The Forrest City times., 1889-12-14
pru.Nn.vf; nr,rru LAWS.


 | Tho Forrest C,t~ Tines says tho people of ] Arkansas are o5;nirs nes,ltr together rexard- | lees uI politics, and d.suanding better laws Who "are demanding better laws v Was not the Register tho first paper in the state to mention the obnoxious laws on our statute books and demand their rcpsaly Tho crop mortgaNe law is a crime asspinst the poor, which has been maintained by tho Democratic ! party for years. and until 1t wns helf up to | public scrutiny not one of the bourbon 'scrop' peddlers dared aqtuck it. The homestead law, which permits Il husband to cucumber the homestead without the consent of his wife. is another viliauous democratic institution. Making petit larceny m infamous crime | and refusing the criminal a right to testify after tho penalty of the law has been complied | with. is another dcmOcratfc outrage. The | demociatic system Of assessment Is SD crude and antedinvinp that immigrants from other states are amused and shocked at its existence. ! To enumerate all the vicious legislation of the ! Democratic party an Arkansas for the past ff- | teen years would require columns of space. and If the Times hypothosis is corrcot-that ! the people are coming together regardless Of politics. and are demanding better laws"-thc ! days of democratic supremacy are numbered. The corrupt old party cannot secure better laws" Its leaders handicapped by cor porations and controlled by the balot-box ! thieving element The present. oppressive laws were enacted at the inStFation of the l money power and are maintained by the haser element of the party. Good laws enGnate from good legislators The element which controls ! the dominant party in Arkansas is vcnat and corrupt Why expect it to lexisiate in tho in- terest of tho pecpleg Why look for pure water | in an impure fountaiup There is but one way i of securing better laws in Arkansas, and that ' is to hurl tho putrid old incubus that has ] fastened it's faugs npon the people from power and supplaut il with men who will devote their | 'ilno and attention 10 the necessities of the whole people instead of laboring necessarily ! for their own personal and political aggran- dizcment.-Arkansss State Register.
 Coming from men who have just "bunkoed" confidiug Kansas capital ist out of Sl5,000, the above is racy reading The men who now run the Arkansas State Register should con- gratulate themselves that our laws against crime are defective, else they might incur the penalty attached to obtaining money under false pretenses. It is true there are objectionable laws upon our statute books, but it is not probable the people of Arkansas will trust their reformation to men who fraudulently secured the establishment of their state organ. Such utteranees as the above come with especially poor grace from the pen of an advocate and a henchman of Clayton, whose mouth Piecr the Register is, when it is mo- torlous fact that 1t was the custom of the legislatures controlled by him to pass and enforce the most iniquitous laws ever enacted in a civilized com munity. This work was done by the aid of n lot of ignorant, newly freed negroes, and stands today the crowning crime of modern times. When the white people of Arkansas forget to protect the sacredness of tho name of wife and daughter when they have sunk below the level of the brute-when all that
 men hold dear in home and country, is torgotten-they may return the Repub- lican party to power, but not until then. The crop mortgage law is an evil, but It eompcis no man to mortgage his crop and IS better than republican rule. 1 The homestead law may not be an un- mixed blessing, but it is better than republican rule. The present mode of assessment may be ''crude and antedi- luvian," but it is better than the high way robbery of state and individual perpetrated under republican rule. The Register was not the first paper in the state to advocate the repeal of faulty laws and the enactment of better ons S; nor has it ever consistently advocated any measure which had not for it's ulti- mate object the personal aggrandize- ment of Powell Clayton and his infam- ous gang as against the best interests ! of the state. Men who will induce a l person to come into Arkansas and establish an enterprise under written guaranty and then compel him to bring suit in order to force them to comply with their contract are not the men should hold the reins of government. It is no wonder they laughed at Mir Munger for being such sucker" and fool as to expect honesty from them. The people of Arkansas know them so well that they unhesitatngly call any man an idiot who is silly enough to think sacred promise from them really means anything. So much for the reputation of the men who desire to reform Arkansas.