Oh, the extortioners! Meats of all kinds are selling at 50
cts. per pound; butter, 75 cts.; coffee, $1.50; tea, $10; boots, $30 per pair;
shoes, $18; ladies' shoes, $15; shirts, $6 each. Houses that rented for $500
last year, are $1000 now. Boarding, from $30 to $40 per month. Gen. Winder has
issued an order fixing the maximum prices of certain articles of marketing,
which has only the effect of keeping a great many things out of market. The
farmers have to pay the merchants and Jews their extortionate prices, and
complain very justly of the partiality of the general. It does more harm than
good.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 128
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