Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-01-27
The Question Of Population.

There is a good deal of good sense
in the following article, written by
| Col. c. W. Charlton, of Knoxville
in regard to the matter of the future
population of this State. There can
be no question as to the truth OF
what he says. The Southland
Tennessee, especially - needs the
trained and hardened muscles and
clear heads of the North to develop
ourresources, and to make this State
blossom as the rose:
First, let me remark, that the
South must get rid of her prejudi-
ces towards people who could be
/ Of incalculable benefit to her. ]
make this assertion very deliberate-
/ ly, and purely from a business stand
point. 1t is folly-worse than folly
to "bite off our noses to spite our
faces" 1t is childish in the ex-
| treme.
The South, too, will live to see
| this, but she ought to see it now
| She is suffering prodigiously on &C
| count Of it. There is no use in
chatting, fretting and frowning
about matters which amount to
nothing. We must not allow our
passions to get the better of our IN
| Outstanding. Business first. We
| need enterprise. Therefore we
must take the straight road to these
ends.
lido not object, of course, to the
securing Of all the EurOpean emil
grafton possible. That is exactly
right, but when it is proposed infer
| eRtiaily at least, that we must give
| the Northern States the go-by in
the prosecution of this important
/ work, then l demur. / have my
reasons for it, which / will proceed
to give.
The people of the Northern States
have energy; not only that, but tact,
ingenuity, skill aud perseverance,
Call them what you may; denounce
them as you choose; associate them
with thieves, cut-throats, liars and
villains, and they still have q super
abundance of that grand element of
life which makes them eminently
and proudly successful in all they
undertake. They have grown rich
where my Southern friends would
scarcely have made living. They
have done it by their indomitable
energy and their unceasing and pa
| tient toll and perseverance. lwOuld
be glad if we had ten in our section
where we now have only one. Their
native life and stirring activity
would benefit us thousands upon
thousands Of dollars. They would
give a new impetus to every depart
ment of industry. They have earn
ed, in an honest way, the enviable
character of being a progressive
race. You can't tie them down
you can't keep them on their backs.
| Sampson like, they will rise up in
their strength and snap the cords
that bind them. The universal
Yankee" is the most anomalous
creature on the globe. Turn them
loose where you may, either with
or without money, and if he does
not succeed it will be because there
is no money TO be had. His vim,
his pluck, his shrewdness aud his
prolific means of getting along, will
not only secure him a competency,
| but fortune.
We need Northern people in the
South, and especially in East Ten
nessee, for another reason-they
hare capital. There are millions of
dollars lying idle in that section, or
comparatively so. We have taken
no pains to procure it. On the con-
trary, we have done all we could to
| drive it from us. They are not like
ly to bring it here, and invest it
while we are telling them that we
don't want them. Ever since the
close Of the war, it seems that we
have been painfully deficient in a
sagacious policy. We have used no
diplomacy whatever. We have fall
len back upon our dignity until we
have Well-nigh ruined ourselves
To-day we might have had capital
in abundance if we had sought it in
| the right way PauPers ought OF
to be too stif-necked. The war had
swept all our visible means out OF
existence, and we should have been
sharp enough to have subordinated
the great resources of even our enc
mics. We could have done it, and
may do it yet. if we do not get into
q "wild goose chase" after European
capital to the utter exclusion of
Northern capital. 1t is easier to
reach the Northern States than Eu-
rope. We can tap thousand men
sooner there than we can fifty beyond
the ocean. Then there are a thous-
and inquiries coming from the
North, concerning our country,
where we have none from Europe.
Indeed, in Europe there is little
known of Tennessee. Perhaps it is
regarded as a sort of frontier State,
just on the verge of civilization,
semi-civilized, or without a single
advantage, and therefore unworthy
of attention. There is help at our
very doors. We have hundreds and
hundreds of wide-awake neighbors
just across the Ohio, who would
come to our relief if we would only
invite and urge them to come.