Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-13

1870 - NaA6 ~ -
republican government are worse thac
foOlishness and Jefferson himself was but
q mouutebank.
| read another extract from an edito-
rial paragraph in the Texas Farmer:
Hardy a day passes which does not
chronicle the organization of one or more
Texas banks-and niue in ten are organ
lied for speculation and spOIiatiOn rather
than legitimate business No iuteIli-
gent man believes One word of his
charge. Yet why was It made? Simply
to intiame the prejudice of the ignorant
against men who happen to have 3 few
surplus dollars and choose to invest them
in bank stock.
! take my leave of his Democratic
paper by remarking that il advises the
Democratic farmers of Texas TO bolt the
nomination of candidates running for the
legislature on the anti-railrOad commits
sion platform should they happen to BE-
nominated.
To mislead any class of people is q
wrong, but to mislead the farmer is ii
political crime. He Is prominently the
child of the soil. Others may come and
others may go, bat he must remain for
ever. No man can have any more, and
scarcely any can ave as much.
interest in good government as
he. All he has is in sight
of the tax-gatherer; the labor of his life
is planted in permanent and visible form
about him, and his hopes ana ambitions
and those of his children cluster around
his hearthstone. 1t has been truly said
hat: "He may at times be misled by
unwhOlesome teachings, but when the
emergency comes, he can always be
trusted. He is the best judge of the diff
nnva HaNHao, aNrp,nrnnf uyH
mune, and to him is committed
the duty of restraining the
encroachments of the one, and re-
pressing the wild schemes of the
other. He is the hope of his country
amid the blessings of peace, and the
strength of its battaliOns in time of war.
In his breast the love of home and cOuu-
try has always Il Judgment; in his heart
the fires of patriotism never go out
am speaking to you to-day mainly
about evils and evil tendencies. 1t Oo-
Cured to me that the anniversary OF
Jefferson birth would be g most fitting
occasion on which TO lay aside mere par
tisan zeal and as citizens and patriots to
calmly survey our surroundings.
All Democrats believe in a strict con-
strIction of the powers OF the Federal
government, ana they resolutelv oppose
dlH 6NtGLSlOu VI It's DONCI- ~ hCttAACAA
are they to this theory that any attempt
TO confer upon 1t additional power rings
out on the Democratic ear like a fire bell
at night. Once convince a Democrat
that Il proposed measure, whether in
terms or by necessary tendency, looks IN
that direction, and he at once takes
alarm. But there are Democrats and
Democrats. The plain, Old-fashiOned
kind still follow the principles of JeffeI-
son without variablencss or the shadow
of turning; the new sect composed of
men having the form of L mocTacy but
denying the power thereof; from such,
turn away.
We have amongst US men cl9{Ding to
be Democrats who advocate government
ownership of the railroads, telegraphs
and all other means OF transportation
and communication. This IS the first
step towards Nationalism; next would
come government ownership of coal and
other mines, waterwOrks, gas and cleo
trio light plants; then of mills and fac
tories; and finally eliminating in the
complete naturalization of all industries
and all property. The dream of Nation
alism would then be realized; but tine re-
public would be dead.
There is another thing that narrowed
the very soul Of Jefferson, and that was
too much government and too much
law. This is an evil of our times. 1t is
q cruel maxim That every man is pre-
sumed to know the law and yet ali the
rights of life, liberty and property rest
upon it. 1t is q conclusive presumption
against which nothing al be opposed.
Laws have been piled upon laws-laws
touching everything and every relation
of life-laws regulating everything and
eyerybody-laws confronting the citizen
wherever he turns and whatever he
does-laws so numerous, minute and
~pervading that not only does the
average citizen not understand them but
the legal profession itself is lost in the
labarynth of law.
1 hin the policy of our state is wrong
N regard to the alien ownership of land.
Our law on that subject, n which has
been in force for nearly forty years, IS
what is known as q reciprocity law; that
is, we allow to aliens such rights as the
alien : government, either by it's laws,
or by treaty allows to the citizens OF the
States. Great Britain, for in
stance, allows aliens to purchase and
hold real estate, or acquire it by devise
or descent in the same manner and to
the same extent that British sub
jects may do. This, under our law,
permits British subjects TO become land
owners in Texas without limitation or re-
of any kind. The lands Of
Texas ought 10 belong to citizens, and
mainly to citizens of Texas. They
as far as possible, TO be set apart
for the homes of Texans; for he that
owns a home has given a hostage 10 gov
eminent for good behavior. We ought
to take steps to rid ourselves of this evil
or to throw sueh restrictions around it
to make it harmless. The same steps
be taken with foreign corpora
tons, and with domestic corporations
owning more land than the purposes of
their charters require.
Another evil tendency exists in some
quarters, and that is the disposition to
fancy the existence of evils that DO not
exist and TO magnify those that do. Not
we haYe SO many things to
be thankful for, We are yet subject TO
spells of political blues. Soma
seem to think that we were fore
ordained from the beginning of the world
to be miserable. Ten years ago we had
the greenback spell; three years ago we
had the nrOhfbIkiOn SMELL and now we