The Van Buren press., 1898-05-28

counties know who should be the bene-
flciaries of the pension fund, and If they
have to add 25 per cent to it they would
be careful to see that it was not mis-
applied. 1t seems to me that leak of
at least 100000 might be stopped in
this way, but, as am not a candidate,
maybe | don't know. Then there is an
other leak that needs stopping. The
railroad commission should be re-
formed When Campbell Wallace and
Col. Trammell and Sam Barnett first
took hold of it there was lots of work
to do, and it took nearly all their time,
But they built up a system without hav-
ing guide or precedent. They estab-
lished rules and regulations, and these
have long since been reconsdered and
readjusted, and are now generally ac-
cepted and approved by the railroad
and the people. Now the commission
has to meet only once or twice month";
and one competent man as chairman Is
all that is needed. Col Trammell, from
his long experience, could run the
whole business, and this would save
$4,000 year, besides the secretary's
salary, which is another thousand. II
Col. Trammell or his successor needed
any occasional help to decide new ques-
tons he might call in the comptroller
| general and the secretary of state, who
| would willingly serve for nothing part
| of one day in month. School Commits
sioner Glenn has that kind of help on
bic hoo tl and IL anGtc he CT 10 9TH.
ing. Why can't we do that and save a
leak of $4,000? Why not? tell you,
my ong-suffering friends, the govern
ment expenses have got to be cut down
in some way; not just little, but
good deal. "Sine qua mons" are bigger
things now than sinecures. The people
are poor. The preachers tell us that a
hungry man can't get religion, and if
he should he can't enjoy it. If we don't
stop the leaks the whole dam bust
ness will burst and wash away and the
mill can't grind at all. remember well
when we had no pensions nor school
fund, and the people got along pretty
we'll. The young men married the
young girls and left the widows for the
widowers. There was no such a word
as trousseau in the dictionary, but if
there were less clothes there was more
love and fewer divorces.
But we will talk of these things later,
when we get to the legislature. I'm not
going to vote for any man who will not
promise to cut down the taxes, and we
will talk about this pension business
when the veterans meet in July. ! WIS
Eliminating about that day-the ami
versary of the greatest battle ever
fought and the greatest victory ever
won by confederate soldiers. 1t was a
small affair compared with Gettysburg
and Shiloh and the Wilderness, but its
impression on the country and the sol
diers was more profound than any 9th
err. 1t was like a young mothers first
child-none that ever came after ever
created such sensation. How vivid
are the scenes, the rapid night march
from Winchester, the crossing the Shen-
andoah by torchlight, wading up to the
armpits with guns and cartridges held
up. l can see Jimmy Smith, the little
drummer boy of the Eighth Georgia,
and Little McKosker, bobbing up and
down over the deep places with water
running into their mouths, while taller
soldiers behind them held them steady.
[ hear the shouts of Stonewall Jack
sons men as they came through the
woods and turned the tide to victory.
| see the willow glade and the little
branch where DR.. Miller and his assist
ants worked all night with their knives
and probes and bandages, and every
little while said next" like the BARRIERS
to their customers. | see the dead in
the pine thicket and the wounded placed
in the ambulances and hurried to tbs
Lewis house for hospital. l see the
New York zouaves in the field near the
old stone fence on the pike. How thick
they laid upon the ground-bow fat
they seemed next morning as the burial
squads rolled them into the shallow
trenches. They had swollen in form
and feature during the night until their
corpses filled their loose clothes almost
to bursting.
But when we all meet on the 21st we
will talk over the misty past and re-
ioice with those who rejoice and weep
with those who weep. A sea of tears
has already been shed, both north and
| south, but still the ehalices are not
empty nor the hearts of the veterans
scared over by the iron hand of time
Bill Arp, in Atlanta Constitution.