The whiskey business
--Voice of the People.
We are gratified to learn that the people in the agricultural districts are beginning to appreciate the full extent of the evil to which we alluded yesterday.
They regard with the utmost apprehension the wanton destruction of grain, and call upon the Legislature to pass laws prohibiting its conversion into the poisonous compound which demoralizes our army and brings ruin and death into the domestic circle.
We append the proceedings of a meeting of the citizens of
Floyd county, on the 8th inst., at which
Hervey Deskins,
Esq., presided, and
Col. John Williams acted as
Secretary.
The following preamble and resolutions, presented by
Jared J. Williams, were unanimously adopted:
‘
Whereas. We, the people of the county of
Floyd, in public meeting assembled, deploring the unhappy state of affairs produced by an inordinate thirst for speculation, particularly in articles of prime necessity, the principal sufferers from which are the needy and unprotected families of the poorer classes; and deprecating the conduct of the unscrupulous, who
ought to be the warmest friends of the country; who, instead of supporting the
Government, are buying up large quantities, and all the surplus of grain produced by the county for the purpose of distilling it into
whiskey: Therefore, be it.
- 1. Resolved, That inasmuch as the county has furnished its quota of men to the Confederate service, the most of which is actual labor from the fields, and in the event of a failure of the grain crops the ensuing year, every consideration of safety and humanity requires us to protect ourselves, and provide for the families of the absent, by husbanding our resources, and thwart, if possible, the schemes of the distiller, who seeks the destruction of and the perversion from its ordinary channels, the fruits of our industry.
- 2. Resolved, That we condemn in the strongest terms the exertions of and putting into operation the distilleries in our county, consuming in a few months the entire products of the county, and petition the Legislature to pass general laws prohibiting the distilling of grain into whiskey throughout the State, during the continuance of the present war, as we in duty bound shall ever pray, &c.
- 3. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted each to our delegate and Senator in the Legislature, requesting them to lay them before their respective Houses, and that they be instructed to vote for the same.
We have received a communication from
Caroline county, taking the other side of the question.
If the order for the seizure of grain had not been countermanded by the
Government, other reasons exist why we might properly decline its publication.
We are aware that much is to be said
pro and
con., and if we were to open our columns to an unrestricted discussion of the subject, we should in a short time be compelled to exclude all other matters of public interest.
That our respected correspondent is right in some of his positions, we think quite probable; but we can see no possibility of introducing
good whiskey into the army, even if that were necessary to promote the health or the morals of our soldiers.
Let him sojourn a few days in
Richmond, and he will not be able to shut his eyes to the evils of which the people so justly complain.
’
