The National tribune., 1908-02-27

William ]. Loeb, Secretary to tn
President, is quite ill of the grip. H
had a severe attack of this insidiou
disease last year, and that makes
harder for him to resist an attack now
While the attack was first scheduled a
cold, it has developed into something
more serious.
The other day there passed the Hous
the omnibus claims bill The meas
ure carries a total of s315,545, in pay
ment of claims for stores and supple
furnished the Union army during tn,
civil war. There were 321 items, eacI
case included in the bill having beer
passed upon by the Court of Claims
This lump sum was distributed among
claimants in the various States as fol.
lows:
Alabama, s21, 500: Arkansas, S22,S00;
California, s1,S00; Colorado, $3.50; Con.
necticut, $500: District of Columbia
$500: Florida, S4,400; Georgia, SIZE
Illinois, $500; Indiana, $4,000: Iowa
$4,000; Kansas, $1,000; Kentucky, ST.
500; Louisiana, $4,000; Maine, $1,000;
Maryland, $4,000: Massachusetts,, ST.
500; Michigan, $1,000; Minnesota, $500;
Mississippi, S29,400; Missouri, 1890,
Montana, $50; Nebraska, $500; New
Hampshire, $40; New Jersey, S20; New
Mexico, $4,000; New York, $4,000;
North Carolina, $1,000; North Dakota.
$3.50; Ohio, $4,000: Oklahoma, $500;
Oregon. $500; Pennsylvania, $4,000;
South Carolina, $500; South Dakota,
$4,000; Tennessee $4,000: Texas, ST.
100: Virginia, $4,000; West Virginia,
$3.50; Washington 500; Wisconsin,
$500.
Talk about your graft! That same
bill carried just about 100000 of graft
graft pure and simple. Most of the
claims are for buildings destroyed by
Union troops during the war in South
ern territory You would think on
reading the report of this bill that you
were reading a church directory. The
churches destroyed or damaged during
the war down in Dixie must have been
palatial compared to the shacks down
there that they call churches just now.
AS a matter of fact, most of the
churches are standing yet. The Union
troops used them for hospitals, and
turned them back in about as good
condition as they found them, but
why shouldn't the Government pay for
them. And now the Government is in
a fair way to do SO. If the Senate
passes the bill. and it will for it is said
that any old bill can get thru the SEN
ate, people who have been hanging
around Congress for the last 10 years
asking for these sums of money will at
last get them. 1t seems a little odd,
however, that it should take 80 years
to find out that certain churches were.
damaged" during the war. As Con-
federate troops occupied the churches
quite as much as the Union troops did,
1t seems a little out of place 10 make
the United States Government pay for
them. There ought to be an end of
such graft some day.
George D. Wise for many years a |
member of Congress from the Third
Virginia District, died recently He was
unmarried and ~ years old. He served
four years in the Confederate army, the
greater part of the time on the staff of
Maj.-Gen. c. L. Stevenson, with the
rank of Captain. He was elected to the
4Tth, 4Sth, 49th, 50th, 51st SD and SD
Congresses as a Democrat.
There is a man in Congress in whose
veins runs the blood of Kings of two
Nations. It is just Indian Kings blood, !
but he is as proud of it as tho it had
been the blood of Bruce or a Stuart. |
The man is Senator Carter, of Okla |
homa, and he boasts of the blood of /,
Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes Both |
are among the best of the Indian tribes. |
He began school at II years of age, |
entering the Chickasaw Manual Train
ing School at 10, graduating when he
reached his 18th year, having missed
two years while working as cowboy Oh
his fathers ranch.
He has worked at cow-punching store !
clerk, bookkeeper, cotton buyer and
weigher. At the age of 90 he was ap-
pointed Auditor of Public Accounts for |
the Chickasaws, and three years later !
became a member of that Nations
council.
He steadily advanced among his peo-
pie and was made Superintendent of |
Schools and Mining Trustee of Indian |
Territory.
When elected to the 60th Congress
he was in the insurance business Hav-
ing lived so many years among the In
dams. familiarizing himself with their
habits and wants. Representative Carter
will be valuable member of the Com
mittee on Indian Affairs to which he
was assigned.
Say, some things are heap funnier
than others. Word comes from Gawjah,
sub, that the Wirz epitaph lis to be
edited and made entirely inoffensive"
Just as tho anything on earth
could be said about WirZ that would be
inoffensive. The very mention of the
beasts name is offensive. The fact that
anybody wants to recall his name is Of
fensiye. He was a living offense till |
hung, and his name should be anathe-
ma. Say that he was a weakling, a tool
for stronger men, say anything you
please about him, you can say nothing
kind and say il truthfully. And vet
gentlewomen, moderately well informed
anG decently bred, set him on pedes-
tai, and would erect monuments to
creatures of his ilk If the daughters
of dead flag really desire to do some
thing commendable Gas they belieye),
why do they not hunt up the grave of
the man whom the Government had
hung for individual instances of crime,
and put a marker of some kind over il.
1t is here in Washington, daughters of
the dead flag. The grave of the keeper
of Andersonville lies in unconsecrated
ground in the malefactors' corner of
Mount Oliyet Cemetery. 1t is level with
the ground now, and is known only by
a number. It lies near the grave of
Mrs. Surratt, unkempt, desolate,
Stunned. Now, there is a place to put
the lofty white marble tribute which
the daughters of the dead flag are
spending their candy money for. Meth
er the inscription nor the stone itself
viii intrude there, for nobody will see
1t in that corner of Mount Olivet but
the people who like men of that char
acter and go to hunt them out of their