The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-01-16
BILL ARP rs AGAINST WAR,
He says the Spanish War Dis
gfaced Annals of American His


graced Annals of American HI
tory.
Atlanta Constitution.
MOI counting the great civil war
torty years ago, this last year of 19C
was The most bloody and disastrous {
any i'll my recollection. Over 1000
Oh our soldiers died in the Philippine
most of them III hospital. That's {
H'Iio consequence, of course, to th
government, but it brought my rials Z
signs and tears to mothers and wive
ana ch'ldrcn. The Spanish war, an
What mas grown out of it, has ctcrnall
dlsgraced the annals OF the nation'
history. And it keeps on aDd vii
keep on, no doubt, bringing miser,
ana ruin III its train. Some preacher
say III is the work OF the Lord. dom
believe 1t. "Onenscs must needs come
but woe unto them by whom the,
come" Besides all this, the year was
full or disasters on land and sea. Ex
plos!onS IN the mines, railroad wrecks
h"llers bursting, fires, floods, murders
suicides, husbands killing wives and
children, lovers killing swcethcarts
and every other dcvilsh thing. Every
days dispatches record something new
and horrible, and we are getting 80 ac-
customcd to it that it hardly dislurbs
or surprises us, We, too, are getting
hardened TO blood and bloody deeds.
This unconccrn always follows in the
wake of war.
After The battle of Malvern hill | re-
member hearing one soldier bet an
other that he could walk across the
ridge and step on dead man at every
step. lie tried il for a hundred yards
and won. Soldiers who had been kind
and gentle at home became hardened
to the sight of blood and death. After
the war was over many a good mother
watched and waited for her boy to
come home, but he never came, and
she died still wondering how he was
killed and where he was buried. But
few of his comrades were left, and they
were widely scattered. The records
were not kept or were lost in the war.
Out Of 600 buried at Vicksburg less
than 1000 have names upon their
graves; so it is at Salisbury and Fred
cricksburg and all the others. OF the
Federals and Confe derates 90 per cent
of all the dead arc unknown and sleep
in unmarked and unrccorded graves.
And this is war and az General Sher.
man said, " War is hell" There IS
enough unWrltten grief to fill an ocean,
and many u broken hearted mother let
conccalment like worm in the bud
feed on her pallid cheeks and turn her
hair to gray before its time.
And yet we keep on fighting and
calling for more troops-not for de-
fcnsc or liberty, but for conquest. 1t
is war of aggression upon a people
who never did us harm and beg to be
let alone. The eight million negroes
here at home give us great concern,
but the government wants ten millions
more to add to the pcrpleXity Of the
problem. Oh! the shame Of 1.-THE
pity of it. IL is the same old unchrls-
tian story. "Man's inhumanity to man
makes countless thousands mourn"
But | didn't start to write an elegy Oh
the year that has gone. II is pleasanter
10 wish all a happy new year and to
hope for q better one. a superstitlous
friend says that it will be better be-
cause 1902 is dlvisiblc, but 1901 was
not.
The times seem prosperous and new
industries are continually being planted
all over the South. War always brings
activity in Its train. More iron and
steel for ships and men of war, more
cannon and guns for the army, more
clothing and food for the soldiers. Bu,
| have more regard for the humble,
contentcd people than for all the pomp
and circumstance Of war. | hav" more
regard for an uncducatcd honest man
than for an educated rich one,
who made his money by question
able schemes. My good old friend
John Jcukiiis is dead. He hauled
wood for me many years and gave
an honest cord. On his last bed
he sent for his brother Jack and
whispered, "Jack, In gwine TO die
they say, and Pm willin' to go; but
owe Bob Pertillcr dollar and half
and it bothers me nightly" "Ncvcr
mind, John,' said Jack, "l'll pay Bol
that money when l so to town for iht
cvilin. Now, just turn over and die az
easy as you can" And he did. Ill
was Hard Shtlled Baptist.
The other night we had good lad,
visitor from the North, and when sh
said something about this horrid ole
Philippine war, the conversation
drifted to the hardshlps and suffering
caused by orr civil war, and, just t.
amusc and entertain her, my wife am
related how when We got back t
Rome with our half-dozen little child
rem We all had to sleep on the floor, TO
we had no furniture, and we had n
flour or coffee or sugar, and there wa
none to be had, for what title ther
was was kept hidden and couldn't b
bought with Confederate money; an
how our corn meal was nearly all gon
and there wasn't but one COW in IL
county, and she was kept hid in can
brake, and how / borrowed a hor
and rode twelve miles and bought h
for $3 900 in Confederate money al
drove her home in the night and ke
her IN the burn, and she gave ju
enough milk to keep our baby fro
pclisRlng; and how l bought ten bus
cls of corn away down the river at y