| From the Charleston Mercury |
| |
| August 15, 1863 |
| |
| Family Marketing |
| Everything in the line of family supplies
continues to rule at a high figure in our market. Poultry, butter, eggs,
vegetables, fruits, with which the country abounds, are, for the most
part, beyond the reach of families of ordinary means. What the poor do
for such things, Heaven alone knows. |
| This results from the fact that the
producers in the immediate vicinity have a monopoly of the market. It
should not be so, and we appeal to the only power that can remedy the
evil to come to our aid in this time of general need. The railroads
have the whole matter under their command, and they can well afford to
relax their tariffs and do a generous act to the public. They will not
be the losers by such a course. Let them, for a season at least, reduce
the freight on such articles to the lowest possible figure, with the
privilege of returning baskets, boxes, &c, free of charge, and we shall
have everything that is needed in abundance, and at a living price. The
country people are anxious to send us their surplus produce, but the
exorbitant railroad charges are an effectual barrier against them and
us. |
| We commend the subject to our railroad
managers. They keep pace with others in their liberality on all other
points, and we hope they will take into consideration one thing that so
intimately concerns the welfare of so large a share of their
fellow-citizens. Their great works of improvement are bountiful
recipients of public patronage, and they can well afford to be generous
in a time of general distress. |
|