HIST-222: Republican Rule Editorial Reconstruction

Source: Raleigh (NC) Daily Standard. Post-session appraisal of the 1868–1869 Legislature.
Major achievements highlighted:
- Liberal homestead law: praised as a lasting monument and support for the people.
- Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure: numerous, born of experience.
- School law: not perfect, but marks the start of a republican system of free education for all children in the old North State.
- Railroad charters granted; revenue framework to connect remote areas to markets.
- Revenue law: designed to raise sufficient revenue to defray ordinary and extraordinary expenses.
- Public charities remodeled on liberal constitutional basis; funds provided for the forthcoming fiscal year.
- University placed on a stable foundation.
- Commercial interests not neglected; acts of incorporation for cities and associations signal revival in all ranks of society.
- General law conferring corporate powers on townships; townships to organize and govern themselves.
- Relief extended to officials and others who had fallen on hard times due to past calamities.
Overall assessment:
- Legislature did well; daily good works will become more apparent and appreciated.
- Critics silenced by the momentum of laws; the entire people will applaud its liberality and independence.
- No elaborate defense is necessary; a fair statement of what it has done will suffice, and the future will vindicate the session of 1868–’69.

Source: Raleigh (NC) Daily Sentinel. Critique of North Carolina legislation.
Core charges:
- The history of legislation reveals fraud, venality, and recklessness unparalleled in any era.
- With ruin and crop failures, the Legislature has shown disregard for the people's condition; recklessly devised a system of taxation that burdens landowners and may be unbearable.
Specific criticisms:
- Railroad schemes, constant waste of public funds, taxes oppressive and ruinous.
- Six months in Raleigh produced only harm; the legislature deserves the lasting contempt of a hardworking, frugal people.
- Not all lawmakers are corrupt; some stood for honor and the public interest.
- Carpet-baggers and "native and to the manor born" parasites are blamed for exploiting the people; described as political lepers corrupting the political atmosphere.
Rhetorical tone and consequences:
- Language emphasizes spoliation, corruption, and the destruction of capital and the state's wealth; taxation would drive away capital.