| Williamsboro NC, October 12th 1864 |
| |
| Major S. B. French |
| CS |
| Richmond VA |
| |
| Major, |
| In carrying out the orders of
the Commissary General as contained in the letter of Capt Abrams of the
23d Sept ulto. I proceeded with all despatch to Charleston, first to
confer with Major Guerin the Chief Commissary for the State of South
Carolina. I found that it would be at??ly impracticable to have met the
Chief & district Commissaries of the state in conference, but fortified
with letters from Major Guerin to his principal agents to obey my
orders, I visited them & had better opportunities for observing their
actions & operations than I could otherwise have done. I conferred
freely with them and left with each such instructions as seemed to me
best adapted to secure the ends in view. I found them all actively
engaged in their duties, collecting wheat & flour as they best could,
and beef cattle; and preparing for the approaching season. Captain Riley
of the Orangeburg District has two Distilleries at remote point from
Rail Road transportation which, with a supply of old corn are now in
full operation. |
| Capt Simons, at Anderson will
be prepared to distill as soon as he can make new corn available. |
| The crops of grain were
impaired by the summers drought, but with the more extended area of land
planted, there will be a large excess over last years yield: And
although the Cholera had destroyed many hogs in some sections, yet the
farmers having that corn afforded them according to the schedule of the
time but twenty prices for one over old, the prices of bacon would yield
them forty more than the selling price prior to the war. If they
converted corn into hogs as far as practicable, that is reserved all the
corn they could, to raise & fatten their hogs on, But they complain
terribly of the new schedule. The schedule prices last year approximated
the market volume, but now, when the market value is largely enhanced,
the commissaries place bacon at $1.25 or $1.37 p lb. And sorghum, which
they had been induced to cultivate extensively has been suddenly reduced
from eight dollars per gallon to three. I directed the commissaries of
this state first to gather by purchase or impressment every pound of
bacon that could be found and to canvass their districts thoroughly. I
represented to them the contingency that might place the troops in
Virginia dependent upon them and the states if Virginia & North
Carolina, the richest portions of which were already overrun by the
army, for subsistence, I called their particular attention to the
importance of carefully examining the quality of the sorghum they might
receive by tithe or purchase, for if not sufficiently & properly boiled
it wd be worthless -- and urged them to secure all the dried fruit peas
&c. To see their districts were thoroughly traversed & to begin at once
to buy hogs on the foot. Where b?? could not be done & facilities
offered for fattening from the s?? of their distilleries to contract
with farmers for fattening hogs for one half. When they cannot buy they
may increase their stock in this way. I directed them to stop at nothing
in the way of subsistence, but to buy all they could. |
| Having finished my business in
this state, I proceeded next to Savannah, altho I had heard of the death
of Major Locke I had the good fortune to meet with Major Mony, the newly
appointed Chief Comy for Georgia there. I had full interviews with him &
accompanied him to Macon & on to Columbus, where I also conferred with
Major Allen. From Columbus I proceeded to Montgomery & thence on to
Mobile where I met Major Walker. Bacon was the principal thing, the
stocks in the Confederacy North of Georgia is well nigh exhausted, and
to this article I urged their promptest energies. But the golden
opportunity for securing the large surplus in Georgia & Alabama had gone
by. Hampered with Legislation enactments, the commissioners in those
states, without money could do nothing, and their efforts to pay in
certificates of indebtedness were calculated to impair materially the
credit of the government. I hope the evil will soon be remedied. But
then to force a planter to take $1.31 for bacon when the article will
readily command in open market $4 or $5 p lb is more than he can quietly
stand. He becomes disaffected towards the govt and readily gives care to
such advisors as Mr Toomby. |
| The universal opinion of all
the intelligent commissaries with whom I have conversed is totally
against the law appointing commissaries at all. Whatever of value may
have attached to it in the first place is destroyed by their injudicious
course. It was unwise & unfair to have held out $8 as a price for
sorghum & then as the farmer was preparing to return his tithe &
surplus, to have placed it at $3, and so with bacon which they have
reduced nearly 50% when the intrinsic value is nearly double that of
last year. And look at the course of our commissioners in Virginia
suddenly placing wheat at $30 p bushel & then as suddenly coming back to
the first figure of $5, and now appealing to the patriotism of farmers
to take less for their produce than they can obtain in open market. It
is a principle with planters or farmers to obtain the highest prices
they can. They will meet without murmuring your new lines of taxation &
give of their means. They will send their sons to the army cheerfully
and go if needs be themselves, but to require them to sell to the
government, no matter what the extremity, for less than they can obtain
elsewhere is against their very nature. They will not consent to it, and
we should bear in mind ours is a popular government, and the
agricultural is the controlling interest. |
| If the course Major Moms has
decided upon with regard to impressments is concurred in, the same
should be presented by Major Walker who labors under similar
difficulties, which I hope will be done. |
| In North Carolina I notice
with regret that little is being done in gathering supplies. The state
seems given over to the extortioner & speculator. |
| In conclusion I take leave to
say that all the officers of the department with who I have had business
on my route, are, in my belief, admirably well chosen, men of high
character, patriotism and energy. Major Cummings may be an exception,
but my interview with him was brief. |
| I am Very Respectfully |
| W H Smith |
| Major & CS |
|