Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1863-04-24
Vol. VIII. mo. 81.

Igraln, live stock and other articles neces-
sary for the subsistence of the people and
army, the consequences may prove seri-
Gus, If not disastrous, especially should
thls present season prove as unfavorable
as the last. Your country, therefore,
appeals to you to lay aside all thought of
gain, and to devote yourselves to secur-
ing your liberties, without which these
gains would be valueless II is truo that
the wheat harvest in the more Southern
States, which will be gathered next
month, promises an abundant yield; but
even if this promise be fulfilled, the diff
faculties of transportation, enhanced as it
has been by unusually rainy weather,
viii cause embarrassmonts in military
operations and sufierings among the peo-
pie, should the crops in the middle and
northern portions of the Confederacy
prove deficient.
But no uneasiness may be felt in re-
gard to mere supply of bread for men.
1t is for the large amount of corn and
forage required in the raising of live
stock, and the supplies of the animals
used in military operations, too bulky for
distant transportation and in them the
deficiency of the last harvest was mostly
felt. Let your fields be devoted exclu-
sively to the production of corn, oats,
beans, peas, potatoes, and other food for
man and beast; let corn be sowed broad
cast for fodder in immediate proximity to
railroads, rivers and canals, and let all
your efforts DO directed to the prompt
supply Of these articles in the districts
where our armies are operating You
will thus add greatly to their efficiency,
and furnish the means without which it
is impracticable to make those prompt
and active movements which have hither-
to stricken terror into our enemies and
secured our most brilliant trumphs.
Having thus placed before you, my
countrymen, the reasons for the call made
on you for aid in supplying the wants of
the coming year, | add few words of
appeal in behalf of the brave soldiers now
confronting your enemies, and to whom
your Government is unable to furnish all
the comforts they so richly merit. The
supply of meat for the army is deficient.
This deficiency is only temporary, for
measures have been adopted which will,
it is believed, soon enable us to restore
the full rations; but that ration is now
reduced at times to one-half the usual
quantity in some of our armies. 1t is
known that the supply of meat through
out the country is sufficient for the sup
port of all; but the distances are so
great, the condition Of the roads has been
SO bad during the five months of winter
weather through which we have just
passed, and the attempt Of groveling
spectators to forestall the market and
make money out of the life-blOod Of our
defenders have SO much Influenced the
withdrawal from sale Of the surplus in
the hands Of the producers, that the Go
vernment has been unable to gather full
supplies.
The Secretary of War has prepared
plan, which is appended to this address,
by the aid Of which, or some similar
means to be adopted by yourselves, you
can assist the officers Of the Government
in the purchase Of the corn, the bacon,
the pork and the beef, known to exist in
large quantities in different parts Of the
country Even if the surplus be less
than believed, is it not bitter and hu-
initiating reflection that those who remain
at home, secure from hardship and pro-
tected from danger, should be in the en-
joymeut Of abundance, and that their
slaves also should have full supply Of
food, while their sons, brothers, husbands
and fathers are stinted in the rations on
which their health and efficiency depend?
Entertaing no fear that you will either
miscOnstrue the motives Of this address,
or fail to respond to the call Of patriot
ism, | have placed the facts fully and
frankly before you. Let US all unite in
the performance Of our duty, each in his
sphere, and with concerted, persistent
and weltdirected effort, there seems lit
tie reason to doubt that, under the bless
ings Of Him to whom we look for guild
ance, and who has been to us our shield
and strength, We shall maintain the SOW
ereignty and independence Of tho Con-
federato States, and transmit TO our pos
terity the heritage bequoathed to us by
our fathers. JEFFERsoS DAVIS.
81. OGlcc, Riehms1d, April 10, SO.