The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-08-03
AUSIIN's WANT OF VIM.

- - SOhhiobly shlu luat lnhdDNants OF
State capital are siRguarly Inefficient,
slngularly selfish and amazingly dependent.
They acquire habits very unlike those of
| self-reiiance, and the masses of the people
are accustomed to deem US selfish, vain,
grasPing and helpless. They who are ten
derly nursed by the State, drawing susie
nance from its bosom, after few years be-
come incapable of providing for their own
wants, and therefore we find in Washing
ton, the first year of each changed admins
tratiOn, multitudes of helpless, hopeless,
starving mendicants whose woes, borne
about by changeiul winds, are drown
ed at last in maelstrom of
whisky. To limited extent the whole
population of the country's Capital are of
the same class of direct or indirect depend
ants upon Federal munificence, and the
spirit engendered is unworthy of freemen
and degrading in all its tendencies. l. has
been said that those traits OF character dis
tlngush dwellers about State capitals
which are illustrated when the drearv, spir-
itless inhabitants of the DIsi rict of Column
bia gather as mendicants and ever ask aims
and the relief of the city from taxation
by transferring proper burdens of the
city to the brawny shoulders of the
"nation." When Austin Is asked TO en-
gage in any task of public beneficence,
dreary old denlzens fold their hands across
gentle bosOms and with eyes upturned to
heaven confess their helplessness and leave
the city to dtcny or to the enterprising gen
eroslty of comparative strangers. The
State has made the city what it is, has made
landowners comparatively rich and the
State must not weary in well-doing. Can
1t be true that moral incapacity for efforts
Of cooperative exertion are begotten by
the very presence of over shud0wIng power
aud place-holding dependence! This fact
is alleged of the people of Washington
whose streets are paved and lighted, and
whose draiss are dug at the cost of
the Federal Treasury. And they are
never content. The more that is given the
more do they demand, and private or civic
or municipal action accomplishcs nothing,
and the debt created by thieves Invested
with office by universal suffrage is sought
to be made the debt of The nation. {"
Nationalism is evolved from the fact
that the few are enriched by the many,
whom they rule and rob. To what extent
the incfficiency and torpidity of the capital
of Texas is due to moral influences
that operate upon the vampire like
population of Washington we have no
means Of determining, and yet they who
have the greatest stake at hazard are least
disposed to promote, by individual CO.
operative effort, the fortunes of this city,
and only tradespeop'e and those having
least involved in the result of events now
eliminating are most earnest in efforts to
avert palpable and progressive calamities
The Central road is building branch to
Bolton, and the International halts at
Round Rock. Ohethird at least OF
the whole area of country that has
| traded AT Austin will be induced
nect ssarily to seek other markets. There
is but one perfect remedy. It costs little.
1t is perfect. 1t not only compels the In
ternational to enter Austin, but reduces
freight and passenger rates toraJdS Austin
certainly one half. Bolton would not need
the branch to Hearne, and it would not be
| tuilt if we began the extension of narrow
guage railway in the direction of Lampasas
or Bolton. New zeal and vigor would be
infused into Houses Narrow Gauge now
finished nearly forty miles from Houston in
the direction of Austin, Llmpasas and Bel
ton. There would be no transfer of trade
to Round Rock. The first nail driven in
. DIusstie of the narrow gauge woui,i.bi-
lence every hammer that rings forth prom
ises Of riches to Round Rock and poverty
to Austin tradtspeople. These are plain,
simple facts, and yet the truth is before US
that property-holders of a capital are inca-
pable of effort. They deserve to have des-
olatiou come upon their city, and rent rates
should be lessened and homes be tenant
less. The few who are rich, relying upon the
many who are poor, deserve to be impov-
crushed, and yet it is a great shame if fif-
teen Thousand sane people stand sull, para
| lived by the selfishness of the few, and suf-
fer so delightful capital as Austin to be
sacrificed on the altar of that pitiable de-
pendence said TO distinguish dwellers in
each capital of each State, and especially
and disgracefully developed in Washing
ton.
The macadamzed route to Round Rock,
if the narrow gauge be not built, becomes
an imperative necessity; but the narrow
gauge should be built. 1t is only necessary
to begin it 1t has within it, unlike the
proposed causeway or turnpike, its own in
herent forces that will extend it to Tampa.
sas and Bolton, even To E Paso and Denver.