Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-13
UNI9N AND AMERICAN.
A VOICE FOR TENNESSEE.
A Stirring and Sensible Appeal.
From z. Stau,l, Esq, ON the Subject
Of Immigration.

' OAN = SeAO - EsQ-s on the subject
of Immigration.
- the Ed' tors Of Tennessee:
GET,TLEMEN-AIowm me to speak word
though you TO the people of Tennessee. a
I 9w far seeing men, who have sought. the
y nv good for our State out Of the future,
sc talked and written ofimmigrafion IN
u the people have become tired of it, at a
time when their greatest interest is to be
wide awake to it, So they were tired of
railroad projects and the common school
theory, until the energy and persistence of
The press kept these ideas alive till they
grew Into facts. To the same guardian
ship the friends of Immigration commit it,
Until the people can realize that it is the
question of all other questions upon us.
The greatest question to a Tennesseean,
should be, low shall we enable our State
to advance TO the front rank with her sister
States, where she so justly belongs? She
has land enough, with millions of acres, as
The Indians left them. She has minerals,
the value OF which is only lessened by their
quantity. Her first need is people--musc!e
and brains; and her other and last need Is
capital
After many years of thorough and actual
examination Of many portions Of these
Il
State of Tennessee was the most
suitable place for the location of my
country people, who might wish to
immigrate from their crowded homes
to This new world. To carry this
conclusion Of mine into effect, ever
since the year 1856, have been in c0mmu
nication with tie Il n Swiss officials, with
what results and benefits to my own cOun-
and fha a ia IF I ma
not mention. Partly from this and similIr
influences, DR.. Joos, a prominent member
of the Swiss Congress, accompanied by Gen.
IIitz, the Cons9l General of Switzerland,
lately visited our State for the purpose Of
seeking future homes for Swiss people, and
l am happy to state that the two distin-
guished gentlemen found my representa-
tions TO be correct, and have returned
highly pleased with Our country, climate,
prospects aud people; and especially with
Swiss experiments in Tennessee. A large
number Of Swiss immigraie to the United
States every year, and large number will
hereafter do 50. Where will they locate?
Nearly every State is holding out induce
ments 10 the disOrganized stream as il
reaches our shores. They have live work
ing Bureaus Of Immigration, with ample
means provided TO invest, aud good in
vestmant it is. Many Of them, among
which Of the South are Florida and Texas,
have Unsrud donations of large bodies of
land for actual settlement. Now, in this
contest for wealth, (for the State in which
a good Swiss citizen fixes his home, secures
wealth, whether he brings a dollar
in moLey or no',) what has Ten
nessee, as State, done? She
las talked some, but done nothing. l
speak too fast. She, too, has her Bureau
OF Immigration " l know the Commits
siOners, personally Donahue, of Shelby,
MolTatt, Of Davidson, and Charlton of
Knox. Better men, for the business, are
lot to be found in the State. But in this
rivary among the States, to introduce our
loved aud unknown Tennessee TO the
world, and turn the tide Of immigration to-
wards us, they have not been furnished
eoen postage stamp. The reason given is,
that taxes are high and business low; for
that very reason more hands ought to be got
and more Of the farms cultivated; more coal
and ore ought TO be dug out Of the ground
and more manufactures started. Let
these commissioners have some money, at
least enough to buy seed with while other
States are harvesting; enough TO enable
them 10 tell emigrants the way here, while
other States are Offering them a welcome
and home.
We have in Tennessee, 100000 acres
Of urOccUpied lands. The only actual
value they now are to the State is, Occa-
sionally some owner pays little tax, and
to that extent they are dead capital Much
of this is owned by land owners in
large y is. The plan Of DR.. Joos
is this4 AS compensation for organ
lied Swiss immigration to these
lands, he invites a donation Of 100000
acres, in as large tracts as possible, upon
which the first settlers may have homes
free Of charge. Much of this has been Of
fered, and the whole soon will be, by those
who will be largely paid from the remain
der Of their lands. The interest Of the
State is this. She now taxes an acre of
that land at 25 cents; she will soon tax il
at $40, and to that extent she is forty times
richer. II hen all this gets INTO operation,
. 70 soon will, what a need we will have
I've bureau? No man can attend to
tho has private business of his own to
attend T., or ont Of his private means.
Most of taese thoughts have been directS
ed towards Swiss immigration, OILY be-
cause l am more familiar with that de-
partment Cf the subject, but the ideas aIe
true as TO immigration from all countries.
Let us all as Tennesseeans wake up and
act on these subjects. Very respectfully,
z. STAUB.
knoxville, jane 10, 1872.