Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1868-09-17
Public improvements.
For Tie Fayetteville Observer.

Mr.. EDITOR Il have observed
for some time past that you have
been urging the people of this
county to internal improvements,
and ] am very glad to see it, be-
cause ! am very anxious to see
odd Lincoln take the place due
her in rank amongst the counties
Of the State, ! am very glad to
zee, TOO, that the people are begin
ing 10 wake up. There is a pros
pcct Of having five pixies coming
into Fayetteyille-some talk of
manufacturing, Of schools, &c.
Hope the gas part will soon play
out and the substantial work be-
gin. But, Dir. Editor, do not
write this letter for the purpose
Of congratulating this good peo-
pie upon what they have done,
but to give them a hint which
has been overlooked so far. |
have noticed when subscriptions
for any improvement OF charitable
object are to be made, the rich are
generally sought out first TO head
the paper. Now this is all
wrong. There are very few rich
men in this county, but fewer still
are the rich men who have any
liberality. i -.
Just look at this county. Now
| defy any man to point out a sim
gle improvement of any conse-
quence that was brought about by
the rich men of the community,
or any improvement into which
they have put their wealth. Now
take up your rich men in detail,
and let US see what each has done.
Werever money IS acanted you
mag count them os,t. But I'll tell
you what they have done::' When
paper is going the rounds, you
will sometimes see the name of one
of these men who counts his wealth
ty tens of thousands down for
500, or probably he gets ,ome-
times up to $1,000 when he is d.
rectiy interested. and to be direct
ly benefited, but very often his
amount dwindles down to S25 or
$40. Just under his name you
will probably find the name of
some man who has little farm,
or of some business man who de-
ponds upon the short profits of his
business to support his family, or
of some other who counts his all
in hundreds, and yetin nine cases
out of ten these men subscribe as
much as the rich man, and they
Arrays subscribe in proportion to
their property vastly more than
the rich. And they have done
more than this. By their small,
niggardly subscriptions, and their
constant warfare on public i'm
provements, they have discouraged
them, and kept Lincoln county
back from taking her place a.
mongst the first counties in the
State. Yes, sir, Lincoln county
owes her present condition, her
backward position, her loss of
Immense advantages, to the infu-
ence of her wealthy men. Sup
pose, that instead OF building the
Nashville and Chattanooga Rail-
road diagonally across the State, we
had risen up and put our strength
and wealth into it to bring it de-
rectly South from Nashville
through Fayetteville; who can tell
where we might have been in i'm
provements now? Had such q
Road been built, the Nashville
and Decatur Railroad would not
have been built most probably be-
cause it would have been too near
the same line. But | am not
"grieving over split milk, |" / am
simply referring to this matter to
show what we might have been,
if acealh had been liberal instead
of c1ose.fsted and penuious.-i
Therefore | say unto you, depend
not on wealth in the present
march Of Improvement.
You are going around with your
subscription papers to build pixies,
&c, &c; don't ask single rich man
to subscribe to them. We have
but few rich men and they can be-
easily spared. Let them see they
are not necessary to the improve
ment of the county, that we CAM
gel along without them, and CAM
be independent. We have depended
on them until our county is called