The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1903-01-13
WHAT We ASK OF THE LEGISLATURE.

1. Economy but not parsimony. Steer clear
both of stinginess and extravaganza.
2. AS few laws as possible. We have too many.
In a multitude of statutes there is confusion.
3. Justice to rich and poor, individuals and
corporations, alike. Do not cringe to wealth,
as corrupt men do, in hope of gain; do not revile
it, as demagogues do, in hope of popularity.
4. Justice to the negro, from whom, for the
safety of the State, we have taken power. 1t
requires neither courage nor manliness to jump
on the man who is down. In the language of
our Governor: "It is true that a superior race
cannot submit to the rule of a weaker race with
out injury; it is also true in the long years of
God that the strong cannot Cypress the weak
without destruction"
5. A forward movement in education. 1t is
not enough merely to hold the ground that we
have gained. The State must continue it's aid
to the weaker districts. The rural school library
appropriation should be extended. The salary of
the State Superintendent should be increased.
The study of the elements of agriculture should
be provided for. Let us stop fostering the idea
that education is needed only in commercial or
professional life; let US direct attention to the
FL Dorado of u~ndreamed-of possibilities In scien-
tifc agriculture.
6. A saving of child-life. The children of to-
Gay Will make the NOrJD OdFOIlIld Oh IO-IuOIFOW,
and the State must protect them to save herself.
She must protect the children of the factories
whether from greedy capitalists or cruel parents
it matters not Nor must the hayward children
be neglected. A Reformatory should be estab-
Iishedsfor them. The reformatory saves three
fourths of the young offenders to good citizen
ship; the jail, at about the same cost, trains
three-fourths of them for further crime.
TnDDnronco 1ariC1o+iOD That asked nv tho
Anti-Saloon League is reasonable and just. The
law should assume that the people do not want
whiskey unless they ask for it, not that whiskey
is wanted everywhere except where it has been
expressly prohibited.
8. An appropriation should be made for an
agricultural building at the A. and M. College.
Eightytwo per cent of our States population
is agricultural. But though this eighty-two per
cent has voted appropriations and paid taxes for
the thorough equipment of the textile and me-
chanical departments of the College, the agricul-
tural department. is still in cramped quarters,
wretchedly equipped. With the number of agri-
cultural students doubled within two years, it
becomes the imperative duty of the Legislature
to heed this demand of the farmers of the State.
9. Miscellaneous. A better divorce law is
needed; the one now in force discredits the
State. The insane must be cared for; there is
no worthier charity. A new Code would save
confusion, worry, and lawyers fees. The birds
should be protected; they are being killed off too
rapidly, and crop pests are increasing. There
should be no bond issue if it can be avoided, but
it would be better to issue bonds than cripple
our educational or charitable work.
Finally, "be just and fear not" for there is
but one way only to serve the people well, and
that is to do the right thing, trusting them as
they may ever be trusted, to approve the things
which count for the betterment of the State"