The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-03-14


times irresistible against the encroach-
ments of the hungry, and in some in
stances. almost ravenous majority, has
prompted me to lay at the feet of
our Democratic friends the accompany
ing personal tributes: / think they will
he regarded in the future as political sun
beams that east rays Of light upon other
wise beclouded and stormy scenes.
The seven Democrats in the Senate
and the twenty-six in the House formed
a break-water against many unwise aud
partisan measures that were proposed,
especially those that IN their operations
would have heaped indignities AMI
social turmoil upon many Of our towns
and cities.
1t has been gratifying to that unmoV-
able phalanx of Anglo-SaXon men ana
women of the State to know That even IN
this day of party Generalization, that
that party. which has fer twenty-five
years guarded the rights Of the people,
established and maintained the credit
of the State built and protected Its m
stitutions, still had a sufficient force III
it's legislative councils TO ward off some
of the most disastrous blows OF the
enemies of good government.
These men were on the watch from the
time the Legislature met until it ended
In the committee rooms and on the floors
OF the two Houses they have stood up
manfully against the extreme PROPOSE
lions of the opposing party. IL they nad
been merely selfish partlsans, they
might have sat passively in their seats
and without protest, al ,wed the revo-
Iutionists to do their worst with the feel-
ing that the worse the legislation. the
greater would be the -eyolt on the part
of the people. But they were patriots as
we'll as partisans, and as such they felt
each a personal responsibility, and they
met these responsibilities In that broad
and liberal spirit which characterlzes
true and LOYAL North Carolinians. They
came to Raleigh, not to serve their party
alone. nor to serve their respective coun-
ties alone. but to serve their State and its
hest interests from the mountains to the
sea.
There was neither narrowness nor
backwardness in their support of meas
ures which had in them the good of the
State. the advancement of its Industrial
or educational interests, or the protection
and maintenance of its institutions, no
matter from what source the measure
came
They fought against the political foot
ball methods employed TO turn our chart
table institutions into the quagmIre OF OF
fsce-grabbing politics, and while they
could not in many instances, because OF
their limited numbers, even with the aid
OF many conservative men on the Other
side. resist the ravenous appetite OF the
hungry place-huntens, who, for pelf's
sake. made a compact early in the SEES
sion to grab everything in sight. 4ney
did succeed in numbeF of cases in tenn
pering the partisan winds that threaten
ed our institutions.
The people are thinkers these days.
/ AS a result of their much thinking they
NAV sometimes form wrong conclusions,
but the great masses win think again,
and will soon detect their error and they
will rise up, and in their might, drive
the despoilers from their counsel cham
bers. The debt of gratitude due to these
men. on whose honest faces ] have the
privilege Of inviting the people Of North
Carolina to look to-day, win be
duly repaid in the heartfelt thanks Of a
million true and loyal men and women,
who have made the State and established
for it a standard Of honor and virtue that
i'll political winds may sometimes bend,
but that no force on earth can break.
dedicate this page, land the following
page), not to the men whose faces are
printed on it, but to the thousands in
whose interest they have fought a sixty
days vigorous warfare.
WHAT THEY DO AT HOME.
OF the thirty four Democratic members
of the Legislature, thirteen are lawyers,
fourteen farmers, two preachers, ONE a
Methodist and the other a Baptist, three
doctors. ONE teacher, three merchants
one banker and one cotton broker.
Thirty-two of them are native North
Carolinians, thirty are natives of the
counties they represented, one was ma
tive Of South Carolina, one a Virginian,
nine of them had served in former Leg
islatures, and twenty-five were new
members, twenty-nine of them are mar
ried and twenty eight OF these have chill
dren.
For the benefit Of the ladies, we will
give the names of the bachelors and their
postofices: Mr.. Rodolph Duffy, of Jack
sonyille, Onslow county, heads the hist.
Then there are Mr.. Walter Murphy, Of
Salisbury; Mr.. Charles NJ. Creech, of
Clayton; Mr.. J. w. Ferguson, Of Waynes-
Vile. and Mr.. j. A. Leak, Of Wadesboro.
A glance at the cluster picture will show
our lady friends that each Of these young
bachelors are handsome and worth catch
ing. Mr.. Murphy and Mr.. Ferguson We
henemtnly declared that they would IA
ther be married tlssn to be legislators.
Mr.. Duffy evaded the question. Mr..
LEAK did likewise while Mr.. Creech de
clared that it was easier for him TO secure
the support of two thousand men than Il
was to make one woman believe that he
could support her.
mo. sUMERyILLE CUNNINGHAM.
For years and years Person county s
most influential, popular and substantial
citizen was the late John W Cunning