| From the Montgomery Mail |
| |
| November 15, 1862 |
| |
| The Railroads and the War |
| A great deal of suffering
which the people of the South have been forced to bear since the
blockade began, is the result rather of bad management than of actual
scarcity. The Confederacy abounds in the resources necessary to
sustain a people in time of war; nothing has been wanting but the tact
to develop those resources and to make them available for the whole
country. The duty of distributing the varied products of the several
States, so that our distant communities might extend mutual succor in
the time of need, seems to have been neglected altogether, or left to
the tender conscience of the extortioner and the speculator. The
result is an artificial scarcity of some of the necessaries of life
everywhere. Thus, while in the Valley of the Mississippi, the supply
of sugar far exceeds the demands, in Charleston, the same article
almost keeps pace with the luxuries, coffee and tea. By comparing
other localities, a similar disproportion of value will be found
existing, to a greater or less extent, in the case of flour, corn,
bacon, salt, rice, etc. The main difficulty in reducing the price of
such articles to a moderate and equal standard, has consisted in the
alleged lack of transportation. The railroads to which the country
looked for relief, have generally been under the control of the
Government for the purpose of military transportation; and we fear
that, in the effort to provide supplies for the army, due regard has
not been given to the wants of the people. It may be true, indeed,
that the facilities of the South for inter-communication, have never
been adequate to meet such an exigency as the present; but we feel
assured that our railroads might, by taxing their capacities to the
utmost, and by an intelligent and systematic co-operation, do far more
to lighten the pressure of these hard times. |
| Charleston Mercury |
|