June 3, 1863, Galveston Weekly News
The Telegraph publishes a long letter from Gen. H. E. McCulloch, dated Camden, Ark, April 30, in which he dwells upon the reported sufferings of soldiers’ families, and denounces the heartless speculators and extortioners in severe terms. Judging from the best information we have been able to get, we come to the conclusion that Gen. McCulloch has been misinformed as regards the sufferings of soldiers’ families in Texas. We have been informed that they have been everywhere amply provided for. This is a duty that has devolved upon the counties, and our exchanges inform us that it has not been neglected, and that there is really no ground for such charges of neglect of soldiers’ families. We, in common with other journals, have taken pains to state these facts, so that our soldiers might feel relieved from all anxiety on the subject. Although our State, as well as other States, is cursed with many heartless speculators, who seem willing to extort the last dollar from the people for the necessaries of life, yet these speculators, we are happy to state, do not entirely control the State. We believe it is a gross libel on the people of Texas to say they will permit the families of soldiers to suffer for any of the necessaries of life, especially after the liberal measures adopted by our late Legislature.