Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-02-12
COMANCHE.
Grass Commissioner stephens Adj
d. .esses a Large Audience on
the Land Question.
onc Can On Prom San Angelo TO the In.
dian Territory ard Never be Out
side OF ar Inclosure.
corrc.ponaence d lhe aa1otto.

Corrcspondence Of the Gazette.
! CoMANCHR, Tx, Feb. o. District
court is dragging along slowly. All last
week was occupied with land case, and
yesterday one criminal case was tried
/ The grand jury is still in session, but
thus far but lew bills have been found
1 Judge Wheeler, who was 40 I'll last week
as 10 require the election Of a special
Judge, is again able TO resume duties on
the bench.
4 Mrs. Paine, wife OF DR.. r. ID. Paine
died and was buried yesterday. Sht
leaves large circle OF friends to mourn
/ her loss.
Hon. John ID. Stephens, grass commits.
( sioner, Is here IN attendance upon the
court. He addressed large audience
last night upon the land question. Be.
ginning with the axiom that the question
itselfis the most important one now before
the people, because cheap lands In small
tracts within the reach OF the MASSES
mean the highest condition of civil lib
erty and independence, and that land
monopoles are the worst form of tyranny
and despotlsm, he unfolded at consd-
cradle length the frauds which have been
perpetrated upon the people OF Texas
! throughout the whole northwest
portion Of the state In the
outset Mr.. Stephens claimed 70
have been the first legislator TO have
drawn up a bill providing for the sale oil
the state school lands To actual settlers,
and adyerted to the fact that ten years ago
there We're thousands Of acres Of such
lands in Comanche and adjoining counties
which actual settlers were anxious TO Sc
cure but could not, for want Of any law
1sttlt atsgt, gh.fp "A
the condition Of things as revealed by his
Investigations as grass commissioner In
the West, and said that the statement
which had been placed In circulation by
friends of the large cattle monopolies To
the effect that there were not more than
100000 acres of public lands illegally in
closed, was true only In a technical SENSE,
Tor there were In fact In the neigh
borhood OF seven or eight million
acres so effectually inclosed as to
prevent anybody elses cattle from eating
the grass. The speaker then illustrated
his meaning by stating that one company
alone had Il fence running from Lipscomb
10 Hockey counties inclusive, east and
west, with two side strings running north
and south as far az No Mans Land. The
back of this territory was all open, and
therefore, technically, not an Enclosure,
but all the stock.water was SO far within
the lines OF the fence as to give him alb
solute control Of the whole territory
One might start out from San Angelo
now and he would never be outside of
practical Enclosure of one kind or another
until he entered the Indian Territory.
Mr.. stephens remedy for this is to do
away with the land board and by appro-
pirate Legislation constitute such trbu-
nails and land agencies In the different
districts as might be necessary to regu-
late the rights Of land owners, and under
necessary restrictions lease the public
lands for grazing, always subject to re-
vocation at any time when needed for
actual settlement. He said that the cat
tie raising industry ia too important To
lugislate out OF eX stence, and that free
grass means an utter disregard of right
both for rich and poor, and that as the
rich always possess far great
or power than the poor in pro-
portion TO their numbers, and as the rich
men are now In possession OF these
lands, deriving all the profits from them,
the small Stockholders cannot but be
ruined by the free-grass principle He
said that II II proper lease law was passed
and enforced, the revenue from this
source would almost equal the entire
state tax, He also adverted to the
cessation of payment of taxes by the large
stock'aisers, thereby defrauding the
state of hundreds OF thousands II dollars,
lie paid all corporations left.hauded
compliment, and said that they we're
curse to the country. He admitted that
his ideas Of the remedy for the evils men
toned were crude, but he suggested
them in the hope of rousing the people
to thought aud prompt action.