The evening times., 1898-09-28
SOUTHERN PENSIONERS.
States That VIII Follow Mississippi
in Reyising the Lists.


The clause in the Louisiana State con-
stitution which refers 10 future proris-
ion for the veteran soldiers of that State
who participated in the civil war is ar
ticle 302. 1t provides that the Soldiers
Home of the State of Louisiana, known
as Camp Nichols, shall be maintained by
an appropriation each year, based upon
the number OF inmates on April l, of $3.50
per capita for the maintenance and cloth
ing of such inmates. of with 81 per
month shall be allowed to each inmate
for his personal use Moreover, a pen
sion, not to exceed S per month shall be
allowed to each Confederate soldier or
sailor veteran who possesses all the fol-
lowing qualifications: I. He shall have
served hOnorably from the date OF his en-
listment until the close of the late civil
war or until he was discharged or pa
Np,ed. > He shall be in INDECENT cir
cumstances. and unable to earn a Hveli-
hood BY his own labor and skill. 3. He
shall not be salaried or otherwise pro-
vided for by the State of Louisiana or
by any other State or government.
In case he enlisted in any organization
mustered into said service as Louisiana
his enlistment he resided in the State Of
Louisiana. he shall have resided in that
State for at least five years prior 10 his
application for pension. In case he re-
sided elsewhere than in that State and
enlisted in an organizaJi Jion not mustered
in from Louisiana or in the navy of the
Confederate States. he snail have resided
in that State for at least fifteen years
prior 10 his application for such pension.
a like pension shall be granted TO the
widow. who shall not have married again.
in INDECENT circumstances. of any soldier
or sailor who, having entered the service
of the Confederate States during Ehe late
civil war, lost his life prior to June /
1895. from wounds received or disease con-
tracted in service.
No law of tha United States precIudeS Z
State from making provisions for those
who served in the militia. as did the sol
diers who enlisted on the Southern side IL
the civil war. or who were in the yoIun-
teer service of the several States conpris-
ed in IL and took their commissions from
| thess States and not from the government
! at Richmond
There are in the States of the South
some 30 900 pensioners receiving in each
year about 81 $1,000 collectively Ala
hama, Virginia. North Carolina and
South Carolina appropriate each about
the same sum annually for pension ex-
penses, though the number of such pen
sionS is much larger In Alabama than in
either of the other three States The
Southern States which make provision
for their surviving Confederate veterans
are Georgia, which has more than lbC1l
Alabama. which has 100; South Caro-
lima. VII : has 400; Mississippi. which
has 4.aoe: Virginia and North Carolina
which have $500 each: Arkansas. 1917
Florida, Geo. and Tennessee COO. exclusive
of nearly 1.G00 Confederate veterans in
the soldiers homes or public Institutions
Kentucky. Maryland and Texas are tbs
three States which make no direct pro-
| vision for their Confederate veterans. the
number of which. especially in Texas. is
considerable.
! Recently the State of Mississippi has
| taken the initiative in a movement for a
| revision of the pension rolls to Southern
veterans by radically reducing their num-
ber and thereby increasing the sum pay
able TO each. Other Southern States are
preparing to follow. the demand in many
of them for such revision having been ur-
gent for some time past in consequence
of the burden now imposed by such ex-
penditures.
1t is a fact not generally known tha
though the enlistments In the Northern
army in Southern States. and particular
| ly in the Gulf States. were few in mum
! ber, the payment of Federal pension:
| from Washington to residents of these
| States is considerable. Thus in Texas
| which was the State in which hostilitie:
| were longest protracted and in which, ac
4 cording to the figures of the War Depart
| ment, the total number of Union troop:
| enlisted was 1866, there are now s. Ia
| pensioners, who receive more than 81,
| 000.000 in pensions in a year from tht
| Treasury. In Mississippi there We're dur
| ing the civil war SIS enlistments of Miss
| issppi soldiers in the Union army. but TIT
pension payments to that State now ag
| gregate s5i6,000 annually.
Georgia, which is in many respects tn
| most prosperous of the Southern State
| in its financial arrangements. pays tn
| largest sum to Confederate veterans. tn
| dissimilarity of the systems under whicl
! pension payments are apportioned-a fix
| ed charge covering each case, in TIL
| North, and a gross sum to be afterwar'
| Subdivided in the Southern StateS-has al
| raedy been alluded to. 1t is a curiou
| manifestation of the course of Legislation
/ that Mississippi. Louisiana and Sout
! Carolina, the States in the South whici
| have restricted by constitutional amend
! ment to the smallest possible limits ad
| mission to. and retention of, the electora
] franchise. should be the ones to take tn
| lead in curtaiiing the State pension list: