiiing air and carefully iammed proper
tions-men, women and children, twelve
inches Of space apiece.
DrasfO ohapOa ana;pT on, In Mau,pbis
this morning, and take my supper at Nash
vile and retire quietly to bed, having not
even been soiled by the adventure! Presto,
inally-as / have lived to see the New
Orleans scheme of twenty years revived and
executed, and shall not live to see, II have
the faith to think it, Tennessee's ancient
scheme accomplished of a central road,
graphing together, with bands of iron, her
extreme eastern and western frontier?
Let the politicians talk of reconstruction
and of how to reconcile the jarring and hos
tile elements of the State, the magic power
of the locomotive shall shame their efforts,
and waiting for the wagon" the lion and
the lamb shall keep very good peace between
them. "Let me make the songs Of a people
said philosopher, and you are welcome to
frame their laws" Let me lay out their
railroads would be as wise an aphorism.
Those who are at the head of this move
ment as was said before are in part well
known te the people of the State as men of
enterprise and wealth, and many others will
before long enlist in the service. Engineers
are to be sent out, and when their report is
published the directors will come before the
people with something tangible in their
hands to demand the necessary aid. A
prompt and generous response may certainly
be relied upon.
The Legislature of the State, the town
Council of Nashville, and its property hold
ers and merchants, the citizens and residents
in all the counties to be traversed, will not
be able, if they would, to evade the urgent
andincessant demands which will be brought
home to them by the promoters of this en-
terprise who are, feel very sure, as CAR
LYLE expresses it, most terribly in ear
nest"
They are in opposition to no other ente-I
prise Of the State, wholly or in part accom-
plished. No where are railroads Cannibals,
eating up each other. They thrive like
States and other communities with, and not
upon, each other. As wise the hand-loom
weavers who broke to pieces the steam
frames, or the scribes who pounded up the
printing-press as the owners of existing rail
roads opening war upon new projections.
The appeal is TO the county press, the
thinking men and the speakers of the State
that they will examine the merits of this
measure, take it up earnestly and bring it
home to the attention of the people.
Citizens Of Nashville here is an enterprise
opened which will double your commerce,
your population and opulence. Convene in
public meeting if necessary, and discuss it.
Listen to the arguments pro and con, and if
convinced, literally bring forth of your reve-
nue., and instruct your councils to vote aid
should such be expedient. Invite the
county to these deliberations and let US have,
before the spring time opens, such a conven-
ton at Nashville of the friends of the Cen
trail route as has not been surpassed in num-
Der or influence in the State.
People of Middle and East Tennessee, |
COB has Joined your mountains and your |
plains. They reciprocally need each other. |
These mountains groan with mineral wealth. |
Like STEARNs STARTLING, this wealth cries |
to come out Your lands are shut off from |
population and market, and at times have |
scarcely v,lue. Would you duplicate and |
triplicate their value? Would you promote |
settlement and agriculture and manufac- |
lures? Build the road and it is done! No |
mendicant appeals to your charity. A king, |
an emperor, asks but part of your revenues, |
asks but part of your lands, asks that he /
may give, that he may increase indefinitely |
the value of your land and your revenues.
He is a benefactor and not a grinding des- |
pot.
Legislators of the State, you have been
lavish in your past endOwments TO railroads. /
There may be need of you again. Though /
our general laws provide sufficient there /
will be instances in which the power and
encouragement of the State will avail much.
The skillful General defends his capitol by
strengthening his outposts. The moneyed
intere Is ofother sections will come to your
relief and will swell your own treasures,
when you have poured them out. HERCULES
will help when the WAGNER is at the wheel! /
You have still a mission, as much so as when
in 1851 addressed you, by invitation, as a
delegate from New Orleans, and used the
language which in closing l quote to-day:
Gentlemen, the spirit of Improvement
and of progress which has descended up
on you, is sweeping down the valley of
the Mississippi, and producing Its wonder
full results in all Of the States to the south
ward of your limits. 1t is for you legisla-
tors, the first to sit, during this excitement
of the public mind, to lead the way and di-
rect the spirit ofthe times TO immediate and
practical results. Indicate your course of
policy, and, let it be a broad and liberal
one; something worthy State like Tennes-
see and believe me when | say it, that
Mississippi and Louisiana will unite upon
the same platform with you, and that Ala
bama and Arkansas and Texas, will respond
TO the extent of their means and capabili-
ties. These States are but in their infancy
of progress and improvement, and are now
looking to you to pave the way for a system
which henceiorward shall emphatically be
known as the Southwestern system. With
your resolutions and acts in their hands, the
friends of improvement may walk boldly
and | believe triumphantly forth"
j. d. DEBow,
President Tennessee & Pacific Railroad.
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Trru, p;c6r,o,I ILL., |