Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-01-15
INAUGURAL MESSAGE.


l'onlinucd from frs; page
lhiS Guarantee was renewed in the first,
second aud third charters OF KIM
Henry Tie Third and in that OF King
Edward the First, and WAS really frag-
mcnt oi tine UI.t common law which pre-
I vented any person from approrriatin- TO
themselves ishWay ON the rivers,
winch We're deemed common property
Every pubhi river, Lord Coke declared
To be the Kings highway, which could
not he privately occupied, kyirlls
were dams having narrow cut in them,
and furnished with wheels or traps for
catching fish. 1t will thus hc seen that
this monopoly, which in England was
destroyed nearly seven hundred wears
ago, Is iiourIshlng dctiantly in the latter
part OF the nineteenth century in this
country, which boasts Of its equal laws.
Let all flsh-traps, tish-whcelS and scines
be abolished, continc the fishing to gill.
nets alone, and then all citizens hayc an
equal chance, and the wholesale de
structlon OF fish and the speedy cx,inc
ton OF one OF our choicest industries can
be avoided"
MISCELLANEOUS RECOMMENDATIONS.
1t Is hoped that any member be-
coming possessed Of information which
would implicate any person in the
otlrnSc OF corrupt solicitation of Of
iiclals will Immediately cau>c prosecu-
ton to be brought against such per
sons to the end that bribery may be-
come Il thing unknown in Washing
ton. 1t will afford me pleasure to aid,
so far as | may be able, in placing be
nlnd prison bars, any person within
the limits of the State who shall be
convicted OF this crime. 1t is proba-
bic that if some person highly con-
ncctcd and OF considerable previous
social standing could be thus treated
as an example, much good would
thereby result.
The statute passed ut the last scs-
sion Of the Legislature, providing for
and allowing actions to be brought
against the State in the Superior
Court OF ThurstOn county, should be
at once repealed. BY means of it, it
will be possible for designing men to
loot the State Treasury or cumbcr the
records with judgments against the
State. The Legislature may be re-
lied upon to prevent injustice To indi-
vidualS as the result of peculiar or par
ticular circumstances or conditions.
1t is universally recognized as true
that whenever large and great accum-
ulatlons of property are harrasscd and
rendered unproductivc and unproiit-
able by the combined action of men
OF small means and of no So
cial standing, so called, y state of
anarchy and misrule obtains, against
which all the powers Of the State
should be cxcrtcd for instant and ex-
peditlous repression. Against this
view no good citizen will raise his
voice. Order is not only the first law
of Heaven, but it should be, it must
be, and it will be, the first law of the
State. But there is another view of
this matter, which, while equally true,
is not equally obvious to the mass of
society as now constituted. We be-
come accustomed to injustice by daily
association, and what at first would
arouse the deepest Indignation, be-
comes in time an apparent necessity
and finally seems to the average citi-
zen natural and interchangeable condi-
ton. 1t must be evident, however, to
the thoughtful and considerable man,
that the converse of the proposition
stated must also be true. If the prop
erty, the business and the occupations
of the great mass of common and or
binary citizens of this country, pos
sessed OF little or no wealth and social
standing, are not only rendered I'M
profitable and unremunerativc, but are
actually taken from them by the
operation of causes set in motion by
the few members of society possessed
of wealth and high social position, who
appear to be intent only upon pc
cuniary profit, regardless of loss and
suffering imposed upon the many,
then, in this event, it ought to seem
that anarchy is as truly fostered and
produced as in the first and most
obvious instance.
Although it is clearly evident to all
thinking men that the people OF this
country are within the next few years
to pass through most critical period
OF national existence, l have a firm
and abiding confidence in the wisdom,
the justice and the abilities of the
great American people. They will
safely surmount all opposition, for
against the threatening difficulties
which may seem to the timid to bar
their advance, they will oppose the
steady purpose of an honest intention
and an earnest aspiration. The spirit
of the fathers animates them; for
them there is no such word as fail;
they have hitched their wagon to
star, the Star of Hope; and the hope
of humanity in them shall never
perish. J. r. ROGERS.