Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-01-30
G rr ~pnndrnc- of tn. Ledger.

hIShct anu otbcIS : bdu uCood uai NO =
here In command of Union soldiers
from all the North. In one sense
the town was historic, and had be-
come well advertised and it and
the surrounding country, with all
their attractions, became we'll
known, and their future posslbili-
ties fully measured. At the close
of the war, while the echoes of bel.
ligerent cannon were reverberating,
the State, by ordinance, was made
free and simultaneously, by con
stitutional provision, the old citi-
zens were disfranchised. These
two acts seemed only as a revolu-
ton to the ardent young men and
old to come in and possess the
land.
The old citizen, the property
owner, was compelled to pay the
taxes, but had NO voice in settling
by whom or in what manner the
public funds so raised should be
expended. while not one of those
disfranchlsed could hold any civil
Office, try a law suit or preach a
funeral sermon. This peculiar op-
portunity for strangers to seize and
manage whole municipalities drew
to US many Northern men ready to
take advantage of the opportunity ;
men of little OF no experience i'll
political affairs. whom the war. or
the Irregularities attending it, had
changed from boys into men in an
hour. many of whom having little
| regard for the rights of others. Be-
| sides this, in the first introduction
of foreign element into a new
State to build it up, there will al
ways be very large percentage
whose only purpose is to better
their owl. condition even at tn.
expense of the general public
The Constitution of 1865 LAID
heavy burdens upon the taxpayers
for the endowment of common
schools, while the Republican Leg.
islature first held under it made
| some peculiar amendments to the
school laws, among them providing
| for a County superintendent to bt
paid by the day upon his owr
vouching, making very valuable
county Office. This Office wa-
filled either by appointment OF
election, first by young mai
Holmes, a stranger in the State
| and OF whom it was sad his
revenues were larger than would
be the aggregate of the days of the
year multiplied into his per diem
of the truth of this I knowing
Then, again, this new element, hav
ing possession of the city and coun
ty. had leadership entirely with
out the confidence of the old citi
gems, SO that between the old citi
zens and the new it is easy to SEE
that there was an antagonism which
made it impossible to push public
enterprises to successful results.
| These antagonisms had to be re
moved. Before school work coult
commence the payers of taxes ant
the manipulators Of local polite
and voters had to be harmonized
1t took couple of years to do this
Indeed, success did not fully COM
until after the constitutional amend
ment election of 1870, by which en-
franchisement.c came, the operation
uf which was to reiegate local affair
TO citizens to the "manor born.
When this was done the rebount
was grand to see. In the Mexic'
school district, special one,
board of directors was elected of ole
ci'izens-Harper, Pasqueth, ]. D
Morris, Macfarlane, B. R eau
thorn and maybe Locke. do no
remember just whom and lin th'
order of their election, but sucl
men took hold Of the work ant
none had ever done better work
These men. or the most of them
heavy taxpayers, had been counte,
a. anti. school men. 1t was sal,
they were pfejudiced against com
mon schools, taxes, the whole ma
chinery of such instrumentalitie
for popular education. 1t was sail
they had educated their own chill
dren upon their own funds and
1t was wrong now, TO compel then
by taxation to educate the childre
of strangers.
! remember that / was happy
commit, SO tar as could by m
vote, the common school interest
to these gentlemen. because it wa
right as we'll I knew they woul
be faithful to the public trust an
tif anybody could make common
schools popular in Mexico, they Q
/ such as they could alone do il
/ There was no error in the logic
there was no failure OF results. A
tIwroee. my former ietter il Occur