Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1861-12-20
50 PER ANNUK IN VANCE
TERMS OF ADVERTISING,
,oR ONE SQUARE or TWELVE LINES OR LESS.
CLAIR K SVILLE 4,
Friday, December goth, 1881.
Aa~ When Lorenzo Dow was requested

Friday, December Goth, 1881.
ha~ When Lorenzo Dow was requested
to detect the man who stole the axe, he carried
stone into the pulpit, and, after explaining that
theft had been committed, and expressing the be-
lief that the thief was in the church. he stated that
he would throw the stone at random. and begged
the congregation to sit STILL assuring them that no
one but the guilty man would be struck. He then
went 'through the motion of throwing the stone,
and the thief lodged behind pillar. We do not
mean to say that We threw stone into the congre-
cation, last week, or that we saw any one dodge,
and merely reproduce the aneceote as an Illus
tration of the proneness Of cohstious guilt 10 be-
tray itself even in advance of accusation And
what is "the extent of our offending ~ Actuated
by desre-partly selfish and partly patrotic-o
protect the poor with whom we have community
of feeling and interest, against a combination of
governmental and private capital, we arraigned
before the tribunal of public opinion farmers gro
GERS merchants, millers, specuators and Govern.
rhent agents, upon the samo broad charge of fixing
upon the necessaries of life price above the means
of the Confederacy and interposing their bodies
as a wall of fire. between the foreign foe aud the
domestic oppressor.
To make good these charges we alluded, in gen.
era terms, to tina conduct of the parties srragned
placing at the head of the list of offenders the
Government itself We invited attention to the
fact, that the Government is paying ten thousand
dollars rent for porkhouse, but failed TO state the
Objectionable features Of the TRANSACTION. Since
however our motives have been impeached, it is
due to ourselves as well as the puhliS that give
the grounds upon which our objections are based.
If we are correctly informed, this property-lot
house and fxtures-is rated on the Assessors book
at precisely the sum it is rented for and it requires
no skill at calculation to develop the conclusion
that, if the cash valuation of property he paid for
) three months use of the same, there is screw
loose somewhere. We arc further informed that a
responsible party, of this vicinity, offered to furnish
the house and the labor aud do all tine packing for
the Government at this point, for the same sum
that is now being paid for rent alone. If these
statements are not true we will cheerfullv publish
any authorized and authenticated correction; but,
has been perpctra,cd and it is our privilege well
as duty to call public attention to il as matter Of
public interest 1t is clear that neither the Coy
ment nor the people can he benefited by such a
transaction because the interest of the one is the
interest of the other and the bin must be paid by
O. taxation.
, But we have a word more to say in connection
with this branch Of the subject. We have convcr-
ged with many persons, in town and country, and
all agree that, if the Government through its
agents, had fixed the price of pork at six dollars
nett it would have given general satisfaction, and
the farmers would freely have brought forward their
T surplus for tie use of the Government Instead OF
= this, however high as ten dollars gross has been
paid, thus doubling the cost to the Government
and putting the price far beyond the reach of those
of limited meNns. We will not stop to inqu re
whether the Government or its agents. is response
bic for this deporable state of things farther than tc
venture the opinion that the former has been loose
in its Instructions and the latter disposed to take
advantage of the liceuce allowed. But, he this n,
it may, the fact stands out, in bold relief that the
poor the sufferers by the failure of the power
that bc to regulate the price of necessaries by the
'e standard of justice and humanity. Had this beer
~ done, agents would bave had no discretionary pow
ers the most vital interests of the masses, ant
neither they nor the spectators would have comt
forward competitors of the poor for the staff Of
$, life
Our remarks in reference to pork and DEALER
y therein apply with equal force to corn, flour and
salt and the wondcr is not that dollar-worshipper
have run up the price so high, bat That the Govern
mcnts-State and Coaiederate-have permitted tn,
naicticn of so great wrong upon the most hume
rous and far the most patriotic class of every com
munity The Legislatures Of two or three State
+ have taken this matter in hand and not only reg
is uated the price of necessaries, but denounced
as heavy penalties against those who violate the law
!, This should be done by every State, and in tn,
as event of failure the Confederate Government shoul,
interposc and rescue the many from the oppression
Of the few. The right to impress a mans negr
and fix the price of his services requires stretch
al ing to make il cover the cases under consideration
,e and no more sacred duty eau devolye upon Gov
ne ernment than that of driving from the humble
" abodes of the middle classes the gaunt poverty en-
gendered in the temples Of the money y-chaLger
and thence cent forth hfon its mission OF DEATH
The manner in which this duty has been discharge
S manifested in wholesale extortion, aud heralde
- by the voice Of almost universal complaint Bu
whatever the Government may have done, we hav
Of endeayorcd to discharge our duty in this conncc
lie tou and take leave OF subject which presents Iii
he tie that s pleasant in retrospect, or cheering Il
80 prospect aud If we have lrodden upon any one
corns it is because he put his foot in the way.
81 Ray Cotton is selling in New York a
about thuty.two cents, and this price is yer