Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-11-09


u built lighthouses, cleared harbo
d and subsidized ocean steamers
! which held absolute control OF tt
: commerce Of the nation-such
n Government, familiar with the "a
e ercise of such powers, and suppurte I.
Y by an almost unanimous publ
5 opinion, could scarcely afford
: waste Its time in puzzling over cor
| stitutional questions.
a NATIONAL NECESSITY.
The South does not complain
these facts. She does not ask thj
Government To undo any of thci
consequences, or to deprive th(
country or any section OF the cOun
try Of the advantages which thei
occurrence has given. Her Ian
guage is this; Cheap, certain nnt
speedy transportation Of freight nnd
passengers between the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts has been recognized a
"A national necessity; a policy APP
proved before the war and since, by
an almost unanimous public Opin-
ion. The line of connection and tho
method of its execution were sub
jects for discussion for the people
but all agreed in the wish for a cun-
nectiOn which should give equal
advantages TO all sectiOus. The war
compelled the construction Of a line
/ which no one pretends would We
\ been selected either as best In itself,
/ considered simply as a road, or fair
and Just, considered as national
work, the advantages Of which were
TO be general. You have gone 50
far north as TO make your line an
uncertain communication on nc
count of long interruptions by the
winter SHOWS, and a partial and sec
ttOnal communication by the situa-
tion of its termini. Now this may
have been unavoidable. but we
have to bear our share Of the bur-
den of its support whilst we are cut
off from our share Of its advantages.
We ask you only to complete your
system of Pacific connection. IL
circumstances have compelled YOU
to make two rOads-a northern and
q southern rOad-and YOU were
forced to finish your northern sec
tion first, although il has given
enormous advantages already 10
one section of the country over
another, we do not ask these adVan-
tages to be taken away from them,
but only in justice to be extended tO
US. Make the Pacific connection
what IL was intended to be-a con-
nectiOn between the Atlantic coast
and the Pacific-nOt mere section
of the Atlantic coast, but the whole
Atlantic and Gulf coast, from Port
land to Galveston. We do not crit
icise or censure the mode In which
you have begun the work, we only
ask you to finish Il.
MONOPOLY TO BE CHECKED.
In the next place, the method
which you have adopted In reference
to the Central and Union Pacific has
deprived you, and through you the
people, of all control over the rates
of transportation. You have bound
yourself to leave this vital interest
at the mercy of the private stock.
holders of the road until they shall
be earning a certain clear per cent.
upon, not their capital, but the cap.
ital we the people have furnished
them. Now IL is within their power
and as long as human nature l. E
what il is, il will be within their
purpose-to keep that rate Of net
income below the point which iusti-
fles your interference, and that, too,
as Is very well known, without dim
mutton of their profits. This places
the whole commercial transpOrta-
tion of the nation nj the mercy Of a
joint stock company, and converts
a public highway into a private cor
pUTation. The public opinion of
the country, founded ON principles
of common Justice, Is beginning to
be very restive under this transfer
Of sovereign rights TO corporations.
If, by any new magic of science, a
could strike the ground
and create great navigable river
running through the heart Of con-
iinent, controlling ITS commerce.,
its population, building
up villages and cities along iis
banks, directly affecting the safety
Of the country by its line of military
operation, does any one suppose for
4 moment that the public opinion Of
today would tolerate the monopoly
Of it's use and ownership by AN hum
1red or a thousand stockholders
And a great transcontinental rail-
road Is very little less, and with full
recognition Of all the differences,
he analogy is sufficient TO require
ln the part Of the Government the
exercise of some supervision over
powers which so directly and vital
y concern the fortunes Of the people.
In the present relation between the
and the Central Pa
'ific the Government can do moth
ng. So much the more Is il bound
% complete its system, and, by the
southern extension Of that system,
lfford in competing road the only
heck which can now be devised as
protection against this monopoly.
Lastly, the condition Of the South
makes
AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE.
The inevitable consequences Of
var are not confined to the limits of
Is merely military operations.
Like the cannOn-ball, Ii skaters
hat it may reach, and skaters what
t reaches" If il calls into exercise
powers To- effect its
purposes, these powers can not cease
bruptly with their accomplish
nent. If TO preserve the Union the
Whole social and political condition
f half an empire can be suddenly
nd permanently transformed to
maintain that Union which has
een saved, surely that condition
must be harmOnized with the inn
'erative necessities of the country
which has been made one. II TO Sc
ure the ends of war millions Of
property can be destroyed, the
Whole suffrage Of the country be e.
altered, absolute military
governments substituted for State
surely the restoration
f commercial and industrial life,
he opening of new fields for eman-
ipated labor, the perpetual preVen-
ion Of sectional isolation, are equal
Y within the power and the duty
( the great Government which can
% and has done such things.
Now, without going over the
)ng and sad tale Of Southern mise
Y, without attempting tO deny & at
That the United States did in the
of the war IL was obli-
ed to do, there can be NO question
hat the condition Of the South to-
ay Is the condition in which theWar
nd the reconstruction acts have
laced it. What that condition il
eeds no description. Ii l. cOnfe--
ed on all sides, by enemies as well
$ by friends, and II is now equally