Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-11-19
WEDNESDAY,, NOV. 10, 1862.
The Co uditson of the Country.

The Co udit.on of the Country.
We publish below Some extracts from lette rs from
various parts of the State showing the co lition of
our people with respect to supplies for the ensuing
year. 1t is the part Of wisdom to let the truth be.
known in a crisis like the present. especially when
it touches not only the comfort but the liv of our
people. That Gov. Vance and the Legislature will
do all in their power to relieve the wants of those
who are suffering and to provide especially for the
families of our soldiers, we entertain no doubt
friend writing from Transylvania County, says:
II see every body appears to be after the specu-
ators, but the more you abuse them the worse they
get. There is likely to be great mania for spec
ulation now, as there was for whskey making ten
months ago. But how it is to be checked is more
than the wisest have beer able to tell 1t is gene
rally confined to wide mouth secessionsts and Grip
pies from the war; conservatives and anti-war men
would not be tolerated in speculation but doubt
very much whether newspapers and lectures on the
subject nave not greatly aggravated the evil: You
nave driven the conscientious and reasonable men
out OF the market as it were and left the whole field
of speculation to the monopoly of few monied shar
pers whose consciences will hardly ever be racked
by an article in the newspapers. My impression is
that had the papers and every body else encouraged
it. that the better class of traders would by cOmpe
;! tition and supply, have kept everything at much
lower prices than the denuncatory policy heretofore
practised by editors and orators for the the stub
bornness OF man is such, that he has an itching to
do anything forbidden him by God or man. And
again, the condition and excess of the currency has
had good deal to do with it, but the worst of all is
the scarcity. You can nave very little idea how
hard our people are pressed TO live even comforta-
! bly,. The ground is frozen here, and is you would
call it. bitter cold-perhaps cold you have ever
seen it in Raleigh. Nearly all our people have more
| ACC yorlf to do ,,f nf md
children Not one-half. of them have the sign Off
shoe to their feet; not one-third have shoes that
will keep their feet dry, do l know how they
are to get them. They are nearly all scarce of
wearing clothes Cotton and wool is pretty hard
to get-but the worst is, cotton and wool cards can
scarcely be had at all, the old ones being about
worn out. We would all be glad to do something
We have more suffering at our doors than we can
possibly relieve? Then we are getting scarce Of
almost every article of necessity, from needle to a
scythe blade. Not a few are out of knives forks,
spoons, plates, dishes, tin cups and coffee pots
| Then We may turn to edbles. Take out very
few families, and there is not one pound of salt to
! every white inhabitant in the county. We got
from Wilmington some weeks ago, what VIC call
government SALT and divided it out, one pound to
every white person in family, but did not get quite
| around to all. That cost US fourteen cents per
| pound. We have the promise of salt at Saltvilc,
| Va, but can't get it hauled hundred and forty
or fifty mles-dreadful bad road and no food to lie
| had. A man can scarcely travel on horse back
! gentle man told me the other day he travelled 40
miles without grain for his horses. He says he
| offered one dollar for ten ears Of corn, and could
not get it; yet We must have it, perish for want
oft. Ver7 few of US have half hogs enough to
make our meat for next year; would say not half
I as much in the county as ought to eat-nor can
| we spare the corn to fatten what we have. Num-
| hprS of ,,ln hoyn mot mt h,v VAT nd
they will nj unless they have some surety of get
| ting salt. They think they had better keep the
corn, and dep end on bread and milk, than to lose
both corn and pork for lack of salt My opinion is
| that numbers must perish before another crop is
| made unless alarm the people in time to
take better care Of what they have than they have
! ever done before. If the people are alarmed in
time, they can winter half the grain generally
used am satisfied there was nothing like half as
| much grain raised here this year that there was
| last, yet scarcely had enough to do US. see
you are talking about cotton and tobacco crops next
| year. We raise neither here. But il this war is
to last over another crop season. say to next June
! with all tbs eonscripts in the army, our support
1 must come tron, some where else. We will not
! make it here. Our rulers understand raising an
army better than feeding and clothing one. Iwould
5 to the Lord the leaders had to take the place of
the soldiers"
I A friend wiring from Mecklenburg, says:
! s. fear the manufactures are disregardng the
exemption clause of the scripion law by selling
| their cloth, yarn, leather Shoes and the like at
fabulous prices. Cloth that we used to pay from
81 to 81 25 for, is selling for 81 to So per
yard. Yarn is selling at 81 per bale, and shoes at
/ from $l2 to SIS per pair. | firmly believe
there is enough of material in this County, in the
hands of spectators and extOrtoners to furnish at
least one good pair Of shoes for every soldier in one
or more regiments, if it could be SO applied A
| great many of our farmers make their own leather
and shoes for their families. This does not get in
to the hands of the SPECTATORS and is therefore not
included in the calculation. Ifany ought to 20
half clad and half shod, those who stay at home
ought to do it. The soldier ought to have our first
| care. Gov. Vance, have no doubt, will do
| his duty. Of this | have no fears lie has many
friends in this County, who rejoice that he is doing
! so well; and his enemies are astonished and vexed
| to see that Conservative man is making so patri-
otto Governor"
! friend writing from Caldwell County, says:
"The manufacturers of every kind, to avoid
| odum from their neighbors and old customers pre-
fer to say they have government contracts to fill,
rather than ask their neighbors the prices these
spectators will pay for :hen. The thing works
thus: These Spectators by this process of decep-
ton, monopolize the raw material with the knowl-
edge and consent of the manufacturers. They then
make up the goods and charge their own prices.
In the same way they go through the country and
buy up the grain, honey, brandy, whiskey, and
potatoes at low rates. they say, for the sol
diers, but really for themselves to speculate upon"
Another friend writing from Stokes County, says:
"Unless you had visited our Western Counties
you can form no conception of the untold dcpriva-
ton which would be entailed on our women and
children by taking off the from thirty five to
forty-five. This County has enrolled about 1900
men, and of these about / $50 are in the service
Our corn crop is short-one third less than last
year. and almost an entire failure in the wheat rye,
and oat crops. So that our people have to depend
upon corn alone for bread and to feed their stock.
don't know half dozen snen in the County who
are Offering bushel of for sale, and they are
asking ten dollars barrel from the heap. Already