Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-02-06
FENCE-CUTTERS' PICNIC.
Report OF the Conference Committee OIL
Land Fencing Rejected.
Determined Opposition of its Enemies,
And a 50 TO % Victory.
Special TO the Gazette

Special TO the Gazette
Austin, February 5.--As expected
the report of the free conference on tn
fence-builders bill meet with disaste
in the house. The very points You
correspondent suggested as objectiona
BILE provoked the discussion yesterday
that ended in regular fence-cutter'
picnic, so to speak. Members becam,
more or less excited, and the debat,
was more spirited than on any former
occasion. AT an early stage of the
pow-wow the maj ority showed i,s teeth
and gave other unmistakabl'
fsigns of Impotence and eagerness tc
vote down the conglomeration of com
pounded hell-fire. The speeches on
both sides were bold, defiant and some
times incendiary. The gentleman from
CLAW. whose name is Swan, became
terribly exercised and bitterly de-
nounced the fence-cutter and his sym.
pathizers. His opinion ofthem is that
their crime is the most atrocious of any
known in the annals of time, and
places the perpetrators beyond
the pale of human rights. He
would have them shot without benefit
of clergy, and 1t would be disreputable
for attorneys to defend them in the
courts. He declared he would not de-
fend fence-cutter who should be in
di cted for the Oflense. Mr.. Swan has
made number of speeches on the
same line. and in nearly every one of
hi talks alluded to eight certain
pasture men in his county for illustra-
ton. :,
Mr. Browning of Mobeetie made a tell
inc sneech against the bill and when
he closed the applause fairly shook the
capitol and the bill report was doomed.
This was his peroration: "Equalize
penalties. If you provide felony for
one class and fines and avoidance for
another, you widen the breach, intens-
ify the evil and perpetuate strife. Ii
we are to legislate all the time in the
interest of capital and monopoly, and
against the people, ] for one, am will
ing to 20 back to my constituents
without any legislation upon the fence
Gu ting question. Before will vote
for thislbill as it is, or to taking up the
fence ciitter's bill from the table
without some fairer and juster
legislation than il here proposed
/ prefer to kill both bills and leave 1t
with the fence-cutters and pasture men
to fight it out among themselves"
The sentiment produced II tremen-
dous sensation and more applause on
the floor of the house than any utter
ance of the senate.
The gentleman from Bexar was sur
prised to hear gentlemen's views on
constitutional law with reference to
land ownership-he had studied these
questions and had drawn his knowl-
edge from the laws of Rome and Spain
and Louisiana, and knew what he was
talking about He then proceeded to
a vigorous argument to show that
man fenced around has no right to
WAYS for egress and ingress, and that
such privileges were simply favors ex-
tended and permitted by the proprie-
tors of surrounding lands. This gen.
ileman's knowledge of constitutional
law. it is feared, will bring premature
badness.
AS the dinner hour approached Mr..
Mckinney called the previous ques-
tion. and the house refused to adopt
the report by the following vote:
Yeas-Barrett, Benavides, Blount,
IT.. Cayen, Chenoweth, Cotton, Ora
yens, Jr.; Dennis, Hardness, Halle