The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-08-02

The Independent paper and the inde
pendent voter will be the determining
factor in the election OF the nexi
| president. II this is true. Parker has
a fine chance To be elected. The indie
pendent papers Of New York are al
! for him, and IL is said the Independent
| voters OF New York city are solid fol
Parker. believing that he is a safer
man than Roosevelt.-Raleigh Times.
Today will see h finish of a hard
fight in Wilmington between the forces
Of the saloon III of the dispensary
There are but few important w in
North Carolina where the issue has
not been raised n settled. for the
time. being at least. 1t is hoped t+a
IL will stay settled everywhere when
the people have had their say about it.
Raleigh Times.
Mr.. Bryan's enunciation of principles
has called forth a storm OF d~isapprovai
from many quarters. Perhaps those
who criticise the Nebraskan so fiercely
are right. But il is possible that they
are wrong. They speak for one extreme
in government. Mr.. Bryan for another.
Isn't it possible, therefore, that they
are as far from the safe middle ground
on the one side as he is on the other?-
Greensboro Telegram.
For the first time since ne got off his
bronco and squatted down in tie pres
ident's chair, Mr.. Roosevelt has called
in a number of wise men and asked
for advice. He sees the handwriting
on the wall and wishes to know what
he must do to be saved. 1t is too late
now. The day of salvation has passed
him by unobserved. He should have
sought counsel at an earlier day, while
''the wonder grew that one small head
contained all it knew."-Clinton Dem
ocrat.
When laboring men get an advance
in wages the fact is heralded all over
the country that 1t Is due to the wise
management of the present administra-
ton, but the recent cut of IL IL per
cent. in wages at certain places is not
due to the same source at all. The
republican party claims credit for good
seasons, good crops high wages, gener-
al prosperity and the discovery of much
gold, but Providence is to blame for
short crops, dry weather, low wages
and business Observation-Disclosures
Dispatch.
The labor question in it's various
phases is still very prominent, n a
disturbing factor in many parts of the
country. In Milwaukee Judge Ludwig
has decided that contracts made by in
GoI y ulIIo1iS Will
turers, prohibiting the employment of
non-union workingmen, are void. In
Connecticut MI. Justice Hatch has de-
cided hat state law requiring journey
men horse shoers to be registered is I'M
constitutional. The rage for laws to
control and hedge in labor will in time
spend itself. The less the state med
dies with honest occupations, the bet
ter for the people.-Durham Sun.
We note with real pleasure that the
vagrant law is being enforced by May
or Powell. There is nothing this city
needs so much as a rigid enforcement
of this law. We hope the next legis-
lature will examine into the vagrant
law of other states. with a view Of
making ours more effective. This pa
per printed the full text of the Georgia
law last year. 1t is a much better law
than the one this state has We in
tend to print it again before the legis-
lature meets. Mississippi and Alabama
have the same law as Georgia. The
proper enforcement of this law in
North Carolina would add thousands
of dollars to the income of the state,
and besides, it would be a blessing to
many idlers, by forcing them to cease
loafing n go to work.-Raleigh Times.