Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-01-29
CLARkSyILLE BE A MAN.
.... UfACrURING CITY,? t-e.

tages it has heretofore had, and still
retains, as a tobacco market-afford.
ing to the planter better prices and
more prompt returns for that article
than he can obtain elsewhere-yet
this alone should not satisfy those in.
terested in the permanent prosperity
of the city.
No place in the South possesses bet
ter natural advantages for the estab.
lishment Of manufactures than
GAINESVILLE. Situated at point
where cheapwater transportation can
be had almost the entire year round
easily accessible from any point
North or South, by railroad occupy.
ing a central position between the
coal fields of Kentucky and the iron
ridge extending from the Alabama to
the Kentucky line-the latter Of
which, according to,a late geological
survey, contains ore enough to furnish
the whole world with iron for ages to
come-how are we to avoid the con.
clusion that GAINESVILLE can and
ought to be made II manufacturing
city? .- ........... ...r... n
But the trouble does not lie i'm con-
vincing our capitalists of this fact it
is readily admitted by all who are in
the least degree conversant with the
advantages offered to manufacturers
by the surrounding country. What
then? To get them to act, or encour.
age Others to act-there's the rub. II
we ask q capitalist why he does not
embark in the manufacturing bust
ness, his answer is, II don't know
know it would be q good thing; but
am not a mechanic; l know moth
ing about it, practically; 1 am conf
dentit would be paying Investment
but it might he some time before l
could get any return, and / prefer to
use my capital where q per cent. is
more speedily realized, even though
1t be less" 49,. .... ...............
And here the argument ends, leav-
ing us just where we Were twenty
years ago, and where we are likely to
be twenty years hence, unless there is
a radical change of policy in this par
ticular.
Why can not the coal North of us
be used to convert the ore South of us
into iron, instead of sending the lat
ter to Pittsburg to be manufactured
and returned to us in the shape of
nails, hoes, plows, chains, machinery,
and athousand other things for which
we furnish the raw material and then
pay heavy duty on the articles into
which it is converted? Simply be-
cause we are not sufficiently alive to
our own interests to make subservient
to our will the advantages which ma
ture has bestowed upon us with Law
ish hand.
Why send to Lowell our cotton, to
be manufactured into printed cloths
and muslins, and returned to us for
consumption, we paying a double tax
thereon? Why send off for every
thing we use in the shape of wood
work, while the kingly oaks and pop
lars of our own forests decay and rot,
and the soil only is enriched thereby?
Simply because we l0W be old fogy,
and wW not stretch out our hands to
gather the rich harvest that contin-
mIly blooms around Us. This policy
has always kept Clarllsville years be-
hind the age, and will continue to do
so as long as it is pursued.
1t has often been said that Nash
vile would have to be the Pittsburg
Of the South; that its interests were
not those of II commercial city; that
it should so more extensively into
manufacturing. Nashville does not
possess such advantages rs GAINESVILLE
by great deal, and yet it is urged as
Il good point for the establishment of
manufactures.
Montgomery and Stewart counties
were once noted for their iron estab-
.iShments; Dickson county at one
time boasted Of twcnty-one furnaces
md forgcs; Hickman county, just
south of Dickson county, will sup
port eighteen furnaces, yielding a
revenue of 81 900, 900 per annum, $50
reported upon u recent geological sur
vey); and the day is not far distant
when manufactures will he estab-
lished S0HlcWhcre 10 convert all this
raw material into understandable ar
tiClcs, .... ......... -...
Then why may not Clarksville take
the initiatory step toward reaping the
benefits which will flow from this inn
proved state of things, by offering
Inducements to capital and enterprise
10 settle here The question is one
of vital Importance to every property
holder in the city and vicinity, and
should receive the earnest Considera-
ton which Our present interests and
future prosperity demand.
\ HUGE JOEE. Governor Brown
low says, in his late proclamation,
that he intends "to make Middle and
West Tennessee as orderly aud quiet
rs East Tennessee I. to-day" When