Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-06-29
EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH
OF HON. JOHN f. HOUSE,
ON the Texas Pacific halfway.

The extracts from Col. House
speech which we here give vii
afford to our readers some concep
tion of the force and eloquence witt
which he pleaded the cause of thi
great Southern measure. The de
tails of the argument for it, and 0
the securities proposed in the bill
against such abuses as disgraced tht
| Northern Pacific Railroads, havt
been long before our readers and il
is not necessary to present them
now again; but the appeal to South.
ern members in the peroration
should be read by all:
ANTI-sUBsIDY CROAKERs.
Mr.. Speaker, the undeveloped re-
| sources of this country and the ex-
pansiOn of its commerce must con-
stitute two of the important banks
on which we are to draw for the
future in meeting the demands that
rest upon us, if we expect to relieve
the people of the heavy burden of
which they complain, and under
which they are destined to become
more dissatisfied unless some hand
is found to lift and Tighten it. He
who can so apply our unem-
ployed labor, that lifts its bony
hands and prays for work and begs
for bread, as to develop the dead
capital that sleeps in our unculti-
waited fields and unopened mines,
thus blessing the laborer i'm the act
of utilizing his labor, will prove a
benefactor of his country. He who
can look upon our unemployed
thousands who can find no place for
work though they diligently seek it
day by day, and the unappropriated
wealth that lies buried in our fields
and forests and mines, may fancy
that he has reached the highest
point of craftsmanship by crying
''nO more subsidies" but in my
humble judgment he has yet to
make the first track on the path
that is to conduct us out of the
wilderness of financial distress and
social danger.
With our vast resources yet in the
infancy of their development we
are called upon to proclaim that no
new avenues Of wealth shall be ere
ated, no new channels of commerce
shall be opened, save what indiVid-
ual enterprise, with both its legs
broken and both its arms paralyzed,
may be able to achieve. So fearful
are some gentlemen that Congress
may in an unguarded hour do some
thing in the way of promoting our
domestic and foreign commerce and |
the resources of the
country, that they rush to the front |
in frantic haste as each succeeding |
Congress cOnveneS with an anti
resolution, as they call it,
with which to tie the hands of |
members and thus render them |
powerless for mischief. Among
aspirants there is some
times a race as to who shall win the !
cheap glory of first introducing an
lnti-subsidy resolution. The victor
in the contest feels that by the
he has at least laid the
with his constituents for
another term, and even visions of
Immortality may begin to play idly
If the Government is to assume
The position of positive antagOnism
Dr obstinate Indifference toward all
material advancement and develop
nent; if the country has its growth
md is completely finished, so that
we need feel no further concern in
he expansion of its commerce and
he increase of its wealth, then this
outcry is all we'll
But if it is yet in its mi
lority in its commercial relations
md facilities and in the develop
nent of its Wealth-creating power
f the magnitude of our public debt
;ries aloud to the whole country to
lut on all its strength, to summon
I'll its resources to the field, to mar
hal all agencies and energies that
an aid us in meeting and mastering
he great task that has been laid
lpOn US, then this anti-subsidy song,
o far from being the morning hymn
# our deliverance from oppressive
will prove the funeral
Urge of our prosperity and the re-
Iuiem Of our emancipation from
bondage. Should we at such a time
dopt a policy that bids the wealth
hat lies buried or is left to rot upon
he banks of our rivers that says to
he gold and silver and coal and
ron and copper and other minerals
hat repOse in the bosom of the
arth as useless and Improbable as
he rock and the earth that encase
hem, "SIeep on until the bankrupt
Deople of this country have paid the
lational debt and then, in some far
IF day of the sweet by and by some
Mysterious providence, having due
egard to the provisions of the Con-
and in the interest of econ
my, will breathe the breath of life
nt0 all this dead capital" This
aay be wisdom, but it is very deep;
may be craftsmanship, but it is
0 prOfouad that ordinary minds
aust be excused if they stagger in
he effort to fathom it.
Let the policy of these seanti-subsidy
prevail, let the Govern
nent turn its back at this time on
IL efforts to extend and promote
ur commerce and develop the
Ountry, and it will be many long
nd weary year before the sun will
ct upon this land freed from debt. I
)ur debt is indeed appalling in its
magnitude, and many hard blow
must be struck by the sons of toll
efore it is paid. Its yoke is not
asy and its burden is not light.
Nothing which can aid the wealth.
agencies of this country
n leveling the mountain that rises
n grim and gloomy outline before
IS should be discouraged or neglect
d. There is deep unrest in the
'ublic heart, and distress and dis
uietude generally prevail. There
lever was a more prOpitiOus time,
ever a more OppOrtune occasion,
ever a more urgent necessity for
he Government to lend a helping
and to all proper aud judicious
'ublic Improvements. Labor is
heap; thousands of stalwart men
the country begging
or bread, while thousands at home
re begging for work and bread to
,eep soul and body together.
This is a strange spectacle in our
Ountry. When before in its history
lid the land swarm with beggars
nd the Iaborer pray for the poor
'OOn of being allowed to earn his
read by the sweat of his brow?
L., I, Int