The Washington herald., 1914-02-06

Fifty years ago today the Confederate
Congress passed an act prohibiting the
importation Of iuxuries apd another pro-
hibiting the expectation of cotton. tobac-
co. and other staples.
These acts were an attempt on the part
of the Confederate government to control
the business of blockade running, by
which private fortunes were being made
at the expense of the Confederacy.
Complaints were rife throughout our
country that its foreign commerce was
almost exclusively In the hands OF
aliens wrote Jefferson Davis. OF this
period, that our cotton, tobacco and
naval stores were being drained from
the States, and that we were receiving
in return cargoes of liquors. wines, and
articles of luxury: that the imported
goods, being held in few hands and in
limited quantities, were sold at prices
80 exorbitant that the blockade runners.
after purchasing fresh cargoes Of cotton,
still retained large sums of Confederate
money, which they invested in gold for
expectation and in foreign exchange; and
that the whole course of the trade had
direct tendency to impoyerish our coun-
try, demoralize our people, depreciate our
currency. and enfeeble our defense"
This was correct statement or the
case, except possibly as to defense. for
without the blockade runners to bring
Confederate States could not have con-
tinusd the struggle.
Furs and Wines Barred.
That the Congress took the same view
of the situation as Mr.. Davis Is indicated
by the provisions of the act Of February
G. The articles put under the ban by
this act included brandy, wines or other
spirits. beer, ale and porter. fur nuns
and tippets, carpets and hearth rugs.
cotton laces or laces OF thread, dolls and
toys. firecrackers, skyrockets and Ro-
man candles. furniture, stained or col
ored glass, velvets of all kinds, jewelry.
diamonds. mosaics. gems. pearls and
rubies-substantiaIly all being articles not
produced in the South.
There was no prohibition upon import
ing wearing apparel made from cotton.
linen, wool or silk. but as check to
spectators the Secretary of the Treasury
was authorized to fix the maximum
foreign price at which such articles might
be imported
This act struck at a social condition in
the South that was fast becoming in
tolerable. There was no question that
speculation and gambling in goods were
rife and that these paved the way for
social extravagances, dissipation, and
crime.
Particularly in the two chief ports
used by the blockade runners, Whining
ton and Charleston, were the demoraliz-
ing effects of the scramble for fortunes,
through what the Federals termed contra |
band trade, to be noted
The extravaganza Of men engaged in |
blockade running was TO be observed also |
in Richmond. where the common people |
were literally suffering for food and raj |
ment. A Richmond diarist notes that a |
party of Englishmen engaged in foreign |
trade gave dinner at one Of the city |
hotels at which the check was 5000 Con- |
federate money for a small party.
A general in the Confederate army.
writing from Charleston in 1858, had de- |
cIared that the city was possessed witr-
the demon of speculation caused by |
blockade running, and that the business |
was ''demoralizing and damnable."
From Mobile came the statement that |
the proceeds of cotton run through the |
blockade were laid OUT I'm brandies, |
wines, and f1imsy gew-gaws" that the |
trade was "corrupting our people, and |
above all running our currency"
Risks and Adventures.
A graphic glimpse of blockade running !
at Charleston is presented by a resident |
who passed through the siege of that city |
from August, 1866. to December, 1864, in |
an article published in 1866.
InOSe lOnE "edTlSOIne Gays |
and weeks when the city was under fire."
says this writer, almost the only event |
of joy which would occur would be the |
arrival of some one of these blockade |
runners. |
"The business was finally reduced to a |
science. Even in the darkest night the |
cunning craft would work their way in |
or out through the tortuous channels of /
the harbor.
when outward-bound the captain gen.
orally went down to Sullivans Island |
upon the evening of sailing to learn the /
of the Union feet and plan /
the course of his exit. Lights also were /
always prearranged along the shores 4
of the island, or suspended from boats in
the harbor in order to indicate the chan
nel
"The most dangerous point, and that |
which demanded the exercise Of the /
greatest skill to avoid, was a narrow
tongue of land which ran out from Sui
livans Island just opposite Sumter, and 1
which was known as the Breakwater
lefty.
Here the channel is not only very