The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-05-26
STATE PRESS.

bd4l-HIOIe 10 peat Bryan got IN tn
bad habit Of going republican and find.
it hard now to correct it. Any part
that goes into another party for expe,
diency generally gets the worst of it
and comes out with its feathers scorch.
ed and more or less crippled.-Durhan
sun.
No town is perfect. Few of then
can throw stones at Wilson because
they live in glass houses. But this fac
does not detract from Wilson'S duty Il
see that crime IS punished.-News ant
Observer. In this latter case her citi.
zens have determined that this shall
be dOne.-Wilson News.
There are particular reasons WHY
the southern democracy should find out
what the northern democracy want
and indorse it," says The Brooklyn
Eagle. That's what we've been doine
since the late unpleasantness," except
that We indOrse without finding out
what it is.-Greenville Reflector.
The Indianapolis -chambermaid ap-
pears to have struck a popular chord
when she declined to make up the bed
where Booker Washington slept. The
purse which is being made up for her
is growing all the while. Booker him
self. if he has the sense many people
credit him with. would make a contri-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Telegram
When will it be understood that law
breakers can never be law enforcers?
The horrible murder of the man Jones
at Wilson, told Of on the first page of
The Journal, cannot be condoned on
the ground that the man was living
an immoral life or that the crowd of
hOodlums who killed him intended only
to whip him. 1t speaks something for
the community that he officers went
10 work at once to fix the responsible
ity for the crime.-Monroe Journal.
Ex-President Cleveland himself can
hardly but be somewhat astonished at
the remarkable contrast between the
concentrations that are lavished upon
him on all sides and the whirlwind of
defamation and calumny which assailed
him and his last administration. Yet
it is the same Cleveland. In his retire
ment he has done nothing to rehabilitate
himself in intelligent public opinion, for
he was not conscious of any need Of it
But 1t is the return of the second sober
sense of the American people hat has
spontaneously accomplished this revo-
luton of sentiment.-Goldsboro Head
light.
A great burden is now lifted from
the public mind. All suspense is at
an end. Mr.. Bryan has spoken. He
has designated his choice for presi-
dent. 1t is the Hon. Walter Clark,
chief justice of the supreme court of
North Carolina, who, he says. stands
squarely on the" platform. OF course
there is only one platform, never has
been but n genuine and never will
be another. Mr.. Justice Clark no doubt
stood on the Is to 1 f1at-footed, but
being a shreWd and learned gentleman
1t is not safe to say he would relish
running for president on it at the pres
time.-Greensboro Record.
One an but be impressed with
at east one distinct advantage possess
ed by our southern schools over those
of many other sections. The visitor
sees it and remarks upon it. The ad-
VantageS referred to consist in the su-
perior personality of the southern teach
ers. They have not, as a rule, in the
ear gone by. known so much about
the correct theory and practice Of
teaching. Their efforts in the school
room have frequently been wasteful;
severely nerve racking to the teacher.
without getting any adequate return
from the child. But the teachers have
succeeded in doing we'll this one thing
at least, they have built up noble char
acters among those pupils who have
been fortunate enough to sit at their
feet.-kinston Free Press.
The time now is in North Carolina
when a mans life is not considered
worth much more than a dogs. Hardly
a day passes but what We read of a
murder in some part of the state. Is
this to continue and grow worse? 1t
will continue until something is done
TO check it. The pistol carrying ha bit
IS largely responsible for so many muir
ders. If one man becomes engaged in
a quarrel with another and has a pistol
the first thing he does is to use it, and
4 murder is the result, while if he didn't
have a pistol he would very probably
reconsider the case and not attempt to
kill. Under the laws of the state il is
a hard matter to hang for murder. 1t
must be premeditated, and even then if
the murderer is a man of money and
prominence he is not hung but given
five or ten years in the p~enitentiary.
about what would be given an ignorant
negro for stealing a han from your
SmOkehouse. All of our citizens who
love peace and order should try to
break up this pistol carrying habit. and
our courts should punish every person
convicted of carrying a concealed weap-
on to the full extent of the law. When
this law is rigidly enforced We will have
many less murderS.-Clarkton Express.