Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-08-23
MORE OR LESS SERIOUS.

A matter that seems to be becoming
Of serious Importance in York county
and to which no especial public atten.
ton has been called, Is the support OF
INDECENT Confederate soldiers as out
side poor.
Because Of a recent act Of the general
assembly, 1t is no longer lawful to send
a Confederate veteran to the poorhouse
and while it is unlawful for the county
commissioners to extend Outside help
to other classes of indigents, they may
in their discretion, extend such help to
needy Confederate veterans.
Within the past few years, the num-
ber of old soldiers who have applied fol-
Outside help has been growing stead
lily. At first there was general reluc-
'tance on the part Of this class Of poor
to ask help Of the county; but gradu-
ally this reluctance seems to have pass
ed away, and now there are many who
appear to think that they are fully
warranted in asking for help from the
The usual method Of procedure In a
case where help is desired, Is to get up
a petition setting forth the fact that the
petitioner was a Confederate soldier;
that he Is not able to earn livelihood
by manual labor, and that he Is In
needy circumstances. It Is we'll
known fact that there are many peo-
pie who are not strict about signing
such petitions, and consequently they
are not difficult to get, even in many
cases where they are not exactly proper
At recent meeting Of the county
board Of commissioners, shortly after
the distribution of pensions in this
county, there were half dozen or more
applicants for Outside help" in the Of
flee at one time. Each applicant, OF
course, was backed by the usual petit
tion, and the situation looked serious.
Commissioner Wilkerson, who had
previously commented on the alarming
tendency, was so impressed with the
situation, that he was moved to speak
out in meeting about as follows: "This
matter of granting help to Confederate
veterans has reached point where
something has to be done. I was Con-
federate soldier. I went into the war
and tried to do my full duty until the
surrender. When I came back, did
not have a dollars worth of property
nothing but my hands. But I could
work and I went down to it. I have
been working ever since, and have
taught my boys to work. Now, while
I have no objection to this outside help
in deserving cases, Of absolute neces-
sity, it seems to me that we are getting
too many applications Of this kind, in
Guiding some that are not altogether
meritorious, and think it time that we
draw the line somewhere"
1t was hard thing to say, right there
in the presence Of the applicants, some
deserving and some not; but it was a
manly thing, fully in keeping with the
character Of Mr.. Wilkerson and it had
good effect. All Of the applications
for outside help that were made that
day were not granted, and some of them
have not been renewed since.
But still the problem has not been en-
tirely solved. There are many who
think that there is more or less men,
ace in the campaign speeches of young
candidates who profess such love for
the old soldier and his vote. 1t is quite
possible that this has something to do
with the heavy drain that is being made
on the county treasury in addition to
the state appropriation for pensions.
No matter, however, what may be the