JANUARY 30, 1863:
John Beauchamp Jones records the terrible inflation that has
begun to destroy the Southern economy as a result of the Union blockade and
Speculation. He comforts himself only slightly by musing on the cost of cotton
in the North. The destruction of the Confederate economy led to shortages of
war materials and widespread desertion among the troops as many went home to
try and aid their struggling and starving families:
“January 30th.—I cut
the following from yesterday’s Dispatch:
The Results of
Extortion and Speculation.—The state of affairs brought about by the
speculating and extortion practiced upon the public cannot be better
illustrated than by the following grocery bill for one week for a small family,
in which the prices before the war and those of the present are compared:
1860. 1863.
Bacon, 10 lbs. at
12½c
$1.25 Bacon,
10 lbs. at $1 $10.00
Flour, 30 lbs. at
5c 1.50 Flour, 30
lbs. at 12½c 3.75
Sugar, 5 lbs. at 8c
.40 Sugar, 5 lbs. at $1.15 5.75
Coffee, 4 lbs. at
12½c
.50 Coffee, 4 lbs. at $5 20.00
Tea (green), ½ lb. at
$1 .50 Tea (green), ½ lb. at $16 8.00
Lard, 4 lbs. at 12½c
.50 Lard, 4 lbs. at $1 4.00
Butter, 3 lbs. at 25c
.75 Butter, 3 lbs. at
$1.75 5.25
Meal, 1 pk. at 25c
.25 Meal, 1 pk. at $1
1.00
Candles, 2 lbs. at
15c .30 Candles, 2 lbs. at
$1.25
2.50
Soap, 5 lbs. at
10c .50 Soap, 5 lbs. at
$1.10 5.50
Pepper and salt
(about) .10 Pepper and salt (about) 2.50
—— ——
Total $6.55 Total $68.25
So much we owe the speculators,
who have stayed at home to prey upon the necessities of their fellow-citizens. We
have just learned that a British steamer, with cannon and other valuable cargo,
was captured by the enemy, two days ago, while trying to get in the harbor.
Another, similarly laden, got safely in yesterday. We can afford to lose one
ship out of three—that is, the owners can, and then make money. Cotton sells at
seventy-five cents per pound in the United States. So the blockade must be felt
by the enemy as well as ourselves. War is a two-edged sword.”
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