Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-04-03
SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1897.
Entered at the Postoffice at Accomac
Q. H.. Va. as second-class matter.

Our TREND, Mr.. PARSONS, IN another
communication in this issue, con-
tinues in the same line of abuse Of
the office-holders of the State, TO
sing the same old song about Under
wood, Hunnicutt & Co., and to make
the same eXtravagant claims as to
the management of the finances Of
Georgia and North Carolina He
does not tell us, however. if a con-
stitutional convention should be held,
what offices he would abolish, what
"Hunnicutt constitutional monstrosi
ty' remains in our present con-
Stitution, especially repugnant 10
him. where the leaks in the finances
OF Virginia continue, which have
long since been cut off by Georgia
and North Carolina. His arguments
show him to be the same adept in
@eneralities, the same novice in de-
tails. 1t proves nothing. to say, that
the officials of the Commonwealth
are "leeches who are sucking the life
blood OF old Virginia, and to give
no data in proof thereof. 1t is unfair
TO call our present constitution, that
of Underwood, Hunnicutt & Co,
when so many of the Objectionable
features of the constitution fornu-
lated by them have been eliminated
by legislative amendments. 1t is
misleading to sum up the expenses of
the governments of Georgia and
North Carolina and to compare them
with that of Virginia without enter
ing more into the details. If con-
stitutional convention should be held,
Mr.. Parsons will not y,that through
it we can look for relief from the in
terest which we are now paying on
our public debt or even of that $780,
600 more with which we are bur-
dened than Georgia is. He will not
say, that through a convention we
would rid ourselves of the sums eX-
pended for educational purposes,
pensions or the care of lunatics. If
we judge Mr.. Parsons rightly in these
matters, and if as the Richmond Dis
patch says, only about $4,000 per
annum is left for the support of our
government, we submit, that fair
comparison between Virginia and
Georgia would be, to give us what
the latter spends for the sup
port of her government annually.
Ii we can't curtail the interest on our
public debt, if Mr.. Parsons is not
willing to cut down the appropria-
tions for our educational and other
institutions, will he tell US how he
proposes to make the saving in that
$40, 600 which is left for the support
of our government? He would do it
doubtless by abolishing the May
elections, and so would we. He
would consolidate the duties of sew
eral officials into one official, and that
method of saving has our approval.
He would curtail our criminal eX-
penses, and we are with him In that
respect. The only difference between
us is, that he would experiment by
the expenditure of considerable
sum of money through a convention,
and we would not, when the princi-
pal objections to our present consti-
tuition can be removed by the votes
of two successive legislatures and a
reference to the people without in
curing the expense Of a convention.
The people can judge between us
and our views, and we have only to
say in conclusion, that if Mr.. Parsons
is right, we hope that they will ac-
cept his views and vote for a conven-
ton.