Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-04-03
The Old Times

We alluded Saturday in an article on the r.
nancial vciSsltudrs that generally follow great
wars to the time succeeding the war Of lSl2
The people of this age can but poorly apprecl-
ate the circumstances which then existed, and
their effect upon the industry Of the people.
AT that time there were Of course, no rail
roads. and not great many steamboats,, which
were only useful on large rivers. The roads
we're bad and the cost Of transportation 50
great that only the leading staple Of the conn
try could BIZ taken to market. That was tobac-
CO. Only limited dIstrctS-thoSe on great Wa
ter-courSr-->ent Wheat and corn to market.
The West, of course, drove It's cattle on the
boot to places OF sale.
SO there was but little money and very little
to command it in the country. A dnngh as
there always was every year in some area neg
lected by the Snlumer ralns-bronght great dis
tress with it, The suffering people had to send
their teams long way to fortunate region
where there was corn for sale. 1t not nnfre-
qurntly reminded one Of the lsraetes going
over to Egypt after corn There We're poor
people On horses going many miles to get bag
Of corn, and vehicles of all kinds going on the
hunt to pay so, and ST., and SIS per barrel
for corn for although it was a nnrrr age than
that we live in, the price Of nrcrsSaries ran up
with the demand
See now what an advantage We have. Rail
roads come in to distribute the necesSarleS uf
life and there is no section so far secluded
from reach that it can suffer Tor these ueceSSar
les Nor can the prices of them ever rise to
the height that they reached in those times,
unless, indeed, the crops OF the whole Union
fail: which is hardly possible.
The people 10 ISIS, and frouI that day to
yunr
ruined who never were able to recover, and
swearing out of jail was common occur
renee. As there was no bankrupt law a man
might have to swear out many times. And
while cotton brought money to the South, it
injured Virginia serious in drawing away
some of her best citizens to the Gull States.
They often left their lands unsold and their
houses uuoccupied, moving off with family.
slaves and stock For so serious loss the rise
in the value of slaves caused by the demand
for labor TO cultivate cotton did not compensate
the Commonwealth; for in selling the slave
she lost his labor, and was thus consuming her
capital.
1t may be understood, then, that Virginia
was depressed greatly. One advantage she
had was that she owed little, and the taxes
were light; but even these We're hard, as there
was but little money.
Comparing the present with those times, we
are of opinion that the benefit Of railroads
more than offsets the heavier burthens we bear
in public and private Indebtedness. Besides,
we have greater division Of labor, and are
manufacturing great deal more than were our
forefathers of that day. We have more con-
sumers Of the products of the agriculture, and
these consumers are creating wealth, as well as
the farmer, by their handiwork. 10 short, the
condition OF things now should enable us to
recover faster from prostration, and achieve
greater prosperity than could the good people
of those old times. -Rjchmond Dispatch.