Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-08-06
IMPORTANCE OF THE TENNESSEE
CENTRAL RAILROAD.

CENTRAL RAILROAD.
To the Union and American;
MILAN. Tenn. July 80. The importance
of the Tennessee Central Railroad to the
business men of the city of Nashville can
rot be oyerrsted, nor can we, by any math-
erIiaticsi prcces5 arrive St anything near
the loss which must and will eventually re-
suit to your city from failure 10 get the
road. Experience has taught us that that
CITY or town prospers alone which is direct
" in connection with and supported by the
agricultural districts, and that those cities
having the greatest number of outlets
by and through which the product Of the
mechanis and the goods, wares and mer-
chandise of the merchant are brought swifs-
ly and cheaply to the homes and farms of
the grain and meat-produeing agricultural
districts. and also iDlets by which this meat
and bread is brought to your spacious ware
rooms. are the most thriving. In this age,
enlightened as it is, and alive TO pecunisry
and educational advantages, 1t is unneces-
ssry to marshal arguments in support of
RAILROAD, catial and manufacturing estab-
lishments. Hence, the Arguments In favor
of our road need not be marshalled; but
will only state facts, and let Nashville
and her merchants, her mechanics and
her wide-awake people make their own de-
auctions, As you and your people know,
the project his been mooted for over twenty
wears: and the Tennessee Genital railroad
and DIR. w. w. Lee have almost become
synonyms in our country-familiar as
boi.sahoid words. The road has heretofore
failed of construction Tor various causes, the
late war among them, but low, under
new charter, Few board OF directors and q
new system, the road is in fair way to be
constructed. We nesd little help from
somewhere and we know of no place bat
Nashville to look for aid. What are the
prospects ahead? state them truly, that
you may put your finger on the items and
tell your people that this is no myth, no
will o-the-wisp. In the first place, the plan
is to construct the road from Huntingdon,
in Carroll county % miles east Of this place,
and run it west via. this place, thence to
Trenton, thence to Brazil, through Crockett
county, on to Ripley in Lauderdale county,
thence to the Mississippi river at Fulton,
and eventually to Little Rock, Ark. This
rttns .hrough one Of the finest bodies OF
land that the State of Tennessee
or any State. can boast of. Com
mencing at Huntington It strikes the
fine cotton and corn lands of West Carroll
county, thence through the finest portion
of Gibson, Crockett aud Lauderdale coun-
ties. This region is unsurpassed BY any
body of land in the South. Corn, tho
grasses, patotoes and cotton grow as fine as
on any land ] ever cav, and / was raised
on The banks of your own Cumberland.
From our town with population Of only
1000 inhabitants we yeslly ship between
four and Eve thousand bales Of cotton. We
yearly ship large amounts Of hay, corn, pork,
BAG N and every kind of produce known to
the climate. In the second place, this pro-
duce, nearly or quite goes all to Northern
markets except corn, bay and bacon, which
of course goes South. Louisville, Cincinnati,
New York and st. Louis daily aud yearly
are drawing from Nashville, the produce of
this country-prOduce which should go to
swell the wealth, the capabilities; the
growth of our own State capital. Why is
this? 1t is because Nashville has so far sat
with folded hands while those Northern
cities have sent out feelers-ralroads
tap this great valley and the teeming mil
lions go to build up those people who
lent helping hand to teSr down Whist we
had built up and desecrated the homes and
affairs we loved. Should this be so? Can
not Nashville term this tide through
her citizens pockets, through its legitimate
course? Our merchants, Tor want OF d.
rect communication to your city, ship cot
ton and other produce to the North and then
go theirs for goods, not kwishiDg to have
two places of business one TO sell at
and another to purchase at. cite our own
little city. Here we have q population of
over 1000 inhabitants. have been here
four years? How many bills of goods has
Nashville, among her number OF dry goods
houses, sold in that time? Two! To
whom? To merchants on the eUe Of sus-
pension arho had exhausted their credit
North. How ought il to be? How much
do you sell to Huntington? to Union city?
Gardner? Why. could your merchants not
control our local trade as you do these pla-
ces named But to pursue it little farther;
We ship IS high as ifty-fVe hundred bales
of cotton from here nearly every year, new
er ship less than 4, 200 bales, say an aver
age of 5000 bales at $50
per bale making 100000 in
one year. How much of this Nashville, BY
the direct communication to be afforded by
our Tennessee Central road, could and
would control, is left for you to judge.
What l say of Milan say of Trenton, Ala
mo, Ripley, McLemoresVille and other
towns on the line. 1t is truism that
where merchants sell there they will buy.
But is this sill? Here We have two roads
already in operation, one from Memphis to
Louisville and one from New Orleans to
Cairo, Ill. This road gives Nashville d.
rect communication with New Orleans and
Memphis. Take your map and you will
see that this place is due west from your
city and on direct line to Memphis, Little
Rock and other points.
Now, what are the prospects of this road?
Trenton has given over $50, 000-$60, 900 in
bonds and ever $4,000 in the way of pri-
vate subscription; Milan has given SIS 900
in bonds ard about $4,000 in subscrip-
ton; Brazil, Alamo, Ripley and other
towns gaves literally. The President, DR..
Lee, informs me that with $4,000 or $780,
600 from Nashville be can build the road
from Huntingdon to Brazil, Al miles. The
n. q G. road, by contract, is to iron and
put the rolling stock on when we grade it,
or is to endorse our bonds to enable US to
do il.
VIII your people come to timer. If 80,
then eventually they must reap large profits.
Nashville is our natural ally-our natural
trading point. If they will not, tben they
must stand by and see the produce so North
and see us go North for goods. "Under
which king?" If we fail now the project
must go down. If we succeed then the
new State movement must fail, and Nash
vile must then have still another State
movement that of our entire State moving
to and from your city, bartering the pro
duce of our fertile lands for the goods OF the
merchant and the works of the arti6cer.
The question is will Nashville help US? We
wish to trade with you; if you will but
help Us in this matter we will do so. One
or two years trade of Trenton and Milan
will repay the money expended to construct
the road. WEST TENNESSEE.