The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-07-14

THE LEGISLATURES OF 1893 RE-,
VIEWED.

was delivered by ex-Judge III. G. Con-
NOR, of Wilson, who was speaker of
rthe house Of representatives in the re-
cent legislature and an admirable
zone. He spoke at the request of the as
ssociation, and it was a clean, calm, cap
ital review Of the important legislation
of 1899. Judge onnor has long COM
Mnanded u esteem and admiration.
He is a lawyer and jurist of high ideals
and noble bearing. He is not only ex-
~~ceedingly well read in law, but is a
clear headed, able advocate, master Of
his own ample resources, n Of con-
sservative temper. In politics he is en-
~dowed with something of prescience, is
moderate and yet decided, a man of
judgment, of candor, of principle. There
rs no lawyer in the state who is more
deserving of public confidence. He has
always borne himself well. His adj
edress is timely. 1t brings out briefly,
b u lucidly and exactly just what i'm
Eoortant laws were enacted and their
Antent. His opening remarks were in
excellent taste. He spoke judiciously
when he said:
"To the citizen and especially the
1citiZen lawyers there are few sources
%0f historical study more interesting
than the legislative records of the
estate. 1t is there LAT he finds an ex-
preston of the moral sentiment, the
political opinions and the highest aspi-
rations of the people. 1t is there hat
The finds the development of the polit-
1ical will, the struggle for the adjust
Gment of the law in unison with the
q A~I &c ha oN~In
After all hat is ~biennially said Int
written, as each general assembly of
TIT representatives of the people comes
land goes with it's promises, it's failures,
ats hopes and it's disappointments, those
who gather in the state house consti-
Artute, upon the whole, a fair type Of the
citizenship of the state, and that which
they do enact is for the time being,
and as they understand and interpret
lit, the will of the average man in the
state"
His brief review or Of the
Dad legislation between 1893 and 1899,
Knight be studied with benefit by all
gthe voters and tax payers. He showed
.how much of wisdom and right were in
the legislation of 1893, before the dem
were showed aside that emperics,
1xprejudiced and reckless partisans, and
fermaters took the reins and
rode after John Gilpin's style at a
Gbreak-neck speed. Judge Common says
of the new order that succeeded the
mobile "old ORDER" composed of as in
competent and rash legislators as ever
CURSED a state:
1.-THE legislature of 1895 was the pro-
<duct of two political forces. One
aiercely attacking and seeking to de-
@stroy the supremacy of the party and
men who, for a generation, had con-
trolled and directed the affairs of the
state. The other seeking to mould and
weld into solidarity, political thought
and. purpose, having but one idea in
common, in all other respects diScord-
ant and antagonistic, a desire to de-
stroy what they considered a common
enemy.
1.-THE political tone and color of this
2 body was in marked contrast to that
which had controlled since 1870. The
ifusionists were in a majority so large
that the minority were helpless. For
che first time in our history a statute
found it's way into the hands of the
dcEerk on enrolled bills and had the sig
mature of the presiding officers which,
in fact had not been enacted by the
senate and house. The Importance Of
the act and it's drastic provisions gave
LIE QueSLlOH VI us NdllulIy lluCll pIOIl-
n
The TRANCE thing about it was that
The combine supreme court upheld it
.sas law, although the only legislative
rgbody had never passed it. There is a
syrnost remarkable testimony as to the
generally fair, conservative and law
sabiding character of the intelligent
,foeople of North Carolina that this un-
law sustained by the highest
z~judicatory was obeyed until it had
gbeen repealed by another Legislature
tswo years later.
Judge Connor says that while the
Nay and the legal min of the state
srevolted at the suggestion that a stat
ulte can have the effect and force of
Haw otherwise than by the enactment
of the representatives of the people,
there is much in the argument that
9Th integrity of the records of one de-
Eartment of the government cannot be
SCALED into question by another de-
oartment. The people, as they always
SHOULD do in a government like ours,
where their wrongs may be righted by
&-OIlSltIulIOkkol AASSAAouob SAS
statute until the mex general assem-
Goly repealed it,"
This curiosity in law should be pur-
.sued for unborn generations of patri-
~otic and liberty loving North Caro-
Ninians. It's history, with the act that
was forged, should be craven up tab
Hets of bronze and put over the chair
~4of the presiding officers in both houses.
Judge Connor notes briefly some other
extraordinary and dangerous legisla-
ffion that marked the combine. He says
and with precision of statement, n
emphasis Of a great fact:
cit was at this session that an act
bearing the title, An act to restore self
government to the people, reversing
the policy of the state for twenty
wears, was passed. By this change the
election of the justices of the peace
and county commissioners was vested
I- 1919 - 2~r,-%y -