The Camden confederate. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1861-1865, 1863-01-23

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and tlsedtkg 81 syssy foyIs ssa i iS' = ! time.
Ike sSs IS ! SS 4 is il sIss Il slI s8a6 al
things are found wearing the hupAn iorun, rho
are devoted % none -msking vhosass piling
up fortunes, and refuse even to ioan their
bloody gain. % their koysransnff-- the the, only
possible way BY which they can st al palliate
-orEmodify the rule laid down above. Jf fthey
would say, and act accordingly.I have done
this solely for the benefit Of the government,
then their excuses might he l.teseA =, K Il. &c.
in heaven, yet by their country.
But as long as extortion was confined to
the merchant, the trafficer, the manufacturer
and the rowing apeculator, we were disposed to
let thcm pass without serious notice, believing
the thing would ere long work out its own
cure; indeed we rather inclined to excuse
them to some extent, or at all events we had
no fears of its reaching the vitals of society
for these classes Of men at all times live by
their wits, and are, during the most prosperous
time of peace, only saved from the open com
mission of the sin Of extortion BY the mere
force of competition; for their bread dsdepehds
upon the success they may have in convincing
the man on their right hand that mis- dollar is
only worth ninety cents and after they have
obtained it, then to convince the man on their
left hand that it is worth one dollar and ten
cents, and induce him to take it. It is there
fore not so strange that the moment this pres
snro of comnatit;op xvoe rop,orod h., ~ = III. II
ade, that their wares and merchandise should
be at once held at almost fabulous prices. But
now that this fell monster, this god of NAM
mon. this dark spirit of extortion, seems to
have lain its pale icy hands upon the great ag-
ricultural class, our profoundest fears are
aroused for the tafety of our cause and country.
That this class of our people, who, by kind
Providence, have become possessed of the soil,
and the best system of labor known to the
world for its cultivation, and by benefcent
government have had superintendent exempt
from military service to look after their inter
est, should so far forget themselves as to pros
titute the nobility of their high calling, and
become the pitiful imitaters of the trafficer,
the merchant, the manufacturer and the rowing
speculator, and at a time like the present, is
bewilderingy strange to us. We sometimes,
in contemplating the melancholy fact, are
made to wonder, if the Almighty has indeed
given us over to the god of mammon! That
this class of our people, whose very persuit
causes them to look upward to the God of
heaven for the early and the latter rain, for
change of seasons, without which they know
their labor would be in vain; they know, too,
that they cannot make single blade of grass
OF grain of wheat, without the immediate and
direct aid of the creative Hand of the AL
mighty, and yet these men gather in bountiful
harvests and hoard it up In their barns and
call it money, and refuse to give or sell, except
at unusual and exorbitant prices. 1t is this as
pect,of this great question that chills our soul
and alarms our fears. Yet we would fain hope
that the great mass of our agricaturalists are
comparatively free from this enormous sin, and
that the great clamor we hear is for the most
part without foundation or much exaggerated.
These men should remember that the Con.
federate States is not composed of band of
trafficers, that our present and future is higher
and far more noble. They should remember,
also, that our holy cause rests upon them, that
it is with them to save or ruin the country.
Al <toA 4 =