The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-03-04
IN THEIR FRUITS yEsHALL KNOW
THEM,


Yesterday We received n letter from
gentleman In Illinois, DESTROYS OF
migrating to Texas, aud, after express
Ing himself warmly IN iavor of free
common schools and Democracy, he
asks this question:
ais Il true, as charged 10y your Texas
Radicals, that the Democrats of your
noble State ARE opposed to II wise ana
reasonable common school system"
Please answer frankly"
Departing from our usual custom we
wrote u very full reply TO our Illinois
correspondent, in which, among other
things, we said'
"The printed documents sent Will
answer most Of your questions. The
Radical Charge about Democratic OPP
position to education Is not only lie
of itself, known to them TO be such,
but an unholy SANDER on the memory
of the ilmstrlous fathers Of our State.
Why, sir, in our declaration of indie
pendencc, adopted March >, 1876,
among the charges against Mexico, for
justilymg revolution, this occurs;
at the government Of MeXico) has
failed TO establish II public system of
education, although possessed of al
most boundlcs resources tthe public
domainl, and although 1t il an axiom
in political science, that unless peo-
pie nre educated and enlightened, II Is
idle 20 expect the continuance of civil
liberty, or the capacity for seli-govern-
mcnt.'
Remember that this is what the
fathers of Texas declared rs one OF
their reasons for separating from
Mexico.
But further. The consI tuition adopt
ed, March II, 1886, by that same body
of illustrious men, provides that
at shall be the duty Of Congress, as
soon 0s circumstances will permit, TO
provide by law, for II general system OF
education"
In full harmony with this original
iden the Congressof 1889 set apart fifty
leagues of land l22l 400 acres, for the
purpose of founding two univer-
stiles, and at the same time
granted to each county three
leagues l3,2Si acres of land for
the purpose of building up common
schools. The State constitution Of
1916 set apart perpetually one-tenth of
the annual revenue of the State for the
same purpose in addition to the mag
niilccnt land grants previously made
Later still, ms Il State of the Union,
when Texas received S50O0,000 in
United States interest bearing bonds,
for the sale of her Northwest territory,
u large amount Of those bonds (thc
exact amount we cannot at the mo-
ment rccall was set apart rs n portion
OF the common school fund. But,
prior to this, rs we should have said,
the Congress of the Republic had in
creased the land donation to four in
stead Of three leagues lor 1T7l2 in
stead of 1921 acres to each county
then in existence, or thereafter 10 be
created which law is still in force and
applies to Waller, Gregg and Rock
wall counties, created only one year
ago.
Under these various endorsements,
the Legislature of Texas, several years
before the war, enacted common free
school law, and it was put into active
and successful operation, and so con-
tinued, rapidly expounding and grow
ing in public favor, until checked by
the war.
Now, dear sir, this is W hat Texas did,
Of her'own free will and accord, before
what is now called Radical or scalawag
had an existence on our soil
BY the war Texas fell under bay0nct
rule, and then, for the first time, we
came to know those classes of man
kind now known as Radicals and scala
ways. IN 1870, under the reconstruct
ton laws, inaugurated under the
trOwns of the bayonet, the leading
spirits of those classes We're forced on
our people rs Legislature. The bone
and sinew of the country--the men
who made and upheld Texas--had no
voice in their election. That
enacted school law so ex-
travagant In expenses, NO par
tisan in character and so
odious in its machinery, that the
honest people Of the country, consid-
cred 1t an outrage, and no decent man
would give 1t any greater support than
he felt literally compelled to do, in SO
far as he was political slave.
To that law the Democrats were
other words the decency
and virtue of the State were aroused in
Indignation against a law designed to
degrade and rob them at the same time.
We, both as Democrats and honest cit
liens, have denounced and fought the
legalized iniquity by all honorable
ways and means, and shall ever feel
proud of having throttled it, through
the first the Thlrteenthl Legislature
In the election of which the people had
like fair show.
Now that, after years of ubiquitous
rule, the people are once more in
power, we will take up where we left
of In the war, and by degrees enlarge,
expand and build up our free school
system TIL Texas win be foremost of