Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-01-16

justice now calls upon her to aid, with
out the grant of any subsidy, another
road lying 800 miles south of that,
which will develop the Central and
Southern belt Of States and Terrific
ries, on a line that will be exempt from
ice and snow storms in winter, and is
famed by the breath of perpetual
spring Nor would the Territory of
which have spoken be alone benefit
ted By this railroad, but all the impoy-
erished States Of the South would
reap incalculable benefit, in the in
crease of commerce, in the full devel-
opment OF our great agricultural
staples, sugar, cotton, tobacco, and
rice, now lying in Iamentable paralysis
before US, for the want of immigration,
which this road will invite, and which
will form the basis of more reliable
system of labor, than we now have, or
may reasonably calculate on otherwise.
Give us this road and immigration and
capital will come with it. Labor will
be steady, sure, reliable and more
abundant, and our now PROSTATE South.
the fairest and loveliest land the sun
ever shone upon will be the centre of
the commerce of the world. Business
will revive, manufactures will spring
up everywhere along the road as by
magic, and near the land that grows
the cotton, and agriculture will awake
from the heavy sleep that binds its
limbs, and will arise like giant re-
freshed by his slumbers, to renewed
vigor and energy.
i Upon examination | find the Gov
eminent has been munifcent to rail-
roads all over the North. The first
grant of public lands was made in
1852. to the Illinois Central Railroad,
of 1885, 900 acres. The company
realized by the sale of the largest por-
ton of this, S3,0O0,0O0, and have &c.
600 acres of the land unsold, which
they are offering at s. and SO per
acre. This was a startling grant, at
the beginning, of the peoples land, to
one corporation.
At later date Congress granted to
the State Of Iowa 3,456, 900 acres; to
Michigan, 100000; to Wisconsin,
1868, 900 acres. | will not weary you
by farther details, but remark the
whole number of acres granted by
Congress Z to Northern railroads
amounts to 200,000,000, equal to go
600 square miles, covering territory
equal in extent to the States of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wiscon-
sin and Iowa combined. [ confess to
you | never did approve of such mag
nifcent grants of land that belonged
to the whole people to any corporations
whatever, railroad or otherwise. 1t
was malappropriation of the people S
Inheritance to a favored few. 1t
should have been sacredly preserved
as homesteads for the poor, where,
under their own roof tree, they might
have found shelter from the storms of
fate.
That immense territory which was
squandered upon few large and rich
corporations would have given $50
acres of land to 1,250,000 heads of
families, and would have made COM
Portable 5000, 600 of men, women and
children, American citizens, all quite
equal to one-eighth of our whole pop
ulation, many of whom, to-day, are
without home or land enough in
which to be buried. 1t does seem to
me they have been defrauded out of
an inheritance purchased by the mon
ey and the blood of their ancestors. l
was therefore, rejoiced beyond meas
ure when read the speech of. Thos.
A. Scott, the President of the Pacific
and Texas railroad, before commit
tee of Congress, to find the company
asked for no subsidy, no gift of bonds
or money, or lands, but simply that
the Government would guarantee the
payment of the interest upon the bonds
of the company in the hands of the
holder, in consideration of being made
perfectly safe against loss by the COM
pany.
That Railroad when built with
branches to New Orleans, Memphis
and Louisville, will revolutionize the
commerce of the world, placing us in
the centre of all, and, morally, will be
the means of civilizing and christian
izing all mankind"
Intimately connected with the Pa
cifc and Texas Railroad as a work of
great national importance is the i'm
provement by Congress of the navi-
CATION of the Mississippi river, and
the protection of the richest portion
of the whole earth from inundatiou
by the annual overflow of the river.
Mr.. Calhoun, who was famed for his
strict construction of the Constitution
of the United States, declared the
Mississippi was an inland sea rather
than river, which with its tributa-
ries, drained half the continent, the
whole of that great valley lying he
tween the Allegheny and the Rocky
Mountains, and that the Improvement
Of its navigation was a work beyond
the means of individual enterprise,
and Justly appealed to the Congress of
the United States for its fostering care,
to make its navigation safe for the
boundless produce and tens of thous-
ands of human beings transported an
nually upon its bosom. 1t is work
too great to be accomplished by indi-
vidual or associated wealth.
The question is now before Congress,
and is therefore a legitimate one for
the review, the censure or praise of
the inhabitants of the great Valley,
and especially for those who stand in
the fore front of the great agricultur-
al interests of the country-the Pa
irons of Husbandry Whether the
garden spot of creation, the alluvial
lands of the Mississippi, unsurpassed
for fertility, and which are capable of
being made the granery of the world,
is to be protected by Congressional
legislation, or be suffered to be sub
merged by the overflow Of the river
and rendered useless for cultivation,
is question that must be decided
now, and cannot any longer be kept in
the background or overshadowed by
partisan legislation that brings no
wealth to the nation, but rather con-
sumes it, that neglects to develop the
rich resources that lie unappropriated
around us, and contributes nothing to
the genuine prosperity of the people.
The time for action has arrived, and
the people of the grand Valley an
nounce progress to be their watchword.
Whether the improved navi CATION is
to be achieved by the United States
levees, or by deepening and widening
the channel of the Mississippi river
at its mouth, or by increasing the num-
Der of outlets to the sea, or by all
combined, is matter to be determined
by scientific engineering and skill
But determined it must be speedily,
for the people will not wait much lon
ger for an open navigation of the
greatest river in the world, naviga-
ton characterized by safety and cheap
freight to New Orleans, the natural
e. 4 ! Il Il 1 |