Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1872-05-29
HOW TO STOP GROWING POORER.

"a
gathering information concerning the pro-
ductions and shipments of the South, re-
marked to us quite recently that 1.-THE
South is getting poorer every day." We
are not now disposed to discuss the truth
of his statement, for we agree fully with
the reasoning by which he reached his con-
illusions, I. c., that our productions are less
than our consunptions. We have several
times expressed our views on subject
nearly akin to this, but rs it is question
deeply affecting every interest, every phase
in which we can present the controlling
ideas will be of public Importance.
There are several reasons why East Ten
nessee is not making that progress in de-
veloping her substantial interests, that we
have right to expect from her. AS we
fully believe that the foundation of all
prosperity in any country depends upon
the condition of its producing classes, SO
discussion of every phase of this subject
inevitably brings to our mind the measure
of the prosperity of our farmers, miners
and manufacturers.
The degree of our prosperity as a people
depends entirely upon the success attending
the labor of these producing classes. Knox
vile may line her business streets with
brick storehouses, but they are not the
standards by which we can measure her
prosperity. Within these buildings all
the money that is handled and made
comes from the producing classes we have
named. Send a blight over the wheat and
corn fields and orchards of East Tennes-
see; stop our mines, and the marts of
trade are soon deserted Business is slack
when the men who dig our wealth
from the soil fail in their work. Is this
not so? Is it not then the first and high
est duty of every business man to use his
influence and energy in promoting the in
terest of these producers of the wealth
upon which his success depends? How
can this be done One way we know of.
II is a very practical way and one that can
be easily carried out.
We have in East Tennessee thousands
of acres of idle lands. Bring good men
on to these waste places and let every acre
now idle produce something and as mat
ter of course we will have more in the
country to sell. We have farms
of thousand acres, half work.
ed and absolutely growing poorer every
day, because there is twice as much taken
from the soil every year as is given.back to
it. Divide up these large tracts into small
ones and let four or six times as much be
produced by proper cultivation, and as ev-
cry man of sense will see, our country will
grow richer instead of poorer. All this
can be brought about by Immigration.
There are thousands of good men who
want to come to this genial climate, and
they aoW come, if we offer them lands at
reasonable rates and extend to them a cor
dial welcome. This is an easy way to raise
the standard of our farming classes and q
very certain way of making our country
richer
We have North and South of us, and in
fact all about us, beds of coal and lion and
other minerals. Every tun of coal or
metal taken out of these mines is just so
much capital added to our wealth. 1t is
one of the surest and speediest ways of
making money. 1t is one of the best ways
to build up our country, provided the labor
that mines the minerals and converts them
to new material, or into machinery, &C., is
expended here and fairly rewarded. Man
utacturing enterprises, in other words,
and naturally follow good farms, sllilfull
farmers and profitable mining. We can
have these as we have shown, and we can
have also the manufacturing enterprises,
If, as people, we only put our hands to
work and determine that we WW have
them. We can not secure these things by
apathy-by calmly folding our hands and
waiting for somebody else to accomplish it
for us. Some of us have waited half our
lives for this, and if we do not look out,
VIII die waiting and without it. We must
~orf ana shoW public spirit and we can
nave all: The CHRONICLE of yesterday
showed how we can now accomplish some
thlng. We show again here how we can
do more.
Inc south may be growing poorer every
DAY. III she is, it is the fault of her people.
East lennesse has started forward in this
work OF redeeming herself, and if her
people Will seek immigration and capital,
ana then cooperate by energy and public
spirit, we can soon be the greatest and
Wealthiest section of the South.