The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-12-06
About Army Suffers.

fcor
~. y" "'' S''e' ~ "o''e ''e
nuisance we trust congress Will take the
matter in hand early the present session, for
it is too wicked to have the soldiers and
,ho;u e;,: -
~ '.o"'o' s"i'i''e" Jul ol 'helf
deaf-oouSht earnings. From the following
letter of carleton" in the Boston Journal of
Sa,nrdav Il will h, soa, .ho+ ,ho ..:.,,
..,:., ~, "'''o'e
whit, "PPe"'eo III Lie oaieooh'ah TWO
months ago, IN regard to the suffers Of the
VT third, was not all oyerdrawo. In a letter
from the Sd. dated Nov o. tho w,;,er COW.
.,yo 49,,
wei. pau '"o '''o"'hs wages yesterday
go Two boys IN our company each ow-
ed the sutler SO Of it,
Tho eouo; .c
10 "''"' O'''e'o'i says VI
suffers:
AS your readers are far from the army. let
me be ewes for them. and take = look of en-,
ler'S operations. Arnrox;ma,r]v sneaL;ra
we may say that there are one hundred and
seyentv-fye or two hundred sutlers IN In.
Army of the Potomac, who sell gingerbread
pie S, cakes, beer, cider mi,tens, socks. gloves.
shirts, shoes, pens, pencils, paper, ink, candy.
raisins, figs, tobacco. knives. and thousand
other things. They are one hundred and
seyenty-five shopkeepers with one hundred
and seventy-ive thousand customers Bos-
ton has population not much larger than
the Army of the Potomac.
Nearly all of the 10000 men smoke or
chew tobacco. The sutler has three cent CT
CARS always on hand; also briar wood, clay
and meerschaum pipes, which are pleasan,
companions for the soldiers, so far away from
nome. The soldiers like occasionally a pie
or cake, Or handful OF raisins. All Of
them write letters, aud of course all patron
re the suffer. Their credit is always good
to 4 certain amount-made SO by the regula-
tons 80 that if they are out OF funds their
comforts can still 60 on till pay day comes,
when the suite: is sure 20 get his snare. You
see then that the one hundred and seventy
flve men are IN fair way to do good bust
ness. lney are sharp men usually. | have
not yet ran across one sutler who accepted
ire Once. or who perhaps brought all posi-
bic appliances and means to bear tor obtain
ing Ii, who did 1t from pure patriotism or be-
revolent motives. Every one knows how to
make good use of present opportunities for
his own benefit.
Upon inquiry of suffers, colonies and 9TH
ers, find that while many soldiers spend but
three or four dollars per month many more
spend eight, ten and tw elve, and some every
cent of their paw In some regiments the
soldiers, either from habits of economy learn
ed at home. or through the influence of the
officers, spend but little, while in others near
" al! of the months paw of the regiment finds
its way into the pockets of the suffers.
1t is an inference, which | think will be
sustained by evidence. that an AVERAGE of six
dollars per month per soldier finds lis way,
either by cash or credit. to the suffer. # the
regiment has one thousand men. that is So
Geo uer annum. In matters Of This kind
of some value. | have taken onnor,un;,;es
to ascertain the prices of various articles
Being in Nirc;nja the other day. nv friend,
patronized a su,ler. We found raisus forty
cents per pound-samc in WASHINGTON ,nir
teen cents; pies twenty cents apitce-in
Washington eleven cents. These pies are
baked in New York, at the Excelsior Pie Ba-
kerry. Why Excelsior could not conceive,
unless because more yillainous pastry canno,
be conglomerated. They are packed in box
es on racks, sixty in box, and delivered to
suffers in Washington at eleven cents a
piece.
There remains no doubt upon my mind al
ter patronizinS the suffers in camp and
certaning the prices of the same Kind of ar
ticlts in Washington, tha; the a'eraSe profits
Of the suffers is one hundred per cent. Que
suter informed ME that his ne, profits were
twelve hundred dollars per month. Another
that his were three thousand per month
And | AIN informed that one who has large
regiment, boasts that he IS poclsitny .hre
MouSond dotldrS per monta!
The whole matter needs to be carefully eX-
amlned and revised. 1t should be one OF the
first things before the military committees CT
Congress. Why should five hundred men
receive one half of the pay of the five hum
bred thousand men in arms? Taking the
lowest net profits acknowledged twelve hum
dre0 per month-and We see that these five
hundred men are receiving, rnch an incoAtt
Of fourteen Housaud totAr hrai,el doNnx
PER aanam-maLiny q totd Of Sccen hHndlc.!
aud twcnty NoasQnd doNa,s, From what
have seen, have I'd doubt that the total net
income of the suffers connected with the ar