San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-12-27

The remaining public lands OF Texas
should be secured, If possible, to actual
settlers, 10 small tracts; and "a step
towards the accomplishment OF this OBJ
! ject, the law should prohibit any I'M
! naturalIZed foreigner or foreigners to
own land in Texas. NOps;Ti0tic and
sensible cit zen Of Texas wishes to see
immense tracts OF land owned by for
eign syndIcates or rich men resilient in
| Europe, even II they do open stO;k
farms on such tracts. The incomes and
/ profits derived from stock farms, owned
and operated by foreign capitalists, in
ST. ad of being expended IN Texas, wOdld
! be either invested or expended outside
Of the limits of Texas, and would, there
! fore, have no tendency to enrich Texas
or to develop her magnificent latent re-
sources. Ii would be a second edition
OF the chapter of Absenteeism. that i'm
pOverishpd Ireland, despite the fertility
! Of her soil and the balminess OF her eli
| mate.
If foreigners desire to acquire land 10
Texas, let them become actual citizens
| by the process Of naturalization. There
! is neither injustice nor hardship in such
a requirement. My creed is, that the
citizens of a country should own the
lands In 1t, but naturtlized citizens are
entitled TO ali the rights and benefits OF
citizenship. rhe Legislature Of IrxHs
! should enact a law prOhlblt-
! ing foreigners to own lands
! In Texas, directly or indirectly. that Is
either In IN .Ir own names. or through
the ttusteeship 81 resident citizens.
IN corporations should be pro-
limited from owing more than one
hundr d ceres, ~ d inst tU be used for
sumr manufacturing emIerpIILr located
! tn, rpOn When corporations, which are
| CLOTHED WITH pprpeInify Of succession,
| acquire large bod Is Of land, the effects
fall bat little short of the prrnIci"u-
fleets Of tue law IF ntail in EngIand-
winch are TOO we'll known to tu' well
informed rradpr 10 need To be here
pointed out in detail. comparatively
small tracts of land are always the most
advantageous to any nation. fpr several
reasons. |. brCause IL multiplies the
aggregate number Of land owners and
nlps AgrarIauI-n IN the bud; Z. because
small farmers are more useful than large
landowners who spend their incomes
away from home. Still, in advocating
comparatively small tracts OF land" |
do nor mean he land should be cut up
INTO as small farms RS are Cu,tOmary in
France and Belgium: in the latter Of
these nations. the farms seldom cOm-
UriLP more than ten acres, and macy
contain a less area. Ii Is true states
manship to endpavOr to put il In the
power Of every citizen to a Quire home
and patch of land large enough to yield
himself and family subsistence, pro-
vided il be properly cultivated. A few
lard owners. like England has, is bound
to produce discomfort thar by constant
irritation will be ONE u fostering sore.
l,,.r
that all the lands in England are owned
by about II 900 persOns-sOme of them
Owning almost entire COuuties. What 10
An aggrAvAtiOn OF the evils Of this con-
cpntratiOn of the land in The hands of
small number of owners, ~ the fact that
u large proportion OF the land ia tied up
nv strict entail, and dPsrends in con-
formity 10 the law of primogeniture, as
IL was understood aud enforced in the
days of fudalism-the oldest male heir
irheriting all the landed estate.
With the evils resulting from land
monopoly in England staring us in the
face, ii does seem to me, we should use
all reasonable precautions to prevent
similar state Of innings from taking place,
vt some future day in Texas. Ii Ia the
climax of shOrt5ightrdne.s and I'm Wis
dom to tlOut and scout the suggestion,
ludl Trans Chu On pFlltiiIt at any luA ulV
time the perniCiOus effects Of land mon
| Opuly. and to take shelter brhind the
scrIptural saying sufficient for the day
| il the evil theresa In the age Of ElIZE-
| beth, no doubt few. il any, OF her states
men had any apprehension Of "a land
monopoly coming TO pass in the nine
teenth century and laughed to scOrn
| those who predicted il, and advised pre-
ventive laws. The scrptural saying
above quoted, was applied by Christ to
| individuals. and was not meant to apply
to statesmen and legislators having in
charge the destinie' of nations. We see
the evil effects of the law of pr:mOyeni
ture in England. and we should rejoice
that our fOrefAthers of l776 did not
adopt it, This law was in force in Vir-
ginia whilst Ii was a cOOhy of Great
| Britain. and, but for Thomas Jefferson,
might have been retained
IL behOOves Texas to prevent future
land monopoly by forbidding corpora
| tiOns to own more than 100 acres, which
must be used for the carrying on some
| industrial pursuit, located thereon. or
| course law of this tenor and scope
| would not operate. retr0Spectively 50 rs
| TO affect iniuriOusly the titles hereto.
fore acquired by corporations to lands
| in Texas though some other plan might
| BE- hit upon 10 divide lands. now held bv
| r"rpOraTiOns. upon The death OF each
| stOckhOldrr, so as to withdraw
the pro rata share Ofthp deceased stock
holder from the corpora ion. and invest
| the same in his helrl at law BY pur-
| suing tuis course the heirs of each de-
ceased stOckhuldpr would nor Inherit so
many shares Of stock in q corporation,
hut would have their pro rata of land
| taifh from the nnruIinn and
vested IN them suhi-.'f 80 the disability
uf cor pOrarinns OF owning more than 100
acres, and the death Of the stnckh DlderS
would restore the lands to natural per
| sous.
There seems to he necessity for a
law OF forced heirship. prob b ting tes-
| tatOrs from devising Oy last will and tes-
| lament more than certain quantity OF
| their real estate to any one person.
| Whence the necessity for such law? [
| reply to prevent CircuitOus quasi en-
| tailmpnt Of land. Commodore Wander
| bilt devised the lions share Of his prop
erty-one hundred millions of dollars. to
his son, william H.. who, in his turn,
devised il to one of his sons-thus LAYING
a foundation tor scsumrlaIiOns. which
Ouyn to he regarded as contrary To pub
lie policy. Lands should not be allowed
10 be Withdrawn from partition
and sale Except as 10 GER
tain quantity to be liked by law (bv the
last will and testament Of testaGOr.
Let US suppose n case-John Doe owns,
in fee simple, two million acres Of
land, which he devices 10 one of his
sons, william Doe, for the term of his
natural life, and at hi, demise, the re-
mainder to John Doe, Jr., one of Will
Han RN hi