Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-01-18
Views on Immigration,

Believe me, Mr.. Editor, when l say that
[ must heartily endorse your criticisms
Sunday morning, upon the views of Prof.
Maury on the subject of immigration.
That distinguished gentleman, I fear, has
taken too much of a one-sided view of this
matter when he assumes that we must
look to Europe and to Europe alone for
population, labor and capital am aware
that heavy per cent. of the people of the
Southern States sympathiZe with him in
these extraordinary opinions, and 1 be-
| lieve / have the key to the unlocking of
the mystry-that is to say, I have the
reason why the Southern people adopt his
views. 1t is this, to be emphatic and out
right on the subject: The prejudice en-
gendered by the recent war towards the
Northern States, preclude, for the present,
any well organized system to secure emil
grafton from that quarter. Hence Prof
| Maury, as the apparent mouth-piece of the
| Southern States, takes the ground that
| they must apply to Europe for this quota
| of immigrants.
First, let me remark, that the South
must get rid of her prejudices towards a
people who could be of incalculable benefit
| to her. make this assertion very delibe-
rately, 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 extreme.
The South, too, will live to see this, but
she ought to see it now. She is suffering
prodigiously on account 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 bet
ter of our understanding. Business first.
We need enterprise. Therefore we must
take the straight road to these ends.
do not object, of course, to the securing
all the European immigration possible.
That is exactly right, but when it is pro-
posed, inferentially at least, that we must
give the Northern States the go-by, i'll the
prosecution of this important work, then
[ demur l 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 and perseverance. Call them what
you may ; denOunce them as you choose;
associate them with thieves, cut-throats,
liars and villains, and they still have SUI
perabundance of that grand element of
life which makes them eminently and
take. They have grown rich where my
Southern friends would scarcely have
made a living. They have done it by
their indomitable energy and their unceas-
ing and patient toll and perseverance. /
would be glad if we had ten in our Sec
ton where we now have only one. Their
native life and stirring activity would ben
eft US thousands upon thousands of dol
lars They would give a new impetus to
every department of industry. They have
earned, in an honest way, the enviable
character of being 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 Oh the
globe. Turn him 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 and 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 Tennessee, for
another reason-ttey 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 likely 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 def
cient in a sagaciOus policy. We have used
no diplomacy whatever. We have fallen
back upon our dignity until we have we'll
nigh ruined ourselves. To-day we might |
have had capital in abundance if we had
sought it in the right way. Paupers ought |
not to be too stiff-necked! The war had !
swept all our visible means out of exis- |
tance, and we should have been sharp |
enough to have subordinated the great re-
sources of even our enemies. We could |
have done it, and may do it yet, if we do |
not get into a "wild goose chase" after |
European capital to the utter exclusion of
Northern capital. 1t is easier to reach the
Northern States than Europe. We can |
tap thousand men sooner there than we
can fifty beyond the ocean. Then there
are thousand inquiries coming from the |
North, concerning our country, where we
have none from Europe. Indeed, in Eu
rope there is little known of Tennessee.
Perhaps it is regarded as sort of frontier
State, Just on the verge of civilization,
Semi-civilized itself without a single
advantage, Bnd therefore unworthy of
attention. There is help at our
very doors. We have hundreds5 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. But if we adopt Professor
Maury's theory, we will never get them.
G.. w. CHARLTON,
Commissioner of immigration.