Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-06-21
PROGRESS.
Another Holland in the SOUth-Regen.
Grafton Of the SOuth-What is
Wanting.
THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN

CANAL.
The project of cOnstructinga canal be-
tween the Tennessee and COosa rivers,
with a view ofopening anew river route
from the Mississippi to the Atlantic
seabOard, is Just now attracting consid-
cradle attention in the Southern States.
From Memphis and st. Louis there is at
all times uninterrupted water naviga-
tons, ria the Tennessee and Ohio rivers,
almost half way across the State of Ten
nessee to Alabama. At Guntersville,
Alabama, a narrow neck of land, only
thirteen miles across, i~ntervenes between
the Tennessee and COOsa rivers. A canal
across this isthmus would unite the
waters of the two rivers and afford free
navigation TO Rome, Georgia. 1t is pro-
posed to construct another canal from
that point to connect the COosa with the
Ocmulgee, and thus provide navigation
to the Atlantic. The entire route has
been surveyed, and presents no engi-
neering difficulties. The cost is esti-
mated at a total of twenty million dol
lars, and the work is deemed of sufii-
cient national importance to justify a de
mand on Congress for aid, either by
grant of lands II the Endorsement of
bonds to the required amount.
AAO6 &L-6 LANEAA
For a period of seventy years past this
work has been an object of Southern
ambition, and there can be no doubt
that its realization would be of immense
benefit 20 the South and Southwest. 1t
would afford a new and cheap outlet for
the products of the West, and in this
respect the work would almost be of
national importance. The millions of
the Mississippi Valley begin to feel that
their development and growth are re-
stricted for want of adequate transporta-
ton for their surplus produce, and the
period may not be distant when they
will find il to their interest to avail
themselves of the extraordinary facili-
ties for the construction of this new
highway to the ocean, and undertake \
the work themselves. The value of the
Erie canal a an outlet for Western COM
meree is universally admitted, but the
new canal from the Tennessee to the
Atlantic, of the same capacity as the
Erie, would be of double benefit, for the
simple reason that it would be open for
navigation all the year, not being liable
to freeze in winter. In this view alone,
the work under consideration is invested
with a degree of importance that would
in a merely business n justify the
undertaking.
WHAT IT WOULD DO.
The canal would afford cheap and adj
eQuate means for the transportation of
the immense and diversified products of
the Southern States. The mineral re-
sources of the South have as yet scarce
ly been touched, and agricultural de-
velopment beans hardly any proportion
to its possibilities, or rather 10 the capac-
ity Of the country. The construction OF
this canal would impart a new stimulus
to the cotton, rice and sugar interests of
the South, and would gradually increase
the manufacturing and commercial in
Memphis, Savannah, Decatur,
Macon, Atlanta, and other places, would
rapidly increase in business and in
wealth.
FEDERAL SUBSIDY.
A Federal subsidy can hardly be
claimed for it on the same grounds
that justified the various grants to the
Pacific railroads. These extended
through an uninhabited country, and az
ford direct or indirect benefits TO the
whole Union. The Atlantic and Great
Western canal will chiefly benefit the
States that are more directly In prox-
unity with its route, and they should
reasonably expected TO bear
at least a portion of the cost
of its construction. They should !
come forward and shoulder the burden.
New York State constructed the Erie
canal alone and single-handed at a time
when she was comparatively as poor, if
poorer, than any of the States on the
route Of the Atlantic and Great
Western canal. The States of Ten
nessee, Alabama, Georgia, at any
rate, can better afford to construct the
canal at their own cost than wait for the
doubtful chances of a Federal subsidy
that can only be obtained, if at all. aftel. /
a tedious and prolonged agitation. and
as the result of much lobbying and job.
bling in Washington. To the States /
mentioned the work is a commercial me- /
cessity that would justify almost anvout-
lay, and which could be confidently re.
lied on to yield the most liberal returns
RELATIVE VALUE OF CANALS AND Rail-
WAYS.
Both canals and railroads are equally
good in their way, and the work now
under consideration would undoubtedly ,
be OF more immediate, as well as Interior
benefit TO the South than a trunk line of !
That canals have become Obso-