Year: 1878

The editor of the Olympia Courier
usually takes common sense view of
things. Being on the ground at the
last session of the Legislature he speaks
in this matter from personal observa-
ton. Read the following:


The volume of session laws now
nearly finished by the public printer,
advance sheets of which have been
sent out to different parts Of the Ter
ritory, has been made the occasion of
additional criticism Of that much
abused body of men-the late Wash
ington Territory Legislature. 1t was
the fashion and sure evidence of
wit on the part of many of the news
papers of the country to sneer at
General Howard during his late cam
paign in Idaho and Montana, regard
less Of truth or justice. So it has
been with the more disreputable class
of Washington Territory papers in
their remarks about the members OF
the late legislature. The papers have
not only declared the members named,
to be of the least average ability Of
any ever gathered together in the
Territory, but that they were also the
most corrupt. Now, we don't think
either of these statements is true. On
the contrary, we think that all who
have been in a position to form a
competent Judgment will agree with
us, that as body they were intelli


gent and honest, and actuated by an
earnest desire to legislate for the best
interests Of the Territory. As body
they were unfamiliar with parliament


tary usage and matters of legislation,
and there were none scarcely, who were
fitted by reason Of ability or eXper-
ience, to act as leaders. In the


House, man of integrity and con-
siderable natural ability was chosen
Speaker, but he was almost totally
ignorant, when he entered the chair,
of the duties and requirements of the
position, and but few of the members
were any better informed than he
The result of all this was that little
work was accomplished in the early
days of the session, and, at the last,
it became a necessity to pass bills
without the careful examination thev
needed or else have important legis-
lation fail altogether. On the last
day of the session it was impossible
for the clerks to enroll the bills as
fast as they were passed, and many
of the original bills went to the Gov
ernor to be signed, having been con-
sidered enrolled by resolution of
the proper House. But this was
through no fault of the clerks. As
most of these employees are ladies and
not possessed of a vote, some of the
gallant quill drivers have attempted
to lay the blame, not on the members,
but on the clerks. This is both un-
manly and untrue. We have found
the grossest blunders in spelling and
punctuation are in some of the orig
inal bills, and they too in the hand
writing of well-known lawyer, now
holding office in the Third judicial
District, and a prominent candidate
on the Democratic side for Delegate
to Congress-a man the peer in abil
itv of the editors who have been so
severely critical, but who is much
more capable of constituting law than
punctuating manuscript. Nearl Y every
man who has received common
school education thinks he is fully
competent to write the English lam
guage, but we have found that there
are very few public men in the Ter
ritory-lawyers, clergymen, doctors
and even school teachers-who can
write newspaper article and not
have their commas and capital letters
play fantastic tricks with them, and
the majority will disagree with Web
ster on the spelling of a great many
words in daily use by them. All
newspaper men will tell the same
tale. Most contributors to the press
do not know how much they owe to
the printer for the good appearance
of their articles. 1t is merely mat
ter of practice to know how to spell
and punctuate, and no evidence of
ignorance nor lack of ability not to.
For this reason, it has been custom
ary heretofore to allow the printer of