San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1884-10-09
A Foolish Land Policy.
Galveston News,

II is TO the interest Of every tax
payer and every merchant, mechanic
and industrious laboring man in Texas
10 have the idle lands in the State
occupied and cultivated. II may be
true that there are lands which will
never be cultivated, but the bulk OF
the school lands and railroad lands,
long believed fit only for pasturage'
have been in recent years shown to
be we'll adapted to agriculture. Out
of 3O,000,OO0 acres Of school lands
probably 20, 900 acres are good
farming lands, 80 that out of 60,OOO,-
900 acres of school lands and railroad
lands together 40,000,000 acres are
adapted to farming. Forty million
acres would furnish GAO acres each to
62, 500 farmers. That many farmers,
with their families, hired help, the
mechanics, merchants and profess
sional men and their families draw
to these lands, would comprise o
population of over million persons.
Taxable values would be increased q
hundred fold, and Unavailable school
fund, from interest on the invested
proceeds of the school land sales,
would annually receive 100000
And yet policy of utilizing the lands
for stock-raising, under a lease law
which does not increase taxable values
or add to the population, is preferred
to the plan of forcing the settlement of
the wild lands with farmers. OF
course it is sound policy to lease
lands not in demand or not likely to
be in demand for agricultural pur-
poses, whether they be good lands or
not; but is it sound policy to lease
all alike and to thereby advertise to
the world that renters are preferred
in Texas to actual settlers, owners
and tillers of the soili Lands may
not be in demand, but demand may
be created for them. If there were
ever so much inquiry abroad for Texas
lands by the dissatisfied and hamp-
cred farmers of the older States,
would not the present land policy of
the State discourage that inquiry and
prevent the actual inspection of the
country by those who would other
wise become settlers in Texas? 1t
is said on the other hand, that Texas
does net propose to force immigra-
ton that people of other States
will find out for themselves in good
time and gradually come in and take
up the lands. Let that idea be
applied to other affairs. A railroad
company desires to establish city or
town on the line of it's road, but does
not propose to lay QUO town lots and
lease them until by the accidental
vi lit of some venture some foot-pedd r
the trade emporium is discovered.
The company advertises far and wide
that the lots are for sale, usually
upon certain day, and the result is,
without exception, that the lots are
sold and the town is made. If the
railroad company is able to build up
populous and prosperous towns and
cities in that way, violating no statu-
tory, moral or commercial law, where,
in is it wrong in the State to adopt
the like practical, common-sense
policy? If the railroad company laid
off it's towns into lots and advertised
them for lease as cattle-pens or goose
ranches, until enterprising people
found out by accident that they were
better fitted for mercantile and
manufacturing purposes, its course
would be condemned as egregious
folly, and yet such is the policy OF
Texas. Members of the Ninteenth
legislature ought to be prepared to
adopt more liberal, progressive and
salatary policy.