Newspaper Page Text
422
THE COUNTRYMAN.
TURN WOLD, GA., AUGUST 9, 1864.
A Letter from Collector Cabaniss.
War Tax Office, )
Forsyth, Ga., July 48th, 1864. )
Numerous letters are received by me,
daily, from Confederate Tax Assessors,
and Collectors, inquiring whether they
are subject to the order contained in the
recent proclamation of the Governor of
Georgia, requiring them to report to Gen.
G. W. Smith, at Atlanta, for service in the
militia of this state.
This circular is issued to save the trouble
of writing separate answers to these let
ters.
The officers, above named, are r.ot sub
ject to the orders of the Governor of this
state. They are in the service of the Con
federate States. Those who are within
tho conscript age, and liable to military
have been detailed, by order of
What it Costs to Publish a Newspa
per.—“The Mobile papers have lately ad
vanced their rates to $5 per month. Some
one, ■who -does not view matters in their
right light, complained of this. The Mo
bile Register answers him thus :
Before the war, our charges were five
cents a copy for the paper, and $10 a year.
Our present rates are just five times these
figures. Bearing this in mind, our cor
respondent is referred to the following
' First, our material of type, presses, &e.,
is daily wearing out, and, while the war
lasts, cannot be replaced at any cost.
Second, we have been obliged to make
heavy advances on labor, clerk hire, assis
tants, and correspondents.
Third, our printers are now paid five
fold for composition, on peace prices,-
Fourth, paper, in peace, used to cost f
to $3 56 a ream. It costs, now, from $5
to §60 a ream. Ink, in the same propor
tion. Glue, largely used in the compos!
service,.,--— . ..
the Secretary of W.ar, for duty m the of- ^ VIl4 „ f .. .
fices they now hold, and fill, they coulcn fj on p fegg rollers, which formerly cost
. 1 - -1 -1 *1 flnnrahvv nf A n i -1 i.,. <S»1 Qfin «
not be detailed by the Secretary of War,
if they were not in the Confederate ser
vice. A person to be liable to be detailed
to any duty, must he subject to the order
of the powers making the detail.
A detail is an order for some particular
service, or duty, and none can be detailed
but those subject to the authority making
the details. ‘ The exercise of military
power must necessarily he supreme, and
if controlled at all, it can be done only
by a higher power. When the Secretary of
War'has detailed'certain men, in the Con
federate service, for duty in the offices of
Assessors, and Collectors, of the Confed
erate Tax, his order granting details can
not be royoked, or annulftd, or interfered
poilutl ■" * v> "iGf" r f* rl ') nr of .a state, and any
The Collectors, and Assessors, who have
been detailed for a special service, are
subject to tho order ol the Secretary of
War, He may revoke the order, but no
one else can do it.
The assessment, and collection, of the
Confederate tax, is a matter of the highest
importance, and cannot he stopped by one
who has no control over it.
For these, and other reasons which
might be assigned, Assessors, and Collec
tors, of the Confederate tax, are not sub
ject to tho recent order, which has been
issued, calling them into the service of
the state. If any of them can leave their
offices, temporarily, -without detriment to
the public interest, they may respond to
the call which has been made: otherwise,
not. E. G. Cabaniss,
State Collector for Georgia.
Greeley on the Peace Proposition.—
A despatch dated Richmond, July 25th,
states that “ Greeley says, in his paper,
that the] only part taken by him, in the
recent correspondence, related solely to
bringing the antagonists faco'to face, with
a view and intention of an earnest effort
for peace, to be prosecuted at Washington.
His general inference is,. that the pacifi
cation of our country is neither difficult,
nor so distant, as seems generally sup
posed.”
$50 to $60 a barrel, now costs $1,300 a
barrel. Oil, fornieidv $1 25 to $1 50 a
gallon, now .costs $50 a gallon. Molasses,
largely used in rollers, in peace, $12 a
barrel, now costs $1,000. Press blankets,
formerly $1 25, and, for a poor substitute,
wc have now to pay $75. Wood, for en
gines, in peace, $5 a cord, now $35 to $45.
Potash, in peace, 20 cents per pound, now
from $2 to $5.
If our correspondent will compare these
figures,, with our charges, his wonder why
we charge so much, will be changed into
wonder how we have managed to get along
with charging soJittle.”
TnE Macon Market.—Bacon, from wag
ons, $3 to $4 50.; meal, $10 ; flour, $80
, - a^i <tS) ■, orvipuK. J5T&. te
butter, $3 50 to $4 5 eggs, $2 25 to $2 50;
ground-peas, $10; syrup, $14 to $15 j
fodder, $8 to $10 per hundred; apples,
$7 to $10; peaches, none ; barley, $12 50
to $15 ; rye, $15 to $16 ; wheat, $20 to
$25 ; beef, $1 to $2 50. All vegetables
in good demand^ Tobacco, $1 50 to $6; salt,
60 to 70 cts. ; osnaburgs, $3 25 to $3 50;
yarns, $35 to $40 ; shirtings, $3 to $4;
corn whiskey, $40 to $00 ; rye whiskey,
$70 to $90; water-melons, $2 to $8 ; musk-
melons, and eantelopes, in proportion.
There are various other articles we
might mention, hut frpm the fact of a great
difference in demand and supply, we for
bear tq mention, and would only say, that
all articles, of any description, offered in
this market, will bring tho highest prices.
—Macon Confederate, July 24 th.
Burning of Blair's Residence.—“ The
Washington Chronicle gets the following
from Marshall Bonnifant, who, on the day
before, visited his plantation, near Blair’s.
It appears that the residence of Mont
gomery Blair was burned, but the house
of his son (Francis P. BlairXwas spared
by our forces:
Both Generals Breckinridge and Early
were at the residence of F. P. Blair, Esq.,
which was the rebel headquarters. Tue
fact that two generals of corps were
with the rebel force, shows that their num
bers could not be less than thirty or forty
thousand tnen. It is said that Gen. Breck
inridge spoke of the rebel movement as
one designed to relieve R : chmond, bnt a
man of his address, and experience, would
hardly reveal strategic designs.
The preservation of the ^ansion of Mr.
F. P. Blair, is due to the interference of
Gen. Breckinridge, who was, no doubt, in
fluenced by the friendly relations former
ly existing between himself, and the emi
nent owner. It is an interesting fact that,
at the time of the threatened duel between
tbte Hon. Francis B. Cutting, and Gen.
Breckinridge, the latter repaired to ‘ Sil
ver Spring,’ where he was hospitably en
tertained, and 1 ept out of the way of the
officers of the law, while the difficulties
were pending. The two Kentuckians
last ed part of the time in the use of the
fee, in which both excel. Gen. Breckin
ridge has frequently referred in grateful
terms to the times then passed under Mr.
Blair’s roof.
The private papers of Mr. Blair, com
posed of correspondence with Henry
Clay, Andrew Jackson, and other men of
mark, have not been destroyed, and his
plate has been transferred to the residence
of Mr. Wilson, with a note to him by Gen.
Breckinridge. , The latter is described as
having become much stouter than when a
Federal official, and sports whiskers,
moustache, &c.
While the iurniture, and other person
al effects of Marshall Bonnifant were de-
stroyed, a large quantity of hay and wood
was saved from the torch. Cattle, hors
es, calves, etc., of the residents, were car
ried off.
The dead were left unburied, and the
badly wounded uncared for. About sev*
enty badly wounded men were left at the
It is staTeif thsf the" hulk of the rebel
force commenced retreating, at eleven
o’clock, a. m., yesterday.
The residence of the lion. Montgomery
Blair was destroyed, with all its contents,
which act of vandalism entails considera
ble loss on the Postmaster-General.
Sherman’s Commissariat.—“A corres
pondent of the Cincinnati Commercial,
writing from Big Shanty, says :
The commissary department of the ar
my is very complete, and now that the
railway is open to Big Shanty, the army
is supplied with full rations. Col. Remick,
commissary of the 4th corps, informs me
that six hundred head.of cattle are killed
per week, in supplying the corps with
fresh beef. The cattle are obtained chief
ly in the Chicago markets, and sent for
ward to the front. From Nashville, they
are sent forward at the rate of about eight
miles per day, halting to graze at every
point along the route, where there is good
grass. In reaching the front, they are
very fat, and ready for the knife.”
“It seems to be well ascertained that
the great powers of Eastern Europe-^
Russia, Austria, and Prussia—have formed
a recent ‘Holy Alliance,’ probably to
counterbalance the alliance of France and
Great Britain.”