Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-05-11
PAID BY THE NORTH.
SOUTHERN STATES DON'T HELP
PAY PENSIONS.
It Is shown in the Senate That They
Haven't Contributed a Dollar for This
Purpose-A Tale of Observation-Disclosures
Parallels.

During the recent debate on the PEN
sion appropriation, which finally passed
the House of Representatives to the
amount of $l51, 0UJ,UO0 for the coming
fiscal year, many Southern members
again reiterated u ~favorite assertion of
Southern newspapers. that it is wrong
to make the South help pay these pen
sions when the South gets nothing in
return. Meredith, of Virginia, who
said tina: he gloried in the fact that
there were no patriots in his section
during the war, for instance, said in
his speech protesting against the pend
ing pension appropriation bill that his
State had paid three times as much
pensions as Vermont, and, he added.
I'VE get no benefit"
Eut the assertion is simply false.
The Southern States get much m3re
from the Federal Treasury in various
ways than they pay into 1t. Colonel
Hepburn, of Iowa. replying to the
gentleman frosn Virginia, had the
1lgures ready to prove the falsity of
these Southern claims. In regard to
the assertion that the South helped to
pay the pensions, Mr.. Hepburn said:
Inc late Confederate States contrib.
uted not one dollar to the payment of
PENSIONS" and he proved his state
ment. OF tho $50, Oo),OM internal
revenue taxes" he said, "the South
pays less than $4,000, OOO: of the S177,-
10, ,OW customs receipts, the South
pays but S4,G0O,OOo. and OF the miscel-
laneors receipts less than $22,0oO,O,O."
Putting those three items together it
Federal Treasury by the South is only
about Sis, OOc, 600.
But what does it get back: The
statesman from Virginia SAYS that the
South has no benefit. But it got last
year, in sugar bounties. $4,000, 100; in
deficits in postal receipts, 81, 900, 900;
in pensions to Mexican and Union vet
Q n and their families, 5000, 900.
That already makes $19, OOO, 900 for the
$%l5,O0O,OOJ paid in. But the Southern
States get much more than that. 1t is
a notorious fact, for instance, that of
the river and harbor bills the South
ern States always get the lions share.
1t is not incorrect to say that the
South, for every dollar which it pays
into the Federal treasury, takes out
two.
Still they are not satisfied down
there. They want protection for
everything they raise and produce, for
the tobacco Of Virginia, the rice of
South Carolina, the sugarof Louisiana,
the oranges and lemons of Florida. the
cotton which all of them raise. And
more than that they want Congress to
allow them about $iOU,OCO,COO of war
claims which have been filed in Wash
lngton. These claims can never be
allowed as long Us there is a bar on the
Federal statutes in the form of a pro-
x,iSiNn ror,yipinr o1Oi,rnor<e IN -o,0
loyalty to the Government during the
war. and SO long as such a large share
OF the national revenues goes for the
payment of pensions as now. But the
Southerners are constantly scheming
to remove the obstacles in the way Of
the allowance of these claims: thew
have made several attempts to do so
and they may succeed yet.
But there is no truth in the South
ein claim that the South has to pay
without any returns. 1t is the North
that pays. But it is remarkable, on
the other hand, that the disposal OF all
the money raised in the North is left
to the States that are the recipients of
public bounty. For it is the South that
rules in Washington to-day.
Pointed Parallels.
1t is hard for a Democratic paper
to open its mouth in these Democratic
hard times without putting its foot in
it. A recent issue contained the tariff
plank OF the last Democratic National
Convention. and also in another column
an editorial urging workingmen to &C.
cept reduced wages. We make two
extracts which look charming in mar.
allels:
Promises. 1892. Fuldllment. 1891.