Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-05


the pioneer in opening up her territory.
| Yet the cattle industry of Texas IS to-day
! in a most deplorable condition, and as a
t consequence an insidious chll is creeping
/ over her. entire business system. Go into
/ the towns of the ranching districts and
/ you Will find trade in torpid state. Ask
| the reason, and you will be told the cat
! tlemen have no money. With
/ business languishing in the smaller
/ town can the great CONNER
! cial centers remain unaffected!
/ 1t has passed into an axiom that the va
/ riOus lines of business of given section
/ or state are so inter-dependent that you
cannot cripple one without injuring all
the others. Should the cattle industry of
| Texas remain long in its present condi-
| ton it would be the most serious calamity
/ that could possibly befall her.
What are the causes of this condition of
! the cattle interest? They are several, but
/ one of the principal ones is the
/ unaccountable antagonistic attitude of
/ the Texas government. This attitude is
undermining the business. The govern
ment has saddIed upon the industry
charges so burdensome and thrown into
| it such an element of insecurity that
watchful capital is taking the
alarm and flying the state. Could the
amount Of capital that within the past
three years has withdrawn from
! the cattle interest of Texas and gone
elsewhere be accurately ascertained
it would be alarming to those that have
the welfare of the state at heart. This
is not all. How much capital has the
knowledge that the cattle industry of
Texas is in a precarious condition kept
from seeking lodgment within her Dor
ders? Men do not invest their money
where the leading interest is i'll sinking
way, wisely fearing commercial and
| financial storms and panics.
What are the burdonsOme changes just
mentioned? The most important is the
lease rate. Rental on lands is
about the heaviest Of many heavy
expenses the ranchman has to bear.
Four cents per acre is excessive. 1t is
altogether out of keeping with the value
of cattle and Is more than the business
can live under. Cattlemen nave been
compelled to cut down their expenses to
the lowest notch so that their outlay
would be within their income. The ma
jority of them have failed in doing this,
and they realize that unless the rental
they pay on lands is also reduced they
viii be unable to meet it. Owing
to the inability of the present
lessees to pay the rental the state may
eject them, but to whom will she release?
Who will have the lands at the present
rate and the present brief lease term?
Ask this question of some of the cattle
men that are trying to sell out. The re-
port of Commissioner Hall is just to hand
and l notice he, too, is canvassing in his
own mind the lease rate, and puts the
question if the revenue of the state will
not be increased by reduction thereof. 1t
is certain more leases would be paid, more
lands leased, the cattle industry mate
rally assisted, and through it every
branch of business throughout the state.
in short, all the people of Texas would
receive a benefit by lowering the rate.
But the grestest blow to the cattle in
dustry of Texas is the brevity of the term
and the nature of the tenure. Capital
will not consent to operate under such
uncertainties and under so lit
tie protection. Above everything
it demands security, failing
to receive which it prefers to lie idle.
Put i'll cattle on the leased lands, it has
no assurance that before it is well located
and settled to work it may not be COM
PEELED to move out at a heavy loss. One
taking range, and going to the enOr-
nous outlay of fencing it, providing for
water and stocking it, finds that before
he begins to receive any returns that his
lease has expired, or about expired. With
no guarantee of its being renewed, and
if not renewed he must dispose of his
cattle as best he can and lose the money
he has expended in build
ing fences, water tanks adm
other improvements. Lengthen the
lease term and reduce the rate and make
ha md no
some inducement to secure ranges, i'm
prove the property and embark in the
cattle business. But it is urged in Texas
and out of Texas, that the high rental on
the lands, the brevity of the lease, to-
gether with the uncertainties and other |
certain features connected with it, are
such obstacles in the way of success that |
the present exodus of capital will con-
tinue until the cattle industry is per
manently injured if not destroyed |
and the commerce and finances of Texas |
severely shocked.
There is another, and a peculiar hard |
ship to which the cattlemen are put I'M
der the tenure of the present lease. a |
party moves into the pasture represent |
ing himself to be bona fide settler when |
the fact is he has not the remotest idea |
OF permanently remaining. He locates |
where he will do the most |
a section where water is pro-
vided, for instance, and turning loose |
three or four times the number of stock |
prescribed by the law, becomes such an |
annoyance and so costly, that the ranch
man is compelled to pay him TO with
draw. Having received q good round .
sum, the pseudo settler moves on to prac-
tice the same nefarious scheme upon some I,
other ranchman. The way the law now
stands this species of matchmaking is safe
and easy of accomplishment and it is done
ON a large scale. No matter how great
her efforts may be it will be decades
before Texas will see her western half
even thinly populated, as the great
scarcity of water will prevent settlers
seeking that region. When settled it will
be mainly by stock farmers, the
protracted drouths THAT there prevail
against cropping with any sue
cess. But water is an absolute necessity
to the stock farmer, and for those lands
to be available to him it must be pro-
vided. He cannot afford to sink wells,
build tanks, etc. Who, then, shall sup
ply the water for those millions of acres
and put them in shape for settlement,
the state or private capital? The
amount of jobbery that would
nax-itaI,Ix- o+fapd IL ono IF Sav-orcI ,,o,4-a-