CHARLESTON MERCURY, November 22, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
A Plea for the Poor.
To the Editor of the Mercury: If your valuable journal is not over crowded with better matter, I beg you to insert this plea for the poor.
Sometimes, I fear that in the great anxiety which we feel for ourselves in reference to the possible contingencies of a long and consuming war, we may forget that there are those who are now actually reduced to more extreme necessities.
Remember, kind parent, while you contemplate the exigency of having to leave a dear family without your fond attention. Then reflect upon the lone, aye, needy families, whose stay or support have been many months battling for your security. See you not that they are already comfortless, houseless, hungry and cold? Fold your tender daughter in your arms, and by the love you bear her, as you would screen her from want and shame, so open your heart towards "sorrow's child" and give.
Remember, when, in ordinary times, you even shivered around your cosy [sic] firesides, reminded by the whistling winds without of the sufferers near you in their discomfort. Did you not then hasten off from a luscious breakfast next morning and drop a gift into the hand of the cheerless and needy? O, then! do not let selfish prudence make you indifferent, now that the occasion calls louder for your sympathy. Then, wood was from $5 to $6 per cord, now from $18 to $20; flour 6 to $8 per barrel, now 40 to $45; bacon 10 to 12 1/2 cents, now 65 to 70 cents; beef 10 to 12 1/2, now 30 to 37 cents; sugar 8 to 10 cents per pound, now 50 to 60 cents (and no coffee or molasses); material to clothe themselves and children, from 12 to 20 cents per yard, now from $2 to $3; shoes from 75 cents to $1 per pair, now from $8 to $15. Then the fathers and brothers of most families earned from $4 to $5 per day, now father and brothers in the army, and mother finds no work even for her needle. Come, then, in the name of Him who left the poor with you, who lived and taught a life of love and benevolence, to whom you look for eternal life, and who pronounced blessings upon those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked and visited the sick; come, and out of your abundance cast in your mite, for surely it is more blessed to give than to receive. I pity the being who has never felt this blessing.
Would it not be wise to cease railing against speculators and those who are termed extortioners? Heartless men may own large barns, and even build new ones, while there is a limited supply for so great a demand. Warn such as to the fate of the rich man spoke of by our Saviour, which may be read in 12th chapter of Luke, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th verses.
It has ceased to be the fashion to have all things in common. I repeat, is it not wise to cease cavilling [sic] and put your hand into your pockets and give cheerfully and freely--give.
The poor have nothing wherewith to buy, and might be as effectually starved on low prices as on high. God pity the poor in my country, specially of the city of Charleston, who may be required soon to leave their homes, and probably ill clad and unprovisioned, to sojourn amongst strangers in the country. God pity them, we pray, and incline the hearts of those who are able to help them.
I herewith enclose you twenty five dollars, which you will please divide between the "Ladies' Fuel Society," and the "Free Market." And should necessity require it, though not rich in this world, I will strive to give more.
In conclusion, I suggest that the best plan is to form yourself into a committee of one, to dispense your alms, but be sure you do it, and take care that the speculators do not get ahead of you.
Annie.
Greenwood, S. C., November 19.
Source: Vicki Betts’ Newspaper Research: Charleston Mercury, 1860–1862.