The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-03-01
CONTINUED on Fourth Page. ]
THE FREE SCHOOLS.
The Views of Hon. John johnson, Of
Collin County.


Collin County.
| Mr.. President, it must appear that
the senator from Austin county (Mr.
Chesley) thinks am opposed to IRE e
schools. Mr.. President, when a svs-
tenn is adopted that will Cypress tie
poor 10 ben, e. theIrich, am then op-
posed to that sort of Il system. l 40
think it wrong to tax poor unfortu-
nate widows and orphans to support
a ten months school which they can
not enjoy, and which would benefit
only the rich and full handed. | say
that five months in the twelve is the
longest period that poor people can
spare their children from the field. Ii
has been said that l am rich and that
l am opposed to educating the poor.
Wei, let me say right here that what
l own | got honestly. l began life
poor and split rails at thirty cents a
hundred; and l hope l will never
lose sympathy for the unfortunate
OF the human family. i will never
Cypress them to educate my child, or
vote tax for IA ten months school on
them to mortgage their homes to the
tax collector, when the law will not
allow them to do 1t themselves, and
all this to educate the idle children Of
the rich, at schools that the poor can
not enjoy. Five months is the
iuu extent that a poor man
can send his children, in the country.
1t seems to me. sir, that this propo-
sltion for ten months schools. and to
Tax everybody to keep them up all
over Texas, comes from gentlemen
who know nothing about the con-
lition of the laboring classes. When
went through my district during
the canvass last fall, found nineteen
houses out Gf every twenty i'll the
country closed up. Their owners
were out in the field, in the cotton
patch; men and women sixty years
I'D, and little barefoot children not
more than six, picking cotton. Yes,
sir, picking cotton to support life and
pay taxes. This is the manner in
which people live. These people are
of as good stock rs ever breathed.
They were reduced to poverty by
the war; and their little children are
just as bright-eyed as the bright-eyed
city boys, about whom the senators
have spoken. This is the manner in
which people in the country live, and
men in high life talk like the knew
nothing about it. Why, sir, to hear
some senators talk you would think
| that money grew on trees, and that
we had nothing to do but go around
and pick it off. All men were not
born to be scientific men, and per-
haps we had better have fewer of
them, unless more of them can have
correct views about economy in
| government. Take your college-bred
man, such as most of your officials
are, and those who make laws here
and he wants for his Office salary
double what he can earn; put him in
Office, and he can do nothing on earth
without clerk, and porter to brush
up after him and wait on him. They
have been creating porters and clerks
| around me since l have been here,
until the first thing we know some
body will propose to furnish our chap
| lain with a porter to tell him when
Sunday comes and when to pray.
Ii Senator Chesley can pass his ten
months school law, he ought to pass
law to force everybody to send to
| the schools ten months, and arrange
some way to support the people while
they do it. Yes, sir; do this, and take
! our children away from us, since the
| idea is that the state knows better
how to raise them, and how many
months to educate them, than the
parents do. Find some way to do
this and will go with you. Let NJ
man threaten me with responsible y
to my people. know them. know
their condition and their wishes. l.,
sir, am man who speaks his senti-
mentS, and speak them here in the
senate and away from home just as l
| do at home. l don't make my
living by politics, and was not
raised that way. l claim to
he an honest man who was
was not raised for making Il living 10y
| politics. speak what believe, and
| tell what l want, and what | believe
| my people want. If L am mistaken
let them arraign Inc, and it will be
satisfactory to me; but l will speak
my honest sentiments, no matter who
it displeases.
| The gentleman from Eastland (Nr.
| Fleming) cracked his whip and threat
ems me with the Democratic party.
| This reminds Inc of the Galveston
| Newsstand before answer the gen.
tleman. want to apologize to the
Galveston News. i am hard shell
Baptist, and we'believe In confessing
d wrong when We commit one. l
said, some days ago, that the News
cared nothing about Democracy.
Now, if the senator from Eastland is a
Democrat, don't blame the News for
opposing that sort of Democracy. The
senator from EaStland wants an emil
l ,ka al, ~
| system to bring idle people here who
have neither money nor energy to
bring themselves. The Davis bureau
averaged $40 head to bring people
here and $500 each to put them in the
penitentiary after they came. Senator
Fleming wants school system that
he says will take the place of an i'm
migration bureau, and he wants
all the people it brings who es-
cape the penitentiary to be edu-
Gated ten months in the year
by the taxes of those who work
He told you he was willing to tax
the working people one dollar on the
hundred for such system. This
was the top notch of the Davis OPP
preston, under which our substance
was being confscated, and for this,
more than for everything else. the
Davis party was hurled from power.
Now It would be- beautiful tribe
that would come all the way to Texas
Just for other people to educate their
children. don't want any such
bureau of emigration; it would
invite a people who would ALWAYS
have two faults: first, they are people
who are never In the right place, and
second, they are no account when
they get there. Now if this Is Sena-
tor Fleming's Democracy, am not
Democrat; and yet for forty years /
never cast vote for constable up
that was not Democratic vote. |
would not even vote for Greeley.
What difference Is there between
Senator Fleming and Gov. Davis!
Both of them wanted laboring people
taxed one dollar hundred for
schools; Davis imposed it, and the
senator says he Is willing to impose
il. Both claim that it is to bring emf
grafton. Now for just such doc
trine, after the people had been
nearly ruined by taxes Of their
splendid extravagant school sys-
tenn, Gov. Davis would have
been hung In Mckinney when
he ran the last time for governor, II a
fine prudent old man had not protect
ed him. And now. sir, i am not a
Democrat, / suppose. because am OPP
posed to such policy and want to
protect my people from it. Try 1t on
again and YOU will see who Is the