The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1873-06-05


Nothing sr IS tafipe iart Any
one can 10 Il Any one sli d n,ete snedi-
cum 81 brains can point out ihe faults q
tie ycry uiscst of-earih Everybody has
Them. There arc plenty oi spots On the
sun. which occupies the central and head
position IN our planetary system, but Is i
becoming in the denizens of earth, o. any
other small concern, to be constantly point
ing them ont and complaining about thems
a great deal q. criticism is the result Of a
want Of knowledge not the abundance Of il.
We are led 10 these remarks from noting
the great amount Of complaint against the
present Legislature by many Of the country
papers some OF them, and Democratic,
too, to the extent Of their knowledge Of
what Democracy is, arc almost coarse and
abusive. This is all wrong. The Thirteenth
Legislature may not be made up altogether
Of the wisest men on earth, but it IS in fact
a most respectable body, which would com
pare favorll,ly With the Legislatures Of any
Of the States. There are quite a number Of
eentlene4 in both Houses of marked char
acter and requirements, men of information,
talents and integrity, who would do honor
to any Legislative assembly.
Tie substance OF tlis complaints against
the present Legislature may be summed up
as follows: They have been in session too
long; they have not done what it was
important for them to-do; and they have
done a. great deal which was of little
importance that is, they have passed a
great many local and private bills. On this
last point, His Exceneney- the Radical Gov
ernor, by the grace Of bayonets, has under
taken to lecture them in his classic style.
lie intimatcs that, perhaps, they are not
aware how much Of this sort Of work 'thcy
have done. This IS very kind in His Excel
leney, who has, It seems, become 50 weary
of signing bills, that he has let great
many of them become laws without his
signature. We feel obliged to him for this
gentlemanly laziness; for we are inclined to
believe, without an examination, that the
most of these local bills were right and
proper we know that She present Legisla-
ture has done notb hastily. Nearly
everything has been referred to able com7
nlittecs, and these have worked laboriously
and faithfully. We never saw aTnore work
ing set Of men in any legislative body.
The truth is, there has been very little local
Legislation since the commencement of the
late war, and we have little doubt great
deal was needed.
We presume, lls,,, that the constituents
Of the Representatives, who have intro
duced and succeeded in putting through
these various local bills, viii be satisfied.
with what has been done. If they are not,
it viii DC easy for them to show their dis
pleasure at the ballot box.
As for the time consumed by the present
Legislature, it IS not at all unreasonable,
considering how much there was to do, and
now much they have done. Fer at9 haco
dane greot aeaJ ef tast Importance to the
people ef 4t.ets. They have repealed the
police law, that fruitful and awful source
Of mischief and murderthey have re-
pealed the odious school law and established
a system Of common schools, which We
hope VIII work well-they have amended
the registry laws, so that az cim vote at
their own precincts they have passed an
equitable apportion lew they have passed
mary bills of q general character, amending
ard perleeting existing laws-apd, above
all they have secured a general election
next December by which, if the Democ-
racy act with common discretion and Wis
dom, all things can be set right, and they
have done all this under difficulties, which
none at a Distance can properly appreciate,
and, therefore hould Dc. slow to condemn.
There IS but one thing more Of vital mo-
nient for them to do. and We trust they viii
do it before they ~ j1urn they must adopt
a sound fnneiaI policy, aud put the credit
of Texas on Level with any State in the
Union