Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-02
HOW OUR RAILROADS CAN IN
COURAGE IMMIGRATION.

cities on the s~eaboard, as well as the
great mining and manufacturing cen
tres, are OVERLOOKING with unemployed
men, while the u~ncultivated fields Of
the South and West clamor for an in
crease Of laborers, afording ample OPP
%portunity for all who are capable Of
agricultural work. In Tennessee alone
there IS an easy living for a million Of
the dissatisfied, striking and half
starving laborers OF the Northwest, if
they but come here and dig it out Of
the ground. Nor would their coming
crowd the natives; they would merely
double production, without exhausting
our natural wealth IN the least, while
our artificial wealth would beimmense-
ly increased in The enhanced value Of
lands now lying proftless because IN
productive.
Reviewing the general field, and
contrasting the crowded Northern sea-
board with the opportunities for ample
llvel hood offered in the less de9eloped
States, no less an authority than the
NeW York Bulletin estimates that IF
labor could be easily transferred from
the localities and employments where
it is not wanted, to those where it
could Re readily employed, the net
products Of the country would be in
stantly increased one-fourth upon its
present amount" Few political
economists viii venture to gain
say this proposition; but ponder
its mighty meaning! An increase
Of twenty-five per cent in production,
without any increase in the number of
mouths to feed or bodies to clothe,
means the difference between penury
and plenty, between poverty and COM
fort, between a mere competency and
afluence. 1t means that, after spend
ing twenty-five per cent more, a man
viii have twenty five per cent more left,
to lay by for the rainy day. Take for
instance, the thrifty and frugal
mechanic, earning SI6 per week, Of
which he spends So and saves 81. In
crease his earnings to 500, and he can
increase his expendituresto SIS and his
savings TO S..
But poverty chains the bulk of
Northern laborers and their families to
the spot where they cannot procure
work. A false theory Of legislation
would stimulate industries already
o~verIone by a protection which en-
riches monopolists and leaves labor
more helpless. A short-sighted philan-
5boPy spends more to support them in
poverty than would send them reioic-
ing to other fields where they would
gladly support themselves and
little ones. The advantages Of such
deportation would be tbree-fold: the
laborer would be benefited; the over
crowded community he leaves would
BE- relieved, and the sparse community
needing his labor would welcome him
as q public blessing. Yet the general
sense Of interest IS not strong enough,
nor cooperative enough, to carry out
a plan which would unquestionably re-
dJund TO the advantage Of all. Some
class or agency, specially Interested,
must take the lead in the work, and
looking over the field Of possibilities
the Ne1C York Bulletiu boldly suggests:
There is one class more directly and
more largely interested in the full en-
! pi0yment Of labor than any other, and
| no would seem 10 have a special mo-
| tive for taking the matter IN hand. We
refer To the railroads. They are di-
rectly benefited by every increase Of
/ population at the West. Every add
| tional workman placed on a Western
/ farm means the sending Of some 400
| bushels more grain TO the East and the
| forwarding Of so much additional value
IN merchandise from the East TO the
West. Their earnings upon the pro-
duct and the consumption Of a Western
workman for u yeaI, exceed by lar
| what it would cost them to carry a la.
bOrer from the Eastern cities to the
farms, forests or mines Of the West:
and 1t would therefore pay the roads,
even within the first year, to carry able
bodied, industrious w0rkmen from the
East to the WeIt without charge. to
say nothing Of the returns to be de-
rived IN subsequent years.
We would suggest to the managers
Of the East and West trunk roads
whether 1t would not highly conduce TO
their IL. crest to establish some perma-
nent rule comforting free passage upon
all workuen desiring TO 90 West, but
who are unable to pay their fare. It
would be easy to establish regulations
that would prevent an arrangement of
that kind from being abused by per
sons not needing such generosity, or
by immigrants able 10 pay for them
selves; and although the execution Of
such regulations might involve some
trouble and expense 10 the roads, yet
that would be a small matter compared
With the large advsn tages that would
ultimately accrue to them.
All this applies with equal force to
the South and orr Southern railroads.
The Northern roads have always acted
on these principles, and the miraculous
growth of the great West during the
present generation has been mainly
due to their practice. Second and
third class passengers fares and cheap
emigrant trains, have been the potent
means Of diverting the mass Of Euro
pean incomers to the Northwest. The
absence Of such cheap rates on South
ern roads goes far toward explaining
the scanty number Of emigrants that
straggle in this direction. South Of
the Ohio, there is but one railroad rate
for all, high OF low, rich or poor, white
or black. An immigrant coming this
way, is obliged to pay as much from
Louisville to Nashville as from New
49, I'LL.