The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-03-19
THE LEGISLATURE AND ITS
WORK.

The legislature has ceased to labor
and the members have gone home.
| Some of them went before the WORK
was fairly done. In the list Is included
| Democrats, Republicans and Popullsts.
| When the time ome to look up tim
Der for the next legislature or for other
positions of honor and trust of any
kind. the voters will kindly overlook
those who left before the final adjourn
ment.
We will not undertake to give even
a brief summary of the business trans
acted at this time. That can be done
later on. But will, as a Waterman on
the wall, give our candid and deliber-
ate opinion of the body. No legislative
body ever has or ever will be within
ten per cent. Of perfect. But when
such q body is ten per cent. good and
ninety per cent. bad-like the recent
Congress, for instance-it is time to
get alarmed. The legislature, as well
as we car judge, was about eighty
per cent. good and twenty per
cent. bad, and about five per cent.
of the bad was intolerable. Each
of the three parties had good represen,
tatives here. The Populists had a good
working majority in the Senate and
business was dispatched promptly.
The three parties were nearly equally
divided in the House and this was a
serious obstacle. It enabled the bad
men in each to hold the balance of
power and obstruct legislation, waste
time, and defeat some good bills.
As a whole it was the best legislature
that has assembled in this State since
the war. Two Senators, one Republi-
can and one Democrat, disgraced
themselves by constant drinking.
Several members of the lower House
were guilty of the same. But there
was less of this than during any other
session. The legislature Of 1891 was
a good one, but it fell behind
this one in the quality of work
done. The legislature of 1891 was a
we'll behaved, economical body of men.
But it stayed in the old ruts. The
railroad commission was the only ad-
vanced step taken in the way of legis
lation. The recent legislature passed
a new and honest election law, a
ty government bill, which when fully
in force will solve that problem, and a
six per cent interest law, something
that no other legislature has had the
courage to do. Either of the three bills
are of as much Importance to the
masses and the business interests of
the State as the railroad commission
bill. Most of the minor legislation
was wise. The legislature found a
large deficiency in the State Treasury.
To meet this and not cripple the vari;
GUS State institutions was problem.
The only course left was to leave the
tax valuation the same and add other
things for taxation. Two cents was
added on for public school purposes,
which, we hope will put the schools on
a better basis.
The legislature ought to have done
better. Others have done far worse.
Indeed, this one has done so well that
the little goldbug editors and corpora
ton tools are beside themselves with
rage. The very fact that they are at
lacking the legislature so vehemently
and lying upon it 80 recklessly is suff
Gent proof to show even the uninitiated
that the legislature has been an extra
good one, despite its faults and mis-
takes. The errors made by the legis-
lature were not such as would do great
} injury to anyone, but some Of them
l were apparently inexcusable ones. All
+ in all, it was the best legislature we
have had since the war, and we hope
b the next will be still better.