The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-03-13
TIIE LAND BOARD.
Interviews With Pfomlaent nonsrth'
Of the Range.


Tho HHRALp, In view Of the importance
Of the present session Of the stock aslooia'
ton, and the complications arising, OF
likely 10 arise under thu recent action Of
the land board Ia raising the urlct for less
| log school landr, thought u
would be Of interest 10 ObtAiu
tha views OF some Of the prominent stock
men on tho question. and this morning
giyesa couple OF interviews ny ila commits
sioner. Meeting
Mr.. }, N, SIMPSON,
one OF the most prominent aud Eealthiesl
of the stockmen belonging 10 the assoc.A'
ton. our commissioner solicited his views
with the following result;
| Commissioner "Mr,. Simpson, ms you
were one ola committee appointed to wall
upon the land board and urge II 10 resclnd
rs recent action in putting up the
price Of lease OF school lands, the HERLLD
will be glad TO have your views as 10 The
I, .Slect OF this action OF the board"
Mr.. Simpson: "rhe eiTsct, IN my opinion
will be detrimental - the bes. interests o.
the state Ia 30 TAR ~ AN increase OF the
available school fund Is concerned. dom
think the s,ookmen can stand
the raise, TO use common
expression. They cannot afford al
a general thing, 10 give eight cents M acre
per annum for unwAtersd aud twenty cents
an acre per ennum for wGIeIed sections o
school lands. AS remuneratiyo as stock
raising may be, stockmen cannot Afford u
pay these prices es rule"
| Commissioner "Why mott What are
your reasons for this conclusion
| Mr.. Simpson: because, when stock,
man owning land desires TO lease school
lands he has TO take all the school sec lions
they being alternate, as he comes TO tnem,
aud very many OF these sections are e.
| tirely worthless, come Of them having no
more grass upon them than there 10 IN the
streets Of this city. For Instance, on my
range on the Pecos river, there Is 80
much land worthless for grass that the ay-
eraeu Ia not less than fifty acres per COW.
| To psy for SO much land then that gives no
return whatever will be ruinous."
Commissioner: What do You thin.
then, the reBult will bsY"
Mr.. Simpson: II think the stockmsn VIII
simply dec inc TO lease the school lands that
might have been bringing IN
four cents al acre rental 20 the school fuEd
will lie idle and not bring IN cent. This
being the case, the land board has evil
IDENTIFY made mistake; has evidently done
that which vii initiate against the in'tr-
ests OF public education, and the children
will be the sufferers
Commissioner: What effect, il it be
true, as is intimeted by some OF the news
papers that Governor Ireland 10 the power
Influencing the land board, he being u
mem Der OF il, 10 raise the lease price 10 )
and 20 cents an Gcrc, on his aspirations
ano prospects for re-elecnopf"
Mr.. Simpson: II think that his action
will ALLEVIATE from him all tho
stockmen OF the state. There
with penalty attached to effect the stock
men end will rot be for twelve mon hs and
in that time we ere 10 elect new legislature
and state officers, and something may turn
M in that twelve months, therefore the
stockmen can afford to wait and to work Tor
a change that will give toem relief
Commissioner: Have the laws passed
by the called session of the legislature
against fence cutting begun ss yet 10 have
any beneficial eheci"
Mr.. Simpson: Fence cuiGng bss ssa,sd
in she state. We never hsd any OF it up
here in the genuine and true stock region
of the sta,e-northwest Texas. Where il
did sxist il was only sporadic and NOT cpl.
dsmic, and il really died oat OF ITSELF"
Thanking Mr. simpson TOR his candid and
frank expression Of his views, the commits
sionsY than found
lR. ,. z. xYAHs,
who lives In tAs PanAandis. WHOM he
found TO ~ an exceedingly p4essant and
courteous 90 vol ~ sassrtaininy Sentle-
man, responding very sordially ~ follows;
Conmiss,oner: "Ar. swans. what ebect
do yon think the aetien Of the land board
in raising tho price TO. the lease OF school
lands viii have on the shock intsrsse
Can the stock men stand 1T
Mr.. Evans Oh. yes, We can stand
1t; that u.s., We can stand sny-
thing that Is lawful. am law abiding
man, myself, and believe every man should
submit quietly to any law that may Do
passed by the proper authorities, or If he
cannot. then leave the country and find
this action OF the land board IS arbitrary
and contrary TO the spirit and
the letter OF the lease law as passed by tho
] was at Austin when this
lease law was passed and lis ened to the
discussion upon the bill. Those who IA
yored short lease OF the land had to COM
promise Oh ten years, and those who sdvo-
bad to compromise on cents rs
the law passed. 1t is true the
land board was created and given power TO
reject bids for leases, but the i'm IN that
was TO prevent men from leasing say lit
tie slip of land on each side OF stream,
and fencing it in SO as to cut of other stock
than his own from water. The law niso
that there shall be compet-
ton IN bids for land, A cents being
fixed as the minimum in compsti-
tive bids and the highest price to be de-
msnded where there is no oompe tition.
For instance where a man offers cents
an acre for school lands and there IL DO
higher bid against him, think the spirit
o. the law is that the board shall accept the
bid. cannot understand by what au-
thority this board assumes the
power to fix the price Of lease
Tor the scboo lands at 8 cents for un-
watered sections, and 20 cents for
watered sections, and that no lease shall
exceed six years, when the law itself says
there may be competition in bidding for
these lands, and that leases shall be for ten
years I think the unanimous sentiment
Of stoekmen is that this ruling
and action OF tho land board is arbii airy |
Stockmen are aw.abiding meu, and will |
quietly aud periodically submit to the law,
but there is no law TO compel them 10 lease |
The school lands, and there 10 no law TO |
compel tn am to fence up their stock So
The scnool lands may become commons,
and who is there aud what law is there to |
prevent a mans stock from leeding On the |
commissioner: "Do you think then ID at
stock men will refuse to lease the school
.ands 80 long as this ruling Ut the land |
board ia in forCe2o
Mr.. Evans: "This association will not
take any action in tho matter. Some stock
men may lease, and some will
not. 10 illustrate: Suppose
stock man owns lot OF
land with alternate sections OF school
land about him, but hire and there are
little tracts owned by ''nesters" and little
banners, and to get what land ne va ITS for
grazing purposes he has ID entirely sur
round these little isolated tracts, that is
fence them in The law now saye no
man can fence In land not his