Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-07-05

Address Of Col. Tom. Avery The
Resources of our Country, and
the Dignity Of Labor.

readers the address nlhue ny w
Tom Avery to the Whites Statloh
Agricultural Society, at their annu9l
barbacue on Saturday. lt If an CoI;
AVery's happiest vein, anu VII
richly repay perusal: IL 0uT young
men would only hearken 70 MS WORDS
and profit by their teachings, the
South. our country, would IN a lew
short wears again be prosperous ard
hsDpv' we regret that lack Of space
forbade our giving it yesterday:
THE Address.
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentle
men: In accepting the invitation to
address you upon this occasion, L ana
so deeply impressed with my utter H.
ability TO do justice TO the subject con-
corning which I could boast neither
theoretical nor a practical acqualnt-
ance. But Twas at the same time sat
isied that you, my friends, many OF
whom have known me 50 long, your
selves so well aware of want OF IA
miliarity with the matters n WolId
be expected to treat of in making an
agricultural address, would charItably
/ excuse nv shortcomings. In address
ing so large and intelligent an aud
/ ence as this Is, composed IL a very
| great degree of enlightened and prac-
| teal agTicultIrists, you viii not e2-
| meet from me anything that IS new IN
| the science or useful in the practical
I mart of agriculture. 1t will Tot be eX-
/ Dected that / can enlighten you upon
/ the best modes to be adopted in the
culture Of your corn, cotton, rye, oats,
! grasses or any other Of the products OF
| the field. Nor yet to teach you any
| thing touching your orchards or your
gardens. OF these things a boy ten
| years old raised upon a farm, familiar
I with its practical workings from seed
time to harvest, could well instruct
me. What few words / propose 10
] say TO YOU, then, will necessarily be OF
a more general and discursiVe char
acter.
/ will not attempt to explore the
more minute labyrinths OfagIicultural
learning which might properly be
Hooked Tor from one enlightened in that
grand and interesting science, but viii
/ content myselfif / can say a word or
put forth an idea calculated TO MAIN
tain and advance the standard Of la
Dor; if can, in an humble way, up
hold the dignity of labor, its high
| honor, the wide field open 10 all, and
/ especially to our young men; in the
/ tilling of the soil, its rich remunera-
] ton, the vast material benefits IL az
l fOrdS to Themselves, their race and
| their country ii / can say or do ought
| to impress upon them the great idea
| that il is the source and foundation OF
al wealth and power; if / can awaken
a deeper interest in these pursuits, or
/ arouse the dormant energies Of any;
if | can, in the least degree, aid this
association of energetic and public
spirited gentlemen of Shelby county
in their high endeavOrs TO re-estab-
fish and rebuild the great labor
interests of the country upon a
frmer foundation, and a more pros
porous footing than before, l shall
ieel amply rewarded. And, allow
me to say, that these gentlemen,
anu the community generally, deserve
great credit for the rapid advance
ment thai has recently been made IN
1 the reorganization and re-establish-
ment of YOUR agricultural and me-
! chanical society. \ laudable spirit
has been manifested, and liberal sub
! scriptions made, sufficient, rs / under
stand, to purchase proper grounds,
and to erect appropriate buildings
adequate to the permanent establish
ment Of your Shelby County Fair, TO
be ready for use next fall. This, !
think, is doing much, when we take
into consideration the Strengthened
and impoverished condition of u
people generally. Indeed, when we
| pause for a moment and take a survey
] - l-r- --ru,H~v- Il rRnnnn tho uhnin
South, its present prospects, condition,
and sources I think that the advance
that il has made in the march Of
material prosperity since the war
/ ceased has indeed been wonderful.
! When we behold acOuntry over which
the d~esOlatiOns of war had swept with
al It's furry. which hut four years ago
| was left q wilderness and a waste
its people without a dollar, with
out stock, or the implements
of h~usbandry; its powerful, well ap-
pointed and thoroughly disciplined
system of labor at once reVolutiOnlzed
and destroyed; themselves stripped Of
the rights, powers aud privileges of
citizens, and these rights, powers and
privileges vestedin their fOrmerslaveS
Il say when we e a people and a
country so utterly Frustrated as this
was, 50 Oon emerge from this devas-
tatiOn, andin spite OttheSe difficulties,
we are well warranted in prOnOuncing
this q great people. This wonderful
| resurrection into life, too, has been
wrought in the face of two fruitless
years OF honest toll, great labor and
immense loss Despite all these ap-
palling disasters the people OF the
South have in one ycardug nom their
desolated fields four hundred million
dollars worth of products. The his
tory of the world does not present so
powerful an example Of r~ecuperatiYe
energy rs is here presented. Sup
posing for the two first years after the
war the success Of the struggling
planter had been equal to that Of last
year, where would this success have
placed this country in the
scale Of resources and wealth?
But these years were disastrous, ruin |
Gus, and but for the energy and perse-
veranee OF our people they would
have been deferred from again Ventur-
ing where failure and ruin for two
years had alone been their reward. |
But Notwithstanding al these appall- |
ing circumstances of diScOuragement
and disaster 10 planting energies the
Southern people despaircd not, bat
without means, without credit, with
out provisions even, except i'm mcagre
and partial supplieS-githout the aid
Of their merchants, who had carried
them already for TWO disastrous years
they buckled in again on their indi-
vidual but pOVertY-stricken resources,
and wrung victory from defeat by the
production of the greatest amount of
values that have before been received
rom . single crop in this county.
With corresponding slIceess this year
h producing people Of the South will
be placed upon a sure and solid foun-
dation OF lasting prosperity. They
VIII be out of debt, have plenty of
money, and if they have not been tool
remiss in not planting a suficiency
of grain viii be independent In
an eminent degree. The rewards
OF industry, too, viii be more
generally and equally distributed
than they were under the system OF
slavery and slave labor. Then the
vast producing wealth Of the country
was, in a great degree, concentrated
III comparatively a few. Under a diff
feTent system it is destined to be more
ditfused and general. Then the most
fertile and productive lands of the
country were monOpClized and held
by the wealthy few in large bodies,
nom Whlch the poor man was eonse-