The daily gazette., 1880-08-25
THOMAS HUGHES.
A NEW EXPERIMENT IN EMIGRATION.
From thu N. Y, Herald. 10

A NEW EXPERIMENT IN EMIGRATION.
From the N. Y, Herald.
The present visit to this country OF
Mr.. Thomas Hughes and some of the
associates in his new enterprise is fitted
to attract wide attention, both here and
in Great Britain. Even in its minor as
pect as an attempt at organized emigra-
tion from the o Il World to the New it
is of cOrsid fable intel st. There ave,
indeed, been a few similar attempts by
small religious bodies, but they have
not been started with anything like ile
capital, prestige, social eclat and .llJor-
ate system of preparations of this inter-
esting experiment.
The company which Mr.. Hughes rep
r, sents has capital of $4,000 and
among its patrons and stockholders are
many persons of high distinction in Eng
land, Including some members of the
nobility. IL Is not land speculation
nor is 1t purely phllanthropic. 1t must
not be cOnfOulded with any of the vari-
Gus cooperative movements which have
been so much discussed, for its aims are
entirely distinct from the p,r rposes Of
those organizations. II is an enterprise
sui geneiis, and must be judged on its
own merits and not by comparison.
Mr.. Hughes company has purchased
large tract of land in Eastern Tenn
ossee, little south OF the Kentucky
line, in region Of remarkable beauty,
salubrity, agricultural and mineral re-
sources. The purchase comprises four
hundred thousand acres Gated in four
contiguous CONF los. 1t is on the pici-
uresque plateau Of the Cumberland
River, lying on the new Cincinnati
Southern Railroad, whose southern ter
miRus is the rising city of Chattanooga.
When the tract is settled its ,calest
market will be Cbaltannn5a, but its
principal, though m'4c Instant market,
will be Cincinnati. Great care has been
taken in the selection of the site, which
is preferred to many Others which have
been examined III lhe ,,,4t and the
South. The region abounds in valuable
timber, limestone and clay. A hotel
has been erected since March; roads
have been surveyed and laid out nur-
series of fruit trees have been planted !;
facilities for building have been prepared
by the construction of sawmill and
brick kiln. On the 14:h OF September
there is to be a formal opening of the
colony, at which Mr.. Hughes is to make
an address, setting forth in detail the OBJ
jects OF the enterprise and the nature of
its organization. Even IN the midst of
a heated Presidential canvass, the pro-
ceedings on that occasion will be looked
TO with great interest and be widely re-
ported by the public press.
The purpose of this note worthy enter
r.rioa l,.,p 70 n,f, Lot,
by Mr.. Hughes, is to establish pleasant
and civilized homes for middle class
people who prefer an agricultural life
and find noscareer open to them as ten
ant farmers in England. What is sought
for the new colony is body OF picked
emigrants who shrink from the rough
society of miscellaneous new settlements,
and have capital enough to make amod-
est start in community which will pos
scss, from the beginning, the most i'm
portant advantages of civilized life
schools, churches aud cultivated social
intercourse. Our country is wide and
liberal enough 10 admit OF such expert
ments. Let them turn out as they may,
they cannot fail to be instructive.
1t does not yet appear in what manner
the company which POUNDS this Tennes-
see colony is to dispose of its lands. II
will make a great difference whether
they give titles in fee simple or only
grant leases for term of years. 1t is
only by the latter method that there can
be any guarantee for the stability of the
colony in its intended original character
If each settler should be the absolute
owner of his farm he will have perfect
right of transfer under State laws, and
can sell 1t as his pleasure to person
who light be an undersil able member
of the community. But if the company
retains the fee simple of the soil and
lets 1t out to tenants it may carry out
its purposes for several generations.
We trust that this will be an expert
Rent from which something useful can
be Learned, and on no other principle of
land tenure could it be so instructive as
by a system of leases with rights of re-
newal by desirable tenants. 1t would
aid materially in solving difficult and
danger jus questions which threaten the
domestic peace of the British Islands.