The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-04-16
HIGH PRAISE OF THE LEGISLA-
TURE.

The great majority of the people OF
North Carolina, who kept up day by
day with the proceedings of the Gen
eral Assembly were gratified that the
membership was animated by spirit
of patriotism and the highest moral
purpose. 1t is a matter of gratifica-
ton to know that in spite of wholesale
detraction by certain interests,
thoughtful men outside of North Caro-
lima who have studied the acts of the
Legislature. find in it much to approve.
In recent issue of the Outlook is the
following editorial review of the work
of that body:
North Carolina: Divorce Reform;
Gambling in Futures: Liquor
Laws; Vagrancy, etc.
1.-THE Legislature swept from the
statute books all special divorce laws
passed since 1888, and returned to the
code of that year, which allows only
the scriptural cause for divorce and
does not grant to the wife the privilege
of obtaining a divorce for one breach
of the marriage bond. An amendment
to discard this Ubiquitous distinction
between husband and wife was passed
ate. That will come later. Meanwhile,
easy and frequent divorces, which
were becoming a scandal are effectu-
ally prohibited. Gambling in cotton
futures was another nuisance that this
Legislature wiped out by a drastic
law, which abolished bucket-shops
and stock exchanges as well. forbid
ding all transactions in futures except
those by manufacturers and wholesale
m nr0tnCtiOn
The Watts Law passed by the preced-
ing Legislature wiped out the distil-
leries and saloons from the country
districts, restricting them to incorpor
ated towns, and giving such fair play
for local option in the towns that the
saloons have been driven from three
fourth of the counties of the State
This excellent law was supplemented
at this session by the Ward bill, which
prohibits the manufacture of liquor in
towns of less than a thousand people,
its sale in towns having less than two
policemen, and makes the possession
of a United States license in prohib-
tied territory prima facie evidence of
guilt. The local dispensary at Raleigh
was such an object lesson in the re-
sulting sobriety of the capital city that
special acts were passed for diSpen-
sary elections at Winston and Ashe-
Vile. An "anti-jug law making the
place of delivery the place of sale, and
thus making the shipment of liquor
from any point in North Carolina to
another in prohibited territory unlaw>
full was passed; it applies to nearly
all the prohibition counties of the
State. A vagrancy law, similar to the
one in Georgia, that sends the vampire
parent, of the cotton mills who lives
off the labor of his children. and the
negro idler of the towns who is sup
ported by the thievery of the woman
cook, to work on the roads, is another
act of this Legislature. Worthy of
note also was the large majority by
which all these measures were passed
about two to one. The temper and
character of this Legislature are
sufficient justification of the COnstitu-
tiOnal Amendment fOrbidding the suf-
frage to tile illiterate negro, and to all
illiterates after 1908. The State is in
prosperous condition and the public
treasury is in good shape. The most
liberal provisions ever adopted were
made by this Legislature for the care
of the insane and other unfortunates;
for the University, the State Normal,
the Agricultural and Mechanical Col
leges; for the pensions to Confederate
soldiers; and for the public schools"