The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-01-24
TERRELL Bib AGAIN.
Senator Glbbs' Argument on tho FER
rell Biii.
The Blll Viewed From 'IGuy
SaudpO.uis.
A Cogent aud Logical FGm,,

A C0gent aud Logical fiIort.
AUSTIN Tx Jan. - -O.r NJ ths mast
hgcs spveUnrs de!'verrt Hu the ienc-'
q ting question 80 Tar wNr hat ~ Hon.
I,rnett Gibbs, II usl'us. Io,t Fdioy, Ho
sd;
n CnAIRnAH--lp dscusi,ng the pend.
id h.i' tHs m n, II ihy champions ~ a.,
. ptyisiOua seem 20 have tll-eu ter cuu
iriH thr preamble 81 tue D'il it5rii, md
| pHlalu that desire for tres grass IN thu
oDl motive tor the CrItur,
H. learned auihur OF The mea,urs nsa
distyrsed ppe cluie aud lost sisHl oi th6
mAt othCra and yet they are Hs uu y er'
ousls hlHCkberrles Ia summer nmv. IN"
willRou account Tor tne We'-eSispllsh'u
fact hat there have heen more IN u pas
tufe Ind farm fences Cut than large ones
Howo you accornt Tor the iact mat III"
realIarga pastures IA the wesi h.va 60
capclntirely, whiis men with nothing sat
peach orchards and hnuss pastures have
had Tim otslly demolished? The small
homept the widow and thc sanctuary oil
the del have not escaped, The want at
propei road facilities aud the enclosing oi
land 4 Others than the owners hay' c M
tributt no little 10 the general dissatsi6c.
ton, and resulted in some instance,
Ia faee cutting, but these have
not been the causes III the
mtlOflt OF lAhLNiltA .. - ~ untitHF W hlh'
cuss ~ causes. for tAey are too numerous
bur its safe 10 ny hat the WORSE OF the
ca be charged 40 90 general cussed.
nAd human depravity, aud The com
io iegchin,s al politicians. The
all a. once discovered that "a wire
yes the most helulsss of all human
hnns; they discovered that by their
ttion they could commit more crime
= In les ,ims than by any other know1 pro-
cess, id tnaI The chances Tor destruction
werebwer. and 49,
lightt than for other violations OF INV.
n TexH 10 no exception to the well-snown
a and eug established. rule that crime will
NJ 6mmitted more readily when The,
inihment IN case of detection and cou-
III ~ doubtful ami inadequate-somc
6the4g{Sp suod men, have no doubt been
= inducedto engage in er coDnive ut fence
cu,,irg because OF oppressive acts BY
paslursmen and those giant corpora
tiona which are contrary to tne
true interests OF our people. While
these things are true. cod while..the fence
cutter tCy cryi1g out against "monopoIes,'
and L. favor ofroad facilities. has touched a
tendflr chord 1Dd gained the sympathy OF
the tIlblic in many instances,.yet the tact
rems&ns tina, many OF the men engaged in
the blksipess IRE catt.c thieves, who resiizs
that Every fence narrows their deld of op.
'eradbus. Good aud bad clements have
com bined in ihis unnoly Invasion ofpToper-
Hgr Ehts' -, .o,,s ,. - NOE.
thrte same indviunalS would cut the throat
of dtra yeler, except for he Tear o. detection
md savers punIsbm nj, IN others the per
ueira;or would divide his last crust. Wnen-
tyIr the criminals OF q state find weak
pdnt in the law they hasten 10 take adTan.
taIe of it, Bad men because the press ana
III people justified this otfense in the begin
ring have ceased 70 have any motive Tor
he crime other than TO be i'll the fashion.
tevilish boys, not considering II q crime
because the law and public opinion only
llassed it as q misdemeanor, have made
n hnight raius on the fence OF a disagreea-
ke.seighbor aud laughed at the sensation
treated by them. rhe most civilized COM
tmuniiies have their share OF communism
and vandalism which are restrained only
nv severe laws depending for their enforce-
mept upon the preponderance Of morai.sen-
timept in rude communities to sustain the
Tho preamble of this bill advocates the
! leasing OF the entire 3OOOO,OOO acres OF
school lands without recognizing the neces-
sity of reserving the strictly agricultural
lands for sale 10 actual settlers. Such a
policy would add fuel to the fire. This
would retard the groSth OF the state and
nut every farmer seeking home in Texas
at the mercy of the railroad Corporations
and land spectators, because the state has
no more homes for them on reasonable
terms, The tirst section of the bill requires,
in effect, that certain classes OF stockmen
shall fence or herd their stock while 1t leJs
a sufficient number run loose to require the
farmer to keep up mis- fence. Herd laws
have never been enacted or tolerated on
any other principle than that IT. enabled the
farmer to save the expense OF oulialhs anu
repairing fences. Here We are asked TO
adopt all the hardships OF herd law and
eschew
On what principie OF justice or equity
can a man let twenty-five head OF cattle run
on the range and the man with thirty head
must own or lease land general herd
law is not practicable In Texas az TINS hme
and should not be enacted until les radi-
cal legislation is tried. But it seems to me
it is even now preferable TO this bill; when
We do have a herd law let it be one that
will relieve cur farming classes OF their
heaviest expense.
This section mas another serious defect In
that il permits an owaer OF stock IN excess
of twenty-five head to pasture one animal
at large for every ten acres of and owned or
leased by him IN the county. have u few
hundred acres of bare land leased in the
southeast corner of the county, in East
Fork bottom, yet can run my stock in the
northwest corner of the equity on some
BOWS good grass. The effects of this law
would be fsr-reaching, and while | don't
think the learned Senator could have had
other than the gooi OF tho poor people at
heart vet bis bill is clearly in the interest
of monopolies. 1t will have tendency,
and very rapidly, too, 70 force men with
over rs and less than 5000 head to sell out
their stock to the large syndicates. 1t will
sacrifice the hard-working, comparatively
small stockman to the rich one, who con-
trolls banks as well as cattle. 1t this has
tendency to quiet fence cutting IT will oe
the ouietude that results from the big fish
swallowing all the small ones. II will be
the ouietude OF death, so far as the grazing
districts are concerned, Texas has been
liberal with railroads and all other kinds of
corporations and has proven the paradise OF
THE LAND sPEcULAToR.
But with all our liberality and reckless
sousndering OF public domain we have new
er done as much rs We are now asked to DO
nv adopting the first section of this bill.
We have given away vast domain, aud
now propose to force the stockmen to buy
Il at high prices or leave the state. It is
useless to cty out that we must not let
them eat the "children's grass" and with
this as the battle cry turn large part OF
our citizens over to the tender mercies OF
corporations and spectators. If we pass
this bill it will double the value OF lands
for grazing purposes, and make the rich
richer and the poor poorer. We will sue
ceed in building the land market to such
an extent that the railroad corporations
ought to pension us tor life.
believe we can get revenue from our
lands without resorting 20 such maniiestiy
unjust and radical methods. am not pre-
pared to say that it is right in order TO get
one dollar for the school fund that we
should put two dollars into the pockets OF
these already enriched corporations. Ii