Tag Archives: speculation

ways out

Posted on January 5, 2015 by SUMPTER

01/06/2015: I made a big mistake. The articles from the Dispatch I reprinted below were actually from the January 5, 1864 issue. I’m a year late with this news. I’m sorry. “It will be difficult to get the world to … Continue reading →

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carnival

Posted on April 17, 2014 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch April 16, 1864: A picture of the condition of Yankeedom. The New York Herald, of Monday last, in an editorial article, draws the following picture of the drunken war carnival in the United States: What … Continue reading →

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satire is the best medicine

Posted on October 25, 2013 by SUMPTER

A New York paper says it is republishing an article from a Richmond newspaper, no date given, that comments on worsening conditions in the Confederacy. How do you house and feed three million people in the Southern capital? The writer … Continue reading →

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the looming winter

Posted on October 7, 2013 by SUMPTER

In the following letter, “O.K.” details scarcity, inflation, and speculation in Lynchburg, Virginia. The correspondent also echoes the Richmond press in his concern about how the poor can possibly cope during the coming winter given the bad economic situation. “O.K.” … Continue reading →

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no resale allowed

Posted on September 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Melon Market Speculation? From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 16, 1863: Violating a Market ordinance. –Barbers McDonald, Catherine Welsh, and Margaret Sullivan, three Irish women, were fined $5 for buying watermelons in the market to sell again. The melons were … Continue reading →

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four hundred pound supper

Posted on September 5, 2013 by SUMPTER

It might not be a coincidence that that the same issue of the Richmond Daily Dispatch that praised the Confederate armies also published a letter written by George Washington that expressed his concern with the seeming apathy of Americans not … Continue reading →

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postal peace

Posted on August 24, 2013 by SUMPTER

It was a short labor stoppage at the Richmond Post Office, where clerks had not had a raise since the war and its rampant inflation began. And our Richmond newspaper still sees a lot of pressure on prices. Even though … Continue reading →

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Bread Basket

Posted on August 9, 2013 by SUMPTER

A Richmond mill is selling flour below the market price and limiting quantities to stymie speculators; another novel food substitute; a meeting is planned to protest flour speculators and another to consider a petition for sentinels to guard Richmond’s near … Continue reading →

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granular analysis

Posted on April 11, 2013 by SUMPTER

In a message to the state legislature South Carolina governor Milledge Luke Bonham identified several reasons for food shortages in his state: the law prohibiting liquor production was not being obeyed or enforced; the law limiting cotton production to three … Continue reading →

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supply side Sleight of hand

Posted on April 3, 2013 by SUMPTER

“Supply and Demand” an “old standard” James Seddon, the Confederate Secretary of War pleaded with newspapers not to publish accounts of the April 2, 1863 Richmond Bread Riot. Nevertheless, 150 years ago today a Richmond paper was able to continue … Continue reading →

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