San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-05-17

The Waco Day is Of opinion that the
question OF working the cOnyiOts on the
| public roads should be made optional
with the counties. With all due defer
ence to the suggestion and the reasons
that give force to it, the LIGHT is of
opinion that local option will not Oper-
ate we'll in this case. Local option is a
| doubtful experiment, at best, In those
cases where general law can be made
operative. 1t destroys the uniformity OF
action necessary to the harmonizatiOn
Of general state procedure. This diff
Guilty has been experienced wherever
local option in licensing or prohibiting
sales Of whiskey are concerned, and the
practice is not meeting with favor where
it has had practical exemplifcation. So
in this question of working all but the
hardened criminals and long time con-
victs upon the public roads. 1t will not
lead to any uniformity of practice in the
different counties, and will create an in
that will be productive of no good re-
suits. Outside of this, however, there
are valid objections to the whole scheme.
Not the least of these is the necessity of
general law compelling work on the
public roads by the cOnviCts, for the
three fold purpose of doing away with
the present odious poll tax, abolshing
all contract and mechanical work by
convicts wherever 1t completes with free
labor, and giving TO Texas system OF
road improvements that will make a
network of well constructed and well
maintained highways all over her ter
ritOry.
ENGLAND owns but two ports in the
West Indies where the steamers can
come up to the docks to coal. Kings
ton, Jamaica, is one; the other is Cas-
tries, in the small island of st. Lucia.
This little port is now being turned
into a tirst-class naval citation by the
construction of dOckyards andO Their
needed works.
TINS week our citizens will have an
opportunity Of showing the quality OF
the hospitality that is in them.
The fellows who are likening the boy
colt to the boomerang because it is SO
apt to fly back and whack the man who
does not know how to use il, are re-
minded not to forget that in the hands
of an expert it comes round verv unex-
pected corners and hits hard and sud-
denly. Use makes even ignorance in.
structed, and it were, perhaps, well not
to compel necessity to become teacher
in this case.
CONGRESS is way behind in its regular
work. So many bills have been intro
duced and so few disposed Of, that it
might not be at all out of order to call
this the d.bill-itated congress of the CEN
fury. The records show about 300 more
bills already introduced than were pre-
sented during last session, and that had
larger number on the calendar than
any OF its predecessors. Private legis-
latlon has been the feature and the bane
Of this congress. OF the $500 bills intro
duced, over 1000 have been private bills
and, of those passed, fully four-ffths
have been private bills. The public
measures passed congress have not been
one in SCOT the whole number presented.
Cleveland's recommendation to free the
docket from private bills is good one;
but unfortunately his good recOmmen-
dations are the ones that congress does
not take kindly to.
THE girl graduate may be accepted as