Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1863-03-11
Fo..d. Kaising.
7, The Elttor Of tie Wig:

trpltS- - ltE; SlhsiS htbh -
soodfur. maa, and hrdst .trnies are.:he
m,st v .raciius cf cois,miers-war the
most terrible of des,ruicrs. F'rr, h'od
and hurricane combined neve- so waste
the fruit, OF the earth sli so destroy ,ht
r~-prnducliv. energies Of Il people rs war.
Famine turks on its trail all over I'll,
earth. Vast armies have been contend
inn on our Southern! sol! for nearly two
Years, and yet vaster armies will contend
during the present year. Wherever they
have zone. " ije sccllc> OF desoia,ion ar
lett. Il, remain m~pruductive during ia,
war. Wherever thew may GO hereafter
fresh scenes of desolation will maj tn
landscape. Already our producing ter
ritory is seriously curtailed, and our grn.
eral means of production diminished in Il
still greater ratio. Surely, the consider
at. mind must see, and the honest mind
ought to admit, TINT here is be found The
weakest point in our dsirnces; and thar
along with the filling up of the armies
should go an equal solicitude for providing
those supplies, without which armies arr
as useless as artillery without am.nuni
ton. Food cannot be extemporized like
Treasury notes aud political speeches Z;
can it be manufactured by the efforts
of a bureau, like gnnpowder. 1t is the
result. Of the long, plodding work of 81.
lent laborers scattered over tn" land, who
must begin with the first. dry days OF the
Spring, and lose no time who must
plough and SOW and cultivate in patience
and faith, trusting and waiting on the
slow operation of Gods p%rovidential laws
We have no occasion for alarm ; hut
we have occasion for wisdom and energy.
We are possessed of both land and labor
enough, with the ordinary blessing Of
Providence, to supply our wants album
dainty. But the great food-producing
agency is propelled by motives. 1t can
easily be stopped. Congress or the State
Legislature eau stop it by an hours work
The passage of q single bill fixing arbi.
trary prices will starve US beyonda doubt.
Last fall thousands of farmers unhitch.
ed their teams from the pillow when they
heard that commisSaries were impresSing
flour below the market price; and that
cause, together with the drought, will
give us the smallest crop of wheat that
has been raised in the Valley for fifteen
years. There is now not Il huSllel OF
corn for sale in the Valley, and fear that
the mistaken policy of our rulers vii!
prevent the planting Of a large crop tho
ensuing spring. lmpressment Of grain
below the market price, leads farmers To
raising broom corn. sorghum. tobacco,
cotton, clover-seed, anything and every
thing except what is needed for the army.
If a general maximum of prices be fixed,
then farmers go to building stone fences.
draining swamps, cutting saw-logs, plant
ing orchards-in short, working for the
future instead of the present, aiming on
ly, meanwhile, to supply their own falni.
lies. The impulses of patriotism have
been denied their healthful play. How
idle to expect men to tell all the year
against the current of their private inter-
ests, after they have been treated as if
they had neutrality-suspicious. nor conscience.
Begin by denouncing and shackling men
as if they were slaYes and robbers, and
then command them to work f,on patri.
otism! What absurdity!
If the public exigency requires that no
cotton or tobacco shall be raised, a sim
pie law to that effect would not be re.
garded asa hardship BY any body. What
disheartens men is, denying to them the
natural fruits of their toll, and attaching
disgraceful penalties to the violation of
oppressive enactments. Would that our
legislators could see that the great duty
devclving upon them is to Stimulate, not
crush out, the productive energies of the
people. If they cannot do this, they can
certainly do one wise and patriotic action,
viz: 90 home. and each man break up
ten acres of ground tor corn.
On this last point am certainly in
earnest. With 8 few obvious exceptions,
the prime duty of every non-combataut
in this emergency is physical Mbor. All
pride of life, professional dignity, con.
tempt for manual labor, social Journalism,
bar room Campaigning, street-corncr idle.
,.>s, need to be adjourned to u future
DAY, if not sine die. An idler now. is IA
,.,blic burden. He consumes what may
; needed to support % soldier. During
T. rederick's Seven Years War, the Prus.
), nus found that they could save their
country only by the entire home-staying
population devoting themselves to the
production Of rye and gunpowder. The
we come down to such practical
IDEAS the more surely is our independence
guaranteed. Let every man strip for the
work; and let every expedient be resort
ID to in order to increase the number Of
ield laborers. Thousands of negro men
md boys and ~ablc-bodicd women are kept
ninistering to the ease and gentility Of
families, and employed in hotels,