The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-03-07
Our Raleigh Letter.
GORMAN NEWS BUREAU

This is the closing week OF the General
Assembly of 1907. That is to say, the
pay stops next Sunday night the expi
ration OF the Constitutional limit Of six
ty days with pay, and there is every
reason to believe that the adjournment
sine die will be taken early in the coming
week, possibly on Monday or Tuesday
evening. In order to do that and in the
mean time clear the committee rooms
and the calendar OF the bills now b fore
the Legislature and those that are being
introduced every day for the last week.
will require degree of industry that has
not characterized this Legislature to a
great extent. Many of these bills will he
lost in the shuttle, as is and has been the
intention for some time no doubt, and
others will be railroaded through in the
closing days of the session as usual that
could not stand the limelight if given de-
liberate consideration earlier in the SEES
sion. That is also often part OF the
plan OF some of the people, Legislators as
well as Others, who are interested in this
class of little bills OF doubtful char
acter and who are none too scrupulous
in the methods employed to get them
through. Most OF the bad laws get on the
statute books in this way and the great
bulk OF the bills carrying private graft
seeks the same channel
As the ''anti-trust legislation is to he
accomplished this week, under the pro-
gram mapped out, the young sprouts in
the Legislature who came here for no
other purpose than to attempt to make
records and political regulations that
may introduce them into the political
life of the State land the number this
year is even larger than usuaD will fall
over each other in an effort to seize the
opportunity to .denounce the trusts in
the name OF the dear people at home of
course, and get all the cheap notoriety
they can out OF this splendid biennial OPP
portnnity to fool the people.
Then there are the old politicians near
ly all OF whom are more or less dema
gogues however Indignantly they may
deny it. And | and other newspaper
men who have been in the business as
| have been and rubbing up against them
in Raleigh year after year know this as
sertion to be true We know them bet
ter than their home folks do, many of
them a least There are men here now
holding high office, as well as legislators,
who have been employed and paid by
big corporations denounced as trusts"
who at the very time they were making
such great "mirations' in and out OF the
Legislative halls and in the legislative
committee rooms, were being paid and
We're gladly accepting salaries or fees,
legal or otherwise. from the very trusts
! or corporations which they were sup
Some newspaper men, did they not hold
to a high sense of honor in such matters.
perhaps too high sense in some respects
and on some occasions could unfold Il
tale along this line that would astOund
the blind worshippers OF some of the
great and good men in our own party
linen who not only have been highly
honored at the partys hands, but in
GLIDING some who are still the recipients
of its greatest favors
The newspaper men are thinking about
these things just now when so many
cheap exhibitions of political piety and
personal purity are attempted to be
| fOuted in the faces of the people, They
are brought to a reminiscent mood also
| by rea 'On of the enmity to the press that
has been exhibited by the fourth-rate
General Assembly, and the attempt that
| is pending even as | am writing these
lines to revive the attempt of the trainers
of the Justice and Manning house rate
| bill to do the newspaper men of the Stat
an injustice. This time it is taking the
| form OF an attempt to repeal the present
| London libel law. Some of these great
and good men who hold high Office and
high position in the party councils might
exert themselves q, little in the matter and
in a small way reciprocate the service
some members of the newspaper profess
sion are doing them by keeping silent at
| this time.
The editors of the two Raleigh daily
papers were the sub ects of two Of the
severest attacks of the legislative session
last Saturday. Senator n. A. Mclean of
| Robertson, who had repeatedly in the
past arisen and complained of erroneous
reports and Misrepresentation in the
Senate reports and otherwise printed in
the News and Observer, reached the point
where the last straw had been placed on
the camel's back. He arose to another
| question of personal privilege, and for
the last time. as he stated, and served
notice that unless the ISLANDERS against
him ceased he intended to cowhide the
| News and Observer man who wrote
them. whoever he might be-
In the House Judge Winbourne got
into a towering passion over an article
written by the editor of the Evening
Times, which he had characterized as false
the preceding day and called upon the
paper to apoligise for the reflections
against him. When the paper did not
| apologize but reasserted its belief in the
truth OF its assertions the Representa-
tive from Hartford delivered speech vii
lifying the editor of the Times and calling
him all manner of names. In this case
there have been suggestions of a person
al encounter resulting. But at this writ
ing have learned ofnothing OF the sort
actual or prospective. 1t the other case
OF course there was no such expectation
i INDUCED in. LLEWXAM
There n kidna1 rnrnadics hut fo,x