The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-01-24

I word at any time or place. | haY
differed from him IS have the righ
to do. At the last session L difere
} from him on the penitentiarv queS
= tion. had the right to do so, an
: the legislation thought my positio
was right and his wrong; the legisla
ture said was right AID time ha
shown the wisdom of the position
then took. also differed with hi
, predecessor, as 1 had the right to dc
But l have never, by thought, word
!; nor act, said or done aught disparag
ing his motive. In most of the gov
ernor's message frankly say / an
with him, and believe that he is en-
deavoring to do his official duty pa
triotically and according to his judg
ment.
For thirty years l have lived il
Texas. In those thirty years l have
known about twenty governors anC
lieutenant governors, while trying tt
faithful y discharge the obligations OF
their positions, but say to you that
of this number, while all went in tc
their Office buOyanJ and light hearted
not one but what came out sore al
heart and foot-weary, and Will never
be found in my opposition to the poll.
cy of the executive, aspersing his
motive, nor will criticise his con-
! duct unless know him to be wrong,
and then will differ from him. So
much, Mr. President, by way of pre-
face.
First let us dig to the foundation of
these troubles, let US stop and look
about US for the course of these eff
fects that we may see whittier on we
! drifting. look about me and see a
| tendency to communism and the dis
truction of property rights. 1t meets
me at every point. / pause and ask
what is the cause of this? l want to
remove this tendency, and know that
it is useless to treat the effect until I
have removed the cause. a glance
! shows me that Texas herself is the
champion communist of this conti-
nent. I regret to say it, but the time
has come when it will not do to call
thing except by their proper
| names. say, sir, that
Texas herself is the champion conf
munist of the American continent.
say further, if Texas would remove
the tendency to communion in her
subjects, she must cease to be COM
munist herself, until she does she can.
not correct this crying evil. What do
| mean2 l mean, she has pursued a
line of policy that has as a natural
result brought about this deplorable
state of affairs. l mean, that she has
so treated her public domain that
from that policy has grown spirit of
communism which / find about me.
Shall / say that her legislature has
done this? l mean that 100000
acres of land scattered over
this great state; lands surveyed
and marked upon her map, having
fixed boundaries, and the property of
her public schools. This legislature
is the trustee, and these lands are
held in trust for the benefit of the
children of the state. A sacred trust,
and yet these lands have been turned
over-this vast area of our domain
to individuals and great corporations.
Every acre in this great panhandle
has been turned over to a commune,
who occupy it IN common, and the
children for whom 1t is held in trust
receive nothing for its use, while this
commune is growing rich from its
productions. This is why l say the
state is the champion Communist on
this continent. You teach these
men it is good policy for them to
occupy the land of the school fund in
common, and in time they come to look
upon this as natural right. When
the idea prevails that men have the
right TO use these trust lands to en-
rich themselves and come to believe
that they have acquired vested
right in them by such use, they soon
pass to the idea that all lands should
be used il common - and such Is the
history we have been making. This
is the cause Of this fence cutting.
Communism is easy and these men
think they have the right to go upon
prohibited lands. There is a charge
before-a fearful charge This charge
must be met and met manfully and
We are in the midst of rev.
olution aud there are dangers about
US. These dangers come in measure
from the rapidity with which we are
growing rich. Yes, we are growing
rich too fast. Our rapid growth is
building up Individual wealth and the
country is filled with the ideas of CON-
munism that grass and water must be
free. Thea, too, another cause Is the
rapid growth of corporations. Mr..
do not want to switch Off
to the discussion of corporation, but
must say word about them in this
Twelve months ago
when tried to put restriction upon
the granting of 100000 acres of
public domain, said men now
gray headed before me would see the
evils of community and tnat fence
cutting and other evils would result.
Six months had not passed until the
nippers were at work. I esterday l
was invited to meeting-no matter
where, I learned of a powerful organ
ization. A man had. Joined this Or
ganization and they required him to
cut fence as a condition precedent to
becoming member. I learned that
this organization was wide spread
throughout Texas. What has given
rise to this? 1t comes from the free
pasturing of schoollands and the rapid
growth of pastures. That is the
cause. Free pastures have made men
rich at the expense of the public and,
great corporations havema the poor
enviuus and discontented. / would
wipe out all corporations If / had it
in my power to do so. (The senator
here quoted from French political
economist to the effect that these cor
porations have this effect.) There
fore, if 1 mad my way l would make
quick work OF them. It has been said
we must not stir up strife. / am not
to be driven from the philosophy of
this bill for fear l may stir up strife.
l must be true to this great issue.
The man who lies to himself is
the worst liar of all. He who for
foo- oF oo,,oinor o<rifa rnolyaa hinacaIf
believe Il lie is indeed dangerous. 1t
will not do to treat this matter super
fcially. 1t is hip disease, and if you
would cure the patient you must cut
TO the bone. 1t may hurt, but there
is no other way TO treat it. These
men, like grasshoppers, are feeding
upon the public domain; they must
be removed. These evils must be
stopped. To these evils my bill ad-
dresses itself. am not par
ticularly partial to this bill. 1t
may be detective; it may be botch,
like much of my other work;
but if you defeat it 1 ask
you to give me something
better. I am not welded to the bill,
but want to see this philosophy en-
bodied in better one if this does not
meet your appreciation. There have
been number of bills introduced,
but none that treats the whole ques-
tion, that takes in the whole philoso-
ply of the situation. If anything bet
ter than this bib has been shown l
have not seen it. l want to stop
these evils by treating the causes.
L was told by man short time
since of a man who had 275,000
acres enclosed, and in this was