The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-10-30

1912. they fought the Mexican war,
they fought the Indian wars and they
cid the principal part Of the fighting on
10th sides in our titanic civil war.
The most splendid army that the sun
ever looked Down upon was the COM
Lined 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 OF a
million and a half veteran soldiers
stacking their arms, dofdng their uni
forms and returning without a muir
mur to the ~peaceable vacations OF
American citizenship. The volunteer
soldier is not only the safety, but he is
the glory, of the republic.
From the close Of the civil war in
1868 down to the beginning OF the
spanish war our standing army had a
strength on paper Of $4,000 men. AS a
latter Of fact, it usually averaged
1000 officers and men, n we got
i.long splendidly during all that time,
:nd if the possession Of the Philip
pines necessitates such a navy and
such a standing army as above indi-
IlIcu IIdI dlOIlC is SuLlCICdI dCdIOA-
strate that it is the greatest curse that
ever befell a free people. But, in my
Judgment, this vast military establish
nent is not desired or intended for
service abroad, but to be located in the
] lrge cities, to carry the election for
congressman and for the legislatures
that elect congressman Of the United
States. Surely the American voters
ere not ready to substitute a govern
r!ent by the bayOnet for a government
ly the ballot. The most amazing
14ing 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 so 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
1T Europe.
Philippine Matters.
Notwithstanding the vast amount Of
writing and talking that has been done
about the Philippine question there
a-e certain features Of it to which suf-
fcient attention has not been given.
Among other evil effects of the Phil
ippine business is the building up Of a
LUCE pension roll which my grandchil-
Gren 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. | wish to call their special
attention to this fact and to put into
their ears a 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
50 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, Malays and 9TH
err colored 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 a
native or 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 6 years
the HOllanders have had possession Of
the island of Java, with a climate al
most exactly the same as that Of the
Philippines. Six different times have
they tried to c~olonize it with white
persons, and six times have they sig
rally and completely failed. People
CT our breed can't live in the Philip
lines. To try it is to fight against fate.
Those who do not die there will be
# 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-
Cd to pensions. A great many Union
soldiers are still without pensions and
want them; many who have pensions
desire them increased. If a 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-
I~osterous. Eight years ago | would
rot have made it. but in that length Of
time have learned something. When
] first went to Washington as a con
Eressional %greenhorn and tcnderfoot.
they did with me what they did with
ell tenderfeet and greenhorns-that is,
showed NE off to poor and obscure
committees where there was 4 great
deal Of hard work and scant glory.
Now l rank second among the Demo
Gratis on the great foreign affairs com
mittee, Which Senator Henry Clay
Heather facetiOuSly donOminateS the