The progress-advertiser. (Lexington, Miss.) 1902-1903, 1903-03-05
PENSIONING E-SLAVES.
To The Commercial Appeal:

-" with much interest, and | heartll
ho commend every word, except the sen
tence, For fear Of being immediate
v for sacrilege, this suggestion is mad
tentatively" AS a Confederate sol
III der, and ex-slave owner, think
e. may safely assert that any opposition
Il to this measure will not be from the
representatives of the slave owners
s. We of the South are now forced to
y pay our own part of the tax required
for pensioning those negroes who de-
; serted their master and enlisted in
u the Federal army as our armed ene-
J. mics, while those faithful negroes
: who remained at home and helped to
r protect and save for ''mistus and de
chillun," while master done gone to
5 de war; are in many instances old,
, lntirm and destitute. Some of the
slaves of my family, and whose an
cestors were the slaves of my ances-
tors, are living, and in most cases are
old and needy. | have done what |
could to aid them, but limited means
and prior duties have prevented me
from doing for them what wished.
The passage of this bill would enable
these oldpeople to pass the remain
der of their days in comparative COM
fort. Seyenty-five per cent. of the
paupers of the South are of this
class. The passage of this bill would
relieve us of this local expense.
Nearly all of these ex-slaves reside
in the South. Hence nearly all the
money appropriated would be expend-
ed here. We Southern people claim,
and justify so, to be the best friends
the negro has. We know him We
recognize his merit, and condemn his
vices. We know that unless misled |
by misguided, ignorant or wicked, un
scrupulous person, the negro is hap
pier, more contented and law-abiding
in subordinate position than he can
ever be otherwise.
Whatever may be said of the youn-
ger generation Of the negroes of the
South, We know that the old ex-
slaves, as a class, are far superior to
them in moral character. They are
generally honest, respectful and self
respecting, and | think we, the people
of the South, should now demonstrate
the sincerity of the claim that I'VE
are the best friends of their race" by
openly and vigorously advocsting the
adoption of the "ex-slave pension
BILL" Yours truly. B.
Benoit, Miss. /,
Our value correspondent writes
truly, patriotically and wisely. The
best friends of the negro race are {
the white people of the South and
for the reasons given and partic ular- {
ly for one of the reasons given
they understand and sympathize with 9
them. c
1t has been the custom of the
southern press and public men to op- /
pose all forms of Federal assistance ]
TO the ex-slaves as it has been to op- il
pose all favors from the Federal gov
to this section. For time, g
md particularly during the sad period v
If reconstruction, we had too much a
20 do with the North and were only f
100 glad to get rid of it. OF late a Ii
,etter feeling has been cultivated and f
wiser councils have prevailed, and all G.
his has been made possible by chang n
ID conditions. The mutations of time h
ave worked many wonders, and none c.
nore wonderful than this. If the ir
offering ex-slaves who are destitute lC
an be partially assisted by the gen. al
raj government, thus mitigating the nj
urden imposed on a none too wealthy ii
representation of the old regime, re
here should be no hesitancy in ac- pl
epting the proffered, or, at least .. -,
rooted benefaction. If we have it ~
inned in our ears by the leaders Of Dc
'orthern thought and the spokes-
ian of The Republican party that W
ne negroes are ''the wards of the ca
ation,' there can be no great harm c,
| conceding the inevitable and ac- r.
spting all the benefits which the =
acts imply as necessary corollaries. AZ
therefore,, if Uncle Sam is sincere in in
is assumption of guardianship over ci
ne lingering remnant of the ex- slaves til
is not the part of wisdom to seek W
0 confine his bounties and beneficence Il
those who deserted and proved un- "
rue to their old masters while deny
lg it to those who were confessedly n;
nd undoubtedly loyal and in man al
ar filial--filial in the sansa that tho p