The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1875-02-18

Sir the man Who commits murder does
that which is condemned By q s, iuman
and divine. but the evl dies with hin: int
he who i-.urders a nations prosperity, Who,
however unintentiOnal, ruins nation'sfane.
does. that which must sting the cheek Of
the generations which come after him
We owe this money; you know it; Ee all
know il the vast outside world knows il
and the nations are silently looking on to-
day 70 SEQ whether, by cur ection, tht State
Of Texas, though bSttle-soarred and pow
erty-stricken, is 10 stand erect as an honest
state, or staLd with bowed head in the
shame of repudiation. II is harsh --ord
to use, but say that we must pay the oTigi-
nal SO, 900, 600 or this 50, 600, 900 proposed
in this bill, or we must repudiate. / say
this--ignoring the rights of this-conpany Is
nothing more nor hess than indiFect repudis
alton ga ~ fc 7 sa5
: The prosperity Of the cOU5try demands
q settlements Of this question. The State Of
Texas loses nothing by it. Why, sir, tho
land on each sideof this mad for distance
Of fifty miles will appreciate in value at
least one dollar. This will make about
$23, 900, 900 Of new. capital for Texas to
tax. Add to this the 50, 500, 900 as the
value of the road which will be taxed next
wear, and not counting the vast amount Of
personal property which viii arrive by inmi.
grafton, and we have the sum of $26, O0o,-
600 Of new capital. Now, the State county
and municipal taxes will be atnleast one per
cent, winch win amount to $3.50, 900 reve-
nue. to the State and which will continually
increase. Thus the tax to pay interest and
sinking fund on bonds Is only little in
excess of that for the first year aud will
gradually become less as the principal is
paid of. 1.b .i cEa
People err greatly in supposing that a
railroad is the same as an individual.
Our courts decided that It was 3 vast
t'public highway for travel and trans
portation.p will 90 further and
say that railroads are necessary to the COM
mercial prosperity of country, because
they prevent panics and famines, by keep
ing the supply of raw materials equal to
the demand, and render easier the burden
of taxation by furnishing markets for pro-
'duoers, as taxes cannot be paid in the raw
products. This railroad is different from
all others in this respect. It is military
necessity. Our State is on the border-a
foreign power Just across the riYer--and IN
order to prevent sudden invasion from that
source, there should be a railroad for the
rapid mAssing of troops to that point.
What would Germany have done In the
last Franco-PTussian war If she had not
! prepared years before for the rapid trans
portation of troops to the French border1
Who can tell how soon it will be before
the United States is involved in a war with
| Spain9ss 1t is only a short distance from
Cuba to the mouth Of the Rio Grande, and
in three days from the commencement of
hostilities thousands of men could be
landed without opposition at that point, or
near there, and before troops sufficient
could arrive, they would sweep like tor
nado along our frontier, and pillage and
burn and murder those whom we love and
wish to protect. 5g89grlf ..~iaL .ct-
Thesame with Mexico. Sooner or later il
must suecumb to the American arms, and
| without this railroad our frontier would be
ruined. Again, this road will populate
| that country and will prevent the necessity
of keeping troops there to keep back ma.
rauding parties. uijsaE 1t,8 BIB g.
Prosperity should visit all sections of 9
country. One part canpot be prosperous
long, while the other languishes. 1t is 6
matter of justice that this bill pass. There
have been 10000, 900 of acres of land
l granted to railroads, of which the country
west of the Braz6s has only received 200,
900. Gentlemen need not say that they are
willing to grant lands. We have no lands
of much value left. Land certificates arc
comparatively worthless on that account
These older roads have received their Ger
tifcates and located them at little expense
upon the finest of lands-worth at the least
calculation one dollar per acre. This was
therefore. equivalent to granting 5000 Of
$4,000 to the mile for building these road:
and the same amount of certificates now
will be only some $4,000 to the mile.
Now, is this right; is il just to us?
do not repeat these things by way of 8
menace or threat of a division of this State
far from it. l want no division. wish
the State of Texas to be in the future as
she has been in the past-the property Of
one people. Yes, with all her vast domain,
the memories of her glorious past, her fat
tering present, and the grand hopes of the
future, to belong exclusively to one people,
and that people united in sentiment and
united in interest.
Gentlemen, she is united in sentiment
now, and if you pass this bill and allow
this road to proceed, she will be united il
interest forever, BE- ssa.rs.s.
L