The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-12-06
THE MAGOGUE II TINsEL.

Beecherism. And here endith our
last lessor on thanksgiving.
THE MAGOGUE II TINSEL.
The justice and propriety of return
ing to the state school fund, from
general revenue, the losses which the
former has sustained through many
years, by investment III bonds. for
which premiums have Leen paid and
on other scores, is being discussed.
THE STATESMAN has often COM
mented upon the injustice OF cOnsti-
tutional requirement, which mas made
this sort Of investment necessity;
but the fact that it has been consti-
tutional requirement ought TO remind
those who take 1t up as
public issue, that the Legislature
can have no power to enforce return
to the school fund of the amounts
lost by such investment. The
constitution required that the
permanent school fund should be in
vested in either Texas bonds or in
bonds of the United States. In max
ing the investments the letter Of the
constitution has been Obeyel, and
since the bonds could not be obtained,
except ut premium, this premium
has necessarily been paid. TO pay
back the difference between the sums
bought and the sums paid would lie
unconstitutional, and cannot be pro-
vided for unless the people authorize
such payment. The investments, be
sides, have been made with school
money, and no other state fund has
been benefited or impaired by
the transactions. General rev.
enue can not be called
upon to settle the difference, because
it has not been benefited by the trans
actions. 1t is Il matter attached pure
ly to the school fund and has no bear
ing whatever upon any other fund.
1t would be just as reasonable to say,
that because school lands have been
sold, in the past, at fifty cents an acre,
the state should, hereafter, by means
of taxation, raise fund to pay to
the school fund the difference
between what land has been
sold for and what it ought to have
been sold for. Bonds that have been
bought for the school fund at Il pre-
MUM were purchased in the open
market by direction of the cOnstitu-
ton, and the general revenue has not
been benefited by the transaction.
State bonds, that have been thus
bought, when due will have to be
paid by the state in full; so general
revenue will not thereby be benefited.
In truth, much of the states bonded
Indebtedness has been incurred for
the benefit of the schools. In l8745
large blocks Of bonds were sold at but
little over seventy cents, and a great
part of the Proceeds were used in pay
ding public school accounts. 70 lie
just in adjusting accounts then it
would be proper to take from the
school fund money thus lost to
revenue and turn it over
to the latter, but this is not asked.
The suggestion that general revenue
be made to pay to the school fund
what it has lost in bad transactions,
prescribed by the constitution itself,
is decidedly wrong. The people are
taxed enough as it is; and to call
upon them now to settle million or
two millions of loss is decidedly out
of reason. To make all amounts Of
losses and discounts good to the
school fund we would have to go
back to the days of Coy. Davis, take
up the sale of the railway from Hous-
ton to Columbia and make nearly half
a million dollars good on that
score; then the purchase of bonds, in
which nearly twice that sum has been
lost, and make it all good through
taxation. 1t would be Il nice levy to
pay all these amounts, and the effort
would result in litigation, in which
the courts would necessarily nd
tie taxpayers on constitutional
groungs. The law was regarded as a
good law when made, but it became a
bad one because of the changed values
of securities. The school fund has
lost by it, but nothing has been made
for revenue account. The agita-
ton in regard to paying back to the
school fund what it has lost, is, there
fore, absurd. Let 1t be shown to what
account corresponding benefit has
accrued and then the proposition to
pay back will have some appearance
of justice about it. The school
fund owns the bonds thus bought,
and the only reasonable
course to pursue in the direction of
recovering losses would be to put
these bonds upon the market sell
them at IL premium, which they would
command, and invest the proceeds in
county bonds bearing greater rates of
interest. 1t does appear rs f it is
only necessary to agitate = y question
concerning the schools fer an unlaw-
full fanaticism to step in and attempt
to assert power in adjusting matters
relating thereto. The Texas school
fund IS good thing; it is the biggest
thing of its sort in the world. 1t is a
wondrous great big political Jumbo,
which the masses properly admire,
and which demagogues in tinsel and
soiled raiment want to ride with the
hope of being accepted as things of
beauty-lovely, pure and exalted as
these "queeDs of beauty" that make
up modern circus pageants.