The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-05-20
SWAIN.
GREAT SPEECH OF THE FU-
TURE GOVERNOR AT
ALEXANDER.
MS VIEWS on THE LAND POLICY
or TENAS AND OTHER
ISSUES.
reclal releoram to The statesman.


McGaughey, oW representative Col. W D.
swain arrived on the noon train, and after dinner
made Il two hours speech to an audience OF from
z, 100 70 800 people.
canvass he alluded to the speech of General Ross,
at sulphur Springs. aud said he was surprised that
as a candidate for governor he did not discuss and
decre in favor Of some state policy to be pursued
BIZ him in case of his election. But instead, the
General has assumed the, garb of a
issues that had passed eleven years; that he
had told how he, with others of his associate+ In
the constitu ional convention in lS7 set aside
3001O0O acres OF the public domain in one body,
for the purpose of building a new state capitol;
that General Ross had not then :ried to provide
that the land shou!d he sold In small lols' ane
only restriction sought 10 be placed upon II was
that il should not be placed on the market under
ten wears. Swain contended that if 1T was wrong
to sell three million acres IN one body, the consul
tutional convention was the place to have checked
IL. but General Ross did not tell his hearers that
he had voted smoke house and corn-crl6 tax upon
all the farmers of t state, which cost the people
S5nOOD to repeal hat he and his associates in that
Convention authorized the general incorporation
Which the foreign and domestic corporations
yle Incorporated and nave taken possession OF
tba panhandIe to the great detriment and annoy
ance OF the actual settler, who desires to find
home in the West
part ne lSwain) took in the senate upon the capi,
tol land question, Colonel swain said that he had
voted to sell in small quantities, but failing in that
it was finally agrsed atnt espl'oi t ooafo sUe De
elective officers with Governor o. NJ. Roberts as
chairman and that board Was authorized to utilize
the land 10 the best advantage, as their Judgment
should direct That that board made the contract
for the disposition of the land and the building OF
the capitol before he came into once Colonel
Swain said that he should not have alluded TO these
things II General H. had not mentioned them
Tbaf the questions IN, lwel had been discussed in
ne press of th. sa'p and he presumed every in
telligent reader unuc rsJuOd them,
Colonel Swain sild .uGt he was well satisfied
with his record on these questions, and especially
the vote for change 10 the material from lime
stone TO granite That his vote on tile Indiana
limestone proposition, and those OF his two asso
ciates, Walsh and Templeton, had been the means
OF securing the change 20 Granite, OF VIII h al the
people In Texas should be proud. He said that
General Rose had shown ~ much Ignorance when
he said the change would he million dollars ad
vantage to the contracIor ts he dld when he sag sag
that the new capitol would cost only one and half
million dollars That the best IF our architects
had ngured the cost of the building to be nearly
four millions of money, and that the cost in granite
over limestone would be over six hundred thou
sand dollars Regarding the possession of the
caDifnl lands, Governor Roberts had long ago de-
cded that the contractor was entitled to possession
Holding under a eontrrct for purchase they were
liable for taxes on the same as well as under a
lease OF three years. The lands were leased at six
cents per acre and a fifty thousand dollar bond
ciyan 10 secure the payment in case Of failure in
Tie contract The trade was a good one, and the
interest of the state fully guarded.
Referring to General Boss allusion to the use of
state troops to suppress lawlessness and crime,
Colonel Swain said that he had repeatedly declared
that il necessary he would use such force, and any
Tbot Nc ,vonld pphold the constitution in all its
,neenino md that so far as he could
do it, would make every man, woman
and cAd in Texas feel entirely secure
In brth life and propertv That the frontier pat
fslian had been used 10 arrest fence cutters and
tney had been ased arrest strikers, and he could
not see why they could NOT be properly employed
n nrayent the illegal fencing in the Panhandle.
That some of that force was now every day going
oyerthe state electiOneerng against him for gov
Rllt S,yaip uad a glowing tribute to the law abid-
{,e, neonia al fine stare and said they paid taxes
Ia snnnort this battalion, and expected at least
some rotection at their hands. He said Ross was
sHact,d with constitutional dualms and had become
bold from superior knowledge of the consttu.
tion Tbat IL Ross was GOVERNOR the law would
bave m enforce itself and from recent demonstra-
tiona mere Texas WOuId loon be in a bad way
he said that Ross had not assumed to tell the
nennle what he would dD if goyernor-he had
66niv sa5d ,vhat he vould not do That he would
NOT disturb the cattle baTOns who mad the school
lands fenced That he would not advocate the
ianse Ie and the result will be that the people of
sx9s have to foot the bills in the way of taxes to
iAeil M the schools
col Swain said he was IN favor of the lease law,
but ne did not want any land board-a well regu-
lated Lease law with all the lands belonging to
trust funds subject to sale actual settlers alone
on lone time and at low rate of interest
Referring to Gen. Ross claim that to sell would
sernre Greater revenue to all funds, Col
swain showed that under the lease
law the state bod sold three and half million
acres AT tNO dollars per acre, Ill IndH
two wears while under the sale law, for nine years
before the lease law wac passed. the state had sold
6OO9y0 acres at one dollar per acre, one million
dollars more money in two years than was received
lin nine Years before, and four hundred and fifty
thCUsand dollars in cash from leases-the latter
sales TO actual settlers while the former were
without restriction ls 10 settlement-except the
few acres sold under act of 1874. He showed by
this statement that ii there was money in the
sale nf lands that the lease law should stand, for
we had sold more land under the lease act than we
mad under the general sale law. He successfully
rnntroyartsd the statement of Gen. Ross, that the
land was not aubiect to taXation while under lease
ana said that our statutes provide that all land
under control OF the state, leasen for period of
yeara Is subject to taxation as though il was the
property of the lessee
he showed clearly that Gen Ross ideas pre-
vailed a Chinese wall would be erected across
western Texas, beyond which no settler could go.
Col. Swain deprecated such policy, and said that
instead of establishing peace on the western bor-
der IL would Open up ueW fields of strife which
would retard the settlement of the country for
twenty wears
The cattle men had declared in favor of the lease
pOlicy and all would join in fair, just and simple
law which defines the rights of all.
Col s. quoted the democratic platform of 1884 to
show shat the lease policy the one espOused by
the democracy of Texas lie said that Col. Wash
Jones run on the Opposltion ticket in 1884, on the
platform now occupied by Gen. Ross, If he had
Dny platform Ross had said that the lease policy