Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1863-04-22

country and forced to rely upon, the provisions Of
certain communities to subsist upon7 In such "
cnutiugcncyswhp would, be most likely to suffer,
the army or the psuplc at homo? Nor ID this all.
In the event OH. armies ao driven back ny. tho
enemy, We will be compelled to rubsist not Oply
our own ,.ople 1T home and our arhiioa, but We
may b. compelled also, to feod the Yankee arniies
la = great xtent, fOr.they arc no: over serupuluus
uudor ,ucb circuns.snres.. In any event, We must
BIO able Ia feed tho population at homo and tSost
in the army th.t huye g"ne out from among up
and c nrribate our fair proportion towards suhsis-@
ting those WHO are driven from their homes. and
are no longer able to ~xustain themselves. 8,
There is another consideration that is byno
means unimportant in makirg up q conclusion o.
this question OF supplies. 1t IL this: From the
very nature of things there must and rill be great
waste and destruction of provisions in eur armies
resulting In some instances trom the careiessnsss
and neglect and inconpetsncy Of agents; and IN
other instances to the unavoidable stress of cir
cuwstauccs necessarily incident to the movements
uf largo armies. And what might DO an ample
supply of the necsrsaries of life under a peace es-
sablishmeut would, in times ike there, be very
inadequate.
!. Tbsro.i. still anss5 consideration not uuiu-
por,ant in itself. r, is this 1t ia estimated that
there ars,sboet four million bales of Cotton nov
in Tho Confederate StateaS would go;to mar
ket If the blockade wsro raised, which, added to
tberer y Of tho present year, will be amply tufh-
Gent &c employ ali the machinery Of Europe for
one year, and It ia. reasonable that the cett"o
now on. hand could be solffur much higher prices,
than could be realized from It IL tho quantity
should bs largely ircrraaod. So that It is not uu-
likely thar the producer xi!lreceive very nssrly,tf
not quite as much money, for the Cotton he nov
has,-ns he would rsceiye if he, vere allowed to
i~acrrase largely tho supply blythe crop OF this
year.
It lie coutended by some that we must raite Cot
ton in ardor that European nations may feel Nm
| interest in the Confederate States; clingtng 70
the idea which has boon so fstslto ns, that Cot
ton is King" they would hazard .all at home to
produce IN article, which is not necessary mt
presentin order to bribe England and Pranceto
interfere in our behalE-The conduct oftho'e ma
tions for the last two years Shou.d he q warning
to US for the future. If We read. the history Of
! tn e l,ast years of our struggle for Independence
to profit, we will cease to calculate upon any in.
tvrlerencs of England and France in our behalf
We must tako care of ourselves, and when we
shall have worked out our independence without
any foreign aid we will prize our liberties but the
more, aud we can then onter upon our career .as VIC
| please. being under obligations to no one, With
| he means in our own hands to. CONTROL the con.
mvrcv of the world. not fearing that We canno'
maintain our position among the nations Of th'
cn.,h. But wv have not yet achieved our inds.
p.ndenc.; Our armies are yst in the field, bearing
brayely aud bObly Ill the hardships and privatiou'
incident to the life Of the soldier. They are there
no, because they choose to be there, but they are
there by cempulsioa. They are not growing ricl
AS many at home are. They receive eleven dol
lars pcr month and no more, while many ut hons
are making fortunes: Their families they art
compelled to leave behind to bs' supported ane
cared Cor by tho State. Supplies We must have
if we s.plA b. successful. The soldiers and thu
| soldiers families Mu,t be fed. The desire for pri
vats gain must field to considerations Of the pup
lie good. He who would hazard the success .
our struggle for independence for tho sake o
making money is wanting in patriotism. believe
the people are right in their sentiment, and tina
! they will cheer fully ~acquiesce in any sacrifice which
the exigencics Of the times may require.
Thus, Fellow citizens, haye sudOayored tt
state soms Q" the considerations that influences
my vote ON the bills restricting the planting o
! Cotton. I believed when the matter was unde'
consideration that the measure WIS right, and
have not changed my opinion. Occupying tn
relation do, you have q right to know what
have done and my reasons for so doing.
W. W. ADAMS.