Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-05-18
EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH BY
HON. JAS. R. CHALMERS,
OF MISSISSIPPI,
In the House of Representatives,
On the Texas Pacific Railway
Delivered Hay I'd, 1878.

/
On the Texas Pacific Railway
Delivered May Cd, 1878.
We much regret that our spaC
does not admit of our printing til
whole of this speech, which W
consider one of the most statesman
like efforts of the present session
The extracts we give from it, how
ever, will enable our readers to form
some estimate of the merits of tn
whole:
This is no party measure. 1t is
great national measure. Their,
were eight Democrats and five Re
publicanS on the committee which
| reported this bill. The Democrat
were equally divided, four agains
four, and the reports show that ev
cry northern Democrat was agains1
while every southern Democrat was
| for the bill. 1t is evident, there
fore, that we are indebted to north
ern Republicans and not to northern
| Democrats for its favorable report
and it is to be remarked that the
eastern Republicans were against
us while the western Republicans
were for us.
There is a significance in this vote
! which the student of politics will
| not fail to consider. Mr.. Calhoun,
| as far back as 1845, said the Missis-
sippi river was a great inland sea,
and that its waters washed an en-
pire. Since then that empire has
grown rapidly in power, and to-day
the sixteen States which are washed
by the Mississippi and its tributa-
ries contain majority of the cleo
toral votes of this Union, and their
people are natural allies. From the
great northwest came the boldest
and best soldiers of the Federal
army. They won the first victories
against the South, and they are the
first now to extend a helping hand
to fallen foe. This is a lesson we
shall not soon forget, and the Re
publicans who show this disposition
will learn that the hearts of men
who were brave in battle and firm
under oppression will yield to kind
ness what they deny to hate. Po-
litical parties are now undergoing a
change. The currency question has
separated political friends and
brought foes together. The tariff
question and the income tax will
divide as still further. Upon these
questions the West and the South
have practically united. The South
is the producer Of a gold-bearing
staple, and might have united with
the hard-money men of the East if
we had not sympathized with the
suffering West; and now when the
question Of our material develop
ment comes up we shall watch with
deep anxiety the East and the West
to see which shall sympathize most
with us. We look first to our Dem
ocratic brethren. We point them
to the fact that when the South was
represented here by Republicans the
Republican party stood ready to
help her. Southern claims were
freely paid by a Republican Con-
gress to the extent of $1O0,000,0 900.
BY a Republican Congress the
Texas and Pacific Railroad was
chartered and land grant given;
survey of the Mississippi river pre-
paratory to an appropriation for
levees was made; a levee bill passed
the lower House of a Republican
Congress, and funds were distributed
for agricultural colleges in the
South. 1t now remains to be seen
whether a Democratic South shall
receive less from a Democratic Con-
gress than a Republican South re-
ceived from a Republican Congress.
In answer to my friend from Wis
consin Mr.. Bragg], who appealed
to me in such complimentary
language, agree very largely with
him on the question of war claims.
l ask nothing for war claims. But
we ask a just distribution of the
public funds for public improve
mentS.
If our Democratic friends refuse |
this to us because they fear they |
may be defeated for reelection, | |
say to them they must remember |
that we, too, have constituents to |
please. If we ally ourselves with a |
party which is afraid to do justice |
to our constituents they may leave |
us at home and select other repre-
who may make other !,
alliances with men who are not |
afraid to do Justice to their friends. !
To the Republicans / say, you have |
made fatal mistakes in your treat |
ment of the South, in your recon-
structiOn measures. But for these !
measures and the spirit which |
prompted them your party might |
have found a broad and enduring |
basis in southern society.
The policy of distrust, hate and |
cemented the southern |
whites in opposition. The continu-
ance of this policy while it will not
unite the North insureS the cOntinu-
ance of a solid South. The next |
if elected by the people,
whether he comes from the East or |
the West, must possess two essen
tial requisites. He must have been
loyal to the Union during the war
of secession to satisfy the North,
and he must favor the material de-
of the South now to sat-
isfy us. Let those who aspire to the
position take notice.
We come next to the opposition
Of the men who control the Central
Pacific and its connecting lines, men
few in number but of marked finan-
cial ability and powerful in all the
influences which money can control.
The chief agent of this road, and
now the chief operator for the
Southern Pacific, has declared on
more than one occasion that there
was no necessity for more than one
road to the Pacific and yet we have
seen him and his cOnfederates sit
ting like vampires upon the Pacific
coast sucking the life-blOOd from
the etranscOntinental commerce, and |
every new road to absorb
or strangle it. When the Atlantic
and Pacific was chartered they were
here asking leave to connect with it
that they might kill it. When the
Texas and Pacific was chartered |
they were here asking leave to con-
meet with it, and under pretense of
meeting it, they have left their
legitimate work behind and pressed
with the money they retain
from the Government to cut off this
road from the Pacific. They think
they have succeeded in this, and
they are now pressing still further
and asking permission to reach El
PasO. From this point they can
connect with the AtchisOn, Topeka
and Santa Fe road unOn the north /