The Charlotte Democrat., 1890-07-04

Two hundred million dollars year for
pensione. That much as a reward tor
whipping us, and They make as pay
third of it and don't give a dollar back
nor say thank you. Since the war the
South has paid over three hundred mil
lion of that pension money and her part
will be sixty six millions year from now
on world without end. When will this
thing stop. Is it fact that Northern
pensioners never die? One year ago
there were 489 thousand and now there
are 525 thousand. They 'get more thicker,
more denser" as Cabe says. There are
over 400 thousand invalid soldiers who
have survived the last war. They must
be sickly set, or else our boys hurt them
mighty bad. thought that in twenty
FIVE years most of them would either die
or get we'll, but they are the outllvlngest
soldiers l ever heard of. The strangest
thing about it is, that while the number
of the men increase 80 does the number OF
the widows. How is that. Nobody dies,
and yet there are 116 thousand widows on
the rolls. Eight thousand more widows
than there were a year ago. Must be
grass widows l reckon! Nine million
dollars were paid out in Illinois last year,
steal. No wonder the North is rich. No
wonder they have millions lying idle in
the banks. No wonder they are coming
down here to invest it, and no wonder
our people are poor and hard run. That
two hundred millions will be annually
distributed among forty millions OF peo-
pie, and that is five dollars apiece to
every man and woman and child. A
town of ten thousand people will get fifty
thousand dollars year. Our little viii
lage of Cartersville has 8, 500 people, and
would get seventeen thousand dollars If
Justice was done. Just think of it. Con.
template the beautiful picture. We
would get that much for nothing. 1t
would just come pouring in every year,
like meal out of hopper. We would all
get rich, and build fine school-houses and
churches, and pay the preachers good
salaries, and build new courthouse and
pave the sidewalks, and our young folks
would have something 10 marry on.
But all this is a delusive dream. We
haven't got hardly anybody to pension.
Our veterans either die or get well, and
there we're only a little over half
million, all told, from beginning TO the
end of the war. Oor Northern brethren
had nearly three millions-about five sol
diers to every one of ours. 1t is astonish-
ing how bad we did hurt 'em, for they
have now got about as many invalids on
the rolls as we had soldiers. Every rebel
must have made one yankee sick, besides
what he killed in battle. If was yam
kee l would never brag anymore. I'd be
ashamed. Two hundred millions a year,
oh, my country
But don't see how the government
can pay that much. Where is the money
to come from? Talk about free sugar or
free anything else. The plain truth is the
policy of the party is to have no surplus
in the treasury and then they will be
obliged to have protective tariff, high
tariff that will satisfy the Northern manu-
factnrers and the wool growers. The
pensions are to catch the votes of the
common people and the protective tariff
to catch the manufacturers, and they will
control their workmen. What is the use
of any more fuss about the tariff? 1t will
now take six hundred millions to run the
government, and all OF that, except the
tax on whisky and tobacco, will have to
come through the tariff. We are in for it
and it looks like we can't help it. The
alliance can't do anything, for all the
Northern alliances are bowling for the
pension money. Sometimes think it
would be best for the Southern Demo
cracy to cut loose from the whole concern
and throw up the sponge. and tell the Re
publicans to take the government and run
it. May be if they had all the power and
all the Offices they would be satisfied and
would let Us and the negroes alone.
Maybe they would. One thing we can
do if we will-we can buy less of their
goods and make more of our own, and
keep our money at home, and then they
will have to pay their own pensions and
bounties and grab-alls.
But reckon we will have TO run with
the machine awhile longer. II the South
ern Democracy don't save the country it
will not be saved. The Southern Demo
cracy must be kept alive tor its own sake
for its past record-for the Southern
tone and spirit and its preservation of