Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-10-02
SOUTHERN DEVELOPHgsr.
COals Iron and aEanufacfares-spee
of Colonel 4. Hubert TO She Mem
beers of the Press Association OF
Georgia, Aug. 2s. 1869.

Georgia, Aug. rs, 1869:
! GENrEEMKE: 1t is my desire. on this occasion
| to say word or two as to the object which
brought Us together. It cannot be better stated
than 10 my circular. an extract from which
| will read you. In that circular said:
| Our immediate section abOunds in resources
1 whose value. developed by the eil-directed auC
energetic application of labor and capital. it il
| impossible to estimate.
Embedded in our mountains, almost every
where, are deposits of the richest iron and othel
| ores, whose Development will give profitable
employment 70 thousands Of people and to mil
These resources of our State, skillfulIy and
energetleatly developed. will, in a few years
cause the iron crop of Georgia to exceed in
tion Of them is all that is needed 10 demonstrafe
me proposition and convince the most skepti-
In that meant business. nothing more-noth-
1t was to af)rd an opportunity to famine
tnese, IN part, as to quality. abundance, and
extent, that this excursion was projected
dnels units are Notwithstanding speedy and
proper development Is a matter Of vital i'm
portsnee TO the whole State. Look at Pennsyl-
wanna and note the history Of the development
OF Der coal and iron fields, and its effect upon
1er increase In population manufactures. cOn-
conelusively the wisdom of the policy pursued.
as IN North Georgia we have these minerals ia
aoundSnce, II IS impossible for you not to per-
Development.
Bat 4 spoke Of Pennsylvania because the re-
SUITS tnere are practical illustration of the
oenonTs OF the policy l would pursue in Geor-
t s- aEIeniynye years ago. only. she adopted
Tue p9lcy OF development. Persons present
Know now rapid the growth Of her coal and iron
interest mas been. and to what it is to be at
Liouted. IL IS mainly due to the liberal man
pursued the policy of reducing freiehts ON coal
ana IRON TO low rates-loWer THAI those OF apy
otner roads IN the country. The burden of az
pense Was az one time so great and the profits
80 snlaIl mat they were almost ready to give 10
the experiment in despair. But they pa1sistsi.
the business began finally to increase slowly
but steadily. until. after a few years. thew feit
I9lstined IN making q still further reduction.
4heir business continued to iGerease--ine
pronts were realized, and now, | believe. the
Rronts on coal and iron freights alone on the
nnes DONG regular heavy business in these
saSleaes, pay handsome dividend on their
Inc State road of Georgia, in consequence
% ls position, mas hitherto had the carrying
.Tade between Tennessee and the est and
M ny eS anu large portion of Alabama.
anu ali OIL deorgla and South Carolina. Taking
auvantage 81 this position, high arbitrary rates
were exacted. 10 the detriment of aerienItnraI
; ana otner pursuits, especially of the coal and
IRON interests. -Deeming this a mistaken policy
nave reduced the rates on coal and irnn nv
nnleh the development of these interests have
osen sumulated). and on such leading articles
sec tU0a as oacon corn, wheat flour. etc.
sSconu reduction has had the effect of still fur
tner stinulating their development, but al the
sacrlnce OF immediate profit to the road We
nOw. rqoaoly. carving coal and iron at
lHg2WeI rates than any other road in the country.
Now for the practical results.
tuel, like food. Is an article of nr;ua mace =; =
" 10 rlch and poor alike To cheapen il to the
consumer = 20 40 material service. Until the
neiSnH was Ieiueed, nearly One-haIf coal was
but little used in Atlanta Since tbe ,ednc,;on
however, the consumption for domestic nnrnoSes
has more than quadrupled. As one ton of coal
: eialmed 70 De equal to three cords of wood
for heating properties, and as coal il now sold
in Atlanta at s. so per ton. it is clear Thai #
generally used, the saving to the seyen thOu
sand Tor morel families Of Atlanta wonld an
proxlmate $4,000 per annum.
Take other interests. The rolling mills and
fOundries OF Atlanta use about fifty tons Of
coal per day. The previous high freights IN ade
II almost impossible for them TO cover ex-
psnse5. They became iscouraged-iisbeart-
ened-and contemplated abandoning their en-
terprises. l reduced the rates Oh eoal-they
took courage and fresh start, and are now
making money.
Besides, coal is about being introduced more
generally into the cities Of Augusta. Macon,
columbus and Montgomery. Connecting roads
taxing liberal view Of the matter, have agreed
70 pfo-rata with the State road. so that the
freight on this article is much reduced. and /
doubt not the quantity which will be trans
ported TINS season Will amount to no less than
100000 tons.
=, Thus. gentlemen. you will perceive that while
Ihe private consumer Is benefited, our manus
facturers are encouraged and assisted so as to
give employment TO the lab0rer and the prO.
duetlon OF coal at thu mines is so stimulated as
70 give employment TO yet other laborers- ben
emitting the farmer by providing a ready cash
market I0r all his surplus products
L am satisfied that under the low rates the
consumption Of coal in Atlanta. Augusta, Mont
gomery ana at other points, will increase so
rapidly that in few years it will rennire ali
me present motive power Of the road 10 move
this one article.
Before leaving Atlanta ordered schedule
prepared Tor coal trains exclusively SO arranged
tnat they should stop only for wood and water,
and make the close come tons neeled 10 SUP :
ply the rapidly decreasing demand.
wow, as 10 IRON, which enters into all manu-
iactures, and without which agriculture itself
or the working Of the mines cannot be pursued.
CheaP coal cheapens the production of iron:
pen MS the iaborer by reducing the cost of liy-
ing, and eneapens manufactured articles.
From time INN emOriaI we have been import-
ing IRON ana steel for our plow~shares and ae-
tually wearing them Out on the iron living loose
on our nlllsides. propose to change the pro-
gramme ana encourage the DEVELOPMENT of this
interest, ,cons1ientiously believing we have
scores OF localities Possessing as great advan-
tages Tor the cheap production of iron as Gen.
Wider IN tennessee. the advantages of whose
property Is unsurpassed anywhere. [ desire to
nave numerous furnaces at short intervals along
the line Of the road. whose fires shall Gebt its
track ana serve as standing advertisements Of
N
the liberal policy which stimulates their devel-
Opment- Hence, propose 70 all who will re-
pair the old. or build new furnaces: ali who
Wish % erect saw or cotton mill; or TO engage
IN manufacturing on the line, to transport their
machinery, their building material lumber.
lime, rock, etc. and to lay side tracks when
needed, tree OF charge and l propose, also. to
transport iron and coal for them almost Of tha;r
own price-as low or lower than is done nv anv
DINER road IN the country. / have assured them
OF my earnest Cooperation; that will adVer
Use Their business; help Them to sell their
goods; give them low rates for their manaIac-
Jured articles. and aid them to the extent Of nv
AFFINITY. and II they do not make money IL y I'M
be their fault. not mine.
From Lookout Mountain north war and east,
WaIu IN tennessee, and southwark in Alabama
and GeOrgias there are vast mineral resaurces
only awaiting development to find a ready and
profitable market.
10 deVei p these resources, capital is required
we may not nave 1t, or If we have. we dislike
l to invest 1t in a business new to US But bI
holding out proper fundamentally sh owing Il
| capitalists elsewhere how proftably it can b,
employed mere, 1t will come By hundreds o.
/ thousands. There are men all through tn,
/ North-men of capital, energy, experience anc
enterprise-Who have strong desires to COM
South, but they hesitate about coming now. L,
all such l have said ,COmel bring your capita
and experience, and help US to develop anC
build up. and you will receive q hearty vel
| comet This desire exists from Maine to 0ma
ma, aad we have only to adopt and pursue lib
y
| the beneficial results SO much desired.
Aware OF this very general desire on the part
OF NOrtnern men, OF the opinion generally pre-
Valllng that the South was unhealthy; and tina
we oVer-estmated our resources. L conceived
the project of Offering low rates of fare to per
| cons wishing TO visit and examine property il
1 the South with view to investment and settle
ment Accordingly, l issued a call last Decam
Der for convention, which met in Atlanta il
1 January. Two days were spent in consultation
| COneedlng that the roads might be the victim:
l OF fraud TO some extent, 1t was nevertheless de
/ termined to try the experiment, and the far
l over nearly all the leading roads in the SOutl
was reduced to two cents per mile, until July |
1869. to all coming South in good faith for tn
| purposes indicated. l had the honor of beinI
/ appointed chairman Ofthe Sanding Committed
| charged with executing the details of the plan
| and am pleased TO report that, although the ar
/ rangement did cot become generally known il
the North until alter the crops had been put il
the ground, many hundreds have visited GU
1 section within the past SIX months. all Of whoa
| have been favorabiy impressed, and many o
| whom have invested, and will make their home
| here.
| The immediate results of this experiment
i were so satisfactory. and promised such realll
| incalcuiable benefits, that easily obtained tn
| consent of three-fOurths of the roads original
| conserving to the reduced rate. to extend th
time to July. 1870, while some Of the remainde
| agreed to recognize the certificates from OctObe
l l, 1859. to May /, 1870 This liberal action vii
induce many additional thousands to visit tn
South for Investment or settlement. who, bu
| for il, would not have done so. Thus will GU
| population be increased By farmers who will i'm
| prove our wild lands and add to our product!
and by skilled miners and machinists and man
| ufaeturers, who will bring or command capita
| and develop our mineral and other resources
augmenting our wealth, influence and power
| Then was conceived this excursion for tn
| press Of Georgia. believing that by giving yOI
| gentlemen. An opportunity of seeing for your
| selves a vast portion of the resources of our in
| mediate section, and the publication throug
| your journals OfyOur observations, would be tn
| simplest, cheapest and surest way of getting %
| desired information before the country. North
| ern journals viii republish much Of what 20
| will write and thus Northern labor and capita
will be attracted to our fields. mines and waite
| powers.