Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-10-17
For the JOa, n y.
For the Joa, n ~
The Approaching Session OF the
LEGISLATURE.


Indifference to the coming session OF
the Legislature. The people do not
seem to appreciate its great impor-
lance. Their minds have not risen to
the paramount interests of the all
absorbing questions of State finances
and State indebtedness. interviewer |
as this vital matter of State policy is
with the rights and prosperity of all !
classes. and with the welfare, duty and |
material D. >gress of the State, it pre- !
eminently demands the patient lnVes- |
tigation and legislation of minds com |
prehensive and statesmanllke III all
respects. [ have seen no ADLER and
more lucid exposition of the leading
features OF this perplexing subject
than is developed in the foreign cor
reapondence of the Editors of the
Wilmington JOURNAL. That CORES
pondence has attracted attention all
over the State and extorted high com
pliments from many of our ablest and
best citizens in different sections OF
our noble. but suffering old Common
wealth. 1t is hoped that the fac's set
forth III these letters will be maturely
considered by the Legislature before
deciding upon this difficult and urgent
question of political economy.
But while this grave subject
will have precedence over ali
others that may come up Tor
legislation, there are other sub
ordinate ones, of practical import
ancegtc the community at large. Let
us aliude mainly to one or two which
claim the early attention of that body.
and of common intere-t, especially
in New Hanover.
LIST. The groring cell and crime Of
Scducing iabOycy's from one 2'taIaf9-
ton to another. The law on this
violation of good ncigborll y feeling
and gentlemanly principle, is entirely
inadequate. Among honest men and
gentleman it cannot be doubted that
! the law OF moral principle, of common
| faith, of simple Justice, is sufficient
! to restrain them from the perpetra-
| ton OF this meanness ard the COM
| mission uf these outrages upon right
| and nei9hborly duty. Honest farmers
are daily suffering, III almost every
neighb0rhoOd, from this grievance,
which is fast becoming Intolerable.
! No sooner does the diligent farmer
and other producer, commence ali
| cnterprising and commendable course
| of operations, than some unworthy
and eyil-minded neighbor begins his
! low and sneaking course of entlclng
away his best hands. Thousands
upon thousands are the crops cnt
short and ruined in Eastern North
Carolina THIS very year, by the ina
biiity OF the owners to retain laDorers
employed fCr the year, Int stolen
away from them by disho"orable me n
around them. OF course those
who are mean enough to do this
are always Astounding III expedicnts to
shirk ous of the charge against them
and ready at all times to deny it. The
rights and interests of the farmer unite
with the ordinary claims Of justice and
good faith between man and man, in
demanding that the Legislature should
make this violation Il 5nisdcntea12or.-
Nothing short Of this will begin to
remove his important obstruction in
the way of our farmers. Let the pun
ishment be Of such severity as will
give confidence to honest men and be
a terror 20 evil-doers in this line.
2nd. Surely our Legislature will not
longer refuse to make stringent laws
to prevent the abOmniable and distruc-
tive crime OF yagr0}lcy. The law
against It is 50 weak and inefficient
that every vagrant laughs it to scorn,
difference and disgust. As Il conse-
quence, it has grown to be blight
upon the body p0litic-a dark and
hideoIts pail spread over the whole
face of socicty-a camker worm gnaw-
inc at the roots OF the prosperity and
success OF all our industria pursuits,
and drinking the very life blood of the
welfare and progress Of the State
Every one OF our own citizens has be-
come SO accustomed 10 this paralysing
and destructive agent that lie ceases to
wonder at Is universal existence. But
every one who comes; into our borders
from otter .2ore Industrious and thrifty
states is struck with amazement
, at the suarms Of Ln-30rOni which mes t
him at every turn. They refuse to work
for themselves or for any one else,
even amid the complaint made all over
the State Of the great scarcity OF reiia-
bic labor They roam over the coun-
try, hungry, naked, stealing, lying and
thus become by their devourinS appe-
titles, criminal conduct, and ruinous
example, worse than destruction and
pastiferous to the general good and the
safety Of society. Probably no county
Ill t"2 State suffers SO much III bis res
. pect as New Hanover. Go to any de
pot, village, or TO the numbCrless groS
shops AID tipping houses, iii the coun-
try, orto the prInclpa corners, Wharyes,
and tiioTOUCHfarCs of Wilmington, and
your eyes are constantly salllted with
tles: ldlerS, Migrants and vagabonds,
swC.tariuG III incidence, rot-gilt whis-
: key, and corruption. It is the beset-
, ting evil and sin OF the day, and nc
, one feels tic blight SO much as the
4, ~; hot
= ever OF subsistence and property others
have, and whose chief trouble is the
} scarcity Of good labor. The cummu.
nifty is grooming under this heavy bur
den, which but increases with the in
:, crease of years since the close of the
war. Let any good citizen stop to
: count the number of grog shops kept
! up by these swarming Migrants, and
he Will be startled and alarmed at thei1
enormous increase in New Hanover,
within the last few years. They add
: largely to the general yagrancy, poverty
! and decentralization, and are causing
, the State to bleed at every pore. The
swarms Of drunkards, vagabonds and
culprits that lie and lang around and
about them make up, III great degree,
| tie streams which empty into and fill
up cur aims houses. prisons and work
houses.
These questions are of growing i'm
pOrtaDce and enforce themselves upon
t the attention Of every friend Of good
order and prosperity and every lover
of the State. The necessities of the
community demand their early and
; proper attention from the Legislature
, 10 the end that wise and Just prohibi
tory laws be enacted. Let such enact
lnents be made and rigidly carried
! out, ana much viii be done to proven:
the zse1lticing away OF labor and to
: overthrow the hydra headed monster
vagrarcy-constantly stalking abroad
, in town and country, and a general
: change for the better viii gladden. the
: hearts of all. VERITAs.
5 Oct. 18Th, 1873.
Dom Piatt tells the following story
1