The Abingdon Virginian. [volume] (Abingdon [Va.]) 1849-1883, 1863-03-13
From the Richmond Wing,
Food -HaasERgs
10 he Editors of The Fass J:

In your issue Of Friday. the 20th inst, you
aouched the very heart OF our public danger,
when YOU urged the vital Importance Of de-
voting our agricultural energies to the single
work of producing food FIR man and beast
lArmies are the most veraciuus of consumers
var the most terrible of destroyers.. Fire.
Hood and hurr;cas, combined never SO waste
the fruits of the earth and so destroy there
productive energies Of 3 peopie..a war. Fa-5
mine turks on its trail all over the earth
Vast ,arsnies have been. certending on our
Southern sill for nearly. two years, and yet
fvastef armies will contend during the present
year. Wherever they have gone, vide scenes
Of dcsolation are left, to remain unprasuctive
during tile. war. Whereverthey uey go here.
after. fresh scenes of lesolatio,t viii insr the
Elandscape. Already cur producing territory
il seriously curtatled, and our general means
Of production diminished 10 still greater "a
tio. Surely the t,onsieerafe mind mast see,
and the honast mind ought 90 admit, thathere
lis to be found the. weakest point in our de-
fences and that along with the filing. up of
the armies should go an equal solioitade for
providing those supplies. without which ar
mics are al useless Is artillery without an
nunitiun. Food connot De extenaporized like
Treasury notes and political speeches; nor
can It be manufactured by the efforts Of 3
bureau, like cunpowder. Il is the result Of
the long. uludd;ng work Of silent lahorers
scattered over the land who n,usthegin with
Che first dry days Of tie Spring. and lose no
time-who must plough and sow and 'cultivate
in patience and faith, trusting and, waiting on.
dc slow operation Of Gods pruvidential laws.
We have no occasion for alarm; but we
s,,,, .,yyxs.rrx- VIZ
are possessed Of both land and labor enough,
With the ordinary blessing If. Providence, 10
supply our wants abundantly. But the great
food-pToddcing agency is propelled 81 asotsres
It can easily be stopped: Congress Or the
State Legislature can stop it by an hours
work. The passage of single bill liking ar
bitrary prices will starye us beyond doubt
Last fall thousands OF farmers nnhitched
their teams frsm the plow when they heard
chat ieommissaries were mpressing ilour be-
low The market price; and that cause, togeth-
III With the drought, will give US the smallest
cropS.of wheat that has been raised in the Val
lev for fifteen years. There is now not a
bnshel of corn FIR sale in the Valley, and I
fear that the mistaken policy Of our rulers
will prevent the planting Of q large crop the
ensuing Spring. Impressment of grain be-
broom corn, sorghum, tobacco, cotton, clover
seed, anything and everything except what is
needed for the army. If q general maximum
of pfices be fixed, then farmers go to tuilding
stone fences, draining swamps, cutting saw
logs, planting orchards--is short working for
the future instead Of the present. aiming on
II, meanwhile, to supply their own families.
The Impulses of patriotism have been denied
their healthful play. How idle to expect men
toasol all the year against the current of their
private interests, after they have been treated
as if they had neither patriotism nor CON
science Begin BY denoancing and Shaking
men as If they were slaves aud robbers, and
then command them to work from patriotism!
What absufdity .ess s 3 Us.
If the public hxigency requires that no cot
ton or4obacco shall be raised, simple law
to thstfefect would not be regarded as ahard-
ship by anybody. What dishearsens men is,
denying to them the natural fruits OF their
Toll, and attaching disgracefn penalties to
the violation of oppressive enactments. -
Wouldi chat bur Legislators could see that the
great duty devolviug upon them y to stia'a's.
kats not crush out, the productive energies OF
the people. Il IF they cannot do this. they can
certainly do one wise and patriotic action, VIZ:
go home. and each man break up ten acres Of
ground fur corn.
On this last point am certainly in earnest.
With q few obvious exceptions, the prime du-
tySof every non-combatant in this emergency
IS physical labor. All pride of life, profes:
sional dignity, contempt for manual labor, So
ciat fofThalism, bar-room Campaigning, street,
corner idieness, need to be adjourned to a flu
tnre day, if not sine die. An idler now is a
public burden. He consumes what may be
needed. to support soldier During Frede-
rick's Seven Years War, the Prussians. found
that they could save their country only by the
entire home-stayin popplation devoting them
selves to the production Of rye and gnnpow-
der; The sooner We como down to such prac-
tical IDEAS the more surely is onr Independence