The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-01-04
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NoREu.


tai Plank" the Ness aad Deserve
publishes the foIIo~iag communities
ton from Chsef Justice Waite
Clark
To the Editor:~~I notice IN > iase
editorial Of a leading state p3pes
under the above heading : criticism
Of plank - Of ray platform. From
a sense OF fair play which il inaeren.
among our people. wilI yoa publish
the following statement IN justice 70
the veterans!
The South has paid since the waF
500 million dollars 10 pension Fed
:sI soldiers, ~ which liz million dol
lars has been paid b. North Caro-
lima OF this enormous war contTi-
button. very little has come back to
the South. II has helped more than
all else 10 keep the South poor. Or
the 80 million dollars now annually
paid for pensions. North Carolina
pays annually about four million dol
lars, much more than the total ex-
pense OF our State government for
ali purposes. including education.
Now that 1t is proposed to add
IS million dollars more for Federal
pensions, Of which about two mil
lion dollars will come out OF North
Carolina, | have modestly suggested
that if this is done, North Carolina
soldiers, who were simply fighting
for their State, as the Northern sol
diers were fighting for theirs, should
also be placed on the pension list
This would help all our people as
well as our veterans. by keeping a
part of this fund at home. But in
stantly there goes up cry from the
professional politicians against it.
Senator Ransom made his sue
cessive appeals for reflections, as
we we'll know, largely upon the
ground that out of the large appro-
priations for rivers and harbors he
got small slice for North Carolina
rivers and harbors. The same plea
is now being made by Senator Sim
mons, and a strong point being made
for him is that he will be made chair
man of the Senate Committee which
will apportion appropriations. We
also remember that in the tariff mat
ter he justified himself for retaining
the tariff on lumber that a portion
of the benefit would come to a few
of our rich people. Yet when the
is made to retain this
pension fund in the State for the
benefit of the whole State, and in
Justice to our veterans, cry goes
up from the machine politicians that
this will never do. They fear that it
may jeopardize getting the Presiden-
cy and the offices appurtenant there
to. For this reason, for forty years
past the South has been made to bear
this burden without any return.
I'VE are told that it will start the
cry of 'disloyalty.' What disloyalty
is there in this demand for justice?
Suppose it did, what harm would it
do us? The North has a very lively
of the trouble we gave
assured of our abject humility, which
we have shown for the last forty
years, without any benefit to us, they
would be more disposed to do us JUS
tice. A little fear of disloyalty down
here would bring us some recogni-
ton. England has done this in Souh
Africa and in ireland, and will do
more The North would do more for
us, if we were less abjectly humble.
1t is hard to see why it is commenda-
rivers and harbors appropriations and
retain the tariff on lumber and yet
why it is matter Of such condemna-
ton to retain in our State for the
brave men who endured tn hardships
and angers of the war a part of the
sums which it is proposed to be raised
out of US to the extent two million
dollars more per year for pensions
to the Federal soldiers, in addition
to the four million dollars per year
the people of North Carolina are al
ready paying for that purpose.
Our humility for the past forty
years has brought us the Presidency
for only eight years, and the salaries
Of the offices which Democrats got
thereby were nothing compared to
the lack of self-respect, and the mil
lions of dollars We have paid at the
iictation of the tariff barons who
want an excuse for high tariff.
have been assured by more than one
United States Senator that the South
ern soldiers would have been put up
On the pension list, in common with
he Federal soldiers. many years ago
f those who were in Congress from
he South had demanded it. If
elected Senator from this State, ex-
Dect to accomplish this in justice TO
my old comrades and to benefit the
people of the entire State by keeping
hat much money at home which else