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

res thTUugl, calculated 70 buii the prise ef +,
ms ia oe5sr9s ' PT9s q ea i r h1a e
,apirjlits. Shakespeare tells OF q man who /
stole The livery OF heaven 20 worship the devil |
'dliuR aud the school children of the country, |
To pat money IN their own pockets. This Is |
llS uTSt time that many OF them have ever |
been heard to lift their voices in behalf OF the |
cause OF common education. As was coming |
from home a well-infOrmed man told me thar |
Mr.. Gould would introduce a land bill at this |
session. asked him IN what way Mr.. Gould |
could be interested In the land legislation of |
this state? He said that the railway compa-
'le', corporations, syndlc ties and large land
owners wished to double the price of Western |
lands BY m king it a felony for any citizen Of
iHis st te to allow his stock TO Craze on them,
AMI that THIS jobbers wished to employ the
officers. the revenue and the troops 10 collect
their rents. nile the purpose of this bill is
rlfrlly disguised. l see it is the measure that
my frlc d alluded 10, and find ii heartily
approved OF by all the capitalists who wish 10
make q profit ont Of the troubles that af11ict
the country. Il requires all men whose cattle
rae on any uninciI SGD land TO deposit IN the
state treasury for tue rise OF The owner four
cents per acre, for earh acre his cattle may
Craze on; This deposit is required to be IN ode
on the first day OF January Of each ear, and a
failure to make such de oSit is to be punished
vdeS for The appointment Of Ten "gras com
missiunrrs,' with the judicial mowers of q JUS
ricp of the peace and the military authority
OF satrap These grass commissioners" are
authorized to roam the state at will, foil wed
uy a retlnue of st .te troops, armed with an alb
str ct of land titles and a list OF brands and
with authority IL arrest men upon complaint,
Information u view, and carry them to remote
pa IS of The state for trial. Under the bill Il
any man without land allows one head over
twenty-five cattle to stray out Of an enclosure
he is guilty nf Felony. If land owner suffers
to go astray in any county more than one head
f cattle for each ten ares he o rs in such
county re is guilty Of felony; or II he allows
any cattle TO stray or drift INTO any county in
which ht does not own land, prior tn NOvem-
Il
owing his stock to increase beyond the pre-
lcribe,i number Is a so lily OF felony; II
he citizens mutter or complain at this Law,
lee from the grass comnis>i )ner or TAX up
rms tO resist him, they are guilty OF treaeon
and are to he dealt with as traitors. The grass
c mmiSsipners are to travel from place 10
place. examine cattle, how they aFe being
gIaZed, round up and see row many are on
-ach range, ascertain from their abstracts of
titles and brands who owns the land and who
owns the cattle, and arr st with military force
al offenders g inst this | W.
My friend from Travis took occasion TO say
that he intended to retire from any active par
IicipatiOn in he politics of tn country, and
would never be a candidate for any civil ONCE
and in order to convince us proposed to go be-
fore notary and make oath to the fact You
will observe he said civil office; he Is not TO be-
estOpped from accepting military command
His heart is set on grass c0RlmiSsionerShip,
aud that is what makes him take on so much
disgust when he thinks OF the man who sits In
the executive Off e,
When our fir end announced his intention to
retir from public life and 1 looked into the
t ices OF the 1natOrs and bysta ders, was re-
minded Of the case of old man Brown, OF Geor-
gi1. Brown was taken sick and sent for the
doctor. The noctOr rave b III out. and for the
il st time II his life Brown sent for a preacher
The prea her prayed for .rnwn and Ia ked to
I'M and before leaving said: " r. Brown, ]
nnd ee g knew aSaR sns
ing to CO." Brown said that he Thought he
| was ling" Il am very glad to hear that, ~
| said the preacher, 81 have talked with the
| they
course, this incident don't have any applica-
| ton t. the case in point.
We are told that Texas is the champion com.
mum st of the age. l think the senator who
makes this charge against the land of his adop
| ton, an in which he has lived TOR thirty years
| has certainly miStoOk the Sent ment of the PEG
pie. whom he IN part represents upon this
| ioor- Who are the communists IN this sta ef
Certainly not the $50 900 farmers who are now
| at home, pursuing their daily avocations. They
arr, men Who h;tvf property themselves. in The
! enjoyment of which they wish be protected
and are willing to protect others in the posses
| son Of their rights. he welfare OF this coun
| try is their own welfare If the country sui
| ferS, they suffer. THY have always been the
most conservative and law-abidpg portion o.
| which til Y live and in which tn ir children vii
| live after them, by planting IN the soil the
seeds of communism.
| was raised on a farm. and the first twenty
| one years of my life was spent with farmer
| a / never heard a conn unistic idea ad
vanced till quit the farm and met wi b the
9SfTs w6p sit Gomez on y f66eds S95ss ane
and heard some Of our statesmen
advance their views upon questions of state
policy. Certainly our merchants, business
| men and anufact irers are not communists
| they ask that shciety and the law protect them
| their rights and are willing that others be
lists, they have property thai they ask society
| and the law to protect. The young man com
mencing life without means is no communist,
he looks forward to the time when he Will have
home n 1OnEh c0PtetV and
| the law to protect him in all OF his honest &C
qui,ition>.
The distinguished senator will ind, to his
sorrow, tAat in this great state communist are
scarce, and their small numbers will grow still
less as the state advances in education, in
craftsmanship in patriotism and civilization.
don't look with the eye of the alarlnlSt
upon the troubles that now afiict the state, nor
do look with despair to the future; there Is no
necessity for becoming panic stricken and
rushing into rash and ridiculous measures that
would in Il few months make us the laughing
stock of the state and OF all who should eve
hear OF DR.. TerrelPs specific, for free grass and
fence trouble.
The people of this state are a law abiding
people, an industrious nd thrifty people rug
Cling To better their condition and seeking TO
acquire competency for Themselves and tn ir
families, and hey need tie strong arm OF the
Jaw Tor their Own protection and we can safely
trust To their patriotism, to their love Of order
and Justice to enforce the law.
There is much dissatisfaction in consequence
of tie rapid fencing OF the country and the
| oranges from the invention and use Of barbed
wire.
A few years ago, no one ever dreamed or the
prairieS of this state being fenced to such an
extent as TO seriously incOmmOde travel or in
teriere with the rights of the public to roads
and pasSwayS. The use of barbrd wire ha-
rendered it possible to inclo-e the prairieS of
| the state, and they have been inclOsed within
a very few years. Men wuo have BEEN accu-
toned 10 Craze their cattle upon the lands of
others, have found il cheaper and more profit
able 10 purchase lands and 1nclose tn m.
some have be II driven TO the necessity of buy
| ing lands for fear that they would b. bought
md Inc osed by Others. While some cattle
men, not approaching the changed circum-
sta ces, have neglected to by la DIS and now
have no grass Of their own upon which their
cattle can fed, or else are too penuriOus to in
vest their means in land and serve to swell
| the band Of diecOntents who complain Of th'
condition OF the times.
While he country has been so rapidly fenced
up, but Ii tie atterI on has been paid to the
rights OF the people to roads and paSSways.
large astur'- men; the roads have been
crooked, changed and fenced so as to rend 7
travel difficult. While this has been going on
there have been many cases of peculiar hard
ship, and, OF course, many men have been self
iSh and regardless of the rights of others and
OF the public. 1t would be a miracle il there
was not mu h excitement N the country and
| much complaint, but to remedy this no bill
! similar to the one under consideration Is lee
eSs iry. No man has the right to p 'sture his
| cattle upon the lands of another after he has
contends for any su b. rights, nor can
we listen to any such demand. The
| good people OF this state are not
| demanding free grass, or that the owner shall
| keep his land unfenced in order that their cat
| tie may Craze On 1t. They do demand, howeV-
er, and his IS their right, that they have roads
| and passages to market. to mill. to gins. and
wherever their business may call them, and
| they 10 ell i'm tina nOman or set of men should
be allowed to so fence tue country as to inter.
| fere with these rights
/ believe that ii we pass proper road law,
| providing for and respecting the right Of the
| people to roads and paSSwaSs. all good men
| VII respect the right of man to fence his
| own land with wirt or with any other mater al
| he may choose, and the cry that now comes up
| about fence cutting will stop.
think the penalty for fence cutting should
| be increased, but at the same time we should
| rememb that there are other rights than the
| right TO own wire fence, that men should be
protected in.
\ good man cannot enter with zeal uDon the
| prosecution of d nee cutter, when the owner
OF the fence has not, perhaps, respected the
| rights OF others, and has placed fence so as
to interfere with the rights of an individual to
road. bad men have ttken advantage of the
dissatisfaction prevailing in the country. to
destroy FENCES just as they ould destroy any
other property, if they were led to believe that
pubic sentiment would suSl ain them In 80 90
ing.
The wire cutting mania that now sweeps over
Texas VII stop of itself just AS soon as the
midnight marauder is given to understand that
he has no sympathy from the people and will be
punished as the the horse thief or house burner.
hen wire cutting first commenced anyone
would have suppo ed from some of the articles
! publlshed IN newspapers. and some OF the ex-
preSs1nns of politicians, and even men in ONCE,
that the fence cutter was a benefactor and a
her'; but public sentiment has changed. No
one ow uphOlds fence cutting