| From the Raleigh Standard |
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| November 16, 1861 |
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| Salt {and Iron, Grain and
Whiskey} |
| We are glad to see that H. D. Bird, Esq.,
the Superintendent of the Southside Railroad, Petersburg, has given
notice that that company has made arrangements with the Virginia &
Tennessee Railroad, by which salt can be procured from the salt works in
Western Virginia, and delivered in Petersburg at fair rates. The
conditions upon which the salt will be sent for by the Petersburg
Company are, that speculators must have nothing to do with it, and the
party or parties bespeaking a train of cars must have 2,800 bushels
ready to load at the works, and hands to load it. The charge per hundred
weight from the works to Petersburg, will be 65 cents. The Southside
Road connects with the Virginia & Tennessee Road at Lynchburg. The salt
works at Abingdon, Va., are about one hundred miles west of Statesville,
in this State. We learn that several of the farmers in Chatham county,
and many persons further west, have sent their wagons to the works in
Virginia for salt. The article will cost them from $10 to $12 per sack,
making a full allowance for their teams per day; but this is much better
than to have to depend on speculators for the article, and to have to
pay $15 to $20 per sack. |
| There are three things which, looking to a
continuance of the blockade and the war, ought to be done at once.
First, a connection should be made between the iron and coal region
of Chatham County and the Railroads of the State
{the Chatham RR}. Second, manufactories of iron ought to
be established, for, unless they are, iron will become exceedingly
scarce. We shall have little or none for farming or Railroad purposes.
Thirdly, a company or companies should be encouraged by State
aid, to make salt on the seashore. South Carolina has gone into the
latter business, and it is expected that in the course of a few weeks
large quantities of salt will be produced at some point on her coast. |
| But what shall be done with those
speculators who have salt on hand, purchased for $2 to $4 per sack, at
the outside, and who are asking $15 to $20 for it? Will they complain at
being compelled to sell at one hundred per cent. profit? That would be
$4 to $8 per sack. But would not fifty per cent. be an ample profit? We
say let the strong arm of the law be laid on all extortioners, whether
in salt or other articles. The suffering poor, the weak, the defenceless,
the laborious and the worthy, are too much at the mercy of sharpers and
speculators. They must be protected. They cannot collect their honest
dues from those who might pay if they would, for there is almost no law
for the collection of debts. The necessaries of life are held at prices
which would be enormous, even if such people had what is justly their
own; and on the back of all this, salt, which preserves life, is sold at
five or six times its value, while corn, the very staff of life, is
being turned for gain into whiskey. We say nothing against good
whiskey in its place, but we do protest against distilling it in large
quantities from corn, or wheat, or rye at a time like this. When the
poor ask for bread, will ye offer them whiskey? Keep the corn for
hungry mouths, and let whiskey take care of itself while the war lasts.
If it should become scarce and command high prices, but few will
complain; but a dearth of corn, or meat, or salt will be vitally felt,
and may even cripple our people in their struggle for independence. |
| These remarks are, of course, general. We
have had no one in our eye while writing them. But they are true, and it
will be well for all of us if we heed them in time. |
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