Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1879-06-13
GOVERNORS MESSAGE.

]
any means brief. 1t makes four
and a half columns of solid
nonpariel in the Galveston NesoS.
The governor says the main
question to be determined by
the Legislature is whether or not
the taxes which the people pay
annually shall be applied first
to securing the people an eff
cient and economical govern
mcnt for the protection of their
rights of person and property,
and whether or not the expen-
ses Of the government shall be
! annually met and promptly paid
by the annual revenue that can
certainly be collected, without
an increase of taxation that will
be onerous and oppressive, and
without an increase from year
to year Of the public debt, in
CURED to pay defciences of the
annual revenue to determine
whether or not the state gov
eminent will sell the public
lands still lett as soon as prac-
ticablc, to pay the public debt
and relieve the people of pay
ing taxes to pay interest and
sinking fund to determine
whe Their or not the large
amounts OF lands belong
ing to the common school
funds and other special funds.
shall be more expediously sold,
so as to increase these funds,
and thereby proportionally re-
lieve the people from paying
taxes to support the institutions
and objects to which these
special funds are devoted.
He gives quite an extended
general review of the financial
condition of the state without
going into minute particulars.
He says there is sufficient mon
ey in the treasury to pay the
July interest on the public debt
and years appropriation fol
the sinking fund. The tax rolls
show a shrinkage, in the value
of taxable property of the state
ofabout SIS ,ooo,o 900. The hnan-
cial outlook for the current
year is none of the brightest.
The public schools is another
subject that mainly entered into
the occasion of the legislature
being convened in special ses-
sion. The governor says the
best and most satisfactory COM
mon schools we ever had were
those during number of years
before the late civil war. Then
the state aided the peoples
SCHOOLS with bounty, by paying
for indigent scholars that went
to school. In other states,
where good public free schools
are maintained, the state de-
votes a sufficient amount from
the public treasury to take con-
troll and supervision of the
schools; but the bulk of the
means is contributed by the To-
cal authorities where the schools
are taught.
The constitution, which must
control legislation, indicates
both the mode and the means
of keeping up the schools by
prescribing that it shall be the
duty of the legislature of the
state to establish and make
suitable provision for the sup
port and maintenance of an eff
ficient system of PUBLIC free
schools" The governor thinks
that the means fproviding for
and maintaining the schools is
in the power given to sell the
common school lands (of which
there are now about 100000
acres) and by investment in
bonds to increase its fund.
The governor says the con-
stitution enjoins upon the gov
eminent numerous other impor-
tant duties. One Of them is to
make good laws and have them
well executed. The highest
and most imperative duty rest
ing upon state is making good
laws for the protection of life,
liberty and property and those
who perform that duty for the
state are entitled to be its pre-
ferred creditors and should be
paid for their services without
delay and without suffering dis
count.
1t appears that the governor
is welded to the old anti-bel-
lum school system and looks
upon the constitutional provis-
80, g., .l,o o,,oo-+ al ,,,: