Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-08-01

damaging effects of the cattle business
of the state going into the hands of
cattle princes Is being felt severely by
the masses. We people have few
years ago paid and 4 cents per pound
for beef and SIS for milk COW. Now
we nav 10 and IL cents for beef and
$40 and $50 for milk COW. This
change has come with the cattle king
and barbed- wire era, and II falls with
heavy weight upon the poor.
Let US not by legislation make lords
of one class and paupers OF another.
Let us give the settler and small cattle
man some chance to live upon the
grass of the West.
The large Enclosures now being
made on our frontier are hindrance
to public travel and | think 1t ought
to be left open to public highways in
every direction aud that not more
than $50 acres should be put under
the same fence.
Question by Bob Shelton and Capt.
Bush: us that not the law now, and
Is not each section line public road ?''
1t may be so declared by the COM
missioners' court but this can only APP
ply to organized counties and two cat
tile ranches can never make an organ
lied county. We must have people to
make county. If Collin county had
been leased out u generation ago to
two, three or four cattle kings il would
not yet be an organized county with
its 10000 or 40 600 happy and prosper
Gus people rs 1t now Is.
Let the actual settler go to the West
II he desires and in a few short years
many of those regions now declared
to be fl only for cattle ranches will be
happy, prosperous agricultural COM
munities, such as we have here in our
own county. 1t takes people-active,
toiling men and women-to make a
great country. Cattle do not make a
state powerful either in peace or war.
Men build cities, towns. public high
ways, school-houses, churches, and paw
taxes and fight our battles while cattle
only enrich few lords and nabobs.
have no objection to leasing our
school lands in small bodies of from 100
to $50 acres to actual occupants, leav-
ing "A public road open around each of
such Enclosures of $40 to | $50 acres, de-
pending upon circumstances, and that
for twenty, thirty, fifty or even a
hundred years, only requiring the
occupants to pay rea.O enable rent
each year. On this plan in ten years
we will realize more money to our
public schools than by the present
system, and that without building up
u destructive combination of monopo.
lies on the western frontier.
My opponent said on yesterday that
this was to establish system of
tenants to the state. | had sooner be
a tenant of the state than of Judge
Goodun or any other man. We have
always had thousands of families in
the state too poor to purchase homes.
and this plan of leasing would
give them homes cheaper than
they could otherwise get them.
My opponent compared such
system to the feudal system of Europe.
but there would be no similarity what
ever. There the tenant holds through
several superiors. Here he would hold
directly from the state, and at a lower
rent than he would pay to any other
landlord. We have thousands upon
thousands of the poor who could not
rent upon such light terms from any
body else. If they were at any tine
able to buy homes and the state did
not desire to sell they could purchase
homes from the vast body of lands
that will always be on the market in
our state.
1 am opposed to the policy of the
state selling these lands until we can
lind some safe investment. To under
take to sell our 10000, 900 acres of
school lands and leave 1t for future leg-
islatures to say what to do with the
money-how To invest it-would be a
dangerous piece of folly. All debt
paying bodies polite are RAPIDLY call.
Ing In their bonds and the shirt of
the times is 10 cancel oil |
Observation-Disclosures as soon as possible
Then where are we going to find in.
vestments for this vast sum of monevo
The same cry that is now being made |
by the pretended friends of ayblic
schools will thus go up again, that this |
money must be bringing revenue to |
pupilc schools. Some future legisla- |
ture acting under the same hasty i'm.
pulse THAT Is forcing these lands upon |
the market to-day will pass a measure
providing That the money shall be |
loaned upon city, railroad and other
security OF far less reliability and that
IL may be loaned to private individuals |
and corporations, aud so 1t will 20. A
rev years at farthest will tell the tai.
OF our vast public school wealth. I'm.
der such policy in ten years half The
proceeds Of this land will he gone
rms Is the experience of all the states
that have tried it.
should not object to any plan look
ing 10 sales to actual settlers ON lone
time, say twenty or thirty wears. nr,s
vided we can find safe Investments for
the proceeds. But mark INV nredin
tion Today, gentlemen, that when the
public school money to be derived
from these lands by their sales one.
gets INTO the hands of individuals and
CORPORATIONS IL is gone world without
am In favor of free gras, unon
every acre of these lands thai ia nat
occupied by actual settlers on soma
terms. Free grass has never hurt The
S ! az on IeNas yet and Is not likely to. |
Al the more finely improved portions
OF the state have grown 10 De what
lhey are under the good old free.grass
system, and why should we be in
haste for change?
100 great haste IN the land leyis,a-
tion OF the state of Texas has alreadv
cost us millions and 1t will COST n,
millions more. No interest Of ths
state can suffer by moving SLOWLY In
these matters. If the title TO- ~
.nirtS million acres of school lands re-
.nalns In the state ten years longer our
school wealth will reach the