Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-06-19
OUR AUSTIN LETTER.
Review of the Communism wh,.,
Overspread Texas Last Fall.
The CAuses Which Led to It-Tbo ro..
son Taught--A Timely Warning,
poelNl corresrondcnce OF lhe onnolin.

Spcciai Corrcspondcnce OF the Gnzotta
AUSTIN, June l7.--When n vrea,
storm OF communism burst upon ,ha
state nine months ago, four.iiftbs 90
the people were In lll-supprc ,sed avn.
pathy with 1t. From every quarter
went up the cry 1.-THE cattlemen
have brought 1t upon Themselves
Ihey fenced up hundreds of
thousands OF acres of the school lands
Illegally, and now they are meeting
their reward" That was true. What.
ever we may soy OF tho wlckedness ar
ience-clitting, and the communism n
involved, we must recognize the fact
that IL was protest against mo.
nopoiy of the public lands, IL evinced
spirit which yet Is
NOT DEAD, nut SLEEpErlI
that Is unnlterably opposed 10 the alb.
sorption OF the peoples lands by cor.
porations, and their doom TO the cul-
tivation of cows instead of babies. II
chafed and protested against the mon.
strous injustice of fencing cattle In
ana settlers out, until the sad c0nclu.
sion was reached that patience
and that g %ement tho v'f'a ae,
struction OF property began. The his
tory oil that rebellion against the school
land pasture and the barbed.wire
fence need not here be repeated II Is
fresh in the memories OF the people.
Fortunate indeed are they If the NOR
nj was well-learned and never To be
forgotten, for, out of the experiences
of those ak dreadful months, should
4
ing the possibility OF their reuetitiou.
PHASES or THE LESSON.
In the music of the nipper, harvest
Ing In the abundant crop grown from
the seeds OF unwisdom and misrule
planted in the government In years
gone by, was heard the voice OF the
people. 1t said that nevermore
should be tolerated monopoly in land,
In which eminent domain vests In the
government, and through the govern
ment In themselves, and least OF all
monopoly In the school lands, which
are the common heritage of
the people of Texas. Far more was
involved In that protest than the
triiiing recompense of few cents
rental per acre. IL was founded on the
chief cornerstone of n principle, and
that principle was that the interest of
n majority of the people is the highest
consideration known to republican
government. Is there anyone so fool.
ish, so blinded as to facts, IA to ascribe
the recent tempest to failure of pas
turemen to pay rental on the
school lands which they in
closed? Surely not. 1t was not IA
monetary issue, but question OF
whether the school lands should be
bequeathed to an honest yeomanry, Ia
develop their immense agricultural re-
sources and make their broad praries
ring with the music OF the spindle, the
steady tramp of the ploughman- and
the hum of the cotton gin, or whether
they should be perpetuated In
their pristine purity. fragrant
with the flowers implanted by nature
"born to blush unseen" save by tn,
unapprcciatlvc glance of the cowboy
galloping by and the dumb eyes of Tn,
long-horn, and encircled by bands o
forbidding and impassabie wire. 'rha
was the issue nine months ago! II
was the issue In the special session o
the legislature and IL is the issue now
rs TENAS DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC
Fifty thousand anxious hearts avail
the outcome of the Houston conven
tion. They are the tried ana true o
the Democratic fold, and after thes
long years of fidelity To the paIty, afte
helping to retrieve the state from Re
publican rule, and by their unanimit.
holding 1t finn in the Democratic pha
lanx, they are now looking forwor,
! with apprehension to determine IL nj
this time they have been fighting for
fancy, will.o-the-wisp, which II
the hour of their dire nj
cessity mockingly deserts them, IA
the caresses of land syndicates aD'
cattle corporations. Judas betraye'
, his master for thirty pieces of silver
and shall the Democratic party q
Texas, following his example, paupei
lie hundreds of thousands of It's ga
liant adhereuts in the West, that eve
Its treasures may he filled to ov.i
flowing? Shall IL be called the pastnr
Democracy, or the peoples Democrd
cy? This Is the question, wbic
Is not only all important to every cit
zen of the West, but of vital interes
to every man, woman and emo
touched by the blasting finger 9
poverty, In all the 2,00o,0o0 OF inhab
, tants, which Texas contains.
,, A DANGEROUS TEMPTATION.
' The party Is invited 10 place IN
seal of It's Endorsement upon the u
| iquitous leasing system 1t IL told b,
! the politicians that the people have n
: care in this matter beyond III
: revenues which may be derived froI
, the school lands; that the
may be humbugged and deceived, an
inuuced to sign this precious inheri
ance away upon the promise OF
months schooling year to the
children. Oh, specious demagoguery
: as II one toiliug settler, developing II
a resources, was not worth as much 10
0 country as the cattle upon thoushn
a hills. But the blatant politicians ~
= talk ing; "a mountain Of selfishness ~
@ Ing up from within obscures their vi
:. lon and prevents them from seeiD
a and understanding the best interes
= Of the party. IL is easy TO talk abol
I the children's grass, and tiaunt the cr
J. of education In the faces OF those WI
v are disposed to dig down deep INTO "
depths of the question; and 1t IL SUI
posed to he popular. Your avergt
politician flnds his highest type !
happiness In hois,ing the pllable sal
[ Of his political yacht, and from an en-,
y hammock watching them shit nbo'
Z To sui. the varied phases OF the popliii
breeze. But there are chances that y
!. stead OF the smooth sailing which
!. predicts, with lease platform SWIM
: Ing from the mninstnfi, cyclone
!. brewing. The Democratic party,
/ | Grant nd AZ r,pu N n IL la not atrDtl