, 1864-07-23


upon ANYTHING out Of which money could be
made. These were generally men without
either capital OF principle, though sometimes
they possessed the former. but were desu.
tutt Of the latter. The only regulations against
trade at that time were Of y military nature,
but they were not very stringent, Between
Caiso and Memphis, before the {all of the
1atter city, cu4bidernble cotton was pa1chas.
ed sud transported thence to market. As
econ'as Msmpnis fell, large stocka Of goods
were shipped there and }onnd ready sale,
Trade followed the flag rs fast SIS 1t was push
ed forward.
REBEL TRADE At MEMrH1s,
The effect Of the opening Of trade ut Mem
phis, In 1852, was to ..akc that city an in-
po1tant s1Hp'y M deeot for rtseat the reees f. Ihe
ture OF the city, and remained there for
ncarlr five months after hat event. Since
that tine, he has been frequent visitor there.
and has obstrred the effects of trade, IL
iStse, be eaw heavy boots aud shoes, such as
arr used by armies, brought to Memphis in
frequent lots Of IRON one to ten Thousand
sand pairs being ordered Tor the Memphis
market, and the quantity taken thlther du-
ring the last six months Of '62 cou1d not have
been less than hundred thousand pairs. It
Ii idle to suppose that the popniotion Of
Memphis were the consumers OF this i'm
tntnse stock It was as plain as daylight
that the articles In question went to cover
at Holly springe. Thegnerilas that hoyered
around Memphis were there mainly for the
purpose Of protecting smuggled goods after
they had paEstd our lines Van Dorn's en-
tire army was put In marching condition by
means OF the boots and shoes purchased in
the Memphis market and smuggled through
The lines. Not only were these articles taken
H1t% 1T IaJ fnv $f.n
outfit OF soldier, except The more bulky or
wciglty materials. Cloth for uniforms and
all the minor articles were procured In con-
siderable quantities. The rebels frequently
eaid Memphis WIS of more value to them in
Federal hands than IN their own, as it made
IN excellent depot OF supplies, upon which
they could always rely.
OPINIONS OF MILITARY MEN.
Occasionally some Of our military COM
manders objected to the use that was being
made Of Memphis, but their remonstrance
produced little effect II commander In
bis zeal sometimes ieeued orders forbiddiug
the passage Of goods through the lines, or
snpprcssing trade in any manner, he was
oyeTrnled as soon as tidings could reach
Wilmington aud m answer be returned.
Most Of cur general officers on the Missfs-
ground that 1t was assisting to proioug the
rebellion. Gen. Grant opposed it from the
ontset, and ottentimes asserted that the city
ought to have been burned to the ground as
soon as clptured, instead OF being made q
rebel supply station. The powers at WASH
iDgton were greater than he, and the trade
went on with occasional slight Interruptions.
little over ~ O00. there ~as q trade sufficient
Tor population six or eight times rs great
We were determined upon concil;ati,tq the
rebels, and accordingly furnished them with
everything they wanted. Our efforts only
caused them to laugh at us for our pains,
we had to offer. 1t is the opinion OF uupre-
JUDGED persons that all our trade In the Mis-
e1ssjppt has not made ten. rebels Less, while
it has benefited the rebel army more than
could be done hy $1,000 recruits,
EFFECT OF TRADE AND ITS EXTENT.
What have said Of Memphis can be slid
OF MI the points along the river where trade
hes been opened Helena. Vicksburg, Satchez,
Little Rock, Port Hudson, Baton Rouge,
Plaque1nine, Donaldsonyille, and New Or
leans, hare all contributed to support the
rebel cause. It is the estimate OF persons
fully competent to judge in the matter, that
the trade through the lines at all these points,
together with the isolated localities where
trsae stores are situated, il not less than q
ha1f million Of dollars dag. This il allow
ing trade to follow the flag to some purpose,
IL u tlue, OuL ~ 4hT tuu4E autaaLaSe ~ AAe
rtbels than to us. Memphis has been Of aa
much advantage to the rebels in the past two
years as WILMINGTON, and since It's fall, Vicks.
burg has equalled Savannah In importance
as q pofrt Of supply. Gen Washburn re-
Gently expressed Il belief of this nature In ar
order stopping trade through the lines from
1nent ut Natchez, and Gen. Sherman at Vicks
burg. What is now needed is = general order
from the War and Treasury Department.
stopping all tradc OF every kind south q
Cairo.
TRADE STORES At MILITARY PosTS-TEADISe
BOATS.
Not Only should it be suspended at ths
cities above named, brt also at the smaller
posts established for the protection of th'
liver country. At the mouth u White rive
where there Is only wood yard aud smal
garrison 1or its protection, trade store hal
been doing business or nearly hundret
thousand dollars 1;er month. At 3fi1likeL'
Bend. where there Ia small force Of negr0e
for the protection Of the plantations IN TIL
vicinity, a trade store was established ant
has been doing very very large trade Their
is Int one white family residing within tn
not tar from a thousand dollars daily. 81
also at dozen other points along the rivel
| wherever any preten6e could be fonad 70
setting up etore. Not content with this
our authorities allowed numerous small
steamers to more up and down on tr1diu!
excursions.
It has been matter Of notoriety that thes
| boats were on the best Of terms .ita the ~
| erl11a6, Ald other rebel caylfry that they eu
| cpuntered, and ottentimes the rebel officer
| and soldiers visited the boats and opened d
| rect trade for supplies in exchange for cottor
Gen. Nashburn found that these boats we1
IN many instances furnishing arms, arnmun
| +t- {n1r 20 tHa ptA1a md nF,n IN
occasion a trading boat ferried rebel b.!
tcry across the river aud received 8, 600
gold asEcompensation for 60 doing. Gener,
Washburn sup creased the trading boats
his district, but there were quite racentl
several others in full blast on other portion
Of the 1iytr. All should be abolished, hlot
with the tradc stores on land.
DECENTRALIZATION AMONG OFFICIALS.
Lave in this attempted to show the Ell
Of trade in onr relations towards the rebel
y ISL now to speak Of its evils towards ol
own people. It is we'll known that the trat
IL not open to every one who chooses to et
bark in it. The Treasury Department h
established what Is known as the .tpermi
e7etem. In which Il permit or license must
obtained before any Kind OF tratHc can be e
| tered into. These permits are Issued
Treasury Agents at all the Important point
aud arc not0riously a matter of fayoritiss
There are usually three times as many app
cants Us can be accommodated with permi,
The trade, when the permit is obtained, bi
fair to he yery profitable, and thus live
competition springs up between the auxlo
seekers. Instances have been known Whe
parties hare paid down large sur
of money as q present to the Iret
ury Agent possessing the grantl
privilege. In most CASES 1t has been settl'
By u division Of the profits Of the specll
ton between the trader and the agent u
readers Of the TRIBUNE recoflect the remoT
in my last Of Mr. Hart Of St. Louis, Ire
su1y Agent at Satchez, Mics. It was
, vea1ed that he had made nearly hundr
| thousand dollars In lees than four month
The keepers Of the trade stores testified tn
, they were obliged to divide their prof
NTH him in nearly every instance. One N
asserted that he paid five hundred dolla
for permit that was never obtained.
| becamea 9 common remark about Satchez th
nothing could be obtained at the Treasu
office unless the application was tsacco
rauted with the CASH. to liberal e1teI
Loyal men without money would be turn
away and the privilege they asked forwou
be E1yer to dfsloyallsts, Who we're the fort
! nate holders Of cash.
The persons who conlo obtain more faro
than ali Others. y ere two men, residents
!, | Eotchez, one Jew and the other farmer
t steamboat captain In the rebel setvica N
j. tier Of them made any serious pretenslon
! LOYALTY. and both were reputed to be grt
{ scoundrels. To these men were grant
2 privileges that Northern men could not {
/, tain. Ore Of them was, On q aparticular oc
:. sion, furnished with permits that enabl
. . him to steal twenty five bales Of cotton, b
= ~ which he;1ongrd to the Government q