Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-03-22
REPORT OF THE TENNENSEE
COMMISSIONER
10 the Paris Exposition.

conferred upon me By your Exec
lencv, through the appointment {
- myself as one of the Commissioner
to the Universal Exposition, Paris
France, I deem it my duty in sever
" ing connection with the Office, t
make such report of my proceeding
as may pertain to the interests 0
the State of Tennessee or its people
and therefore would respectful,
3. submit the same, as follows:
Arriving in London, England, tn.
latter part of April, ! thought
= could best make my stay fruitful Il
the State of Tennessee, by talking
= up its advantages to the sturiS
English laDOrer, not forgetting tht
even more important capitalist
Essaying to converse with them al
every favorable opportunity, found
myself uI7Q6{e to speak the language.
| soon found out that the United
States language was not the Eng
lish ERgud; and it was a long time
before l discovered that I-O-Ben
possessed e same meaning as
High HOlborn, and was little in
doubt as to whether the State of
Tennessee held any inducements
betitting SO classic pronunciation,
yet came to the conclusion, that il
wouldn't make any difference at the
bottom of an iron mine, and so per-
severed to become fluent in the
mother tongue. The food being also
different, probably helped me on.
Soon l felt at home, and could talk
in a way that would go far to puz-
zle any unsophistocatel citizen of
f1fa.l
was very kindly treated. The en-
terprlsing owners of that wonderful
mineral center at South Pittshurg,
Tenn, being English gentlemen,
had kindly furnished me with
letter, which did much toward
paving the way, and | made many
pleasant acquaintance. Their let
ter also shoA ed what favorable pro-
gress they had been making, and
furthermore, offered to the right
kind of English liborer, not only
house to shelter him and family ON
arrival, but promised 10 give him,
if he was saving, work sufficient to
pay fOr the house. Few VINO had
any desire or thought of moving to
the New World could resist such
| favorable inducements, and but for
the Lack of money whereWith to
/ transport themselves and families,
many might lIa\ 4 arrived aneatd W
! me. As it now stands, many viii
no doubt forget my preaching, and
! never see the blue sky of America, |
/ while others will persevere-save - |
/ leave the land OF fogs. and yet never |
! reach the eInigrants' paradise FEN |
neSsee), for many Western States |
have paid emigration agents abroad |
and at New York, whose business it /
is To ''gobble" up the unWary emf |
grant, who having been we'll but /
tered by fish stories of the Great |
American Desert, will be swallowed |
up by States where, having no wood
or cU;,l, people are obliged to burn
their corn.
Many English capitalists having
invested in Tennessee, it is but nat
ural hat their fellows should have
longing eye this way. At present,
however, they ''see through glass
darkly." They don't like the plan
oft proposed of settling the State
debt by compromise of different
per cents on the dollar. Their queer
old English notions are that if
GCLdltS DDIION5 d OOiIdE IL OuGt1t 10
Pay it back as would an honest man.
When / spoke OF its riches of mine
raj wealth. / didn't know which
was easiest, a slap in the mouth or
the answer, alt that be the case,
then she must be dishonest must
be frank, and confess that the ''dOl-
lar for dollar, like an honest man."
is my doctrine forever and always,
if it takes my finger-nails to meet
the crisis. A mountain may fall on
me, but if We have but the faith
and a0iU 1cOrk-ye can say unto that
mountain, tBe ye removed" etc,
and any honest mainland if an
honest nlGil-sO can that more pow
erful thing, State, rise superior to
all its burdens yet was over there
as the States representative, and
neces arily must champion its col
Ors. So | would answer, by way of
defen~e: ''She is bent with her bur-
dens now, and can't raise her paper
has passed through a severe crisis
.inean~ Well-has the undevelOped
resources hidden away in her bow
els, as il were, and / have no doubt {
that when she 'waXeth rich some {
future Legislature of sterling worth
will say, Here, let's wipe this stain
off our escutcheOn Gentlemen,
present your billS-here's dollar for {
all OF which the capital
ist makes answer: tPresent appear 6
anres cause me to doubt all such |
and even if so, other men |
will hold the paper then, and pres '
ent holders will be no less the losers. /
No sir! | can't swallow that doe
trine. If the State of Tennessee is +
too poor to put its debt in satisfac-
tory shape, | don't want any Of my
money to go there. 1t sets a bad 5
example TO individual debtors
shows "a want of that high-toned 1
principle which inspires confidence, [
and Pin afraid you'll have hard I
work TO induce British capitalists G
who have watched it as / have. To =
invest in Tennessee. I've no doubt {
but it's Il good State both for rich
and pOor-better just now for the {
latter-and | fear that you will have /
none but poor emigrants unless the /
weather changes. No one wants to
crowd an honest debtor. Let them i
get their paper in proper shape-put S
the interest at best they can get /
always meet it promptly, and peU- /
pie will soon forget the dark finan- i
ciering of the past, and ere many L
years new loans can be made as low {
iS the United States Government /
gets money now. Why, sir, the !
State of --, during the early |
days of the war, borrowed heavily i
in London. Nothing was said about r
silver or gold in repayment, and f
when the promises fell due, could 1
have been paid in deprecated cur /
reneY. There was fight in the
Legislature, but the majority car t
riei the day for English gold. The t
gist of it was that when other States d
were paying six to ten per cent, 1
the State I mention could have bOr- i
r0wed a ship load mt four per cent" I
Suffice it to say / didn't urge any |
more capitalists. Either the food,
or such talk, made me reyy sick, /
aud thinking change Of air might 4
do me good, / took cars and boat for c
Paris. a
Looking at the Exposition build q
ings, l saw that they were about t
two months behind time. ] then a
called on Commissioner Oakley, f
who resides at Paris, and whom, q
bafioya vnIIr Expplleucv had aIap I