The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-10-31

L Hc HlOSt SpleEuiu army that the sun
ever looked down upon was the COM
blncd 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 q
million and n half veteran soldiers
stacking their arms. dOffing their uni
forms and returning without a mur-
muir to the peaccable vOcations 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
1870 down to the beginning OF the
Spanish war our standing army had q
strength on paper Of $4,000 men. AS Il
matter of fact. it usually averaged
23.OOO officers and men. and we got
along spiendidly during all that time
and IL the possession Of the Philip
pines necesstates such n navy and
such a standing army as above indi-
Gated that alone Is sufficient to demon
strate that 1t 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 q govern
ment by the bayonet for a 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 II. for 1t is safe tc
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.
Phuippine Matters.
Notwithstanding the vast amount of
writing and talking that has been done
about the Philippine question there
are certain features Of 1t to which suf-
dcient attention has not been given.
Among other evil effects of the Phil.
ipp!re business Is the building up of q
huge pension roll which my grandchil.
dren will not live long enough to see
paid on, and my oldest child is only 10
years Of age. II any old Union soldiers
read this, wish I. coll their special
attention to this facr 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 II exactly the same
climate from pole to pole as easily as
the way he did make II. but for some
wise purpose he made the arctic zones
90 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
er co ored persons to live In II. We
can't we there: 1t is contrary to ma
ture. If we had dlscoyered the Philip
pine Islands and there hadn't been q
native OIL 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 800 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 colonize 1t 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 II Is to fight against fate.
Those who do not die there will be
at 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 he devot.
ed to pensions. A great many Union
soldiers are still without pensions and
want them: many who have pensions
desire them increased. II 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 1t Ia mathematical
truth that when n pie is cut into six
pieces the pieces are not as large as
when II 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 l would
not have made II. but In that length of
time have learned something. When
first went to Washington rs. n con-
gressiOnal greenhorn and tenderfoot,
they did with me what they did with
all tenderfeet and greenhorns--that Is,
showed me of to poor and obscure
to-