The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1885-03-26

for time an extra session an appar-
rent necessity.
PROBABLE SCHOOL REVENUE
Comptroller Swain has addressed a
most important letter to the Governor
touching public school revenue. The
amount of land belonging to the COM
mon school fund is 24,678,279 acres,
after deducting sales made under the
acts of 1874, 1879 and 1881. Taking
this as basis for estimating possible
revenue, the Comptroller shows that
the Lease of these lands at an average
price of four cents per acre would
yield an annuity of $685., 13188. To
lease at even this figure, many of the
landsi would have to be let at less
than four cents per acre, and it can
not be denied that much is not worth
four cents, considerable quantity in
fact, might be designated which is not
| worth even one or two cents per acre.
)The policy heretofore adopted is to
lease only the best lands, letting all
the inferior lands be used free. Under
such a system vast amounts of the
best lands, as well, are used for moth
ing. The proper plan upon which
these lands should be leased is
upon their real merits. There
is no power which can make
the most inferior grazing lands
lease at eight cents per acre, and as
long as the uniform policy is pursued
returns in the shape of revenue will
be small. The Comptroller makes a
public school revenue statement as
follows:
| If the lands should all be leased
| at an average price of four cents
per acre, it would produce. 80. S9S7,1s1 So
| The receipts from land notes in the
| State TreaSurer'S office. .......... 476606 So
Amount of interest on land sales by
the State Land Board .......... 1894 As
| Interest on county bonds held by
| the permanent school fund. ...... 104,622 90
| Int rest ON State bonds held by the
| permanent school fund ........... 1890 CO
| Interest on railroad debt to the per-
manent school fund ............. $500 90
| Onefourth OF the occupation tax. Oil 900 90
| Educational poll tax. ............... 215,000 90
Total. 81, 1897 ,245 10
/ The above grand total is more,
by $364,O0O, than was distributed
to the several counties from the tax
of twelve and one-half cents on the
hundred dollars of valuation and all
other sources. AS the Comptroller
shows, the lease of school lands, on the
basis designated by him, would be in
the nature Of relief from taxation for
educational purposes-a result which
The STATESMAN has often showed
the Constitution makers had in view
when they prepared to create landed
fund for education. The public schools
should be sustained, as the Univer-
sity is now sustained, ABSOLUTELY with
out taxation. The advalorem school
tax produces 1903, $4,000, while the
lease of lands at an average of four
cents per acre would yield 1897, 1878.
But, says the Comptroller, the finan-
cial officers of the State will never be
enabled to collect taxes to support the
government, whether derived from
direct tax or tax in the shape of a
lease law for school lands, unless ade-
quate means are provided. to enforce
the law. Nearly all the Unbiased
school lands are located in the unor-
ganized counties, in which no tax
collector or any other officer of the
law lives, and these lands are now oc-
cupied by corporations and individ-
uals, rent free, and who pay but
small sum on their immense personal
profits. The revenue depart
ment, says the Comptroller "has been
and will continue to be powerless to
enforce proper collections in the I'M
organized counties, unless new tribu-
mails are created to inspect that extern
sive territory, to classify and value
the lands, and to enforce the provis-
ions of the law He very properly
says no tax of any character is ever
paid when no means are
provided to enforce collection. Atten-
| ton is called to the fact that the live
stock men Of Texas, in convention,
expressed a desire that laws be so
| framed as to force the users of these
lands to pay revenue to education.
1t is this principle, for which
The STATESMAN has persistently
labored for years. The plan was
embodied, subject to changes of course,
in bill presented to the Eighteenth
Legislature by Senator Terrell, aud to
this. or something very like it, the
law must come. The Comptroller
concludes his suggestions by saying
that the figures presented by him
demonstrate that if the Legislature
will ADOPT some mode whereby lease
law will be operative, and not oppres-
sive to any interest in the immense
| territory embraced in the unorganized
counties, the direct school tax of 1919
cents may be entirely dispensed with
after the present year, and the State
! administered without deficiency on
an aggregate tax Of 25 cents on the
one hundred dollars valuation, thus
diminishing instead of increasing tax
ation." Unless some means of this
character is adopted, he SAYS, it will
require an advalorem TAX ~ % cents
and a school tax of l21s cents,
amounting in the aggragl.e 10 3715
cents, to avoid d. Fl ieic.. -. 9 ,
troller's letter was sent to tie i.egisl.-
ture yesterday. Win that body take
the question in hand and meet the
emergency as it should have been met
two years agcs
1T is remarked upon as singular
coincidence, that all the pr eminent
Democrats who were mentioned in
connection with cabinet positions and
didn't get them arrive home from
Washington filed with ignorance of