_Question_. Do you think the South will ever equal or surpass the
West in point of prosperity?
_Answer_. I do not. The West has better soil and more of the
elements of wealth. It is not liable to yellow fever; its rivers
have better banks; the people have more thrift, more enterprise,
more political hospitality; education is more general; the people
are more inventive; better traders, and besides all this, there is
no race problem. The Southern people are what their surroundings
made them, and the influence of slavery has not yet died out. In
my judgment the climate of the West is superior to that of the
South. The West has good, cold winters, and they make people a
little more frugal, prudent and industrious. Winters make good
homes, cheerful firesides, and, after all, civilization commences
at the hearthstone. The South is growing, and will continue to
grow, but it will never equal the West. The West is destined to
dominate the Republic.
_Question_. Do you consider the new ballot-law adapted to the
needs of our system of elections? If not, in what particulars does
it require amendment?
_Answer_. Personally I like the brave and open way. The secret
ballot lacks courage. I want people to know just how I vote. The
old _viva voce_ way was manly and looked well. Every American
should be taught that he votes as a sovereign--an emperor--and he
should exercise the right in a kingly way. But if we must have
the secret ballot, then let it be secret indeed, and let the crowd
stand back while the king votes.
_Question_. What do you think of the service pension movement?
_Answer_. I see that there is a great deal of talk here in Indiana
about this service pension movement. It has always seemed to me
that the pension fund has been frittered away. Of what use is it
to give a man two or three dollars a month? If a man is rich why
should he have any pension? I think it would be better to give
pensions only to the needy, and then give them enough to support
them. If the man was in the army a day or a month, and was uninjured,
and can make his own living, or has enough, why should he have a
pension? I believe in giving to the wounded and disabled and poor,
with a liberal hand, but not to the rich. I know that the nation
could not pay the men who fought and suffered. There is not money
enough in the world to pay the heroes for what they did and endured
--but there is money enough to keep every wounded and diseased
soldier from want. There is money enough to fill the lives of
those who gave limbs or health for the sake of the Republic, with
comfort and happiness. I would also like to see the poor soldier
taken care of whether he was wounded or not, but I see no propriety
in giving to those who do not need.
--_The Journal_, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 21, 1890.