The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-11-02
TENNESSEE.
7 = = = Il ~ = II
Knoxville Chronicle

More than one-third of the State of
Tennessee is still covered with the vir-
gin forest. a large proportion Of this
is mountain land, not available for or.
dinary agricultural purposes, bat most
of 1t could be turned to good account.
A large proportion of our landed prop
erty is very productive and if properly
titled yields paying returns to those that
work it. The salubrity Of the Tennes-
see climate is well understood. 1t is
not surpassed on the continent. We
are not troubled with extremely hot
summers or long cold winters. The
mountains of Tennessee contain vast de-
posits Of coal, iron, marble, copper,
zine and other valuable minerals. Ma
ture has been lavish in bestOwing her
gifts. Our water courses, which abound
in every direction, furnish some of the
finest manufacturing sites in the world
We should be almost independent of
the rest of the world. We ought to pro-
duce nearly everything we need for
health or comfort
And yet, with our varied soil, our
magnificent climate, our abundant min
eral resources au0 our fine manufactur-
ing advantages, Tennessee, in the march
of progress, is far in the rear of many
of her younger sisters. Not only have
we failed to obtain our share of immi-
grafton, but year after year our popula-
tion have gone to fill up the States of
the great West Go where we will, in
Texas, in Arkansas, in Missouri, in
Kansas, in Illinois, in Nebraska, or in
the States and Territories of the Pacific
slope, and there we find Tennesseans,
many of them in affluent circumstances.
We make all due allowance for the spir-
it which auimates so many Americans
which has sent The "cOurse of empire"
in the direction OF tie setting sun, and
sill the ratio of emigration is far larger
than that of immigration-the number
subtracted is in much larger proportion
than the numb al cd.
Why is this? 1t cannot be the eli
mate, because our climate is confessed
ly superior in all rcspeC,s to that of the
States that have OutStrippcd in the race
for prosperity. 1t is not our soil, for
we have soils adapted to the growth Of
everything which contribute to life and
comfort. The fault is not with nature,
il is with ourselves We believe that
this fact is beginning to be realized,
and when 1t is, then we may exp ct to
regain some of our lost ground. We
have, from time to time, pointed out
some things that have retarded our
progress. S avery had a damaging ef-
feet upon Tcnnessee's progress, but that
has been removed. One drawback is
the want of an effective free school sys-
tenn, and we are suffering from that yet,
although frequent efforts have been
made to improve it, AID it has been inn
proved. Another trouble has been our
miserable pnhlic roads, which, in them
selves, ave been sufficient to deter any
from settling among US. These are
some cf lhr drawbacks 10 our progress,
and there are others that viii : ggcst
themselves { any haughtful mind. If
the people of Tennessee viii arouse
themselves, aud determine la take their
stand alongside of the people of their
sister States in Inviting immigration
an h .ldins cut inducements to immi