The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-10-19
WAR STORIES.
: he different Pension Systems Which A re
in Force il Southern States.
New ! ork Evening Post.

ter of disability from s. for loss of one
flnger or toe, to $3.50 per annum for
loss OF two limbs, or for total bliud
ness. This list of disabled pensioners
have been paid annually since 1897,
and the payments average about $50
per annum.
"Fhc lists Of INDECENT pensioners
who do not have to show any disabil-
ity resulting from the service, but
from diseases and old age, and who
are very poor and dependent, arc in
crcasing. The list Of widows who are
peDsioncd for loss of husbands by
reason Of the service, and also
the list Of disabled soldiers are rapidly
increasing.
Georgia, in addition to paying pen.
sions to her disabled and indigent
heroes, exempts them from specific
taxes levied upon certain pursuits and
business caliings. They can peddle
any kind OF goods, or merchandise free
from license tax. They are authorized
to act as insurance agents. to keep
one pool or billiard table, to ely
ing horses or merry -go-rounds," or
to keep any tenpin alley, or table
or game (uot prohibited by law with
out license tax. One can be light
ning-rod agent without tax. They
are also exempt from poll tax.
"The State maintains o soldiers
home, established in 1901, wherein
ITO decrepit, homeless old men are
housed, nursed, clothed, and fed. The
State appropriates sl5, 900 annually to
maintain it. Any Confederate soldier,
with honorable record, who resided in
Georgia December ~, 1855, and con.
tinuously since, and who shows pow
erty and disability which prevents
him from earning living for himself,
can be admitted to the home regardless
OF where he entered the service. We
have in the home veteran Confeder-
ates who served in commands from
Virginia, North Carolina, South Car
olina, Florida, Tennessee and
Georgia.
This is the most like the northern
system Of any State, both in the va
rieties of it's help and in the liberality
of the disbursement. Still the total
Of Georgia's payments from the foun-
dation of the sy stem is less than the
amount which goes into Indiana every
year.
Poor South Carolina has had to con-
tent herself with paying for this cause
one-fourth of it's total State income,
which is about the same ratio that
pensions bear to the cost Of the fed
eral government. But her pensions
are very small. In 1889 each pen.
sioner received on an average e23 40.
ln 1893 this had been squeezed down
to s21.73. South Carolina originally
appropriated $4,000 for pensions, but
this increased in 1901 to $3.50, 900, and
in 1902 it had gone as high IS $500, ,227.
Even at this sum South Carolinian
who lost both arms, both legs, or both
eyes in the Confederate service gets
only 50 month, which is exactly
what any union veteran who has
reached IS years may get on age alone.
He need never have seen the battle
line, and he may be rich. This reveals
the wide difference in the results of
fighting on the winning and the losing
side, and also between the State and
the nation as paymaster.
South Carolina publishes complete
list of her pensioners by counties,
with the ages and amount of the pen.
sions. This makes zee. page book.
A similar plan hes often been pro-
posed for the federal pensioners as
means Of bringing the pressure Of pub
lio opinion to bear on undeserving ap-
plicants; but those most familiar with
the system discourage the project;
they believs that the effect would be
to encourage pensioners to seek the
largest sum which they found any Of
their neighbors Of seemingly the same
degree Of disability getting. More.
over, few persons are able to Judge in
telligently of their neighbor's real
weakness, and to make public the
amount of his good fortune would
arouse jealousy and envy. Moreover,
it would be large expense to print
book of l, 100000 names; with 333 to
page it would fill 5000 pages, or six
good sized volumes. South Carolina's
lesson in this particular will probably
not be taken.
South Carolina nrnvides in addition