Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-08-11
lie. Us suppxss7a'Ca


Allow man 10 state proposition
in his own terms, assume as a certain.
ty bare possibility which IL necessary
TO sustain his argument, then draw his
own conclusions, and u he fall to
prove that black Is white, that day IL
night, or that the lesser always con-
tains the greater. he IL to be con-
demDed for want Of skill IN using the
weapons that have been given him. a
writer, presumably the editor, In the
Corsicana Observer undertakes Ia
prove that the revenue accruing to the
school fund from leases IL greater than
that from tho same amount of
land sold 10 actual settlers. To
sustain the points of his argument the
writer disdains to empl ~ solid facts.
Every deduction traced back 10 the
beginning shows the foundation to be
"supposer such aud such n thing. IT
is first "supposed' that the state can
sell her 81, 0O0, 900 acres OF school lands
for 81 80 per acre, totally ignoring the
fact that the minimum price fixed by
law Is So per acre. Upon this "suppo.
sitiun,n however, the writer obtains
fund at So 500 900, which he loans
at 0 per cent, yielding AN income OF
81, 100, 600 n year. or total In twenty
years Of $GS 100000 That Is the case
AZ made out for the selling OF lheschool
lands. The Navarro county logician
then "supposes' that the state
lense out the entire 35.O00.O00
acres for five years at eight cents an
acre, which will yield ~ S0D,0OO n
year. "fhen suppose" the land ut the
end Of five years Is worth 81 an acre,
and "supposeD the state sells 10000
900 acres at that price, which will bring
$40, 900, 900, and this put at g per cent
interest, with the remaining land
leased at eight cents. bring an income
Of $i,6oO,00O. "Suppose, then" the
fellow continues, that al the end of ten
years the land Is worth 50 an acre,
another sale OF Is, ON, 000 acres il made,
which, with the residue leased il
to bring in S6,l60000 annually.
Then another superstition, carrying
the remaining 10000 900 acres at the
end OF fifteen years to n value Of 81. SO
All acre, and the magnificent principal
ct $lSo,ooo, 900, bringing In $40 900, Oo0
yearly In interest, Ia the result. See IL?
The possibilities Of suppose arc pc.
tent beyond description. Why did the
'suppos Il ious" authorship ut $3.50 900.
600? TWAS just IA easy 10 have made 1t
$500, 900 600, and IA many people would
have accepted the latter figures.
10 trent the matter seriously, IL is
not adding to the extravagance of the
whole thing to consider II in any other
light than M n piece of builoonery;
there Is no reasonable ground for any
supposi,ion that the lands, II leased.
viii be worth more at the
end of twenty years than to-
day. The increase OF population
and the consequent demand for these
lands " all that can make them more
valuable. As long IA the country Ia
leased aud under fence no settler il
going there. The construction of rail.
roads and the building of towns create
real estate values. Without populn.
ton there can he neither towns nor
railroads, and no advance of values In
land. When the present leases expire.
II the lease system Is maintained and
actual settlers excluded, the country
VIII be M much wilderness and
the lands worth no more thun
to-day. This IL the conclusion
OF experience. IL does not need n
score of fictitious assumptions to give
credit to this proposition. If the PEG.
pie OF Texas begin the policy of leasing
their lands they cannot quit by de.
grees. When their eyes are opened to
the folly OF leases they will abolish the
system at stroke, and as fast as the
leases expire sell them to actual sol.
Tiers. But before the end OF that TINA
incalculable harm will have been done
the state, which It will not recover from
In decade of years. The way TO
avoid such calamityIis to stop the
harm how.