The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-02-01
statesmaushIp and Foresight.


ship to determine and foresse the practical
worAingand eAsct of a measure or law before,
or at the time of its enactment. Any one OF
ordinary intelligence can tell what thess have
been, aAer they have been in operation au1h.
Gent time to determine BY actua! experiment
their actual results. The conclusions in the
above propositions have been forced upon US
by close investigation Of the governors mes
sage TO the Seventeenth Legislature, and u
review Of his veto message to the Sixteenth
legislature, and the speeches Of the minority
in that Legislature, in opposition tothe views
as expressed by the governor, in that veto
message. In the governors veto message,
we fiad the following: "Uuder the head
educational department the follwing item of
appropriation, to wit: 'The entire available
schoolfund annually derived from all sources,
Including the poll tax and one-fourth Of the
general revenue, is hereby set aside annually
for the support Of the public free schools
And the Items under the head of Treasury
Department as follows, to.wt:
Y'r End'g Y'r End'g
Feb. 20, 1880 Feb. Is, 1881
Tor Interest on pub
lie d5bt....;...;.... 100000 $500, 900
For sinking fund of
publC debF, to be
invested In state
bOudS...,.,...,...., 100000 100000
Il do most sincerity regret that sanse of
duty requires me to withhold my approval of
the said items of said bill The frat named
item upon which it is publicly known that
both houses we're equally divided, exsspt
one vote in each house. disaprove, because
il imposes tax on the people greater than
they can now BEAR and at the same time
furnishes tho means to support an efficient
and economical government. The other
two items | sm constrained to not approve,
because if the law relating to the collection
of taxes and common schools shall remain
ns they are now, devoting the Arst item, as
it is collected to a specia fund; the last
two items being collected as general revenue,
can be and will be absolutely nsedeu to DO
used in defrayiDg the necessary expenfes of
the state government
Now it is evident that the governor did
not then believe that the reynues accruinr
under then existing tax laws, after gppropri-
ating tho usual one-iourth, which the law
then required would be suGcisnt TO Sefrav
the current expenses ofthe state government
But what are the facts since deyeloped in
the financial history of the atAtst 1t will
be observed, that the revenue laws, under
which the taxes have been collected. and
from the ope atoms of which, the present
surplus in the treasury has accumulated, are
the same new Ns when the veto message was
announced, except that part which
segregated one.fOurth instead Of one.
sixth of the revenues for irea
schools. And in connection with this fact. il
will DO seen that tbs minority in the sixteenth
legislature toTesaW and declared that there
would be-, under the then existing tax laws
surplus at this time in the treasury equal
to the amount announced by the governor
in his late message, TO be nov on hand $3.50.
III.
If the resder will take tho pains TO exams
inc tho speeches of Senators Stewart. Hous
ton, Swain, Davenport, Shannon and Others
Of the senate, and Hons. McComb, Cause
and Speaker Cochran and others OF the
house, on his subject, he will find that these
gentlemen all foresaw and then declared that
this surplus would now exist.
Having the speech Of Speaker Cochran, of
July 9th, 1879, on this subject now before
us, we make the following extrsct from page
-four; "Excess Of the revenues in and 10
come into the treasury from June II, 1879,
TO close of the appropriation year. ending
twenty-eighih of February, 1881, is SOIL ,S08.
Deduct unpaid balance of the deficiency
appropriation, S203, 606, which, under the
law, was not TO be paid for five years, and
then there will remain in the treasury on the
twenty-eighth Of February, 1881, q cash
surplus Of S6lS, POP, and that, too, after de-
Quoting one-foIrth the ad valorem and oc-
cupaiion taxes for the support of free
schools, and also after having paid all Just
demands due against the state"
Now this is not bad guessing compared
with that Of the governor on the same sub.
ject ct the same time. Tho speaker said.
July 9th, 1879, that there would now BIO a
surplus in tho treasury of $6lS202. The
governor now says it is S6S97 The gov
ernor then held that the revenues would be
insufficient 10 meet the expenses Of the state
government, if the lawful one-fourth of the
revenues were used for school purposes, and
il So used, it would then ba absolutely NO.
ceesary for him to use the 100000 interest
fund and the 100000 stalking fsnd ''in de-
frayfDg the necessary expenses of the state
government"
The facts now are from the governors late
message, that these items together with all
other expenses Of the state government have
been paid snd yet the surplus now in the
treasury even exceeds that claimed by the
minority. Fro@ the above facts, is it not
clear that tho minority in the sixteenth leg
islsture thoroughly understood the situation
financially And while it is indeed gratify-
ing to our pride as apeoplo,to know we have a
surplus in the treasury, yet is it not suicidal
to tho prosperity of Texas torob so vital an
Interest rs QUE public schools, simply to AL
the state treasury with surplus? I. ia
claimed, however, Chat ouC schull system Is
prosperous under the present di inished ap.
propristion Ifthis DO true, would ii moi
now DO on the high road to triumphant sue
cess, had it received that to which it was
justly entitled? While we would not revive
any bitter feelings in tho democratic ranks
doea il not smack of egotism for any ono
holding opposite views from the minority, tc
claim that the present surplus Is the result
ofsuperior Craftsmanship and foresight
CITIZEN,