Starvation in the South—A Terrible Story.
A LETTER to the Southern Relief Commission, dated Woodstock, Tuscaloosa county, Alabama, April 12, says: “In our deplorable situation, being almost destitute of food and clothing, without any hope of relief by a providential combination of circumstances, the news of your benevolent organization came to us, whereupon we called a meeting of our citizens and organized our society, called the Hepzibah Relief Society, in the county, thirty miles from the city of Tuscaloosa, consisting of about two hundred and seventy-five heads of families, averaging five to each family, equal to one thousand three hundred and seventy-five souls, to make application to you for help to keep us from starvation; and we hereby humbly appeal to your Christian generosity for help. “Our language is not sufficient to describe to you the thousandth part of our suffering—our children without clothing or bread, or the means of education, in which situation we implore you not to let us remain. Help us speedily for mercy and humanity’s sake, and God will bless you for so doing. If our leading politicians did precipitate us into an unholy and unnatural war, it was not our fault. If you knew how many of us struggled against that measure, you could not cherish an unkind feeling against us. Our sons, brothers, husbands and fathers, were hunted down like beasts, and dragged in chains to the field of deadly conflict; and many for refusing to go were shot down like dogs and left to feed the vultures of the air. “Gentlemen this is no fancy picture. The war devastated our country, and in addition thereto a failure of a crop last year leaves us in an awful condition, and can you, or will you, refuse us relief? I write as the representative of 1,375 starving poor. Be so kind as to send us bread, meat, shoes, hats, clothing, or anything you can spare.”