Economy but not parsimony. Steer clear both of stinginess
and extravagance.
As few laws as possible. We have too many. In a multitude of
statutes there is confusion.
Justice to rich and poor, individuals and corporations,
alike. Do not cringe to wealth, as corrupt men do, in hope of gain; do not
revile it, as demagogues do, in hope of popularity.
Justice to the negro, from whom, for the safety of the
State, we have taken power. It requires neither courage nor manliness to jump
on the man who is down. In the language of our Governor: “It is true that a
superior race cannot submit to the rule of a weaker race without injury; it is
also true in the long years of God that the strong cannot oppress the weak
without destruction.”
A forward movement in education. It is not enough merely to
hold the ground that we have gained. The State must continue its aid to the
weaker districts. The rural school library appropriation should be extended.
The salary of the State Superintendent should be increased. The study for the
elements of agriculture should be provided for. Let us stop fostering the idea
that education is needed only in commercial or professional life; let us direct
attention to the El Dorado of undreamed-of possibilities in scientific
agriculture.
A saving of child-life. The children of today will make the
North Carolina of to-morrow, and the State must protect them to save herself.
She must protect the children of the factories—whether from greedy capitalists
or cruel parents it matters not. Nor must the wayward children be neglected. A
reformatory should be established for them. The reformatory saves three-fourths
of the young offenders to good citizenship; the jail, at about the same cost,
trains three-fourths of them for further crime.
Temperance legislation. That asked by the Anti-Saloon League
is reasonable and just. The law should assume that the people do not want
whiskey unless they ask for it, not that whiskey is wanted everywhere except
where it has been expressly prohibited.
An appropriate should be made for an agricultural building
at the A. and M. College. Eighty-two per cent of our State’s population is
agricultural. But though this 82 per cent has voted appropriates and paid taxes
for the thorough equipment of the textile and mechanical departments of the
College, the agricultural department is still in cramped quarters, wretchedly
equipped. With the number of agricultural students doubled within two years, it
becomes the imperative duty of the Legislature to heed this demand of the
farmers of the State.
A better divorce law is needed; the one now in force
discredits the State.
The insane must be cared for; there is no worthier charity.
A new Code would save confusion, worry, and lawyers’ fees.
The birds should be protected; they are being killed off too
rapidly, and crop pests are increasing.
There should be no bond issue if it can be avoided, but it
would be better to issue bonds than cripple our educational or charitable work.
Finally, “be just and fear not,” for “there is but one way
only to serve the people well, and that is to do the right thing, trusting them
as they may ever be trusted, to improve the things which count for the
betterment of the State.”
No comments:
Post a Comment