Year: 1877

Without exception the best law
enacted in the State since the war
. the one most conducive to ma.
, terial interests-is that taxing
dogs. And that there is a clamor


against it upon the part of those,


mainly, who have the most dogs


and least of anything else, and


that the Legislature may heed


the clamor, is one of the discour.


aging features of the day. If the


law was allowed to stand for two


years longer, its results would


be so wholesome that the wis


dom Of its enactment would be


acknowledged 10y many Of those


who now favor its repeal.


Here is a State with all the


advantages necessary tosuccess-
full sheep husbandry, possessing
hundreds of thousands of a.


cres of the best land adapted to


the purpose, and to that alone;


a State which produces wool


(which took the premium over
the wool of all the world at the
Worlds Fairs in Paris and


London, and which wool to-day


demands a higher price in the


Boston market than the wool of


Pennsylvania or Ohio, yet with


all these advantages we are


brought face to face with the


humiliating fact that there is


not enough produced in the


State to clothe one-fifth Of the


population! If the Legislature


of to-day, who propose to re-


peal the dog law, were stripped


of all clothing except what was


made from wool grown upon


Tennessee soil, they would be


in very uncomfortable condi-
ton for this severe weather.
Their money has gone to other


States for woolen goods made
from wool raised upon soil less


adapted to it than Tennessee,


and what have we to bring the


money back? Why not, at


least, raise sufficient wool for


home consumption, even though
it be sent out Of the State to be
manufactured? Wool always
commands cash. With the dog
law enforced, it will be but a


few years until the State will
export enough wool to turn the
balance Of trade, so far as cloth
ing is concerned, in her favor.


Sheep husbandry since the law


passed, has been more stimula-
ted than in all previous time.
Thoughtful men who had waited


weary years to see the balance
of trade turned in favor of Ten
nessee, took heart and were en-
couraged. To repeal the law


will be the deadliest blow ever
struck at the material interests
of the State. Let the law stand,
encourage sheep husbandry, ex-
port wool and mutton, and it
will be but few years until the
complaint that "there is no mon
ey in the country" will have less
foundation in fact than now.
A farmer near Chattanooga
ships his wool to Boston-over
a thousand miles-and gets a
better price for it than Ohio or
Michigan wool commands. This
one farmer. if the myriads of
worthless ours which prey upon
his flock are exterminated, taxed |
out Of existence, will soon be
bringing several thousands of |
dollars yearly into the State.
The good work Of turning the
balance of trade in favor of |
Tennessee has been notable |
since the dog law passed. From
this and two adjacent counties
nearly one hundred thousand
dollars worth of spring lambs
have been shipped to Cincinna-
ii and Northern markets. They |
come into market so much ear
lier here that they command
the top prices. In Memphis
the city has been supplied for
the first time from the surround
ing country. l know Ohio
wool growers complain of dogs,
but they can not realize the
magnitude of the nuisance in
this State. From statistics
gathered since the dog law
passed, and taking the popula-
tion of the two States as a ba-
sis of comparison, we find that
there are nine dogs in Tennes-
see to one in Ohio! In Ohio
there is but one dog to every
twenty-seven people, and as for
sheep, there are forty-six sheep
in that State to one dog! The
Ohio farmers annually receive
over twelve millions Of dollars