Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1925-01-22
After Inaugural, Assembly
is Making Some HeadWay

I
the new official family at the Gov
crnor's Mansion, and an eventful day
came to close with a brilliant re-
! ccption in the evening in which the
public participated.
The first official act of Governor
Mclean was the re-appointment of
AdJutant General Metz, and his as
slstant Major Gordon Smith. His Ex-
cellency appeared at the capitol early
on the morning following his induc-
tion into Office and has since that
time has been the busiest man in
Raleigh. The General Assembly is
soon to be apprised of the Governors
| conception of the present needs of
! the state, in concrete form, and then
/ commonwealth building will begin in
earnest in accordance with the plans
of really great business executive.
SO far the Legislature has been
marking time" 1t has enacted no
legislation of q general character,
but is organized and ready for bus
mess. The following public bills have
been presented during the week:
JOINT resolution preventing the tea
ching Of Darwinism in the public
schools, to punish the giving of worth
less checks; increased compensation
of members of the general assembly
hu 70 -,
repeal the act requiring the registra-
ton of motor vehicles; to provide for
monument to the life and services
of the late Chief Justice Walter
Clark; amend laws relating to the
trial of issues of fact; to properly
present the natural resources of the
state to the outside world to enable
cities and towns to license and reg
ulate peddling, to repeal the statute
with reference to medical eXamina-
tions by life insurance companies, re-
lative to excluding evidence of tran
sactions of an interested party with
deceased officer or agent of a cor
poration; amend chapter relative TO
taxing dogs, to prohibit the sale of
firecrackers and toy pistols; to pro-
hibit the issue of insurance without
the consent of the insured, and to
regulate the sale of infantile insur-
ance; for closer supervision of cleo
trical wiring; to provide for better
fire protection and supervision of
state and privately owned hospitals,
asylums and sanitoriums; to define
and regulate group life insurance; to
rearrange the judicial districts of the
state; to provide for the use OF both
front and rear license plates on mo-
tor vehicles; to provide laws govern
ing the sale of stocks, bonds, and
other securities in the state; an act
relating to emergency judges; to re-
enact the law relating to justices
and other officers summoning witness
, ses in cases pertaining to gambling
and public drunkenness. to require
operators of motor vehicles to take
out liability insurance; to reduce the
salaries of solicitors; to appoint com
mit,e in respect to the Stone Noun
tain Confederate Memorial etc.
Many of the important commit, tees
are getting in action and a continual
grind is Sin the making" The men,
bers have been urged by the presid-
ing officer of each branch of the
Assembly to present all local mea-
sures early in the session, so the ma
chinery may operate smoothly later
on.
The date of Governors McLean's
first message to the General Assem-
bly, is set for Wednesday of the pres
ent week. This will be the signal for
forward movement in legislative
circles and the termination of lull
in the proceedings which could not
well be avoided. 1t is never an easy
matter to get things going until af-
ter the inaugural ceremonies are out
of the way. Mr.. Mclean appears to
know the direction in which he is
headed and the General Assembly
has a mind to go along with him.
With the legislative and executive
departments in complete harmony
there can be little question of results
that will spell big things for the state
in general way.
On Thursday the members of the
General Assembly heard Gutzon Bor.
glum, world famous sculptor, and
the directing hand in the Stone Noun
tain confederate memorial, in a fif.
teen minutes talk. Mr.. Borglum spoke
feelingly of this wonderful enterprise
and gave unstinted praise to the sou.
thern heroes whose statues are beino
!, carved in stone as memorial e
their valor at time which triet