212 



CONFEDERATE STATES. 



furnish a sufficient supply for the population of 

 Kichmond. 



Tne report of the Richmond market on the 

 6th of November, was as follows: 



There is no wheat in market, but we have been in- 

 formed that sales of small quantities hare been made 

 during the week at $10. With an .open market, a 

 higher figure would no doubt be reached until a fair 

 supply could be thrown in. The injudicious and in- 

 discriminate system of impressment by the Govern- 

 ment, through'impressing agents who have no practi- 

 cal knowledge of the wants of the army or the neces- 

 sities of the people, has made the supply of bread for 

 those outside the army a question for serious consid- 

 eration, and if not speedily remedied will make starva- 

 tion a more than probable event. 



Within two weeks flour has jumped from $40 to $75 

 per barrel, and we have even heard of sales at $100. 

 Some are ready to attribute this unprecedented ad- 

 vance solely to speculation, but this is a mistake. The 

 flour is not in the market, and people are beginning to 

 learn that an actual scarcity of the staff of life stares 

 them in the face. We do not mean an actual scarcity 

 in the country, but a scarcity in the market, caused by 

 the starvation plan of impressment by the Govern- 

 ment. 



Beardless and senseless boys, who do not know how 

 many bushels of wheat it requires to make a barrel of 

 flour, are sent through the country with authority to 

 impress supplies for the army, and, without knowing 

 what is needed, thev serve written notices upon the 

 farmers that their whole crops are impressed, and that 

 they must not send one bushel of gram to the market. 

 The farmer believes that the necessities of the Govern- 

 ment require all that he has, feels that he is deprived 

 of his interest in his grain, and it is left to sprout and 

 spoil in stacks, or mould and mildew in granaries. 

 This is one reason, and the chief one, too, why we have 

 not flour in the Richmond market. The same system 

 is pursued, and the same starvation plan adhered to. 

 Corn was yesterday selling at $14 50 per bushel, and 

 scarce at that. 



Country Produce and Vegetables. Bacon, hog-ronnd, 

 $2 50 to $3 ; lard, $2 10 ; butter, $3 75 to $4 ; eggs, 

 $2; Irish potatoes, $10 to $12 per bushel; sweet do., 

 $12 to $15 ; tallow candles, $3 50 to $3 75 ; salt, 45c. 

 per Ib. 



Groceries. Coffee, $9 50 to $10; sugar: common 

 brown, $2 75 to $3; crushed do., $5; sorghum mo- 

 lasses, from $12 to $15 per gallon; rice, 33c. perlb. by 

 the tierce. 



Liquors. Whiskey, $4jO to* $50 per gallon, according 

 to quality : apple brandy, $34 to $36. 



In the city markets there has been a slight advance 

 in nearly all the articles offered for sale. TYesh meats 

 are worth from $1 25 to $1 50 for beef and mutton, and 

 $2 for pork ; chickens, $6 to $8 per pair ; turkeys, $12 

 to $15 apiece ; ducks, $7 to $8 per pair ; raccoon, $10 

 apiece ; opossum, from $2 50 to $5, according to size ; 

 rabbits, $1 50 to $2 ; squirrels, $1 ; fish : small ale- 

 wires, $2 per bunch of four ; catfish, $1 50 to $2 per 

 bunch of four ; butter, $5 per pound ; sweet potatoes, 

 $2 50 per half peck ; Irish potatoes, $2 per half peck ; 

 turnips, $2 per peck ; cabbage, 75c. to $1 25 per head. 



Leather. Sole leather, $5 50 to $6; harness do., 

 $5 50 to $6 ; upper do., $6 50 to $7. Hides are quoted 

 at $1 for dry ; $1 for salted green, and 60c. for green. 



The cotton accumulated by the Government 

 amounted in August to five hundred thousand 

 bales. This cotton was principally in the States 

 of Georgia and Alabama, and some also in the 

 eastern part of Mississippi, Northwestern Lou- 

 isiana, and Texas, and was stored on the plan- 

 tations of the planters from whom it was pur- 

 chased, in sheds or warehouses three hundred 

 feet from any other buildings, and in all cases 

 the planters agreed with the Government to 



take the same care of the cotton as if it still 

 belonged to them, and to deliver it to the order 

 of the Government when wanted. The cap- 

 ture of all the seaports would riot endanger the 

 loss of a pound, as there were no stocks of cot- 

 ton at any of them, nor were there any consid- 

 erable stocks of cotton at any one place in the 

 interior, care having been taken by the Confed- 

 erate as well as State Governments, that no 

 cotton should be stored at any point within five 

 miles of a railroad station or navigable stream. 

 That portion of the crop of 1861 which had 

 been brought to the various interior depots, 

 had been taken back to the plantations by spe- 

 cial order of the State Governments. This cot- 

 ton would be delivered to any holder of the 

 bonds on demand, as provided for in the fourth 

 article of the contract. In the States of Ala- 

 bama and Mississippi, the cotton had been sam- 

 pled, weighed, marked, and invoiced, and the 

 agents of the bondholders could examine the 

 samples at the offices of the chief agents of the 

 loan in the different States, and take their or- 

 ders on the planters for the delivery of the cot- 

 ton without trouble or expense. The cotton 

 obtained under this loan was not subject to any 

 tax or duty, except the export duty of one 

 eighth of a cent per pound, existing at the date 

 of the contract. 



The purchasing agent of the Government is- 

 sued a circular on the 25th of July, announc- 

 ing the policy of the Government as follows : 



The policy of the Government is, that the same 

 course be pursued with regard to public or private 

 cotton, viz. : apply to it the torch whenever in immi- 

 nent and manifest danger of falling into the hands of 

 the enemy, but only in such cases. In presence of a 

 mere raid, cotton should not be burnt. On the other 

 hand, where military and permanent occupancy is 

 likely to be had, it is of the last importance that cot- 

 ton should not be the trophy of the enemy. 



Notwithstanding the general stringency of 

 the blockade, many trips were made by vessels 

 to Charleston and "Wilmington during the early 

 part of the year, with great profit to the own- 

 ers. The officers of the Government owned 

 many of these vessels. A large number, how- 

 ever, were captured. 



The relations of the Confederate States with 

 foreign nations underwent no favorable change 

 during the year. England and France steadily 

 declined to treat with them as independent 

 States. Their views were approved by all the 

 other States of Europe. It finally became evi- 

 dent that the simple recognition, not accom- 

 panied or followed by anything in the shape of 

 intervention, would be fruitless. The successes 

 of the North also were such as to create the 

 conviction in Europe that the time for declar- 

 ing the seceded States to have established their 

 independence had not yet arrived. Yet, in 

 England, the Confederate States have enjoyed 

 the sympathy of an active portion of the people, 

 who were led to believe that the struggle was 

 really a war of independence. Nor was this 

 all ; for they notoriously received assistance 

 from individuals in that country, which could 



