The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-04-30
SENATOR GIBBS AND THE sToCKlIE

SENATOR GIBBS AND THE STOCkhtES
| The Abilene Quill and some OF the''nor'
extreme papers in the cattle country TAXI
SENATOR GIDRs to task for iayorlng vol
untary lease system for the school lands
| When he WAS fighting the herd law aud all
coercive legislation no man was more pop
ul8r with the western papers, and his pod'
ton there is the one he stands by now. We
win give few extracts from his speeches
and interviews on the land question Hd
said: "a state has no moral right 10 tell
land to any person other than the man who
wishes to make his home on the SOIL md
| not exceeding Go acres to one person, for
cheap homes on long time act Gs safety
valve to tho body polite. In counties
where there are only ten Thousand acres or
less of school land none should
BIZ leased, and in every county this much
OF the best land should be reserved from
lease" Again, he said Land corpora
tons are contrary 10 the genius Of repabi'
can institutions, and the most oppressive OF
oil rnonopolies, and hhould not be tolera'
ted, for IL ere 10 10 denying the proposition
that government Administered in the in
terest Of the people will give the greatest
encouragement to individual energy and
enterprise, and the least encouragement to
corporate capital seeking TO usurp and me-
nopolzs the ordinary avenues OF trade md
| livelihood"
"Tbose men willing to pay for the exclu-
sive use OF grazing. land, net demanded Tor
actual settlement, should have an oportun-
ity OF doing co. as II would not interfere
with the settlement of the country, and at
the same time relieve the people OF Texas
OF one-hai OF the school tex. But the state
should no. use its power TO force tenants
on school lard, or fail TO reserve a cheap
home for the settler in any county where
there Is school land" In his canvass Tor
the eenete, and by his vote in the legisla
ture, nc stood up tor actual settlement and
at the same time for such
q revenue for the school fund
as voluntary lease would oproduce.
AZ senator he showed the utmost
familiarity with the details of all important
questions aud made his record on them; he
was alwayB fair, just and conservative. We
know personally tAat nome OF his hes.
friends and strongest constituents tried to
persuade him to support herd law and he
declined. He knew what he was talking
about, and the people understood his posi-
ton when he raid that grass should be alb
solulely free, unless paid for by somo indi-
yidual, and that no person who had not
paid for IL should, by means of fences or
line riders, have the exclusive use Of state
land. The men who pay for railroad land
and enclose school land with 1t, without
paying for 1t, deiraud the school fluid and
the public, equally entitled to pasturage on
the same land"
At the gathering Of the clans It will be
found that only those stockmen oppose
BKHAroR GIBBS who want man to do their
bidding, TO matter how unreasonable.
When there are such extreme measures
sought to be adopted az an absolute herd
law or absolute free grass, i. will be found
that cool, conservative men like GIBBS,
DAVIS, GoocH, TRAYLoR, SHANNON and |
others, are necessary to preserve the proper |