Ihe Lee County Journal. M. E. TISON, Editor and Publisher. M. E. TISON, Business Manager. ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY AT ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. VOL, VIII. By Democratic Press Over “ : . Service Pension” Order. ACTS AS A BOMBSHELL ‘Yarious Calculations Made as to Ex pense that Will be Entailed When Every Beneficiary Has ' Been Enrolled, The “service pension” order recent dy issued by Pension Commissioner Ware, at the behest of President Roosevelt, is being made the basis of 4 broadside from the democratic press. In a communication sent the senate in response to a request that he esti. fmate the amount of increase which a service pension of $l2 per month will call for, Mr. Ware said: Thuis 87,984 pensioners would re «ceive an increase of $72 per year, or a total of §56,334,848; 141,203 would receive an increase of $4B per year, or a total of $6,777,744, and 53,744 would receiv§ an increase of $24 per year, Or 8 tg)tal of $1,289,856. In addition to the above, the bill would) give title to about 90,000 sur vivors of the civil war, who are now pensioned under the general law at rates less than $l2 per month. The averase pension now paid them is about” $7.80 per month. They would, therefore, be entitled to receive an increa'qe of $2.40 per month, or about $5O per year, a total of $5,500,000. _An(glther class that would take un der the provisions of the bill is the “‘unknown army” of civil war surviy ors. _)Their number on July 1, 1904, will n)ot be less than 175,000, and none of them has as yet been pensioned. How many of these survivors would apply under the provisions of the b=t cannot be determined in advance of its passage, but if 150,000 should ap ply, the amount required to pay them -at the rate of $144 each would be $21,- 600,000 a year. - The grand total of beneficiaries un der this bill would be over 500,000, .and the amount required to pay them .at the rate specified would exceed '540,000,000 per year over and above ‘the present appropriation. . Exact Number Unknown. Commissioner Ware submitted a list of 870,000 known surviving sol diers of the civil war, of whom 615, 000 are more than 62 years old. In another communication he estimated that of this number 191,000 are not now on the pension rolls and would -become beneficiaries under the recent order. Then there is what Mr. Ware has called an “unknown army” of civil war .survivors, which he says proba bly ‘smbrace as many as 175,000. Of this number, fully 130,000 must be more than 62 years of age, which num ber, added to the above estimate, would bring the total of new pension ers '‘added by this new order up to 321,000. This, at tke minimum figure per month, would mean the ad dition of $23,000,000 annually, without taking into account those persons now ‘upon the pension rolls who LEESBURG, GA., FRIDAY, APRIL I, 1904, would, according to the present under standing of the order, be placed upon the rolls at rates in excess of those now applying to their cases. The chief reason for the difference in the various estimates of the num ber of beneficiaries under this‘“service pension” order grows out of the fact that the exact number of survivors of the war who are not now on the pension rolls is not known. Commis sioner Ware’s figures, stated above, place this number at 321,000. It may be larger. or {f may be smaller. AMEER VICTIM OF POISONERS. Nominal Ruler of Afghanistan, Habi bullah Kahn, Said to Be Defunct. . A dispateh received in St. Peters burg from Ashkabad (the capital of the Russian Trans-Casplan territory), says a rumor is current there that the ameer of Afghanistan has been poisoned. Habibullah Khan, the ameer of Af ghanistan, was born in 1872, and suc ceeded to the throne on the death of hig father, Abdur Rahman Khan, Oe tober 1, 1901. SWAYNE CASE GOES OVER. Bteering Committee in Congress De: cides that Time is Too Short. The senate will not take up the impeachment trial of Federal Judge Swayne, of Florida, at this session of congress. The steering committee in congress has been considering the advisability of taking up the case, and only Wed nesday morning decided it would be best to postpone the matter until the short session, which begins next De cember. QUACKENBOSS FORCED OUT. Mississippi Officer, Under Embezzle. ment Charge, Has Reeigned. Governor Vardaman and Adjutant General Fridge have succeeded in their endeaver to force the resignation of Colonel L. W. Quackenboss, of Vicks burg, as commander of the Third regi ment of Mississippi National Guards, who is under trial at Vicksburg on the charges of embezzling about $7,000 from the Searles Brokerage Company. STORM SWEEPS OVER ILLINGIS, Great 'Damage Done in Area About Chicago and Vicinity, Reports of Friday from the storm’s area in and about Chicago indicate that the havoc wrought Thursday is greater than at first believed. The property loss from wind which was of a tornado character in several dis tricts, was augmented later by height ened floods, which had but partially receded from previous heavy rains. WILL NOT OFFER DEFENSE. Ex-Governor Taylor Will Allow Wife Her Freedom Without Contest. A Knoxville, Tenn., dispatch says: Since Mrs. R. L. Taylor has brought suit against her husband for divorce, it is not thought that he will take any steps to defend himself in the proceed ing, and the ex-governor will permit the case to go by pro confesso. It is regarded simply as a case in which he had to side either with his children or his wife, and he chose the former. 1 Cenvention of Party Held at Capitol in Atlanta. SUMMARY OF ITS WORK Delegates and Alternates te National Convention Elected, Platform Adopted and State Commit tees are Named. Georgia republicans held their state convention in Atlanta Wednesday, and after much wrangling between two factions represented, the convention named four delegates and four alter nates from the state at large to the national republican convention; nam ed a new state central committee; adopted a platform; adopted a reso lution calling on congress to punish those states which have passed laws resulting in the disfranchisement of the race, and sidetracked a resolu tion looking to putting out a state ticket over the pro ’:s.t of certain members of the convention. H. L. Johnson, of Atianta, was tem porary chairman of the convention; W. H. Dempsey, of Albany, was made temporary sccretary and afterwards permanent secretary. Colonel H., P. Farrow, of Hall county, was made permanent chairman of the conven tion. The convention was a large one, al most every county in the state being represented. There were som 400 or 500 present, about 10 per cent of who mwere whites. Te gallery was crowded with spectators. The first hour of the gathering pre liminary to the organization was con sumed in a fight over the admission of delegates. An effort made to pro vide for admission to the floor by tick ets caused the row, at the bottom of which was, it is said, the fight be tween H. L. Johnson, fhe colored lawyer of Atlanta, and Henry A. Ruck er, collector of the port of Atlanta. An agreement was finally reached, how ever. Following are the delegates chosen from the state at large: Walter H. Johnson, United States marshal of the northern district of Georgia, Atlanta; Judson W. Lyons, of Augusta, regis ter of the treasury; H. M. Johnson, a colored attorney, of Atlanta; Harry Stillwell Edwards, postmaster at Ma con. Following are the alternates cho sen: W. H. Swayne, of Cedartown; Alex Ackerman, of Macon; H. M. Por ter, of Augusta, and B. J. Davis, of Dawson. W. R. Leaken, of Savannah, was chairman of the committee on reor ganization and reported as follows the new state central committee, which was unanimously chosen: Wal ter H. Johnson, chairman; J. H. De veaux, secretary; A. Graves, assist ant secretary; M. B. Morton, treas urer, The following compose the commit tee from the state at large: H. 8. Edwards, H. A. Rueker, H. L. Johtx:- son, T, H, Maione, J. 1. reie.som, ia G. Dunn, Walker Ackerman, J. W. Lyons, W. R. Leaken, M. B. Morton, A. N. Tumlin, J. M. Lee, W. H. Har ris, E. 8. Richardson, H. L. McKee and E. F. Blodgett. : Committees for each of the eleven districts were also selected. The report of the committee on platform was lengthy. The princi ples of the republican party were af firmed and the country was congrat ulated on the condition of our island possessions, the discharge of obliga tions to Cuba, the consummation of the canal treaty, peace with other nations and the impx:oved condition of labor. The present administration was in dorsed and a personal eulogy paid to President Roosevelt. The courts who have convicted par ties of peonage were congratulated. The platform declares for respect for the law and a fair trial in the courts for all offenders. Mob violence is deprecated. The report of the committee closed with resolutions eulogizing the late Senator Hanna and W. H. Pledger. ANENT THE SWAYNE CASE. Resolution Relating to Impeachment by Senator Hoar, In the senate Friday Mr. Hoar of fered and the senate adopted a reso lution, That the committee on rules be directed to consider and report whether any amendment be desirable in the senate rules relating to im peachments, aud especially whether the rules may properly and lawfully provide for taking testimony in such cases by a committee. NOT PRACTICABLE JUST NOW. Boom for a Southern Candidate Not to Be Pushed in Present Campaign. A Washington special says: South ern democrats in congress are, as a rule, strong in the'r indorsement of the principle of the party ir the southern states, giving its support to a southern candidate for the presi dency, but the general feeling is that this may not be practicable for the present campaign QUESTION OF CIVIL SERVICE Raised in Senate By Georgian—lndian : Appropriation Bill Passed, The senate Thursday passed the In dian appropriation Lill. Mr. Bacon again raised the question of civil service appointments, basing his re marks upon the statement previously made by Mr. Hoar to the effect that senators from states of political faith different from that of the president ghould be consulted in the raacter 0i appointment to office. FAST MAIL IS ASSURED. House Retains Special Appropriation Item in Postoffice Bill. The continuation of}"l-e present special fast mail service to the south ern states is insured by the action of the house Wednesday afternoon, When the paragraph carrying the appropriation of $145,000 was reached in the reading of postoffice appropria- . tion bill, Mr. Moon, of Tennessee, moved that it be stricken out. His motion, however, was defeated and the item is retained. NO. 38,
