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

Tie most splendid army that the SUI
ever looked down upon was the conf
bined forces of the Union and Confed-
crate sides ct the close of the civil
w:,; and the most amazing spectacle
ever seen among men WAS that Of 2
million and 4 half veteran soldiers
stacking their arms. do!HnS their uHi-
forms and returning without . muir
rur to the peaceable yoc3tions OF
American citizenship. The volunteer
soldier is not only the safety. hut he is
TIE sio:y Of TIE republic.
From the clcse Of the civil var III
1863 down TO the beginning Of the
Spanish war our standing army had q
strength on paper oG $4,000 men. AS i
matter of fact it usually averaged
oo33.CoO officers and men. and we got
along sp;endidly during all that time,
and if the possession Of the Philip
pines necess;tates such g navy and
such 4 standing army as above lndl-
Gated .hat alone is sufficient to demon
strate that it is the greatest curse that
ever befell q 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 tc
state that 80 per cent Of all the for
eign born male citizens Of the United
States Row 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-
TEN 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-
dcient attention has not been given.
Among other evil effects of the Phil
g hv,;l Of q
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, wish to call their special
attention to this fact and to put into
their ears a flea of large proportions,
for they have 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. Malays and 9th
er colored persons to live in 1t. 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 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 $50 years
the Hollanders have had possession OF
the island of lava 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 cant live il 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 deFot-
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 IS certainly as water runs
down hill. for it is mathematical
truth that when q pie is cut into six
pieces the pieces are not as large as
when it IS cut into four.
Hard Work to Get Pensions.
I am fully aware that the statement
that my grandchildren will not live to
see these pensions paid off seems pre-
postcrous. Eight years ago would
not have made it. but in that length of
time | have learned something. When
| first went to Washington as CON
gressiona! greenhorn and tenderfoot,
they did with me what they did with
all tenderfeet and greenhorns-that IS,
nd