The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-05-06
GOODNIGHT'S GRASS.
ATTORNEY GENERALS REPLY TO
A STATESMAN EDITORIAL.
The following letter explains itself;
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE, !
ATrSTTN Nav 1896
70 the Editor OF The Statesman:

ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE,
AUSTIN, May 4, 1886.
To the Editor OF The Statesman:
1t being short, | have read your edito-
rial of to-day, entitled "The Post on
Goodnight" Quite pertinent to the dis
cussion of the merits of Mr.. Goodnight,
there are some facts that ought to reach
the public as part of that discussion,
and as The STATESMAN has been much in
the business of describing the merits of
Mr.. Goodnight, and the demerits of the
land board-the latter vUluminously-it
might as well convey those facts to the
public.
am not going to deny that the land
board has been wicked--very wicked-and
that Mr.. Goodnight has been maltreated-
very much maltreated.
Now, ON Mr.. Goodnight's Pala Duro
ranch, alone, there are 100000 acres of
Unbiased school land, and $4,000 acres OF
public domain, all his-according to his
own statement. This ranch has been er.
closed nearly four years. which would
carry us back, say, to about May |,
1882. But, on the 18th day of
April, 1879, the first lease law
was passed by the legislature of the state
of Texas. 1t went into effect July "a.
1879. 1t is IAN act to require persons en-
closing public free school lands to pay an
annual rental thereof 1t recites that
many persons in this state have enclosed
a large portion of the public free school
lands, and have thus severed them from
the public common, and are using them
for pasturage, to the exclusion of all
others,
PLANT"
The first section of this act makes it
the duty of all persons having the lands
enclosed, by fencing or otherwise. to pay
an annual rental of twenty-five dollars
per section for each section so enclosed.
The sixth section makes it penal and pun
ishable in tie sum of one hundred dol
lars for each section, to fail to pay said
rental of twenty-five dollars per section.
In the seventh section it is said that
This act is of dem anding importance to
the state
The act which created the land
board went into effect about
the 18th day of July, 1883;
considerably more than year after the
enclosure of his 100000 acres of school
land. and yet YOU would not be able 10 re-
cord, after the most thorough and diigent
search, that Mr.. Goodnight ever paid
$3.50, the amount $50 per section would
figure up, for one year only, or even a
farthing for it.
After the creation of the land board he
had an opportunity which great many
awaited themselves of, to lease at Il mini
mum of four cents an acre, but that he
did not see proper to do. He had the
chance to purchase at least seven sections
of it, but it appears that that did not suit
him, or it does not appear that it did suit
him.
Until the 22d Gay of January, 1883, he
could have purchased all of the 10000
acres of the public domain at fifty cents
per acre, but to do that does not seem to
have suited him either.
As to the Tule and Quita Que ranches.
the former containing, according to his
own statement, 20S,000 acres of school
land Unbiased and 1000 acres of vacant
public domain; and the latter containing.
according to his own statement, 215.6S0
acres of school land and 1880 acres of
public domain, all Unbiased, he was in ex-
elusive possession of the country, and his
enclosures were begun before the mini
mum price of the land was raised from four
cents. He knew what land he wanted, and
he had no authority to stake out and ap-
propriate foot. without leasing it, and
still he did not see proper to lease, while he
could lease at four cents per acre.
The fact is, that if he has ever wanted
or offered to lease land at all at four cents.
1t has always been when he knew that he
could not do it. He has always offered it.
If at all. to do exactly the thing he knew
he could not do at the time, always declin
ing to offer to do it when the opportunity
and an invitation was extended to him to