The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1879-02-19

takes an occasional glass Of grog will
have to pay :ha: much more for MS
qu;d and his toddy.
The surviving volunteer soldiers OF
the war ere really power in the land:
and the two parties North are vieing
with each other to secure their votes,
50 this arrears pension matter IS noi,
aud cannot be considered, just c!aim
upon the treasury Of the United
States; but is virtually, if not really, q
political measure advocated by either
party to defeat the other. Neither
will gain or deserve special credit, and
so "honors will be easy
4 few more words upon the general
question Of pensions. On the 9th
March law was enacted to pension
the surviving soldiers Of the war Of
1872. Would you believe it, there
are on file COW in the pension office
uore than 10000 applications fer
pensions under that bill? I did not
think this could possibly be the case,
but SO it is. Human longevity has
been admirably illustrated since the
passage of that bill. As have re.
ceived what appeared to me to be a
fair proportion Of these pension claims
from the veterans Of the war Of 1872, |
have multiplied that number by 292,
The number Of representatives, upon
the floor Of the House, and find that
the proinct is little more than one
third the reported number Of april-
c2nts. I have wondered where these
10000 veterans or surviving wid,ws
came from.
The effect Of this unantlcipatcd
number, I fear, has killed the posi-
b;!ity Of the passage of law pen
s;oning the surviving soldiers q the
Seminole or Mexican wars. These
wars were fought principally by South
ern soldiers, and this Will be another
reason Why pension will never be paid
to their veterans. When the pension
bill relating to these wars was recently
under consideration in the House,
some one moved to amend BY adding a
clause granting pension to every vol
unteer soldier who was ii The Federal
army from 1861 to 1864, inclusive
Would you believe it, it passed BY ac-
clamation, which really killed the pen
sion bill and therefore I can but say
to the Southern survivors Of the
Florida, Black Hawk or Mexican
wars, possess your souls in patience,
for I do not believe the Forty-fFth
Congress will award you one dollar for
the duty you performed or the ex-
posure and risk yon suffered for "our
common country"
There is another pension bill yet to
be reported to the House, which re-
stores to the pension roll those men
and their widows Of the South who
were once on the roll, but were
stricken from it by an act passed in
February, 1862. Whether it will be
reported this Congress | am unable to
say. aud If reported, whether it will
become law, no one now can tell. You
have heard of the man who said nc
one but q Creator could anticipate
what would be the verdict Of a jury
You or l could diagnose the hidden
verdict of a half dozen juries, even
South Carolina post bellum jurlcs
easier than we could anticipate the
fate of bill in the Forty-ffth Con
gress, unless it were bill known tc
be for the benefit Of the entire North
I DC not believe the bill restoring
the Southernors to their rights vii
pass; first, because the Republican
party do not think ve have any right;
that they are bound to respect ; anc
secondly, because the Northern De
nocracy are 50 nearly Of the same
opinion that they will not oppose the
Republicans in order to favor US o.
the South. The National Democracy
to day are practically divided BY th'
Potomac and the Ohio, aud unles:
something is done to remove this line
of division before 1886, | can see II
reason why Grant Or some other nom
iaec Of the Republican party may no
walk without .uoIes:atiou FROM private
life straight into the Nliite-House.
Your obedieut servant,
D. WYATT AIKEN.
Mrs. Emma MoiI"y, OF Indiana