The Camden confederate. (Camden, S.C.) 1861-1865, May 01, 1863, Image 1
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I)C (Eambcn Confederate
VOLUME II CAMDEN, SOTCAT, FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1863. NUMBER 27
fi)( Cainbrn (Confckraif,
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No deduction made, except to our regular advertising
patrons, v
.r. T. ITERSmtiA^^Editor.
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1863 "
Slicei? for tlic manufacture or Cotion
Curds.
If our enterprising citizens who oro engaged in ranninrv
f 1*a ? 1-' *
w.u uiwuauu, wouiti import snooting used in the
manufacture of cotton cards, they would confer n blessing,
and one affecting the welfare of tho mass ol our
people, infinitely beyond that received from all tho
" assorted cargoes" yet arrived.
Tstblcaux Vivaiil.
Tho young ladies of Camden and vicinity proposo
a soi ios of Tableaux this ovoning, for tho benefit of tho
soldiers. Tho object is one that commends itself to
evory mind?whilst the manner of celebrating the immemorial
festival of May Day is such as befits our
present circumstances.
Conscripts.
Tho following is a statement of the conscripts enrolled
in Kershaw District, and tho disposition mado
of them :
Total number enrolled, 163
Exempt by law, 82
Accepted by Surgeon, 33
Rejected by Surgeon, 48
'Captain K. B. Cantey, the enrolling officer of tho
District, has executed his task with fidelity to the gov
erumcnt, and with urbanity and consideration towards
thoso coming under his jurisdiction. Surgeon Dan*
nelly, by bra polite quiet demeanor, his businoss-like
v directness and perfect impartiality has well and ac*
coptably performed his part of tho rather ungracious
1111 f r\(* />Anenr!r\tlA?
MUVJ VI WliCVI tpvivii.
ITCeri-iiiiae.
" I am nothing, if not critical
It is pleasant to turn for a moment from gazing at
tho gigantic and thrilling drama of war?whoso stage
extends from tho Chesapeake to the Rio Grande, whose
curtain is the sulphurous smoko of battle, whose music
is tho loud cannon and rattling musketry?to contemplate
tho quiet and pleasant Held of iictiou;
and to listen to the voico of criticism in elucidation of
its mysteries, in praiso of its beauties, in rccommeni
dation of its utility. It makes us long for tho days of
peace, when the crabbed professors of strategy and
international law and the learned doctors of taxation,
tinanco and kindred thorny subjects, will descend from
the critic's chair, and givo place to the sweet toned accents
of tho accomplished Belles Lettres lecturer. A
vwrceau of this now rare luxury?a rose in December?
we are pleased to 4. ffer to our readers this week. Recommending
it, however, on.account of its elementary
character, not so much to the admirers of the Merchant
of Venice as to our young friends, who contemplato
an acquaintance with that much admired play. Wo
could no where lay our hands upon so compendious a
description of the central character in it?the celebrated
Jew. For tho further information of any such
tyro, we would state that it is the decided opinion of
the most acute critics and learned commentators upon
this author. that. Rhvloolr wno n rrn/titntf A ?
w J .? V* vw?wr \Jb iimuuiu
that he held the bond of his debtor?that he attempted
to enforce his contract in a most unusual and unconscionable
manner. And we would also stato to
our young friends that it is not uncommon to denominate
as Shylocks, those creditors (the term would bo
inapplicable to other persons) who, for their own gratification
(whether by the way of revenge, money-making
or money saving) demand from their debtors
tho performance of the very letter of their contract,
even though such performance should involvo the cruel
and unnecessary destruction of the debtor or ruin of
tho State. "We would impress upon their minds that
it is not so much tho fact that he was an "intense Hebrew"?a
hater of pork?a broker, and rovengoful; it
was not one nor all of these that raised him to the
" bad imminence" of becoming a type of a certain
classs of creditors. There are those who eat pork and
v^ho follow other callings than that of the broker, who
yet resemble him in their disposition to tako ad van
tage of the very letter of the law, let the consequences
be what they may, an^ who, though they demand not
the "pound of flesh", require the specie to pay their
debts, though every man is as unable to furnish it as
poor Antonio to produce tho ducats he owed.
By the way wo would rescue the reputation of the
the stately and generous merchant from the imputation
of being fast, (unless the term is applicable to
every borrower of money for any purpose whatever)
t > t v
k
which is a 44 confusion of persons and ideas essentially
unlike," and which wo did not expect from tho acumen
and discrimination of 14 Merritnac," whoso test of
theso qualities (if thero is aoy forco in frequent quotation)
must consist in distinguishing a "hawko from a
liand-saw."
And then as to tho oft-recurring 44 egg" illustration?
44 Then why is your man so pertinacious in trying to
transfer his eggs to the account of his creditor, who
lent him good eggs yonrs ago? "Why does ho stir up
this 4 unseemly squabble' ? Can it bo because tie think*
hii eggs are unsound and would liko -to get rid ol thom
as sound ?" Let all men judge who first 6tirred up
the squabble, and who first implied, by their conduct,
unsoundness The payment of debts is and has been,
according to the abundance or scarcity of money, moro
or less of daily occurrence. Nor is this done nor has
it been done always in specie or notes convertible into
specie. Debts were paid in 1857-8 in the notes of
suspended banks, and tho creditors wero g'ad to receive
them, though such notes were not specie nor convertible
into it. Why were creditors willing to recoivo
what was 44 confessedly not money" in payment of a
specie debt ? Beeauso they believed in tho ultimate solvency
and good faith of tho Banks of this State, whose
bills wero tendered them. Twelve month ago?six
months ago, nay, as far as wo aro awaro to the contrary,
up lo within a month ago this process of paying
dobts in tho ordinary currency of the conntrv was un
interruptedly carried on. The debtor glad to be able
to paj', and the creditor willing to receivo Treasury
Note?. But objections have lately been raised to the
continuance of a practice, uninterrupted before, in the
whole history of tho community, Viz: the practice of
receiving tho ordinary currency of the country in payment
of debts And it lies upon tho part of the objectors
to assign sumo satisfactory reason for a proceeding
so extraordinary. Their refusal to continue a
course of conduct which had universally prevailed
heretofore, raised the squabblo. The creditors commenced
it. And as currency, both State and Confederate,
which "confessedly is not money," has been received
in payment of apecio debts until very recently,
this novel and unlooked-for refusal is calculated to produce
alarm and inflict injury. Why were tho bills of
suspended banks received in payment of debts ? Because
the solvency and good faith of these institutions
.were implicitly believed in. Why are Treasury notes
now refused? Is it not because "there is such a thing
as repudiation of debts by individuals and governments
?such a thing a? scaling them?such a thing as rofusaltopay
interost on them promptly?" We are forced
to believe from the conductof "my man" that he has
very serious doubts upon tho subject of Confederate
ability and good faith in this regard.
Wo deprecate tho wholo of this discussion. The
idea of repudiat.on should no moro bo entertained and
discussed, than tho idea of subjugation. Wo" know the
latter never will bo our fate?why this uneasiness and
restlessness in regard to tho other? Let Treasury
Notes be received, as they have been up to this time.
*
CARD.
Having heard various reports connecting us with
tho manufacture and salo of sixteen barrels of whiskey,
delivered in Columbia, about the 20th day of
March last, said to be marked " Te>ebcbe Oil," and
seized by tho Medical Purveyor, Dr. J. J. Chisholm,
for tho Confederate States of America?wo have examined,
by permission of Dr. J J. Chisholm, those
barrels, and find nn snr>h mnrt mori-o *1,0..,-.
Wo therefore beg suspension of public opinion until
tho case is heard before the court. Wo shall, in proper
time, substantiate to tho satisfaction of at least
unprejudiced minds, that we have not and never did
have any counection with any person or persons, directly
or indirectly, in the manufacture or sale of whiskey.
or in any other way. We therefore pronounce
the abovo assertions false and malicious.
HOCOTT & SUTHERLAND.
Camden, April 25, 1863.
SOUTH CAROLINA, RICHLAND DISTRICT.
Personally appeared Phineas P. Frazeo before me,
and makes oath that the sixteen barrels of whiskey
seized by Dr J. J Chisholm, Medical Purveyor for
Confederate States of America, woro not marked or
labelled " Terebene Oil," but appear to be what are
known as cogniac brandy barrels. This deponent does
not know D D. Hocott or J. F. Sutherland, either
personally, directly or indirectly, or in anywise connected
with tho solo or purchase of the said whiskey.
PHINEAS F FRAZEE.
Sworn to before me, this 22d April, 1863.
A. G. BASKIN, C. C. C. P. & G. S.
Lincoln's Late Visit to a hl
? ? - w m waom 19 rviii x 11 X IIO
Richmond Examiner has learned, from good authority,
that Lincoln's late visit to the Army of the Rappahannock
was fur the purpose of inducing the soldiers whose
terms of enlistment are about to expire, to re-enlist.
Old Abe made speeches without number, and whisl^
flowed like water, untill .the wholo army got drunk;
but for all that, the men would'nt re-enlist. In view
of this state of affairs, the Examiner is hopeftil and
jubilant exceedingly.
[for tiik camden confederate.]
Mr. Editor: However mal appiopoa your citation
from Shakespeare, yet if it proves that you have taken to
tho study of that {front author, in real earnest, I auger
good to come of it. II you will read and inwardly
digest tho thoughts of Shakespeare, he will toaoh you
to observo the injunction I gave in the outset, e, to
avoid confounding things, or persons, or ideas, essentially
unlike; in fact he will teach you to distinguish
14 a hawke from a hand-saw."
I am obliged to pronounce, that your proficiency,
thus far, in studying tho " great deliueator" is not satisfactory.
Shylock, you say, is a well-known prototype,
and drawn by a master hand. Agreed, say I.
But a prototype ol whom? That is a question that
draws upon your powers ol discrimination, and "delineation,"
if you please. He is tho prototypo of nobody
I have spoken of, or mean to speak of. Consider
and read:
Shylock represents an intense Hebrew?a genuino
and implncnblo hater of such persons as you arc, Mr.
Editor, (and I hope I am) that is, "a pork eating Christian,''
(though God knows tho pork, if not the Christian,
is scarce enough now) Ho was an unsparing
usurer?an enthusiastic admirer of tho morality current
between Jacob and Laben, (somewhat like the jugglery
of this happy day,) a sharp broker, who paced tho
Hialto to calcli such ftist young men as Antonio and
his cronies, tho owners of Argosies and hunters of Heiresses.
lie received their sneers, their kicks and their
ends, and becamo their sleepless aud revengeful enemy.
Ho even joined them at supper, consented to smell
their pork, " iu hate" (says he,) 41 to feed upon tho
prodigal Christian." The fast young men were resolved
on his ducats, aud for security, the celebrated
" pound ot flesh" tvas pledged ot mortgaged. Shylock
meant to humble the King of the Exchange, tho shipnabob
of Veuice, (tho chief runner of the blockade
for ought I know,) and ho demanded, from deliberate
hate and roveuge generated by personal insults, reinforced
by Theolocical odium !?? ?? '
u , vnu ucicuiutry una
exaggerated resentment of his race, tho execution of
his contract in its penal part, even in lieu of his ducats
; thus showing how strong is rovengo in such
a character, even when in conflict with tho Ducat of
Venice, or tho almighty dollar of our regions.
Now, pleaso show where there is, in tho creditor T
hnvo spoken of, a single characteristic that draws him
into the likeness of Shylock?that standard which
your Belles Lettres reading has supplied ?
My man has not sought out tho fast young inen of
tho Rialto?has no special or general hatred of the
" pork-eutiug christian'?no revengo towards his
debtor, theological, personal, national, or otherwise?
domands neither ducat, dollar, nor pound of floph, not
even a pound of his debtors ox or hog, tainted or
fresh?demands nothing, "nominated in tho bond." or
not nominated?demands not oven tho eggs, though
ever so fresh or nddleu, which his Antonio has in tho
common basket?nor is there any shrewd Daniel coino
to judgment, to rendor to my man any right, or any ;
redress whatsoever Have wo not a stop-law ?
I wait for you to trnco tho likeness between your
man, the corn and bacon seller, and that other cli.irnctor
drawn by tho " master baud," I mean that Vcnitinn
debtor, tho gentle and chivalric Antonio. It you
cau show the relation of typo and prototype between
them, then, I shall proceed to refrosh my views of tho
" Merchant of Venico." Certainly there was a court
open to Shylock, and it pretended to give him his strict
right. Revenge led him to over-reach himself by an
impracticable mortgage?and yet the court tried 10
pay a decent respect to tho terms of tho contract.
(,)h! what a relief to the travail of that remarkable
tribunal, if it could have known tho equality of Vouitian
Treasury Notes, when to be paid by a debtor, .and
only then, with ducats! .
All our egys aro in the sumo basket, are they ? T
think so?and I have a strong belief that they will
not all be brokon. Then why is your man so pertinacious
m trying to trnnsit-r his eggs to tiio account
ol his creditor, who icnt him good eggs years ago?
Why does he stir up this " unseem y squabble ?" Can
it be because he thinks kis eggs are unsound, and would
like to get rid of them as sound ? Why not take the
venture of his etrca ermn.i j * ~
pl,^ v/i unsuuiiu, in mo uonlcderato
basket? Why did he not lot his creditor have
his eggs at a fair price when he knew they wero sound?
W hy has your man such a fresh born zeal to pay
his debt now? "Why was ho so torpid years ago?
Here's the rub; answer; and answer from your conscience
and knowledge; and not from,a very careless
reading of Shakespeare.
Your notion of Shylock leads you to sneer at tlio
idea that attributes sacredness to the obligation of contracts;
I mean fair contracts; contracts, made under
no duress, and no circumvention, and therefore, requiring
none of that ''special pleading," which you attribute
to mo; though, 1 confess, I don't know what
you mean by special pleading, as contradistinguished
from any other pleading. You know I am no lawyer;
and all I know about the science of ploading, as understood
by lawyers, is what I have heard them say?
to-wit: that it is a science based on the closest logic;
an infallible means of sifting grains of wheat from
bushels of chaff; a certain delineator of a precise proposition;
and a total loo and exterminator of confusion
of tdens. things or persons; that horrible sin of looso
thinkers, writers, preachers and printers.
But to return to tho idea that concerns the obligation
of contracts, and Shylock's connection therowith:
" Render unto Caesar tin* things that are C'tesars."
t)id Shylock invent that injuueti n ? No State shall
...... d.ii -
F?o0 juiu 01 uuainaer. ex post Jacto law, or law impairing
the obligation of contracts " Is that language
invented by Shylock, or whose language is it? It' the ?
corn and bacon seller, or if any debtor may violate the
obligation of contracts, by omission or commission, j
whenever he finds his gain in such violation, in ono j
mode or the other, and skulk under the flag of patri- i
otisro, or Shakespeare, or the Scriptures as a guiso ? j
then we had botter remove tho above cited restraint j
on State power, and allow tho Legislature td prescribe, i
when, where, and by whom, that delightfully, moral,
religions and patriotic exercise shall be indulged, viz:
violation of the obligation of contracts by debtors, for
their own advantage?to define who is Shylock, and
how he shall be punished.
If you be yet blind to the dinerenoe between " a
hawke and a hand saw," between " a weazle and a
whale," (pardon me for drawing an idea and a word
from Shakespeare,) why then, I fear, I may be driven '
to a still higher authority than the Bard of Avon, and
exclaim,
" Ephrnim is given to his idols; let him alonei'
But beforo pronouncing such a sentence, I invoke
again solid, reasoning upon a real case, not windy declamation?-any
sort of pleading, special, general or any
othct sort, that shall eliminate the very truth, and not
a vain or mischovious and delusive fiction. More anon.
Mebkimac.
[for the camden confederate.]
Mr. Editor: I have not the remotest idea of becoming
a party to the controversy now going on between
yourself and your correspondent " Merrimac
but there is a single remark made by your correspondent
which is calculated to oxcite deep and anxious
inquiry in the public mind. I will quoto the #holo
paragraph in which the remark occurs, that its forco
and connection may bo better understood :
" Instances of this misohievous error are found in
many quarters?in legislative halls and in your columns,
where the seller, or possessor of the necessaries
of life for people and armies, tho extortioner, the
speculator, tho enemies of I he cause and country who
refuse the Treasury Notes, or hold back their surplus,
because they distrust that currency, or moan to force
famine prices still higher, are all blended in the samo
category with tho creditor, who lent his coin, who lias
patiently waited, who asks 110 payment, but simply
declines to receive what he never lent; what, confessedly,
is not money; and what will pay no more
than one-fourth of his debt."'
This remark shows first, that there is such a thing
as money, and second, that Confederate notes are nut
money. Such an announcement as this naturally creates
alarm in tho public mind, aud properly excites the ,
spirit of earnest inquiry into the facts of tho case.
Tho Hist inquiry is, what is money? "Morrimac"
has evidently taken the legal tender only as money.
That tho legal tender of a country is money, there is
no doubt whatever, but that thoro is other money than
the legal tender, is equally free from doubt.
Monty is a pieco of gold, silver, copper, or paper,
marked by government with certain insignia stamped
or printed upon it, and is used in payment for the purchase
of produce and merchandize, and also for the
payment of debts created by the previous purchase of
these things, and for liabilities incurred by the barroiving
of money.
The legal tender was enacted by government for
tho relief of debtors, and not a moro ketch for tho
benefit of creditors, which would evidently be tho
case, if nothing is money but ' tho legal lender." In
the oldor countries of Europe, where, in the course
of time tho accumulation of money capital exceeded
the objects of profitable investment, tho rate of interest
was naturally depreciated; the legal tender law bo
came a public necessity, otherwise the debtor could
never have relieved himself from his obligations, but
would havo been forced to loan his money, which he
designed for the payment of his obligations, at a loss
rate of interest than he was paying, or to employ it in
some other wuv nt n vo^.>-iil..o
In this country no such necessity, ot anything like
public character, bus ever existed. The legal tender
law with us was purely imitative. It cniuc to us from
lingland, with many other laws both nsefhl and useless.
It diu not havo its origin in our real wants and
necessities. Until England had paper money she had
110 legal tender law; but when her trade and commerce
demanded more money to carry it on than the
gold and silver mines could furnish, she instituted
paper money. When paper money became common,
and money capital had accumulated to an undue extents
the rate of interest depreciated, and monej' lenders
becamo loatb, and even refused to tako money of
any kind for the good interest payiug notes, bonds ana
mortgages they held, to the manifest injury of the
debtor. Then the legal tender became a necessity,
and it was enacted that the debtor, by tendering certain
eoius bearing certain insignia, iho creditor, was
obliged to take them in payment of the obligations be
held, or his claim was forfeited. This had the desired
effect; it raised the rate of interest, and restored
things to their proper equilibrium, tyoro recently a
similar state of thiDgs arose, trade and commerce again
increased; more paper money was required to meet its ^
wants; money capital again increased unduly, and the ^
rate of interest again fell ; a new necessity arose, and
was met by making the paper money notes of the
Bank of Knglauti a legal tender, and again we see in*
terest rise, and things restored to their proper relations.
With us, notwithstanding the remarkable facility
with which paper money has beon manufactured, since
my earliest remembrance, and especially during the
last thirty years, the almost unlimited property invest
ments, with its continually advancing prices, and its
profitable returns, have prevented an undue accumulation
of money capital, kept tho rate ot interest up,
and has heretofore rendered the 44 legal tender law,"
I may say, perfectly obsolete.
The cry has been universal with the creditor, pay
me, pay me; and with the debtor, indulge me, indulge
me. Now, from causes well understood, money is in
excess of the objects of Drofitable invostmAnt* and ix*
the first time in the history of t>ur country, "the legal
tender law" is becoming a necessity, and as that law, as
it. at present stands, only applies to the gold and silver
coins of the United States, it is likely to prove rather
an injury than a relief to the debtor, for whose benefit it
evidently had its"origin. For the creditor now to claim
that tho debtor shall pay him in nothing but "the legal
tender" of the country or continue to pay former rates
of interest against his will, is monstrous in the extreme,
and a total perversion of the objocts and origin of that
law. There has been no time certainly in the last thirty
years, out what the money of the country has exceeded
that portion of it made "the legal tender," at least
IS nr 90 frvnnrv anil it ifi nnnn onnh tooia !.?*
__ ... ? -J tuav Hit UIO
indebtedness of tlie country has been created, and if
the doctrine taught by the remark under review, that
Confederate notes are confessedly not money, be persevered
in, and obtain anything like goneral currency,
then the government will have to follow the example of
England, and extend the legal tender act, to its paper
money issues, or a sufficient amount of it to secure relief
to the debtor.
I would remark that I have not these various acts
creatings the legal tender before me, nor am I familiar
with their phrazeology. but that the origin and objects
that I have attributed to them is correct, I think, oan.
scarcely admit of doubt. Y**
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