Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-01-23


occupied by the Federal Court for the
exhibition Of geological and other
specimens to be found in the State.
That a suitable room has not been set
apart Is to be regretted, and the Com
mlssioners earnestly hope that your
Excellency will again call the attention
of the. Legislature to the Importance
of making suitable provision for said
purpose.
The unusual interest which is now
felt through the Northern States, and
many of the States of Europe, IN re-
gard to the lands and mineral wealth
Of Tennessee, makes the collection OF
an Industrial Museum duty OF para
mount and pressing Importance. The
same room might be occupied by the
Historical Society.
The favorable manner in which the
first and second reports of this Bureau
have been received, surpasses the
highest anticipations of its most san
guine friends. From every State
North, and from many of the States
of Europe, as the Secretary informs
me, demands for the work have been
received, and it affords me pleasure to
be able to state that we are, in my
opinion, just entering upon a new
career of prosperity and wealth. The
hundreds of letters that have been re-
ceiyed by the department show an
earnest desire on the part of many per-
sons In the Northwest to escape from
the rigorous, unhospitable climate, to
the more genial one found in our
State The grasshopper seourge, with
which the people of the Upper Missis-
sippi Valley have been visited, has
also had the effect of producing re-
fluent wave in the tide of immigration.
These two causes, added to the fact
that the people of our State we're never
SO anxious to dispose of portions OF
their estates, make this the most op-
perfume period which the State has
ever had Of securing a better class of
immigrants The great need of the
State to-day, is intelligent, skilled
labor, to work up our raw material
into more valuable market products.
When we reflect that the amount of
coal in Tennessee is sufficient, at one
half cent per bushel, to pay the entire
National debt twice, and the debt of
the State two hundred and fifty times,
and that iron ore exists in more than
halt of the counties in workable
quantity; when we further consider
the drain which is being made on the
fertility of our soils by the ruinous
practice of exporting from the State
every product in its raw condition !;
when we see the best energies of our
people taxed to their utmost, with no
ensuing prosperity, it becomes the
highest duty of the statesman to take
such steps as shall insure large ac-
cession to our population of skilled
artisans, and so utilize the raw nate
rial which we possess in such mex
haustible quantities, and thus enhance
the wealth of the individual citizen
and relieve the burden of taxation.
Taxation is burdensome not in pro-
portion to the rate of taxation, but
directly as the amount produced by
each citizen and the amount required
for his support approach each other
When the productive capacity of the
whole population, per capita, is in
creased, the burden of taxation will
be relieved, and not before. This pro-
ductive capacity can only be increased
by bringing more intelligence to bear
upon the industries of the country,
and with this intelligence, more
machinery. Great Britain, with a
population of 23,000,00O, is said to
have working force of 100000, 900,
or the producing power of each inhab-
tant Is increased more than twenty
times by the use of machinery. The
potential energy of her streams aud
her coal fields have been utilized in
the multiplication of human industry
until, as it has been well said, she
shakes every bearing tree and catches
IN her lap the most precious fruits of
every cline" What has been done
to give England this unexampled
prosperity may be done in Tennessee
with the proper effort on the part of
its law makers.
Capital and skilled labor should be
encouraged in every possible manner
to enter our unoccupied fields of in
dustry. We need manufactures to
stimulate our agriculture and make a
home market for our products, and
thus, in manner, solve the difficult
problem of railroad transportation.
Immigration of this character will
tend to lessen the relative proportion
of tillers of the soil, and bring about
more prosperous agriculture by re-
ducing the proportion of farmers from
% per cent. of the entire population,
which it now is, to 40, at most, 80 per
cent. The proportion of those en-
gagged in agriculture in England to the
entire population is 335 per cent, and
In no country are farmers more pros
porous, and this results from the ex-
traordinary demand for farm products,
and the cheapness with which all sup
plies of the, farm may be obtained
Railroad freights are also reduced by
reason of the large number of COM
peting lines. The geographical posi-
ton of Tennessee presents advantages
to manufacturers which no other State
offers, it being nearest to the cotton
States, and its soil being capable of
producing great variety of products
and in great abundance. These ad-
vantages, together with its climate.
should attract the class Of population
which we so much desire. -......
The Commissioners are of the opin-
ion that the question of how best to
encourage immigration of the right
sort to our borders, is SO intimately
and naturally connected with the work
Of this Bureau that they earnestly re-
commend that the two Boards be
blended into one, and be clothed with
adequate powers to carry out the OBJ
jects intended.
In the opinion of this Bureau the
question of immigration cannot be
ignored, and the sooner definite and
efficient action is taken upon it the
better for the State. If this sugges-
ton should meet the appreciation of
your Excellency, we should be glad to
have you so recommend to the General
Assembly. We suggest that a clause
be also added to the law empowering
the Executive to fill vacancies in this
Bureau when the terms of the Com
missloners expire.
These recommendation have been
made at the direction of the Commits
sionerS of this Bureau at their last
meeting on the 18th and 18th of JAN
uary, 1873, and | would ask the care
full attention and consideration of the
General Assembly to them.
We do not ask any additional ap-
I - IL