The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-03-20
Total vaIue of the concessIon....... 5,OSi,OOO !


The reader will bear In mind, that
this latter sum (S5OSl, Goo is not money
raised by taxation, and to he paid out
by the state from her treasury to this
company, like the amounts footed up
i'm the first aud second table. As stated
before, the con essiOn to the company
does not involve the collection of II
dollar 10y the state, nor the payment OF
dollar out of the treasury; and yet
the value of this concession Is less than
one-half the sum that would have be-
come necessary for the state to raise,
under the bill vetoed 10y the governor.
When we deduct from this amount,
the value of the sixteen sections UI
land, to which all railroads are entitled,
we find that the extra concession to
this company only amounts in reality
to SO, lG4, 900, not dollar of which the
people pay, and which secures the
building of the read from Jefferson to
the Rio Grande.
The values are not believed to he uI-
derestimated but rather the reverse.
Land certificates are offering to-day
for one hundred dollars per section, yet
they are estimated ut two hundred dol
lars. The average valuation of rail.
roads throughout the United States for
taxation is ten thousand dollars per
mile, and government has hitherto
failed in its attempts 10 increase this
valuation. The lands are valued at fifty
cents per acre dating from the passage
of the bill, whe.i any reasonable crca-
ture knows they are utterly vaiueless,
and must continue SO for many years.
None of the Texas railways are able to
sell their lands, though located and pat
ented years ago under much more ta-
vorable circumstances than these can
be, and none of them pay any taxes rs
yet upon such class of lands. The tax
es are estimated at one per cent For the
full twenty-five years, when the state
tax and county tax amount to only sew
enty-five cents Oh the hundred dollars,
and there is Il reasonable hope that
they may soon be reduced. AS for tie
state derivinga benefit from compound
ed interest on taxes, that is the vcriest
stuff and worthy only Of All idiot.
But the great prominent feature Of
the settlement passes beyond the do
main of dollars and cents, and looms
up before all eyes as Il vindicatou of
the true principle of government, that
no mans means may he taken from
him by government and given to am
other, under the guise of regular en-
actment, and against his consent. The
firm establishment of this principle is
worth untold millions to the people OF
the state, and yet it has been secured
without the cost to them of II dollar
In securing it, the state has given en-
to an enterprise deemed
vital to its prosperity 10y many of its
citizens. il has manifested a sense Of
justice to all its sections, and calmea
all thought of ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 1t
has eliminated II veXed question from
its councils, and, without injury to II sin
gle citizen, it has dwelt fairly and mag
even with capital invested
within her borders.
If the fourteenth legislature had done
nothing else, IT could afford To pass
into history pointing proudly to this
)ne act as conclusive evid =nce of its
irmness, its craftsmanship, and its
and posterity cannot gain
say il.