Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-02-24

tho DAVIS after the assembly adj
iorrns. Agreements were more cas-
;lv reached under the benevolent in
flI,ence of the excursion atmosphere
than would have been possible in
tho Identified corridors of the Capt.
iol
# has been often remarked that
the current legislature is more
sober than any in recent years.
Nothing happened on the Charlotte
trip to belle that statement. There
was some evidence OF indulgence IN
the spirits which mellow the soul,
but none of excessive drinking.
It also has been remarked, some
times in deep seriousness, more OFT
en- in satirical jest, that Mecklen-
burg and Charlotte is dry terri
tory. If that statement is made
again by any person on the trip this
week, if made in good faith, it will
be some one who was deaf, blind,
and whose sense of smell was also
on holiday.
Liquor was available in apparent
~ unlimited quantities in the hotel
ball room, in half a dozen lndlvld-
ual headquarters" and for the ask
ing almost anywhere else. One
statement might stand up: 1t was
difficult to buy liquor in Charlotte
Wednesday. Whether a hospitable
city just didn't want to take the Wis
itOrs' money, or the reception COM
mittee had cornered the available
supply, or because the bootleggerS
feared the presence of an arid gov
ernOr doesn't matter. Liquor was
at reach, all that any one could
want, but it wasn't for sale. 1t was
free. The bar set up in the hotel,
with white-coated Negro bartenders
to serve the guests, bowls of sailed
peanuts and crackers instead of the
traditional free lunch, was reminis-
cent of the days when grandpa
could walk up to the rail and an
nOunce his wishes with assurance
that they would be Immediately
granted.
Some of the legislators from wet
counties were amazed. They drew
two conclusions. First, that there
just amt no such thing as a "dry"
county; second, that availability of
liquor tends to reduce excessive
consumption. What conclusions al
legged dries drew remain unknown;
they only shook their heads in sad
ness.
Mecklenburg county's magnifi-
cent court house is adequate for To-
cal litigation, but utterly unsuited
t. State legislation. Presiding Off
GERS and ergeants-at-arms just had
to do the best they could toward
maintaining order, and that best
wasn't much. Mecklenburgers had
not ever seen a legislature and they
came to see this one. In order to
forestall regular flood of requests
for "courtesies of the gallery" Gov
ernor Horton just accorded every
citizen of Mecklenburg that courtesy
and it looked like darn near all of
them accepted.
The Senate did manage to con-
some piece of legislation of the en-
tire session, when it passed on third
roll reading the pure seed law. Only
other business was saying thank you
to the hosts of the day.
The House Jared a little better
or worse-by having somewhat more
work to do. On that side several
bills were passed, including the Nc
Bryde resolution providing for Of
ficial State cognizance of the SEES
qui-centennial next November of
the ratification of the Federal con-
stitution at Fayetteville
Parades, free rides, a splendid
luncheon, at which charming young
ladies in colonial dress distributed
copies Of the Mecklenburg Declara-
ton, formal reception and informal
bar room sociability, made up the
entertainment.
Perhaps the joint session at which
Governor Hoey of North Carolina
and Governor Maybank of South
Carolina both spoke, also should be
classed as entertainment, although
1t had to go in the formal journals.
The trip did have one further
seriously valuable effect. 1t gave to
some fasteners who had never
seen the Piedmont section a better
idea OF the State, and will have a
good influence in retarding purely
sectional and selfish legislation.