The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-11-07
COMMISSIONER HALL
PRESENTS SOME FACTS AND SETS
HIS OFFICE RIGHT BEFORE
THE PUBLIC.
A Fort Worth Gazette Correspondent
Knocked out in Well Directed,
Vigorous English.
AUSTIN, Tex, November l, 1889

Worth, Tex:
Dear Sir:-On page fourteen of Sundays
| Gazette of October 9th, appears an article,
| in form of letter dated Abilene, Tex,
October %, 1889, signed "a Citizen" The
| illusions therein to myself, and the reflec-
| tions upon me, are such as | cannot
| tolerate in silence. An absence of personal
| integrity, and of candor and honesty of
purpose as an official is imputed to me
| throughout said article, and the Impress
| ions intended to be made thereby are SO
unjust, ungenerous and untrue, as to fully
| justify me in denouncing the whole as in
| famous and it illustrates at the same time
| the usual recklessness of the Gazette in the
| material and source of its information in
matters relating to lands and the land
| office.
| As to whether l am ian official of the
| Central railroad rather than of the people
of Texas" which is the question in your
paper of the 14th inst, quoted by. your
Correspondent from Abilene, is a
to the people and you are at liberty hereaf-
ter to indulge in as many similar questions
as may be necessary to crafty your incli
nations. | ask no further courtesy of the
Gazette than the publication of this, which,
under the circumstances, 1t is expected you
| will not refuse.
The subject of this is the history of the
/
| Chapter 81, of the acts of the Twenty-frst
legislature, page 107, entitled "An act to
| validate certain surveys which for any
reason might be deemed invalid and to au-
thorize the commissioner of the general
land Office to issue patents therefor" Your
correspondents truthful in stating that the
| governor consulted me before approving
said act, and that assured him it was "all
right" The governors hesitancy was
| caused solely, as | understood at the time,
| by specious argument filed against APP
| prevail by land locator who was ready
| with certificates to applyto several sections
| of land, which became vested In an as
signee u know not whom) of the Houston
and Texas Central railroad by virtue
of this act, which locator would have
been far ahead of your correspond
dents pre-emptor and .homesteader. This,
however, would have resulted in the loss to
| the railroad of not single acre OF land, as
will hereafter be shown. The enclosed
sketch is handed you to illustrate the APP
| plication of section 1 of said act, which
| treats of relocations In the case of Adams
VS.. Railroad 20 Tex, p. 252, it had been de-
clared a few months before by the supreme
| court of the state that relocations so-called,
1 were permissible and lawful in cases where
| the first location was in conflict with an
| older valid survey, hence it is necessary
now to consider only such relocations as
| were lli6Rdl dD Juc Jliut Julb hCJ WAS pHSStu.
| Take if you please, on the sketch herewith
| handed you certificate No. 322.938 in red
| color by virtue of which section No. 40,
| block IL, was surveyed at the time ofreloca-
| ton, and where under this validating act it
remains eternally. You will now note on
the same sketch the original location of
said certificate; viz; Section 40,
| the law as it stood before this vail
dating act was passed, the railroad
was entitled, and could have recovered
against any holder the land covered by
| said certificate as originally surveyed,
which, you perceive, would have taken
parts Of sections Nos. GA and GO (red) sold
| by the state to J. w. Balch, John Roberts,
| +. M. Birchfield and others as school lands
| under the acts of 1883 and 1887. Now, was
the settler benefited here? Was the rail
road given an acre of land more than it
would have held without this law2 Hun
dreds OF settlers in Wilbarger and Harde-
| man counties, purchasers of school lands,
secured titles to their homes through this
law without which title was impossible.
The railroads were not dependent upon
this law for the valuation of their surveys,
for it was made secure by the validating
act of April 4, 1881 (see p. 10f acts of 1881,
General Laws), two years before the act
was ever passed validating surveys made
for the school fund. Isitnot now apparent
why "the actual settler had to be used. or
this bill never could have been passed?'
Do you feel inclined to repeat here your
question: sis Land Commissioner Hall
an official of the Central railroad rather
than of the people of Texas2 10 the set
tiers of Wilbarger and Hardeman protection
and salvation came at the moment they
discovered their lost and ruined condition.
Most of them were protected and saved
without ever knowing they were in danger
Moe n nd q A N
this for them? Patents TO the railroads in
this very locality had been suspended by
me for two years because. under the law, |
the lands to which the railroads were enti- |
tied were the lands occupied by the settlers |
The relocations, however, were the surveys |
which had been recognized by the land Of |
fee for years, and alone we're shown on the |
nap in use, and all sales of school land, |
settlements and improvements had been |
made in accordance Herewith. / took the |
pains to Law all these facts before the legis- |
lative committees and 10 explain II TO llidi- |
vidual members, obliyiOus and regardless of |
how it might affect any particular individ- |
ual, but conscious and certain that 1t was |
for the good of the state, and also conscious |
that the Houston and Texas Central rail |
way was not party at interest at all, the |
records of the comptroller's Office showing |
at that time that said railroad was then the |
owner of not as many as half dozen sec |
tons of land donated 10 it by the state |
"a Citizen" evidently never took the
trouble while here to avail himself OF
the Information contained in the depart |
ment records
/ think recognize in your correspondent |
a member of the house committee on pub
lie lands, the advocate and champion OF |
bill, the effect Of which would have been 10 |
turn over to the speculator all the school
lands yet remaining TO the state. n bill
which would have compelled nearly every
actual settler who secured n school section
TO pay bonus a bill that would have
enabled few land sharks,to lariat a con-
stitutional county before a genuine home
seeker in his covered wagon could possibly
have reached the field. If have identified
your correspondent he remembers keenly
that did not advocate his little measure.
Perhaps he expects to revive his scheme
when | shall have returned to my country
home in Williamson.
The second section Of the above recited
act validating surveys made outside
the proper county or district never yalidat-
! ed survey made by the surveyor Of Calves
ton, located in III Paso county, nor was II