Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-06-06

! MACHINE SHOPs.-On Saturday next the
! people OF Jackson will vote for or against
the machine shops. We hope our people
have read and digested the arguments that
have appeared from time to time IN the col
umns Of the Wing and Tribune on the sub
/ ject. Indeed we have every reason TO be-
] lieye that they haye-fOr there now seems
TO be but little opposition 10 the question.
/ Our convictions were stTeng. and we did
not wait to ascertain the popular side.
Conscious Of right, firm in our determine
ton to be faithful to Jackson at every haz-
ard, we grappled the question in It's incipi-
Sncy, and argued it with all the power and
earnestness at our command. All along
we have regarded II as a vital question
and so We have argued 1t. Observation,
experience and common sense all combine
TO teach us that the prosperity OF Jackson
must stop where it is-yea, retrograde-
unless something is done to give employ
ment to her present population, and invite
an increase. We know, and every thought
full man knows, that there are but two
ways Of doing this. One is to increase the
area Of our commerce, and the other TO
build up home manufactures which will
give employment to large and thrifty pop
ulatlon. The former will require more rail-
roads, which alone can widen the circle OF
our trade; the latter, manufacturing enter
prises which bring with them population
that must eat, wear, shelter and educate
right here, aud whose wages and living is
not directly dependent on the crops or the
seasons. All the new railroad enterprises
suggested, or possible to Jackson, are neces-
sarily questions Of the future. The location
of the Mississippi Central Machine Shops
Is present question-one upon which we
must act at once; thing TO be obtained
NOW, or to be lost forever. With argus
eyes rival communities are watching Jack
son upon this question. II we vote it
down, they have already prepared apprO-
pirate hozannas to cur matchless imbeeili-
ty. II the question is carried, they will
sing o new song not yet set to music.
What viii Jackson do! Is 1t possible that
there is man in our midst who will Join
these rival communities in opposition to
locating the shops in Jacksoni Can it be
that we have men who will unite with
them in thus pulling Jackson down to their
own level? Great God, ia there IA man In
Jackson blind to the fact that his opposi-
ton to the shops is at once the encourage
ment and hope of every town in West Ten
nessee that aspires to outstrip Jackson in
the race for wealth, power and greatness?
We cannot, we will not think so. Our
faith in the intelligence, the common sense,
the experience OF our people preeIudes the
idea. Every man in Jackson knows what
the Mobile & Ohio shops have been worth
10 Jackson. Every reading man knows
what it has cost Holly Springs to lose the
shops now located at Water Valley. Hence
it is not probable, nor possible that Jack
son will, with the lights before her, make
herself either a knave or fool on the 18th.
How is bushes now, how are rents, how Is
it with building? We leave the answer
with those who understand and are best
acquainted with the facts. THINK. And
men OF Jackson while you think, remem-
Der how it all was last year, and the year
before-and why it was that there was not
a vacant house in Jackson during these
years. Were not the improvements OF past
years in a greater measure based upon the
hopes Of jackson? Upon what were those
hopes prcdicatedg Out OF the fulluess Of
our heart, whose every pulsation beats true
TO Jackson, we solemny conjure you to
think, and 10 act with the wisdom born of
experience. Vote the shops, or prepare to
die as the fool dieth.