The Camden confederate. (Camden, S.C.) 1861-1865, April 24, 1863, Image 1
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VOLUME II CAMDEN, SO. CA., FLIP AY, APRIL 24, 1863. NUMBER 26
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.T. ' T. 11 KItSI 1MA.1SJ, "Editor.
FRIDAY, !PRIL 247lS63~
Several articles, intended for this ivsno, have
been unavoidably crowded output will appear
in our next.
Ordinary'* Election.
The election held on Tuesday last lor Ordinary
of Kershaw District, resulted in the
choice of Mr. A..L. McDonald. *
To I lie l.adic<.
Our lady frk-nds will confer a great favor l?v
sending to the Confedeiiatk oflice all the rags
they may have on hand, by Friday next, as we
expect to send to the paper mill all we may
have, on the day following.
In a tow remarks introductory to on articlo copied
from Iho Edgefield Advertiser, in our last issue, wo
expressed the opinion that Treasury Notes it good for
anything were good for everything within the range
of patriotic uses, among the. rest and especinll)''
for the payment of debts. Those views have
called forth a response which wo publish to day over
the signature of " Merrimac," who conies forward to
defend that much abused and much injured class of
society, some of whom wo believed to he enrrying out
to-day tho principles of their We l-known prototype,
delineated by tho master hand of shaicspfakb, who
in his reverenco lor tho sacrcdness of the ohliiwitinn ?r
contracts, refused to receive the money tendered in
payment of his debt after tho day of its maturity, bttT
insisted on the literal fulfillment of that contract, and
demanded tho " pound of llosh," as it was " so nominated
in tho bond."
"Wo maintain that tho refu?nl on tho part of the
creditor to receive Treasury Xotes in payment ol a
debt due him, discredits and depreciate" tho only currency
which ^vo possess or-can possibly possess in onr
present circumstances, and that such conduct is unpatriotic
and destructive to our best interests. This
is tho point in issue, and wo regard the argument
" Mcrriniac" moro as an ingenius peaeo of special
pleading in tho unseemly squabble about who shall
run tho risk of "repudiation," in part or whole-by
tho government?who shall hazard the "scaling" systcm,
than a jdain and straightforward answer as to
whether or not the course of conduct wo condemn
does not have tho fatal tendency wo ascribo to it. |
"There is,"says " Merrimac," such a thing as repudiation
ol debts by governments and individuals?such
a th n t as scaling them?such a thing as default of
payment of interest on them." Therein is found tho j
groat objection to receiving Treasury Notes in pnymsnt
of debts?it is a distrust of the ability, and especially,
of tho good faith of tho government; and
it is tho utterance of these sentiments, and tho acting
upon this principal that wo believe to be so injurious
in its tendency. It familiarizes men's minds with tho
horrible idea of government bad faith and repudiation,
and brings them to tegard with complacency,
what at first produced indignation and disgust. Let
m regard tho character of our Confederacy liko that
of Cicsar's wife. .IS " nlirn'n ? 1 1
oiwn, mm mo nauiL
will tend to produce and confirm the high tono of public
spirit and public faith, indispensable in all successful
govern in cut a. "Wo havo already?whether we will
or not, placed "all our eggs iuone basket"?tho greater
carrying along with it and containing tho lees. Our
property* and liberty are tho precious contents of this i
basket ; if they aro safe, all is safe, and if not, why !
then it makes no difl'ercnco as to anything else.
If tho government securities aro good, then tho
debtor does not seek to inflict any injustice on his
creditor by offering them in payment of his debt.
They aro fundable in stock or bonds bearing a higher
rato of interest than tho individual debt, and stand on
tho same footing as far as specie pnwnciu of interest
or principal of each is concerned?neither ono b ing,
in fact, now payable in specie, nor is it possible to
(Drcsco when they will be so. Let the "corn, bacon
and cotton nabobs" invest in Confederate Bonds, say
wo, as well as the distressed and harassed creditor?who,
" etrin^halted," stands like a bear
tied to a tree, while lie is worried hy his activo
and eager debtors?(ceitainly a picture to
. cause the immediate and complete transfer of
i our sympathies from the side on which art and 8
fiction, in picturing this relation, have delighted v
to enlist th.em, and which the magic power of
genius, heretofore, has cheated us, under false 0
pretences, to bestow upon the debtor, when it %
is actually due to tiio much abused creditor)." p
Kut still, one of the best investments which 1
a man caw make at any time, when he lias sold
his produce, is to pnv his debts. The high .
price which property of all kinds has com- s
inanded for several months past, has enabled c
thousands in the country to do this, either t
wholly or in part. It is comparatively recently 1
that objections has been made by creditors to
the reception of Treasury Notes. But now,
with distended nostrils, they snuff repudiation j
afar off?see in the conduct of their debtors 1
an imagined combination on their part to force 1
all thc?government securities into the hands of n
a few, and after they have disposed of all their '
interest in these securities, to be rciidv to send ,
to Congress representatives of their own moral j
complexion, who shall refuse to levy the taxa- 1
tion necessary to timet the government obliga- 1
tion. We believe the number of that eonstit 11
ucncy is and will forever remain small in our
country, to whom the description "selfish, do- j.
faulting, repudiating, faithless, swindling," is t
applicable. If not, then indeed are they un
deserving of the precious boon of self-govern- r
nient, which thev sin; now striving tiirougli fire 1
* e s
and blood to attain, and in the earnest pursuit ^
of which they have displayed great qualities <j
contradictory to them all. >
Let us not doubt and distrust the good faith t
of our government, before it has given us any
reason-to do so. Let us cease the miserable 1
contention as to who shall or who shall not !
risk and rely upon that public faith. The dis- ,
ease is plethora? apoplexy (if yon choose), let I
us not not, whilst discu.-sing the means of do- c
pletion, vitiate and destroy the life-blood of (
c
the patient, by unwise experiments, or render
it incapable of circulation, to be followed ?
by inevitable dissolution. - j?
_ - ? a
[for tlle camden* confederate.]
Mi:. Editor: No nun is misemployed who furnishes
materials for correct thinking upon subjects of impor- ^
tanco to us all. and which involve practical legislation >
and individual conduct of the greatest gravity. Tho
blending and confounding together ot persons and ^
h
ideas where tho dearest diflcienccs and discriminaQ
tions exist, in fact and in reason, can never lead to
* t<
truth and justice, m privato opinion, and never to wiso
and profitable legislation by rulers.
Instances of this mischievous en or are found in
many quarters-in legislative halls and in \our col- ,
umns, where the seller, or possessor of tho necessaries
of life for people and armies, tho extortioner, the speculator,
tho enemies of the cause a^id country who re
tuso t lie Treasury notes, or hold back their surplus, "
because they distrust that currency, or mean t<> loreo ^
famine prices still higher, are ull blended 111 the same ^
category with the creditor, who lent his coin, who has
patiently waitecL who asks no payment, but simply ,
declines torec^^ro what he never lent; what, confessed- *
pl
ly, is not money; and what will pay no more than
one-fourth of his debt.
c<
What pretext or tuotivo can the proprietor of corn*
bacon, Ac, assign for his refusal or distrust of Trcasury
Notes? Does lie not receive four or live times *'
at the least tlio specie valuo of liis commodity? Can ^
be not take the swollen proceeds and convert them
into a sum of silver, that will bo fully two ^
prices for his bacon, (for example) though reckoned in
silver? If bo prefers to buy something elso for his
notes, he gets that thing at least at its specie price, ^
or thereabouts, for exactness is not attainable in the
oUiinato. How stands tlio creditor if he receives the ().
Treasury Notes for debt? Every ono of them counts ^
as spocio to him. Every $5 note is coumed as $i> in
siiver wnen lie gets it from liis debtor. But when lie
goes to that same debtor (if you please) with tho samo
$5 note to buv b^eon or butter, how is it estimated
' then ? The pi ice of tho article makes that same note V.
the equal only of a dollar in specie, which paid just
now $5 of a spocio debt fc>o that when paid by a
; debtor it is $5?when paid to him it is ,$1 Can any- .
body misunderstand this? Is it not manifest to the
raeano t intellect, that the debtor has pain $5 with $1 f.
j Supposo creditors be driven, whether by the usurp!
ing arm of government, or by the blind lmwl of per- ft
socution, 'to take Treasury Notes as the equivalent o*
silver and gold, (though the Treasury cannot pass T
them as either, and"does not) is tho transaction not a
pnlpnblo violation of the obligation of contracts?
Who urges this exhibition of depravity, fatal, when 8<
;eneral, to government and people?extirpating tho
'ery roots of faith and confidence among men 7
debtors urge it, and profit by it. Those who wnnt
heir votes concur. If they will not keep their faith
hi their own contracts, are they likely to send agents
irlio will levy a tax on them that shall enable their
government to keep its faith?to observe sacredly
ho obligation of public contracts?to pay piinotu
illv interest, and finally principal? if a man feels
veil founded in morals, in paying his debt only when
t is convenient and profitable to do so, will uot the
anio man feel well founded in patriotism, in seeking
inly a time, through his representative in a legislative
)ody, when it is also convenient and profitable to him
o aid his government in paying its debts? Antl tin*
ess such a man holds the debts of his government, to
in amount bearing a large proportion to his entire
state, he may be slow indeod to tind any timo when
t may be convenient and prolitable to him to pay a
icavy tax, in order to maintain the faith and credit o'
lie government towards other people. There is such
, tiling as repudiation of debts by governments and
ndividuals?such a thing as scaling them?such a
hing as delimit in paying the interest on them. Who
ends a government in such a "slough of despond?1
ts constituency undoubtedly?certainly so. in hepubienn
lbrms of polity. And now, mark my prediction:
'lio?v who arc trying to drive others to vest all their
neans in government securities, while they avoid, with
i holy horror, such securities themselves, will bo tho
lanu rcrs, tho leading clamorers, against the necea*
ary taxation which must be instituted, and kept up
oo, to redeem the government securities.
Government repudiation, or bad faith, is but the
efiex of individual repudiation and bad faith, where
individuals, being a majority, make the government
peak their sentiments and immitate their conduct
Vnd as sure as you have a selfish, defaulting, rcpuliating,
faithless, swindling constituency, so sure will
on have a government that will exactly represent
hem.
' If we are not satisfied to rcceivo Confederate money
in payment of a debt, it is equally worthless to
jay us for our corn and our bacon " So say you, sir,
n your preface to the article from the Edgefield Advertiser.
How so? If the seller of corn and bacon
>o n debtor (and tli.it he may or may not be) and his
ireditor does not demand payment, does not want it,
we all know he can't enforce it) is such a seller of
:orn and bacon, who is also a debtor, a worthy object
?f tender commisseiation?an inconsolable sufferer?
' like Patience on a monument smiling at grief? lie
3 in tears, let us suppose, because his pock- ts arc
bout to burst with Confederate no es, having recently
old bis products at the ruinous prices ol tho day.
l'ou offer him sympathy?ask the cause of his distressIc
blubbers out, "1 am nearly suffocated b\ Treasury
\ote.s?I owe a debt, aud have owed it these ten
ears. It is true, as you suggest, my friend, I could
ave paid it by selling my truck l.ast yehr, and for a
lirreni'v ton th-il- mi' .......i.i i i ?
, , v....v im^ vicuhui nuum uuvu Ul'CIl glSCI
o take to pay his taxes and procure his supplies at
peeio prices; but 1 would have received so little of
, that I hated to sacrdico poor cufley's hard labor,
ml my creditor did not press me. In (act, 1 forgot it
ill I sold m* corn, bacon and cotton last week?and J
ow my conscience pricks me, and I am vehementty- j
nxious to pay my patient creditor?but alas! alas! he
o turn'd tiaitor, I fear?he declines to take my money
-and thus (I speak it with sorrow) lie is discrediting |
^Treasury Notes of our common and dear country. I
h! my friend, he is fly-blowing tho credit of tho :
overnment?and he ought to have the bastinado, np- i
lied either by government anathema, and tho hot !
okcr of taxation, or else in the shape of general
ersceution, until he shall relievo my pocket and my j
Miscieiice, and thus prove himself a patriot."
' You reply, "your case is a very prevalent ono '
ist now; sometimes called tho squint-eyed disease, |
h icli makes a man seo a mote in his brother's eyo, and
vorlook tho beam in his own?sometimes called opti
d illusion, which is shown by mistaking "a hawke
tr a hand-saw"?sometimes tho ivallet disease, which
Kists when ono slings a wallet across his shoulder
ud puts his neighbor's faults in tho pocket before; and
is own in that. lwlnnH nl.ro.ra *i r? s
... , umnjis, tnciviuro, inspecting j
nd magnifying his neighbors, and never seeing his j
\vn. It is"sometimes classed, generally, as tho disuse
of self-regarding monomania. 1 have, happily,
complete eas}', convenient and speedy remedy."
" Speak it," says the laerymoso penitent. You anwer
deliberately, Take tne Confederate lionds loith
our money! Your creditor does not interfere with
ou. The Legislature, God rest its humane soul! has 1
iken care to string-halt your creditor f?>r your ease
nd comfort. Don't discredit th> g vernment seouries
yourseh by hesitating?cheer up my unhappy
iend, and remember " sauco for the gooso is sauce
>r ihe gander." Suddenly you hear from tho corm
aeon anil cotton sellor. whose credj^or flees from him
Uhcr than to him, "Oh! Lord I?and ho vanishos, j
uitteiing, "Confederate Bonds! I don't want them."
his is not the picture of evory debtor; he whom it
iny chance to represent will think he sat for it?and
>ho did.
Why should not a debtor (ofen richer than his credv
/
itor) take his duo proportion of the Confederate sectt-<>
ritios? If ho sells his produce for say four time# ite
specie value, a Bond would cost him only $25 in the
hundrod. It costs tho creditor full pnr, it ho mus4' ,*
take, or does take the Treasury uotcs at par. "Wha
but a false clamor can the debtor raise if he Bliall v
driven, as a paid creditor is, to vest his surplus note8 j
in Bonds#or Ftock of the Treasury? His creditor
can't disturb him?ho is stayed, paralyzed by law. If
the securities of tho government be sound for one mafr
are they not so for another? How can a creditor hurt
his debtor by letting him alone? Would not an 8 per
cent Bond give the debtor 1 per cent inoro than he is
bound to pay bis creditor, and so far innuro to his clear
gaiu? If ho is clamorous, what is it for? Only becauso
what ho considers hazardous J.0 him he is not
i allowed to transfer to another at his pleasure. He is
a falso and impudont clamorcr.
Then the poor soldier, with his $11 a month, is introduced.
There is a suggestia falsi in this. Creditors
ask nothing of "poor soldiers." and refuso nothing, for
they have nothing left to oiler the creditor, when tho
corn and bacon nabobs have done with thom. Theso
most heartless, mischievous and dangerous extortioners,
who ailege that Confederate money is 41 worthless
to pay ior our corn and bacon," do in fact render the
price of poor soldier's labor, privatious and blood?
blood spilt chiefly in the cause of these very men?
almost litcraliy worthless?demanding five and ten
times tho specie value of their corn and bacon, from
j the " poor soldier," whose scanty pay was fixed by
| the ~pecio standard and so continues. What cousuj
mate audacity and hypocrisy to introduce the " poor
i soldier" in this connection? Can these rueu be blind
to tho tendency of their conduct towards tiie poer
soldiers ? Or do they see it. and implied by their
greed and rapacity, recklessly drive on to dangerous
discontent, to mutiny, internal violence, arson and
robbery, involving themselves in immediate disaster,
and th% cause of tho country in total overthrow ?
I The sclicmo is this, viz: To enable debtors to pay
1 a dollar with a fraction of one, and then to force their
creditors to vest their ull in government securities,
to put all their eggs in ono basket, to take the hazard,
as to their all, of scaling; repudiation in whole or in
part; the default in payment of interest by a debtor
that makes the currency they must receive; and that
is encased in impenetrable armor in all that it does
from choice or necessity, against any demand by the
creditor; and whose constituents holding few or none
of its securities, though they have forced them upon
their creditors, may coolly send a representative ta
Congress w ho will refuse to levy a tax on them among
o hers, to pay the common debt. Take care of the
crop to he reaped, fruiir sowing tares when you need
wheat If you sow the wind may you not reap the
whirlwind? What is tho disease? A plethoric cur"
rency. What the euro ? Depletion. Is that remedy
applied by transferring tho currency from one pocket
to another? Is the appop'.exy cured by puffing one
a'ter}* by*the depletion of another? If tho disease is
curablo only by ubsorbing tho surplus blood by ?
Bond, why not let the first patient bo cured by this
I mill' nr/\nnoo
w..v iimiouu 01 propagating the disease
through several? l.et us have argument, not wind}declamation.
Merrimac.
j Note ?The foregoing observations must stand upon
their own intrinsic merits, hut it may not bo out of
place, nor without effect with some, to declare that I
have never refused Treasury Notes in payment, either
in my private or any other capacity, but have received
large sum.-, and expect to continue to receive such
currency, and will not unconditionally refuse it at its
nominal value. But can any man condemn mo, if I
refuso to receivo it as equivalent to coin from the
planter who has required and received say $5 of it
for a bushel of corn, worth only $1 in coin?who haft '
taken it ut whaj. it is worth?$5 for $1 ? Why shall
ho not pay mo $5 lor $1 of my coin debt?
'' Fair play is a jewel"?equity is the fundamental
principle of Republican government?
" Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander." I f ho
censure and attempt to persecute and excito odium
against me, 1 will donounce him?I'll "lash the rascal
naked through the world"?I'll hold him up to the
scorn or pity of all men of decent sense or honor as a
would-be robber?or unhappy subject of the wallet
disease?-a squint-eyed, self-regarding vionomaniac.
M.
A Wife's Prayer.
Tho following beautiful prayer has been handed us
by a friond, with a request to publish :
" Lord bless and preserve that dear person whom
thou hast chosen to bo my husband; let his lifo be
long and blessed, comfortable and holy; and let mo
also becomo a great blessing and comfort unto him?
a sharer in all his sorrows, a meet helper in all theaccidents
and changes in the world ; make me amiable
forever in his eyes, and forever dear to him. Unito
his heart to me in the dearest love and holiness, and
mine to him in all sweetness, charity and compliance.
Keep mo from all ungentleness, all discontentedness<
and unreasonableness of passion and humor; and
make me humble and obediont, useful and observant,
that we may delight in each other, according to Thy
blessed Word, and both of us may rejoice in Thee,
having our portion in the lovo and service of Godx
forever?Amen.*'
\