Year: 1862

a correspondent in the RauawhA Valley
We do not undertake to voueh for its entire
authenticity, but will leave each reader to
judge of that for himself: 7


To He Senate and House of Delegates of


Me Independent Republic Of East Yirgp-
"a; ilal5rt 20 4ao3l
HoSoRABLE GENTLEMEN Your nssem-
bling together at this time is under cir
cumstsnceS about as solemn as a funeral; !;
aud though Pm no preacher. nor is my pie-
ty abuvethe ordinary standard Of religion
in the Oonfedoracy-and God knows that's
low enough-yet cannot forbear introdu-
cling this message with the quotation of a
passage true rs holy writ, and found partly
in the Holy Scripture, as follOws:-"Sait
is good, but if tue Kanawha Valley be held
| by the Yankees, wherewith shall the South.
ern Confederacy be salted? 1t is thence
forth good for nothing but to be cast ont
and trodden under foot of man."


This. your houses will perceive, is a SOL
! emn fact, and comes upon us like clap of
thunder in a clear sky, spelling our calcu-
lations of fair weather, and impressing us
with feeling sense of oR+ great wnut-n
want felt alike by all classes, nay even by
the President himself. OF the truth of this
last remark, my own ears bear me witness,
passing the executive mansion amid the
still hours Of the night, heard his excel
lency in prayer, aud when he come to the
words "give US this day or daily bread"
he paused aud fervently added as one who
feels his wants, "dnd dol:'t forget The salt"
This was moron poor human nature could
bear, aud decided me at once to convene
your houses as q Committee of Ways and
MeaHs, to devise some remedy, for / am
convinced that H..
speedily or this whole concerns gone up
the pout.


1t is not for me; though executive of this
sacred soil, and occupant Of the superRatu.
raj chain of East Virginia here in Rich
mond. to define and describe the remedy for
the great ills we so sorely suffer, simply
because it is not my prerogative It is
, mine to hint, but yours 10 act. Ihave tried
| n Multitude of expedients real and imagi-
nary, but fined to my great grief of both
mind and 6osreis that "all, all will clog"
The truth is, salt Is the one thing ueedful,
without which the most dainty meats are
but uusayory things. Even corn WHISKY
OIL how l love that word which your
houors know has been regarded upon this
aoor as the iiIixers of,life, the remedy for
oil the ills Southern gentlemen are heir to,
has signally failed as in this our time of
need. have cooked my grub in whisky,
seasoned it with whisky, used whisky for
sds, drank whisky before and after meals,
and 1 speak advisedly when 1 tell you Il
tvont do. 1t is good thing in family
when milk is scarce, and supplies the place
of tea and coffee to nicely, but it won't
supply the place of salt Salt we must
have or wo are gone hook and line But
now shall we get it? Oh! there's ME rub.
We could go unto them that sell and buy
81 ! y ,
your hOnors know it can't There's the
paper blockade which The fieud at Washing
ton persists in keeping up around our shores
and which has somewhat curtailed our lib
critics and reduced us to the denominatiou of
a purely inland concern. True we could take
with impunity, but a prudent regard for
the law of nations aud hankering desire
to stand fair as one of the Powers in the
earth, lOhen l1e do stand, impels US 10
suffer rather than do wrong. But Lincoln's
is not the only paper blockade that's in
the way, our own currency is such that we
cannot trade with the surrounding nations
if we could, except like the ancient Gre
clans; upon the principle of pound for pound,
and you know that such commerce would
soon etfectnally ruin us, Tho whole Con-
federacy, as extensively as it is now sup
piled with the article could not furnish
the rags to make the paper upon which to
print the bonds. Such a course is not TO
be thought of.


We might go to the briny deep and pro.
cure salt by evaporation, a business IN
which Southern gentlemen are perfectly at
home--Rud by the way there is a capital
thought in the idea, which though forming
nc, PR5t of my intended suggestion, will
ventila(e little. BY the evaporation of
the great ocean, we could kill three birds
at 1ing-we could not only procure the
great salt beds as our own, which are the
feeders of these wells that supply the Lin
coin hordes with salt, but we'could send all
Old Abe's mighty ships TO DAvy Jones dry
dock in double quick, and compel the ma
tions OF Europe to acknowledge our in.
dependence so far as salt is concerned
Difficulties, it is true, would attend such
IN euteTprize, and yet know the chiValry
to be capable of any enterprise, however
difficult, unreasonable or impossible.
commend the suggestion especially to your
candid and august considerations ri


But if this shall be thought to be i'm
practicable have another scheme, which
may be regarded like the Ordinance of Sc.
cession, as a HesDeTt remedy for the disease,
and yet the case Is "a despert one-and
must have salt-and / submit it. 1t iswell
known to your Honors that the KauaWha
Valley abonnds In salt and that that land
is part aud parcel of the sacred soil, and
also that from the loWness of the river pre-
venting transportation, there mast be an
immense accumulation of the precious stuF
there now; and that We have the very means
to bring it, is to me as clear as that am
chief executive of this 00mmonEeaIth. We
have always been peculiarly fortunate in
having the right. man in Iihe right place,
thing almost as necessary 70 the existence
of this Confederacy as salt itself 10 the
outset we had nothing We could cali our
oWu, and were compelled, like the Jews 10
leaving the land Of Egypt 70 procure all
our supplies By way of slant. But We
had the right men in the right place, and
very soon we bad every thing. -.mouey, arms,
fists, munilions-to carry on the war aud
for these we are especially indebted to his