The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-03-14
THE SPIRIT THAT MARKED THE
LEGISLATURE OF 1897.

A distinguished citizen of the State,
who takes no part in politics, was asked
few days ago to state in a few words
the difference between the spirit of the
legislators who were i'll the General AS
sembly of 1869 and of 1897.
'9The Legislature of 1869 stole more
money, and was controlled by more dar-
ing adventures" he replied, "but they
did it under the guise of intense interest
in the industrial development of the
State, thus Disgusting their huge thevlng
operations. This Legislature could not
have stolen so much if the members had
been as daring as the leaders of 1859
because Of Constitutional limitations,
but there was manifested this year ten
fold more venality, meanness, prejudice
and hunting for spoils than was appar-
ent in the memorable disgraceful Legs
lature of 1869. / guess the gang then
was hungry for Office, ut-there was more
decencv i'm their scramble. This may be
accounted for by reason Of the larger
brides that were given legislators theh'
Big money for votes may have tempered
the zeal for office, and the scandal Of
wholesale bribery may have OvershadoW~
ed the scramble for place. BE that as
it may. the spirit of hateful spite, spleen
and meanness that characterized the ma
iority this year was not observable then.
In any summing up of the actions OF
the General Assembly, it must be borne
in mind that in this, as well ns in other
bodies the majority is responsible for
the legislation. The individual members
of the minority will be held responsible
nv their constituents for their individual
actions. But they have no RESPONSE
bility for the legislation of the session.
They were powerless to pass single law
or to prevent the passage of a bad one.
In some cases, by exposing the evils OF
the threatened revolutionary legislation,
they could check it, but when the ma
iority determined upon any measure-no
matter how wicked or bad-the minority
was powerless to defeat it.
The Republicans were in full and
absolute control of both branches of the
Legislature There may be those who
will question this statement. When the
Legislature was organized, it was eff
fected by the joint action of the Repub-
lican and Populist parties, and up to the
election of Pritchard to the Senate the
two parties were equally responsible for
legislation. But from the night that
nineteen populists bolted the Populist
caucus, and virtually walked into the Re
publican party that party had absolute
control of the Legislature The Popu
list boilers may not have openly there
after gone into the Republican caucus,
but aside from betraying the cause
of silver by supporting Pritchard
for Senator, their votes were cast, both
in the committee and in the Legislature
for nearly all the revolutionary meas
ures that were enacted into laws; they
voted to turn the cities OF Wilmington,
Newbern and other towns over either to
negro rule or the government of one
man, both Of which are repulsiye to the
idea of local government; they voted
to make the Republican Congressional
4
chiefly to injure the POpulists and Incl
dentally to punish the Democrats in the
Eighth and Fifth district; their votes
were ready IN the House to kill the reso-
buttons to instruct our Senators to vote
for free silver and other kindred reforms
to which the Democratic and Populist
parties were committed in the last cam
paign they stood as one man behind
Hilefnan and Reynolds when they bru-
tally turned one of their own number,
Mr. Swinson, out of office because he
would not fill it full of incompetent ne
gro clerks, and because he exposed the
extravaganza of paying fifteen hundred
dollars for fifty dollars worth of work;
their votes turned the Agricultural De
partment and the Penitentiary over to the
spoil-hunters: they put in as State Libra
rian man who had betrayed the POpu-
list party systematically since it's incep-
ton; some of them enough to kill neces-
sary legislation even proved traitors to
their platform declaration ON the annul-
ment OF the lease; but for the votes of
these same so-called boiling Populists,
the infamous and revolutionary measure
of repeating the charter of the insane asy-
lums could not have disgraced the statute
books of the State; they supported the
Grant bill to give the Republicans full
control of the election machinery of the
State, which measure would have dis
franchised thousands OF POpulists as well
as Democrats, and it was not due to
them that changes making the act less IN
famous were made in it before it became
a law; and, to show that they were truly
Republicans and as revolutionary even
as Grant, Blackburn and Hancock, these
boiling Populists turned out Of their eau
Gus one Senator who, having swallowed
everything else, gagged at the election bill
that made Holton and McCaskie the die
tators of who should be declared elected
"a 8.