American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1862-12-05
spectators and Extortieners.

Spectators and Eyfortioners.
Who are they. and where they? Everybody
Is crying out against them. and yet seems
TO know who they are, or where they to be
found. Il the merchant who buys and sells his
goods at the present prices extortoner and spec
alator1 Is the trader who buys any article Of
cbandize 10 sell again, one Of them, What makes
an extortoner? Does the high price asked for any
article Of commerce, or any other commodity which
the people stand In need of, Ok the status Of the
person. If so, then there few. outside the line
Of the army. who are not extortioners. But is not
the present high price of every article of indispen
sable use caused by its scarcity, and by the depre
citation of the currency, Both causes united must
OF necessity. make the price high. Every one who
sells yard of flannel. barrel of -four, hogs
head of sugar at present prices is not necessarily
SPECTATOR or extortioner an merchants are. TO
a certain extent spectators all who trade. are
Spectators every one who has any article to
sell will take the highest market price-so with
the planter for his corn his cotton; the house
wife for her butter poultry (and surely
will charge the ladies with extortion if they do ask
three dollars for turkey. or one dollar pound for
butter.) As with the planter, so with the lawyer,
the doctor, the statesman in the Cabinet, the Gen
eral in the field. and all others in the ConmissaIg
and QuaTtegmasteT's Departments. Our President
receives twenty five thousand dollars year that
don't make him an extortioner, though many
would take the office at less price-but they
might not have bis intellect. The country pays
our congressman 80 or 81 dollars per day and the
soldier gets elev en- dollars per month-which shows
that brains is article in market than flesh
and ood.-the price being regulated by demand
and supply 1t is good thing to have brains to
sell they always command a premium, and In
bee galvanised, it will pass for the genuine ar
tcle. Nobody receives more for an article than its
estimated value-no, not even for turkeys and but
ter. The who sells his intellect to the GOV
eminent considers his services worth his salary
and very often as being far beyond. and hence he
goes to work to make it up by few perqnisites-
and we very much doubt if this Mr.. Perquisites ID
not enc of the spectators and extortioners Of
whom much has been written and said Our
Government has committed great error in NJ.
paying all its officers enough, SO they could dis
pense with Mr. Perquisite assistance. Better fill
their nav, however Unsuitable. at once, than let
them h<se Perquisites for companion and yet
We are strongly Of opinion he is very intimate-a
boon friend OF many Government officials Salt
and Sugar-two articles of prime necessity are ex-
brilliantly high compared with the usual prices
when, with sugar, especially, there is no reason in
the world why it should be so. had legitimate trade
been undisturbed. Through the power of place
the prices of those articles have become enormously
high. Government officials control our railroads
and steamboats, and it is next to impossible to get
anything carried that is not classed as government
property whether it be not. Not long since
large lot of salt carried over the ". o. & ]
road from one of the lower stations to jackson.
Tina: salt was shipped as government salt-was
transported at government prices-was received as
government salt-was deposited in government
store house ut jackson. Sir ku,ld. ed sacks of that
salt was then sold by government Official to pri-
vate person who oought it on his own account and
sold it for his own benefit. If any person residing
near the lake adjacent 70 Y. O. managed to work
out few sacks of salt from that city, it has been
seized by government officials for government uses
like the six hundred sacks just spoken of. If the
boats en- the Mississippi river had been used to |
bring salt from New iberia there would now be no
scarcity OF that article; bat they seized by
government officials and used to transport sugar az
it, property when the majority of it never belong
ed to the government-had. no interest in it, what
ever. Why is it, that with sugar on hand I
than the States of the Confederacy can consume,
and thousands of hogsheads at Vicksburg and along
the line of the jackson railroad yet sells at such
rates Early in the year the officials seized private
sugar and allowed the owner seven cents per pound
but that business was stopped. and now having /
control of all transportation, they can fix the I
prices at will. So long Comnissaries and Quar-
fermastsrs can control what shall be transported /
from one place to another, they fix the price 1
and regulate the market. and monopolise the trade
of any and every thing when aided in their official
position by heavy capitalists who share their profits