Greensborough Patriot
Sep. 4, 1862
Page 1
Pay of Our Soldiers
The
pitiful pay of our soldiers, when they get it, is a crying shame upon our
government. Congress must do something
quickly to relieve them. Speculation and
extortion and the pinch of the war have brought them and their families to the
door of starvation. Only think of
it--$11 per month, one $50 commutation for clothing for a year, for our brave
soldiers, when shoes sell for $10 to $12, pants at $15 to $20, shirts at $4 to
$5, coats at $25 to $30, etc., bacon at 40 cts., meal
$1.50, sugar at 60 cts., etc. Can it be possible that the government will
put them off with that pitiful sum, unless it breaks up the extortion and
speculation of the country? It will not
be so. Our soldiers must be better paid,
or we cannot expect to prosper. Let the
salaries of the higher officers be reduced—brigades, regiments and companies
made smaller, in order that the rank and file may be better paid. Moreover, some of them are not paid
regularly. We understand that some of
our soldiers have not received a dollar of their wages since the 1st
of January last. Whose fault is it?--Standard
[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]
