The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-07-14
Gen. Featherston.
His Patriotic and statesmanlike Letter
SOUND TO THE CORE.

i
/ for harmony and the maintenance o.
Democratic ascendency in our Sta'e,
The following concluding portion set:
forth his views upon questions of State
policy which we unhesitatingly endorse
as sound to the core. They are the W.
terances of a patriot and statesman:
The time has certainly arrived when We
should take a new departure in progress and
/ reform.
Retrenchment and reform should 90 for
ward until our people have been relieved
from all unnecessary burdens imposed by tax.
alton and until We reach point beyond
which We can not go with safely TO the pub
+ lie interests. Civil service reform should he
i continued until all Offices in the State, are
/ filled by the abest aud most competent men.
But we want progress and new depart
ure above all things in developing the ma
+ teriaI resources of the State. We want
more people, more capital, more railroads
and more manufactures
! Four years ago, in May 1877, l had occa-
/ sion to write an open letter to DR.. A. r.
Strawn, of McComb City, in which | used
the following language, and which L now
] fully endorse:
{
/ Mississippi at this time, are more pOpula-
/ ton and mere capital We want immigrants,
laborerS, planters and artisans, men of faml-
/ lies who will come into the State, buy lands
/ and settle down for life, and improve their
| places, thereby adding greatly To the pro-
! ductive labor of the State such men at once
/ become Incorporated into, and form a part
/ of the community in which they locate, and
| their interests and ours become identical.
I l.. 4 4 4. al
/ ly shrinking in value, and in many Iocaii-
/ ties Is suffering irreparable loss for the want
/ of labor and tillage. Our waste places are
/ becoming more numerous. In short, we are
+ now living and languishing, and We will
continue To languish and grow poorer and
poorer every year until our population shall
/ be increased and our la Dor system reinforced.
/ We want more capital, and the inducements
+ to the manufacturer, and capital invested
/ in manufacturing here, will yield large
profit If the factories are controlled by skill
/ full machinists aud otherwise properly man
aged. 1t is undoubtedly true, that State
which manufactures the raw material into
/ fabrics will grow rich faster than the one
which produces it. | need only cite you to
/ Massachusetts and Mississippi in support of
this position. The Mississippi planter who
raises his bale of cotton will now get
not more than from fifty to sixty dollars for
/ it, while the same bale OF cotton when car
/ ried to Massachusetts, and converted into
| fabrics returned and sold in Mississippi will
/ bring from two to three hundred dollars
/ 1t will thus be seen then that the producer
of raw material gets less for it than the
manufactures does for his labor and skill
bestowed on it. Our interests demand,
therefore, that we should become a manu-,
featuring as we'll as an agricultural people;
if We can produce the cotton here and
manufacture it here cheaper than it can be
done i'll Massachusetts,, why should it be
sent off to Massachusetts, and our people
taxed with freights there and back on the
cotton and fabrics. The great object Of our
State Government should now be to induce
immigration and capital to flow into the
State. If we succeed in this policy, Misss-
sippi will become a great and prosperous
State, Astounding in all the comforts of life,
the equal of any other State in wealth, in
telligence, its educational advantages and
all the elements of true greatness. 1t is
the equal of any other in soil, climate and
natural advantages.
We have certainly waited long enough to
learn that immigration and capital will not
flow into our State unbidden and without
effort on our part, to induce them to come.
law organizing and regulating the
duties of the Department of immigration
and Agriculture, should be passed, agents
should be sent abroad, and reasonable ex-
penditures of money must be made, if we
are to succeed in accomplishing this grand
object.
The building of new lines of Railroad
would draw both capital and immigrants
into the State.
/ again quote from my letter of Nav, 1877,
and re-affirm what | then said. | do not,
however, confine my remarks to that one
line of Railroad, but make them equally APP
plicable to all other necessary and contem-
plated lines
We want a railroad starting from Missis-
sippi City or the most eligible point on our
Southern coast, wherever that may be, and
running north through the center of the
State about equally distant from the Mobile
and Ohio on the east, and the Mississippi
Central on the west to our northern border,
and there connecting with some line run
ming north. With such line completed we
would soon have a city on our own coast
within own borders, at the Southern
terminus of this road, We would then
cease to pay tribute to New Orleans and
Mobile. Exports aud imports that now
seek other channels would be turned
through this city. This road, too would
open up to every part of the State, because
it would be connected by lateral branches
with all other main lines of railroad in the
State, the immense pine forests of the
southern part of our State, in which there
is much undeveloped wealth. It's compile
ton would not only add greatly to the tax
able property of the State, but it would
confer lasting benefits upon our whole pop
ulation and make our State more attractive
to the immigrant and capitalist.
But in order to move successfully, in the
right direction, in developing the resources
of our State, our people and our State
government should take less interest in
National politics and give more of their
time and attention to home affairs to our |
own business and.State interests. We have
held unlimited control of the State govern |
ment for five years, during which time the |
National government has been under Re, /,
publican rule, and yet we have not been
seriously hurt by the National administra- |
ton.
With the State government properly ad- |
ministered, We have but little to fear from
the National administration. The State /
government has something more to do than
simply to reduce taxes and establish COM
mon schools, and | may add something
beyond the development of all the material /
interests of the State. 1t is the duty of the |
State government to protect its citizens /
against wrongs and expressions from what
ever source they may come. That /
corporations of its own creation are op-
pressing the people by unjust disarimina- I
tions and onerous burdens Is very generally |
conceded That it is within the power, both |
of the State and National government to |
pass laws, free from constitutional objections, |
which will meet the emergency, suppress /
the evil and relieve the people, think, is |
unquestionably true, and very generally ad- /
mitted. This duty should be speedily per-
formed.
l have now, sir, briefly, and more by way /
OF suggestion than of argument, responded I
to the points embraced in your letter, and /
beg leave to subscribe myself very truly,
your friend, ". S. FEATHERsToN.
-------@ -~~)~
Legislation in Iowa
Extract from the Republican Plat
form, adopted June, 1881:
That we recognize railways as one Of the
most potent agencies in our national pro-
49, IL. - L r