Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1912-03-01
LETTER FROM BIG BUD

Editor Of the Beacon:
February 22nd, Washington's birth
day was a lively day in the House.
Some days ago we passed at a night
session an act prepared by me. and III
troduced at his request by Mr. Cotton
Of Alcorn, taking the negro servants off
Of the pension roll. AS motion was
made to reconsider and eur chairman
failed to call up this motion and table
it until the 22nd and the opponents OF
this bill from all parts of the state had
time to get in their work on the mem
bers and when it was called up we had
the fight of our lives and only carried 1t
by vote of 62 to So against it. 1t was
claimed that we had passed it, when the
the house hardly had quorum, and we
were not expecting it, SO told them to
be perfectly fair. I would ask our side
to vote for the reconsideration and it
was carried and the ball was opened by
the Chairman of the Pension Commit
tee, Mr.. Carothers of Lee, taking the
floor. Our committee is composed of
seventeen old Veterans and speaker
Quien was perfectly fair to us, and al
lowed each one to speak and it was a
pathetic sight to see these old men
standing there pleading with the young
men of the House to purge the roll OF
servants who were not Confederate
Soldiers, and not compel their INDECENT
old men to divide their pittance with
the negro. All put one of the commit
tee was in favor of the bill and each
one testified that they never saw during
the whole war, single negro servant
on the firing line. We told them that
the trainers of our constitution, wise
men that they were, and almost to a
man ex-confederate soldieas, did not
stipulate that the negro should share IN
the pension fund, that the provided
must be raised for the Confederate
Soldiers, sailors and the widows of these
and that it had been grated on the law
and should never have been put there.
told them did not love the negro less
but the soldier more and that as
long as the state could only pay the
small pittance of $35 90 to these old
men, would never vote to take one
dollar Of this to give to any one not a
confederate soldier. l was asked if
there was not 35 blind widows on the
roll in one county and said yes. tken
was asked if there was not some on
the roll of my county that ought not
to be there. I answered "yes | have
been told there was"-that our pension
board were big hearted men, and might
not have been as strict as they could
have been but that they had taken every
negro off of the Noxubee roll and en-
dorsed my position in this act. The re-
porters were against US and gave all
the credit to the speakers on the mega
tive side, but for the first time in my
legislative career, we were able to pass
the act in the house in spite of the we'll
organized opposition and the influence
of one influential Confederate officer.
who was on the floor of the house
working with might and main to keep
the negroes on the roll, when he ought
to have known that there were thous-
ands of old Confeds that needed t:is
money. Both of my colleagues voted
no on this measure and Senator Price is
also opposed to it.
don't suppose that there lisa man in
the south who was on more battllefieds
(what was battle fields. as the negro
would say,) than our worthy comman-
der, DR.. H. A. Minor. He had to have
the wounded carried from the field ard
waited on afterwards and he was also
on the firing line. and | dare say he
never saw negro up there caring for
his wounded master. We had lot of
servants in our regiment and If the
surgeon had had the authority 70 have
compelled the negroes to go with them
and help with the wounded, they would
have done SO, but as they were rrivate
propelty it could not be done. So those
that owned these servants, invariably
aent them to the rear, and when the
war was over, most of them went into
the republican party, and became the
leaders of that party and ruled US un-
til the Ku Klus was organized. These
are the facts gentlemen, controvert
them if you can. But il has been hand
ed down in song and story, that they
rushed in and saved their masters
when wounded, and this sentiment is SO
strong that fear we will have to agree
to ::comprom Sc yet. The only ques
ton is are we willing to retain 597 neg
roes on the pension roll when we are
only to give the pittance of $S7.55 to a
fourth class pensioner and refuse to
give all other needy old Confederates
who happen to have a house worth
$500 (although he may be like Mr..
Knight of my own county, suffering
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