The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-03-16
EWSPA PERS AND THE LEG
ISLATURE.


latiye body has ever sat in North Car
DINA, and certainly no more laborlous
work ever occupied the time OF such a
BODY in the history of our State.
And it may be truthfully said that
the citizens of the State have never
kept up with the daily proceedings OF
Legislature more closely than OF the
legislature of 1899. The newspaper
men in Raleigh haye placed the State
under lasting obligations to them for
the elaborate and accurate reports OF
the daily proceedings of the branches
of the Legislature, the work done in the
caucuses and by the various COM
mittees " hich were busy every day.
Two things particularly character
lied the work of the Raleigh papers
and newspaper correspondents namely,
the effort to let the people of the State
and the world know fully what was be-
ing done by the General Assembly,
and the spirit of fairness to every in
dividual who participated in the work,
whether in debate in the halls of the
Senate or House or in the work OF
committees.
Few persons realize and appreciate
the work of newspapers in giving ac-
curate and conscientious reports of
great occasions of any kind, such as
conventions, mass-meetings and the
like, which last but for a few hours or
days at the longest; and when it comes
to the tread-mlll grind of two months
of the most exacting toll, from the
most inexperienced printer to the
editor-in-chief and business manager,
no one but those who do the work has
any conception of the strain.
THE COMMONWEALTH thanks for the
State the newspapers of Raleigh for
the exhaustive and impartial and ac-
curate details OF the work of the Leg
islature and Col. f. A. Odds for the
good service he rendered through his
correspondence to papers outside OF
Raleigh.
Speaking personally, THE COMMON.
WEALTH makes special reference to the
News & Observer, whose able and YER
satile editor we have known for years
as a personal friend, for the good re-
ports we have given our readers from
week to week. By careful daily read
ing of the full reports found in thu
News & Observer, we have been able t.
sift out, by much painstaklng labor
} these things which especially inter
ested our readers. And while at thu
| beginning of the session of the Legis
lature we said that our legislative new
: was condensed from the splendid dali,
J service of the News & Observer, W
: again make acknowledgment of th
full clippings we took from that pape
in giving our report of the work of tn
body.
We feel further constrained to ga
: that the daily press of the State out
side of Raleigh did good and nobl
work in giving full proceedings of tn
Legislature through their column:
To any one at all conversar
q with the cost OF newspaper work it W.
a evident that the daily papers publishe
< in other towns than Raleigh did n,
count cost in giving their readers tn
full reports which their telegraph
service and special correspondent
n showed. And the country press, til:
u part OF States newspaper life whic
. is so seldom taken into the accoun
when the work of the press is consi
a cred, did good service in keeping we
d informed those readers who do not fe
It able to pay the price for daily pape
q The country editors of North Carolil
are not much considered when there
a general reference to "the press of IL
country" but the quiet, and sometim
obscure, country editor does a work
important In his place as does the edi
IL or OF the city daily; and in giving
70 readers the best service of which |
~ was capable during the sitting of Il
y Legislature, he is entitled to the
% hearty thanks and substantial supper
L. Considering it all in all, the press