| To the Farmers Residing in the Vicinity of
the Virginia Central Railroad |
| |
| The imperative necessities of
the war have deprived the Company of the usual supply of wood for the
locomotives and cross-ties for repairing the Road, which have
heretofore been furnished by contractors. Having now, to a great
extent, to do what formerly was done by contractors, there is a demand
for labor which the Company cannot supply without your assistance. |
| Since the war commenced this
Company has almost lost its character as a private corporation, and
may be regarded as an arm of public defence, and the Directors have
conducted its operations as informal agents of the Government,
receiving little or no aid, but having its resources crippled by the
Government itself. I do not censure the Government, but I wish you to
know the true state of facts. In the existing state of things you
alone can furnish the aid required. The labor we need to put the Road
in safe working order cannot be obtained from any other resources than
that which I think it is your interest to spare from your farms. Of
surplus labor, seeking hire, there is none. |
| I appeal to you not in behalf
of the Company, but to your own interests and that of the Southern
Confederacy. |
| Will you stand aloof at this
time and leave the Company to try to struggle through difficulties it
has no power to overcome? Will you incur the danger of this Road not
being able to do the transportation necessary to maintain the Army and
prevent the abandonment of the section of country in which you reside?
I need not undertake to enlighten you as to your fate if our Army is
compelled to fall back and the enemy takes possession. Will it then be
any source of pleasure to think of the labor you employed in draining
your lands, clearing off shrubbery, and dressing up waste places, as
many do, in ordinary times, more for ornament than profit? |
| I submit this matter to your
good sense and judgment. I do not ask you to neglect the securing of
any crops -- all these are required to sustain the Army; but, as a
practical farmer, I know many things may be omitted which usually
occupy your hands, and enable you to spare some labor for the
remainder of this year. If you were to send us aid gratuitously you
would promote your interests; but I do not ask that -- I will pay a
high price. I will give Forty Dollars per month for twenty-six working
days for good laborers and find provisions. |
| I commend this subject to your
serious consideration. You may think the proper officers might have
hired more labor in the beginning of the year, but it is vain to
discuss that question now. There was great difficulty then in
obtaining hands, and those officers acted according to the best of
their judgment. The fact stares you in the face that the Company needs
a large number of hands. You all have them, and they are to be
employed not for the benefit of the Stockholders as a corporation so
much as for your own interests, being citizens occupying a section of
country which cannot be defended unless the Road is put in good order. |
| E. Fontaine |
| President |
| Office Va. Central Railroad |
| September 2, 1863 |
| P. S. Persons sending hands
will report to me at Beaverdan Depot, or W. G. Richardson, Road
Master, at Frederick's Hall; and, in any case, we would be glad that
each hand should bring a good axe. I hope to get prompt responses and
at least one hundred hands. |
|