The Memphis Appeal

MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR
OF ARKANSAS.

The message of Gov. Hughes to the Legislature of Arkansas, on Wednesday last, is an admirable specimen of what such a document should be; it is the outcome of a thoughtful, intelligent and liberal mind. Expressing gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the destinies of nations, the Governor says the State has been subject to no great calamity, but has been peaceful, contented and prosperous. Only once has the militia been called out, then order was soon restored without extreme measures. An appropriation for the militia is recommended. The State finances are in good condition. The public debt requires regulation, to secure which the message makes appropriate suggestions, vigorously standing up for the State to pay honestly every cent honestly owed. There is much confusion with respect to the State lands, and it is recommended that provision be made for ascertaining ownership of land, so that lands liable to taxation may pay their proportion, and lands now sold should be at $1.50 instead of 50 cents an acre. Gov. Hughes's views upon education are admirable. He sees no prospect of advancement or permanent prosperity without intelligence, and he emphatically declares that Arkansas "cannot afford to retrograde in the cause of education." The growth of the public schools since the last legislative session has been gratifying, a large number of new schoolhouses have been built, some of them handsome structures. County supervision and division into smaller school districts is recommended. The State Industrial University, embarrassed with the difficulties that always beset new institutions, has not been so successful as could be wished. The buildings and management are good, and, with sympathy and the necessary money aid, success will come. The lunatic asylum is a noble structure, but wants more land attached to it. The penitentiary has 540 inmates, and, unfortunately, the youthful criminals are associated with the mature and hardened, and the Governor recommends the institution of a reformatory for the young. The message pleads for provision to aid the agricultural, manufacturing and mining interests of the State. A State geologist is wanted, or at least a chemical laboratory in connection with an agricultural, manufacturing and mining bureau. The Legislature is reminded that various expositions are approaching, and provision may be required for such part as Arkansas may take in them. Railroads occupy a material portion of the message, and while lauding their utility, the Governor suggests that interstate legislation is necessary to prevent abuses, supplemented by wise State laws, as the genius and spirit of our system of government is opposed to monopoly, and to the aggrandizement of favored classes at the expense of the masses." The establishment of a State Board of Railroad Commissioners would be useful in preventing many evils and abuses. A higher public road tax is recommended; also, an appropriation for the State Board of Health; also, that Congress should be called upon to distribute to the Cotton States the $58,000,000 of unconstitutionally collected cotton tax. The Governor urges laws for the protection of capital in its rights, and labor in its just claims. We regret that we have not space to summarize the admirable sentiments and wise suggestions of this part of Gov. Hughes's message. The consolidation of State and Federal elections, the coming national centennials, and crop mortgages, each receive attention. The whole spirit of this finely drawn up message, its kindly feeling, its thoughtfulness for the less favored of fortune, its opposition to oppression and the abuses of monopoly, its intelligent grasp and lucid expression, its appreciation of the value of public education and of care for the improvement of convicts, added to its comprehensiveness in calling attention to every main point requiring legislative action, make the Arkansas Governor's message a model worthy of imitation. Comparisons are odious, but it is impossible not to feel how meager the longer Tennessee message is when contrasted with the Arkansas one.