Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-11-04


American,
Before the West Tennessee ASrfeuitu-
raj and Mechanical Association Fair.
at jackson, Nov. 2, 1871.
Very much against my own idea Of pro-
priety, but at the earnest solicitations OF the
officers of the West Tennessee Agricultural
and Mechanical Association, appear be-
fore you to-day If any are here present
with the expectation of listening TO fervid
eloouence or splendid oratory, can assure
them at the outset, that their disappoint-
ment will be certain. ! come not to fasci-
nate YOU with the gilded words Of rhetoric,
but to attempt to utter some plain truths
in plain way. / came to compare ideas
with YOU; to exchange experiences; to pro-
nose nlans: to suggest changes; to witness
improvements: to give you my thought and
take In exchange yours, and to endeavor to
suopest some method by which we may
mil together, to resurrect the mechanical
industries and the farming interests from
the ashes and cinders that have been heaped
upon them during the past few years. Why,
nv fellow-citizens, take glance at all the
industrial interests of our State and see to
what extent they are depressed! Your
mechanics cannot, with all the raw material
at their command, compete with the me
cbanics of the North. Your farmers are
growing annually more and more impover-
ished. Your lands are decreasing in value;
your homes, many of them, are becoming
dilapidated; your energies are becoming
impaired; your hopes are becoming clouded,
and worse than all, your young men, the
glory and promise of the State, discouraged
by your failures, and inundated by your
croakings, are preparing to fly from the
boundaries Of State that has given them
nothing in the past, and promises them no.
thing in the future. Can we afford to SIT
idly and make ourselves discontented with
constant grumblings and complalnlngs, ana
do nothing to stay this current Of living
wealth that is continually pouring out of
our State, and annually swelling in vol
ume? 1t is a vital question, one that al
fects rs Immediately, and one that in spite
of all DISCUSSES, forces itself upon us every
day We all realize the fact that money Is
becoming painfully scarce. We all realize
the fact that our taxes are oppresslvely
burdensome. We all feel the need OF more
men and better schools, of better roads, and
indeed. an increase in every thing compre-
hended under the general name of civili-
Zation.
Now, my fellow citizens, this state of
things results not from any want OF intel
ligence among our farmers or our mechan-
les. II does not result from a want Of ma
turaI advantages; but it occurs to me that
this depressed condition springs from the
want of power in our people to adapt them
selves to the radical changes which the war
has made obligatory upon us, and from the
want of proper legislation. We are trying
the experiment of living in the same style
and indulgingin the same extravagances we
did before the war. We are
irving to live without rigid attention to
business. We complain of the labor, yet
do not try to control the labor. We want
a machine that will run itself. The fault
lies in ourselves. We must either hold the
blow or drive. If our farms are larger than
we can cultivate properly, it would be bet
ter for us and our children to give them
away, than to keep so much capital idle and
pay taxes upon it. Land left Idle for SIX
teen years will eat itself up at simple inter
est, to say nothing of the taxes paid on ii.
at compound interest 1t will devour itself
in eleven and three-fourth years. Add to
this the tax for the same time, and We may
safely say that every acre of land left idle
for ten years costs the owner, in interest
and taxes, Just double. Here is leak that
will keep any people in the world from
being prosperous. We are carrying too
much dead weight.
The census of 1850 shows that we have
100000 acres of unimproved land that is
living idle, and which is contributing moth
inc to its owners and but little to the State.
Every ten years we pay for the privilege OF
keeping this land, worth say two dollars
per acre, the sum of 81, 000, 900, or 81 AGO.
600 annually sum sufficient to pay the or
binary expenses of the State government and
leave nearly 100000 as an annual sink
ingfund. Now, my fellow-citizens, why are
we, in our straitened circumstances, throw
ing away, every year, this enormous
sum of money p Why are we
like the dog in the Manager
neither making use of this land nor allow
inc others to do so. Is it the result of ed
ucation. or the want of forethought? With
so much dead capital, can we hope TO be
prosperous? Suppose this capital were in,
vested in manufacturing establishments fol
working up into marketable products the
raw material that lies slumbering in your
hills; or in Harvesting the dashing rivuletS
that rush from your mountain gOrges in
countless numbers, or in building railroads
those lines of life, that disturb the silence
of sixty centuries and make the gloom o.
the forest give way to the glory OF the field
or in advertising to the world our natural
wealth-suppO Sc, say this were done, heW
great and how glorious would be our posi-
ton among the States, Providence la!
given us unusual advantages. Here in thi:
State we can grow in unlimited quantltle
all the most desirable products of the eartf
with comparatively little expense. Her,
we have not the frigid winters of the North
nor the burning summers ofthe South. Herr
we have rich soil with Salubrious climate
/ Here we have a variety OF undevelOped in
/ dustrial resources that no country In thu
world can Surpass, if equal; ores and timber
! waterpower and fertile lands; splendI
/ scenery and rare mineral springs. Ever
I ssbeast of the field and every product c
( the farm can be grown successfully an
! profitably.
Then why are we not more prosperous
Why do we languish in comparative power
ty, " lille other States not half so gifted b
nature move straight toward to greatness
wealth and power? l tell you, my friend
we have no confidence in ourselves. W
! distrust everything and everybody. W
! have no faith in the future of our State. an
this our people must develop before the
can expect capital and labor to come among
them. They must 90 to work; they mu;
beautify and adOrn their homes, and l.
strangers see that they are themselves sati
fed. They must cease to look beyond the
own borders for everything they wear, Il
the cradle they are rocked in and the cOtf
they are buried III. Scarcity of capital
not the cause of our PROSTATE condition
much as want of confidence. This last
working us more harm than drouths, pest
lence or war. Look at any bank statemel
in any of the counties of the State and 81
how much money is lying idle throu9
lack Of confidence in any industrial ente
prise begun by our citizens. Ranged in Il
vaults, are the fancifill boxes where caE
tai lies locked up in United States bond
that could be much more protitab
used in working up our IA
materials Our first need is ConfidenC
Confidence at home and knowledge of o.
resources abroad will induce immigratiO
No stranger will willingly make his hon
in a land where everything is uncerta
and inconstant. Everybody here wan
to sell his land and go somewhe
else. Why? Is there any 9th
country that can sTpasS TenneSs
in natural advantages? Work and co
: fidence are the great necessities Of the Stat
|; The languOr and inactiOn of death a