The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-02-22
RELATING TO THE SCHOOL LANDS

Hon. John Henry Brown, who has
given subjects relating to public lands
deep study in all its relations, and
who, by his practical observation, is
probably one of the best informed
men in the state concerning the char
acter of these lands, has been writing
in relation thereto some admirable
letters, which have appeared in the
Dallas Herald. On the 18th of Feb
ruary he wrote:
The bill reported in your Austin
dispatches of yesterday as a substitute
in the senate for several propositions
state school and public lands, en-
bodies the worst and most dangerous
feature of the former law, which has
been repealed or suspended by the
present legislature. 1t seeks to re-
enact the prepOSterouS and dangerous
provision that the school lands
shall be classified and ap-
praised by the district surveyors.
These districts are two or three
hundred miles long and two or three
counties wide. Ii the lands had ever
been properly surveyed and marked,
il would lie an impossibility for any
one man. or perhaps half dozen men,
in any reasonable time, honestly and
inteliigibly to comply with the law
The territory and the number of sur
veys are too vast to be reached by any
such means; but every honest man ac-
quuBted with our district land mat
tiers, unless he Is wilfully blind, must
know that it is too great, too danger
GUS and too tempting power to be
placed in any one mans hands. 1t has
practically amounted, and will again
amount to locking up the lands from
the humble man of small means and
leaving them open only to the rich.
And this not all. The truth is that
vast majority of the school lands
have never been surveyed into sec
tions aud marked, nor the streams
meandered or correctly laid down, and
hence the district surveyor. if ON the
ground, has no means of determining
the boundary of any particular sec
ton, or what is and what is not a wa
tered section. To do so the lands
must be surveyed and marked, as
they ought to have been in the first
Place, instead of the occasional cree
ton of Il corner and the plotting of
the great body on paper, guessing at
the location of streams. lakes and
springs.
Then what is the remedy? 1t is
two-fold. First, pass the senate bill,
which has been reported favorably.
for running and marking the true
lines of the unorganized counties.
Secondly, to pass that other senate bill
which, most strangely. has been re-
ported adversely by the committee on
public lands. TO abolish these huge
surveying land districts. by which a
large number of unorganiZed counties
are attached to some small outside or
ganized county, for surveying pur-
poses. and authorizing the governor to
appoint a surveyor for each morgan
lied county, with the power to
give two or three counties to
one surveyor in certain cases. To
Illustrate the abSurdity and Wild
ness of the district plan now in
force: Baylor is small frontier
organized county, casting in Novem-
Der last about 275 votes and electing a
surveyor with vote of 216. Yet.
under this system, that surveyor, the
choice of 2l6 men, has under his con-
troll and arbitrary rule the classical
ton, appraisement and sale of all the
school lands of about ten counties
extending west of the line of New
Mexico; and, in a similar way, we
have the land districts of Palo Pinto,
Young. Clay, Oldham and Wheeler.
know the present surveyor of Bay
lor county. elected last November,
and believe him to be an honest man,
and he will declare. if questioned on
oath or on honor, that no living man
ear do the state justice and rlghtfully
discharge the duties imposed in the
classification of land in so large a ter
ritory. even if lines and corners were
to he found in one-fourth the cases
where they oughtto be, and he knows
full well that they are not there to be
found
Bnt if the governor has the power
to appoint competent surveyor for
each unorganized county. or each two
counties. rs the case may be. to be
under bond and required to reside and
keep his Office in the county or terri