Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1863-04-08

Tree to confess: that Q0upG It's success ev6h
then. Some very worthy citizens Of tie
State have urged the Executive to, employ
agents for the purpose Of suppressing unli-
csnsed distillation, which Of course he has
not the power to do. This is ascrying evil,
and mostly felt in the grain. growing dis
tricts, where the distilleries have heretofore
been most abundant The complaints to
me from those sections are SO numerous
that this subject constitutes one of the prin-
cipal objects of your convocation.
The permits authorized by me under the
proyiso in the Act to distil limited guam
tity, for'nedicinal purposes alone, is as yet
probably far short of the absolute medicinal
wants of the whole State. For many Dis.
tricts there have been, and doubtless will
be, no applications. I regretSto say, that 1
hear rumors Of fsunder-lettings and violations
Of the contracts, though not in any tangible
form, which early steps will be taken to in.
vestigate. The sale under the contracts +
have endeavored to guard in every possible
way. I am not sure bat that all distilla.s
tion s'for medicinal purposes alone, should
be limited to single District, say the CEN
trail District of the State, under the charge
of competent agent, subject to the control
Of the Executive. But the trial made Of
the present system does not enable me to-
make any definite recommendation on this
point.
This entire subject is commended to your
earnest consideration, ard trust you will
devise some means by which the undue dis
tillation Of the. coreals (and 7 would add
molasses) may be, for the present, efectual.
.ly suppressed. The enormous profits on
whiskey afford, apparently, an irresistible
induoement to distil grain, and the unwil-
lingness Of the citizens and officials to give;
information and prosecute is such that the.
consumption Of grain by distillation, with
out any permit, is great evil. All sup
plies which the country affords are needed
for our armies in the field and our people at
home. There is no limit to the capacity Of
tho Confederate States now to produce eve
rything requisite to carry on the war for an
indefinite period. While our soldiers are
proving themselves equal to the enemy ey.
rywhere, we at home may ruin our causeby
an unwise failure properly to develop our
resources and preserve our supplies. The
two great questions with as are ourfnances
and our supplies. The Confederate Gov.
ernment is endeavoripg to regulate the for
mer-the latter the State Governments and
the people themselves must regulate, and
upon them rests heavy responsibility.
The Act to supply negro labor for coast
defences, experience has shown, cannot be;
made efectuaI for the accomplishment Of
its objects. ] have ascertained from the
United States Census Of 1850, an abstract
of which is herewith transmitted, that each
division, as now arranged by the Act, con-
tanned then at least FIVE times as many road
hands as are called for by the Confederate
General, and tat this junoture, doubtless,
contains more. Not over one-half of the
road hands of any one division has hereto
fore been sent to the coast. If, therefore,
each division would furnish one half of its
force not heretofore sent down, Chat is, one
fourth of its whole force,) it would afford
largely more than the number called for
But the second division, the only one whose
time so far has arrived to respond to the
call of its half, has furnished less than one
fifth of the number called for blythe Con-
federate General. While q distrust as to
the treatment of the negroes, and also as to
their prompt return, deters some from send.
ing their portion of the labor, the fine is too
lightto compelany. Ifthat were adequate,
the process of collection is too slow; each
{ s6ne, By law, having to be sued for in the
Court Of Common Pleas, after being assess
ed and imposed BY the Commissi0ners.
And when collected, tbereis still no author
ity for the Commissioners to pay the sum to
the State Agent, who might Herewith pro-
cure other labor. Some mere expeditions
mode for procuring the labor, and imposing
and collecting the fines, will have to be a.
dopted to secure the success of. the scheme.
Some Commissioners have doubted wheth-
er less than a quorum of the Board can
fill vacancies. Many Commissioners being
in the army, it may be we'll for the Legisla-
ture at its present session, for this particu-
lar purpose, to fill the vacancies, and SO to
amend the Act that one or more Commis.
siouers may appoint the number requisite
to constitute quorum, the vacancies to be
filled from among such as are exempt from
road duty, if necessary.
herewith transmit a copy of a recent
correspondence with Col John s. Preston,
commandant Of Conscripts for South Caro-
lima, upon subject which l presume will
give rise to no embarrassment. My action
in the premises, as the Executive of tho
State, has been taken in accordance With
the dictates of my best judgment; but as
some members of the Legislature entertain
views differing somewhat from my own as to
the construction to be placed upon your re.
cent Act connected with the subject, l have
deemed it proper to lay the matter before
you, for such action as you may consider
advisable.
Upon your own deliberations, and my
humble efforts to carry out your decisions,
1 invoke the blessings of the Almighty.
N r RONHAM