Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-10-23
TENNESSEE RAILROADS---KMPO
TANT PROPOSITION

/ TENNESSEE RAILROADS---KMPO
| TANT PROPOSITION.
On the 10th inst, Mr.. Prosser, of Thu
county, introduced into the Tennessee
House of Representatives, the following
resolutions, which were so Just that they
were Immediately adopted, without dis
| sent
Whereas, The general government did
at the close of the late war, sell and con
vey to the sundry railroads of this State,
large amount Of rolling stock, equip
ments, and material for the use of tn,
said roads, which Indebtedness amount
| to the sum of about five millions of dol
lars, and
| Whereas, In the depressed condition o
business in this State during the inierva
which has elapsed since such sale wa
made, it has been impossible for TIE sale
roads to meet the conditions upon which
sales were made, and this Indebtedness i
an incumbus upon the development o
the roads and the prosperity of the State
and
Whereas, A large amount of rolling
stock and material Of these roads wa
taken, used and destroyed by the general
| government during the war, and no credit
for these or the use of roads during thu
time has been allowed, and
|. Whereas, Large grants of public lands
| have been made to many of the States in
| the Union in aid of internal improve
ment, therefore
Resolved, by the General Assembly Of
the State of Tennessee, That a memorial
be presented to the Congress of the United
States praying them on behalf of the State
| Of Tennessee, to donate and appropriate
the amount of the said Indebtedness, prin-
cipal and interest to the State of Tennes-
see in aid of internal Improvements of the
said State, and further,
Resolved, That our Senators in Congress
be instructed, and our Representatives be
requested to do all in their power to ac-
complish the objects of this resolution.
That these resolves will meet the
ready concurrence of the Senate there is
no doubt; and it will then remain for
Congress to decide the matter
In calling the special attention of our
Senators and Representatives in Con-
gress to the subject, we desire to state a
few facts that should induce them to act
promptly in the premises.
There is no road in Tennessee that is
not an important link in " trunk " con-
nection. Let us see lst The Chatta-
nooga road, the first built, brought Nash
vile in direct connection with the East
ern Gulf States, through the system of
Georgia and Eastern Alabama, as well as
with the Atlantic coast of Georgia, and
the whole of South and North Carolina,
2nd The Memphis and Charleston, a
grand East and West Trunk line, ex-
tending from the Mississippi, through its
latitudinal connections with Norfolk,
Washington, Baltimore, and thence
North and East-with prospective extern
sions West to the heart of Arkansas, and
to the Rocky Mountains beyond. 3-d.
The East Tennessee and Georgia and the
East Tennessee and Virginia, cutting
through the whole extent Of East
Tennessee, and forming an i'm
portant part of the great line last above,
and without which the Virginia and Ten
nessee would be merely a local artery.
The Louisville and Nashville, on the
great air>line from the Northeast to the
Southwest, and following the perpendicu-
lar from Buffalo to New Orleans. Its
radiation to Memphis, through the Ohio,
and the Memphis, Louisville and Clarks-
constituting a sub-system
reaching out into the direct South and
direct West, and clasping the trade-pulse
Of the immediate valley of the Missis-
sippi Fourth The Nashville and De-
catur, cutting across the Memphis and
and reaching forward to
Montgomery, and thence to Pensacola,
the eastermost and best harbor of the
Mexican Gull, and opening to the West
Indies, and the great marts of South
America Fifth. The Nashville and
Northwestern, stretching across the Ten
nessee to the Mississippi, and reaching
out beyond to the Missouri system, and
becoming the great Southeastern tribu-
tary to the great Union line to the Pacific.
Sixth The Edgefeld and Kentucky, or the
Nashville and Henderson, opening a di-
rect line with Indiana, through Illinois to
Chicago, and thence to the extreme
Northwest and the Lake Superior region.
Seventh. Then there are the sub>connec-
tons of the Nashville and Northwestern,
the Memphis and Charleston and the
Memphis and Ohio with the Mobile and
Ohio, and the Mississippi Central and the
and Tennessee, penetrating
entirely through the valley and reaching
the gulf, at Mobile and through the
mouths of the Mississippi
From this view of the Tennessee sys-
tenn of railroads, ii is clear that the reso-
lutions of Mr.. Prosser do not propose to
confer merely local benefits. The roads
he proposes to relieve, really constitute
the central system of the Union and all
the Middle, Central, Western and South
ern States are directly interested in up,
holding the Tennessee roads that are
to reap the advantages pro
posed.
Besides, the whole Union has already
received value for that which is now
claimed as a debt due from these roads
There was not a road in Tennessee,
which was not used by the Union forces
in suppressing the Rebellion. And as
Mr.. Prosser truthfully says, not one Of
them has been compensated. for that use.
Take the Nashville and Chattanooga, for
example-it had nearly two hundred
miles of branches The stock and ma
chinery and iron rails Of these branches
we're all taken for the public use during
the war, and not returned at its close.
The result is that while the State of