The news & observer., 1900-10-28

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they fought the Indian wars and they
did the principal part of the fighting on
both sides in our titanic civil war.
The most splendid army that the sun
ever looked down upon was the COM
| bined forces of the Union and Confed-
crate sides at the close Of the civil
war, and the most amazing spectacle
ever seen among men was that or
| million and a half veteran soldiers
| stacking their arms, doffing their uni
| forms and returning without mur-
mur to the peaceable vocauons or
American citizenship. The volunteer
| soldier is not only the safety, but he is
| the glory, of tie republic.
From the close of the civil war in
1865 down to the beginning of the
Spanish war our standing army had a
strength on paper Of $4,000 men. AS a
matter of fact, it usually averaged
$4,000 officers and men, and we got
along splendidly during all that time,
and if the possession of the Philip
pines nccessitates such a navy and
such standing army as above indi-
eated that alone is sufficient to demon
strate that it is the greatest curse that
ever befell free people. But, in my
judgment, this vast military establish
ment is not desired or intended for
service abroad, but to be located in the
large cities, to carry the election for
congressman and for the legislatures
that elect congressman of the United
States. Surely the American voters
are not ready to substitute a govern
ment by the bayonet for government
by the ballot. The most amazing
thing about this proposition is that
any foreign born citizen Of the United
States can be induced to vote for the
party that advocates it, for it is safe to
state that 80 per cent Of all the for
eign born male citizens of the United
States now here who were adults when
they came to America came here to
escape military service themselves and
to save their boys from being con-
scripted into the standing armies of
Europe 1t surely cannot be that they
will help establish here the bad sys-
tenn from which they fed when they
left Europe.
Philippine Matters.
Notwithstanding the vast amount of
writing and talking that has been done
about the Philippine question there
are certain features of it to which suf-
ficient attention has not been given.
Among other evil effects of the Phil
ippine business is the building up of a
huge pension roll which my grandchil-
dren will not live long enough to see
paid off, and my oldest child is only 10
years of age. If any old Union soldiers
read this, l wish to call their special
attention to this fact and to put into
their ears Il flea of large proportions,
for they have a direct interest in the
matter.
When God created the world, he
could have made it exactly the same
climate from pole to pole as easily as
the way he did make it, but for some
| wise purpose he made the arctic zones
| so cold that nobody can live there; he
made the temperate zones and white
| people to live in them; he made the
| torrid zone a-straddle of the equator,
where there is eternal summer, and
he made negroes, Nlalays and 9TH
er colorcd persons to live in it. We
can't live there; it is contrary to ma
ture. If we had discovered the Philip
pine Islands and there hadn't been
native on them and we hadn't been
compelled to fight to get possession Of
them, we could not populate them with
people of our own race. For 300 years
the Hollanders have had possession of
the island Of Java, with climate al
most exactly the same as that Of the
Philippines. Six different times have
they tried to colonize it with white
persons. and six times have they sig
nally and completely failed. People
of our breed can't live in the Philip
pines. TO try it is to fight against fate.
Those who do not die there will be
fit subjects for pensions as long as
they live; that fact should cause the
veterans of the civil war to keep their
optics pealed. for there is just so much
money and no more that can be devot-
ed to pensions. A great many Union
soldiers are still without pensions and
want them; many who have pensions
desire them increased. If large pen
sion roll is built up by reason of this
endless Philippine war, the old Union
soldiers will be cut short on their pen
sions just as certainly as water runs
down hill for it is a mathematical
truth that when a pie is cut into six
pieces the pieces are not as large as
when it is cut into four.
Hard Work to Get Pensions.
am fully aware that the statement
that my grandchildren will not live to
see these pensions paid off seems pre-
posterous. Eight years ago | would
not have made it. but in that length Of
time have learned something. When
I first went to Washington as a con-
gressional greenhorn and tenderfoot.
they dill with me what they did with
all tenderfeet and greenhorns-tha is.
showed me off to poor and obscure
committees where there was great
deal of hard work and scant glory.
Now | rank second among the Demo-