The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-12-26
Terrible Destituti0n Among the PeO-
pie of North Carolina.
REBEL NEWSPAPERS ACCOUNTS.

From the Raleigh Standard, Nov "a
We publish below some extracts from
letters from various parts of the state, show
ing the condition of our people with re-
spect to supplies for the ensuing year. 1t
is the part of wisdom to let the truth be
known in crisis like the present, especi-
ally when it touches not only the comfort
but the lives of our people. That Cover
nor Vance and the legislature will do all in
their power to relieve the wants of those
who are suffering, and to provide especially
for the families of our soldiers, we enter
tain no doubt.
A friend writing from Pennsylvania,
says:
You can have but very little idea how
our people are pressed to live even COM
fortably. The ground is frozen here, and
is, you would call it, bitter cold-perhaps
as cold as you have ever seen it in Raleigh.
Nearly all our people have more or less
work to do out of dOors-men, women and
children Not one half of them have the
sign of shoe to their feet; not One-third
have shoes that will keep their feet
dry, nor do | know how they are
to obtain them They are nearly all
scarce of wearing clothes. Cotton and
wool are pretty hard to get but the
worst is, cotton and wool cards can scarce
ly be had at all, the old ones being about
worn out. We would be glad to do some
thing for our furnishing soldiers but how
can we, when we have more suffering at
our doors than we can possibly relieve !?
Then we are getting scarce of almost every
article of necessity, from a needle to a
scythe blade. Not a few are out of
knives, forks, spoons, plates, dishes, tin
cups and coffee pots. Then We may turn
to edibles. Take out very few families,
and there is not one pound of salt to every
white inhabitant in the county. We got
from Wilmington some weeks ago what we
call government salt, and divided it out,
one pound to every white person in fam
lily, but did not get quite round to all.
That cost Us fourteen cents per pound.
We have the promise of salt from Sail
vile, Virginia, but cannot get it hauled
hundred and forty Or fifty miles-dreadful
bad roads, and no food to be had. Aman
can scarcely travel on horseback. A gen.
tleman told me the other day he travelled
forty miles without grain for his horses.
He says he offered one dollar for ten ears
OF corn, and could not get it yet we must
have it or perish for want of it. Very few of
us have half hogs enough to make our meat
for next year, would say not half as much
in the country as we ought to eat-nor can
we spare the corn to fatten what we have.
Numbers Of people have not put up a hog
yet, and say they will not unless they have
some surety of getting salt. They think
they had better keep the corn, al d depend
on bread and milk, than to lose both corn
and pork for the lack OF salt. My opinion
is that numbers must perish before another
crop is made, unless we can alarm the peo-
pie in time to take better care of what they
have than they have ever done before. If
the people are alarmed in time, they can
winter on half the grain generally used. |
am satisfied there was nothing like half as
much grain raised here this year as there
was last, yet we scarcely had enough to do
us. see you are talking about cotton and
tobacco crops next year. We raise neither
here. But if this war is to last over another
crop season, say to next June, with all our
conscripts in the army, our support must
come from somewhere else. We will not
make it here. Our rulers understand rails
ing an army better than feeding and cloth
ing one. would to the Lord the leaders
had to take the place of the soldiers.
Another friend writing from Stokes
county. says -
Unless you had visited our western coun-
ty you can form no conception of the I'M
told deprivation which would be entailed
on our women and children by taking off
the men from thirty five to forty-fve This
county has enrolled about | 800 men, and
OF these about 1850 are in the service
Our corn crop is short one third less than
last year, and almost an entire failure in
the wheat, rye and Oat crops 50 that our
people have to depend upon corn alone for
bread and to feed their stock | don't
know IA half Il dozen men in the county
who are offering Il bushel OF corn for sale.
and they are asking so Il barrel from the
heap. Already are our poor women seen
trudging from place to place, barefouted.
begging for corn, and none to be had and
these, too, the wives OF our brave men now
perilling their lives on the field of battle. or
widows who have lost their husbands in de-
fence OF the country. Now and then YOU
will find a man who will divide, even to the
apparent impoverishment OF his own iami-
ly; but the great difficulty is what few men
are left behind are in constant state of
uneasiness, not knowing at what moment
they may be called OH into the service. and
hence they hold on to what they have for
their own families in case of emergency.
If all the conscripts from my county are
taken or. it will be impossible for those left
behind to makea support for another year
TINE WAR IN TENNESSEE.
THE GT-ERULAS MORGAN AND FOREST