Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-07-08
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subject of forage has become quite serious, and to
many persons very, embarrassing. Whetherit be
forage for man or beast We DESIRE 1t is equally dlf
icult to get and the man who eau provide half "a
tons for his household and live stock is accounted
lucky parsonage When the war first broke out
North Carolina opened regular war establishment,
with all the various departments, each with its
separate Headquarters" and had "Old Rip" been
separate nationality, carrying on war on her own
responsibility, the display, the show, tnsel and
expense could not have been greater. We had
CHIEFS aids assistants clerks, attendants, couriers
and al the paraphernalia Vi war, equal il not sur
passing the military establishment of the first Ma
poeon The heads Of men, women and children
were turned by the dazzling gttering pageantry,
and the whole population for a time threw them
selves into the current and gided down the stream
my Lord Potiphar th2bght it magnificent, and
Mrs. Grundy did not hesitate to declare in favor q
strong government.
For a year and day every thing went on most
gloriously, but with the opening Spring of so,
sedate, economical, plain men, those who realized
amid all this "noise and confusion" that there was
such thing as taxes began to look serious and some
even went so far as to shake their heads and hint
at reform These demonstrations were feeble at
first however and forage continued to be dealt out
regardless of expense" and the military estab-
lishment of "Old Rip" sweed to greater proper
lions and the patronage, favoritism and corrup-
ton that prevailed in the city of Raleigh stood
without parallel in the history of wars or of ma
tons Gradually the eyes Of the people were
opened, and the hideous mass which lay in all its
naked deformity before them brought forth an in
dignant and almost universal clamor for reform
The people were willing to support the govern.
ments, State and Confederate, ard prosecute the
war with all the means at their command but they
demanded reform in the matter of forage With
this condition of things the campaign Of 1859 for
Governor, opened, and. though Col. Johntsan was
put forward the candidate Of the corrupt faction
that had the latch strings Of the State crib, and
the exponent of the views and principles of the
Richmond administration, so intent were the
people on reform and so disguised were they with
the existing abuses, that Colonel Vance was cleo
ted by about $4,000 majority. True, the people
were told then, as now, that the triumph of Con-
servatism would be followed by the invasion of Lin
coins armies aud the return Of the State to the old
Union, but they turned a deaf ear to the blatant
threats and demagogueical appeals of the vultures
who were preylng upon the very vtals of the body
polite and stood rm in the defence of their prin-
cipes. Colonel Vance was elected, the Augean
sable was cleaned out, and wholesome, health:ul
reform was at once visible. At the earnest soc-
itaton of the Governors leading friends, Mr.. Hol-
den and others, the stall fedeTate system was for
the time abolished; men in office were required to
keep their hands out of the public crib, and the
forage increased. The people looked on, rejoiced
and were glad, for wonderful things had been done
for them.
But every sweet has its bitter and the purest rose
has its thorn. The Governor had numerous staff
rents andsproVisons were high; crushed sugar and
hyson tea from the North could only be imported
through the blockade at considerable expense pur-
pie and ine-linen with which Court" attendan Is
array themselves could only be obtained by heavy
investments of Mr.. Memmingers promises to pay
the Governor proposes to restore the forage" sys
TEN the Adjutant General Objects gets mad and
resIgns-his Excelleucy puts his foot down firm
ly"-the door of the cribs opened and the army
Of hungry at:acEei swarm in and get fat We
speak not only "the words of truth and soberness "
but conne ourSef to historical facts These things
Conservatives of North Carolina are so. The lead.
ers of the Conservative party, men who urged re-
form during the campaign, persuaded the Governor
to abolish this system, and at their urgent solicta
tons he inaugurated the reform, but soon the
fawning Set by which he surrounded himself
wormed themselves into his good graces and got him
into their meShes, all his moral frmness gives
way good resolutions are broken down goes the
crib door and away goes the public forage and from
the time the barriers were removed and the stall
federate system re-inaugurated, the extravaganza
and corruption of Gov Sauce's administration has
been ten-fold worse than any that has ever pre-
coded it. While the Confederate government claims
every man from II to so, and without a man in
the field the State of North Carolina keeps up
gigantic military establishment at expense oil
millions year, for other earthly purpose than
to grease" p9mpered officials and fatten favor
ties and subordinateS. Every commissioned officer
connected with the State government-we mean
the Raleigh shade" departments allowed to
draw ratiOnS, that is provisions, meat, -four, rice
meal molaSSes,- &C., for themselves and families
while the soldiers families in many of the counties
have not had meat issued to them for months. We
are making no war on the gentlemen who hold these
Offices under the Governor, for human nature is
weak at best and in these times of danger to life
and limb, it would be expecting too much from
frail mortality to require q man to relinqush q
bombproof when voluntarily given him and accom-
panied by all the "fo-age" necessary to health
and comfort but Gov. Vance was elected under
sacred pledges to reform these abuses and not hav
ing done it. but on the contrary having allowed
them to increase under his administration we insist
that it is the duty Of the great Conservative party
to protect their own interests by the election of q
man who will.
Under Gov. Vance's present stall-federate sys
TEN the pay his Aids must be about tOeLUe thou
sand dollars each per Gnnuan and that of every
! Major, Captain and Lieutenant from four to si1
thousand dollars each per annuns. This includes
salary and forage combinations. And the large
numbers of shade officers that Gov Vance has around
him will run this up to hundreds of thousands
year. all of which must be paid by the labor Of the
hard working, Industrious masses Of the people o
the State.
This stalfederate system is in deadly antagonsu
to Conservatism, and ever since Gov. Vance inau
guratedit, he has been gradually separating himsel
from the Conservative party, until at Wlksborough
he made the final leap and threw himself into the
arms of the Destructives and secessionists.
Let every true Conservative read, ponder anC
digest, and go to the polls in August and vote fo
principle and reform if he lose his life in the act
Progress.
For the Standard