The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-14
PENSIONS TO coNrEDEnATrs.
We copy the following editorial from The Butte tMont.) Inter Mountain:

We copy the following editorial from The Butte (Mont.) Inter Mountain:
 At meeting of Arkansas veterans of the civii war. resolutions were adopted petitioning congress to pen sion Confederate veterans. The plea Is made that the system would do
 more to wipe out sectional strife than any steps thus far taken It Is point ed out that the outlay for pensions exceeds that for any other purpose, and that the South bears its due pro- portion Of the expense. Many of the ex-Confederates are old and in need. Their opportunities for advancement, at the close of the struggle and since, nave been far. less advantageous than those afforded the northern veterans, The South would feel it has couh- try again, says the petition, if it's heroes should be put upon an equal footing with those of the North. Pen sions were granted to northern soI- diers as reward for patriotism and devotion to their country" reads the appeal. The Southern soldiers show ed as much patriotism, devotion, bravery and self-sacrifiee as a people well could, believing as much as the northern soldiers could in the right eousness of their cause"
 The millennium has not arrived. The spoils still go to the victor. Any such attempt to aid the veterans of the Confederacy in their old age would be overwhelmingly defeated Their valor is unsurpassed, their devotion to the cause they deemed just is unquestion- ed. But they lost, and Nmust bear the burdens of the loser. The altruist would extend the bounteous hand. but the aitrust is not always in the ma- jorfty. The southerners must continue to provide for their defenders as far as pensions go.
 As our contemporary says, the mill lenium has not, arrived. and 1t may be added that the day of Northern forgetfulness has not arrived. The survivors Of the Confederate armies have never expected pensions from the government They fought and lost, and they recognized the fact that the Roman cry. Wac victis?' had gone forth from the winning side, and that the losers had nothing to expect but the fate of those who have been de- feated in a great struggle.
 Whether it would be in the line of strict justice for the government to pension the Southern veterans is question we leave for others to de- eide, but of one thing we are certain: slaves that were freed. Millions of dollars have been appropriated to pay for horses and mules taken from Southern people by the Federal troops. That was simple justice, but not more just than right than it would be to pay for the slaves who were manumit- ted by the Federal power without con- sent of the owners
 The question of the right or wrong of slavery need not be discussed, but the Constitution. the laws and the general sentiment of statesmen North and South recognize African slaves as property of which the owners could not be deprived without their consent TRe slaves of the South belonged to their owners. just as the horses did, and taking the horses by force was no worse than taking the slaves the same way.
 The people of the South. generally and the Confederate veterans. espe- cially. are not expecting pensions from the government. That it would be a generous act is true. and that, if giv- en voluntarily 1t would meet with acknowledgment from the few survivors is generally true. but we have no reason to claim it as right, 1 or even as an act of justice. We have reason to believe that both right and justice are behind the claim for slaves taken from us. For all that, we see | no cause for believing that it win l ever be done