The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1871-08-01
The Democracy BEGINNING 10
Move In EarneAt.

| FROM Tue ldSL issue OF tue DaSLTOp
Advertiser, we extract the -subjoined
abstract Of the very earnest and for
chile speech of our distinguished
fellOw-citizen, Maj. G. S. West, Of
this city. It'll well worth reading.
We hope Maj. West may be able to
make many such speeches to the peo-
pie of this State, before the autumn
elections. They are SO clear and
pointed that they cannot be misunder-
stood, and must have the effect not
only of arousing our friends to deter
mined effort to do their whole duty
as Democrats-but liksHHae to open
the eyes and bring conviction to the
minds of many deluded Radicals.
Let there be light.
Maj. West, after expressing his
qualification at seeing so many of the
citizens of the ancient county of
Bastrop on the ground, passed eu-
logy upon the old county, He said
that Bastrop was the mother county
for all the upper Colorado and Quad
alupe that Travis, and Hays, and
Blanco, and Guadalupe and Burnett
were all her children, and it was
right that old Bastrop should occupy
the post of honor and lead off in
this fight. Travis and the other
counties would catch the inspiration
from her. In old times, when old
Bastrop was the advance guard of
western civilization, whenever our
Indian enemies came down upon the
infant settlements, old Bastrop was
always foremost in the fight, and the
camp fires of the Burlesons, the Viii,
bargers, the Highsmiths, the Bartons,
the Caldwells, the Crafts, the Bill.
lingsleys, the Wolfenbargers, and the
Buntons, and the many other noble
spirits whose names should never be
forgotten, lighted up the camping
grounds of the Comanche and stood
a living wall of defense for the
people. So now, true to her ancient
fame, she is among the first to organ
ize and do battle for the right in the
present struggle. God grant that
the noble spirit that actuates her NAV
spread and burn, growing brighter
and brighter as the lights from the
camp fires of the Democracy will
make our opponents know that all
our western prairies aR in blaze,
and are burning too with the true
Democratic fire. But We are not
here to call old Bastrop's "rol of
honor" nor to recount the glories
of her past, but to speak of the things
of the present and the future; and
in discussing them no honied words
will be used. He then proceeded to
discuss in their order the claims of
the Democracy and the Radicals to
the control of the State. He showed
by figures that when Gen. Reynolds
turned over the Government to Davis,
that the State, after deducting what
was due to the State from the Cen
eral Government, did not owe $780,
900 of debts, and that Reynolds
turned over to Davis nearly half a
million of dollars. The expense of
running the State Government should
not exceed million of dollars, and
this was three or four times as much
as it cost before the war, and that
this sum would be raised by proper
assessment on the taxable property
of the State of not more than forty
cents at the outsideon the 800; in
fact, half that amount ought to do.
Instead of that you are taxed So so
or So in every 800, and instead of
raising a million, they are exacting
from you five millions of coin dol
lars-no currency about it. The
taxable property of BastrOp is about
three millions Of dollars, or not far
from that, and they will take out of
your pockets this fall not less than
$4,000 or $4,000 sum which
in 1860 would have paid one-fourth
of all the expenses of running the
entire State Government. What
was all this immense sum-four mil
lions more than was necessary
extorted from the people for what ?
What was to become of it? For
whose benefit was it to be spent ?
The speaker said he thought it was
gathered in to be stolen out and
distributed under some mockery
of law among Radical officers and
employees. He insisted that the Rad.
icals had reduced public robbery to a
science. Its rules were fixed its
tariff of blackmail arranged; its
rings" all formed and in admirable
working order and they had by their
superior skill and experience elevated
theft into the regions of the Fine
Arts, and he believed it should be
added to the list of Fine Arts. They
(the Radicals) might falsely assert
that the Democracy were party of
murderers; they have never yet
pretended that any body could out
steal them. He spoke of the deep
laid scheme to squander the school
fund, and ventured the prediction
that in ten years there would be none
of it left, unless these men were
driven from power. Instead of
building plain log school houses that
would not cost over four hundred
dollars each, they had an architect
employed at $50 or $40 a week to
see how much of the fund could be
squandered, and what jobs could be
made out of the building of these
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