The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-08-20
THE ALIEN LAND LAW
A BIG DENVER COMPANY WITHDRAws
FROM THE STATE.
In Their Opinion 1t Will Put Texas Back
Ten Years-Views Of an Influential
London Financial Journal on
This Alien Land Law.
DENVER, Col, August 10, 1891 l..
Nv TIN' W.T.
the Editor of The Statesman.

You may be aware that for two
years past we have been largely inter
ested in Texas real estate, and by our
capital and labor have been advancing
the interests of Texas.
Having an office in London and
other large English cities where fol
months we have been advertising
Texas and bringing capital to the
! State, we find ourselves suddenly
called upon to cease business there,
because of the recently enacted alien
land law. 1t is a conservative state
ment to say that this law will put
Texas back ten years in its develop
ment.
We enclose a clipping from the
leading financial paper of London,
which we trust you will reprint in
your influential journal, and thus as
sist in the public agitation leading
toward the repeal of this Ubiquitous
/ statute.
In justification of the deep interest
we take in this matter, we beg to call
your attention to the improvements
we have been instrumental in placing
on the properties in which we are in
terested in the cities in Texas where
our offices are located. We remain,
yours respectfully,
/ THE CHAMBERLAIN INVESTMENT Co.,
| BY f. B. GIBSON, Secretary.
BRITISH CAPITAL IN TEXAS
1t will hurt investors but will hurt
| Texas worse.
In theory, America is the land OF
/ freedom and independence, where an
cient lineage goes for nothing, and
where titles. decorations, and other
| symbols of the effete monarchical sys-
/ tenn do not exist. In practice, how
ever, we find that there is among the
people decided love of titles, and an
/ inordinate desire to trace back their de-
scent to William the COnqueror. The
/ freedom consists in protection of the
most stringent kind, and the indie
pendence is such that pauper immi-
grants are rigidly excluded, while
| there is now new feature in the
! growing of certain of the states to pre-
vent real property being acquired by
anyone who is not citizen of the
great Republic. The Texas legisla-
ture, following in the wake of Penn
sylvania and Minnesota, has lately
passed an alien law, which came into
operation about week ago.
| The actual text in the main clause in
! the act is as follows: "No alien or a
person who is not citizen of the
United States of America shall re-
quire title to or own any interest in
the lands within the State of Texas
and any deed or other conveyance
purporting to convey such title or in.
terest to any alien or unnaturalized
foreigner, or to any firm, company OF
corporation composed of such, in
whole or in part, shall be void" The
clause is slightly modified by being
rendered non-applicable if the alien,
at the time of acquiring the property,
signify his intention of becoming a
citizen. in which case he must carry
out his intention within six years, and
property acquired by devise or de-
scent may also be held by an alien for
six wears. In short, where lender
on real estate has to take the security
| instead of his money, he will in future
only have six years in which to
realize. If he can not dispose of the
land within that period it will escheat
to the state, and the alien will lose
both his money and his security. This
is, of course, always providing the act
be not repealed.
1t is certain that the new law, al
though it may possibly injure those
who have advanced money on land in
| Texas, will be far more detrimental
to the best interests of the state and
its inhabitants than to the aliens. 1t
is all very we'll for such paper as
the Forum to write that "the virgin
soil of the West is rapidly ceasing to
be the home and possession of the
sturdy American freeman ItsOunds,
too, very like recital of Irish griev-
ances to be told that the farmer sis
but tenant at will, or dependent
upon the tender mercies of sOulless
corporations and absentee landlords
But the bulk of the people are far too
sensible to believe such nonsense, and
the agitation is in reality worked for
political purposes by the organization
known as the Farmers Alliance. 1t
is alwas trump card toplay with the
uneducated classes to talk Of the mo-
nopoly of the earth by the wealthy,
and tell to them that this is the uni
versal curse of humanity; but when
the theories of even sincere reformers,
such as Henry George are put into
practice, their practical impossibility
very soon becomes apparent. From
1885 to 1889 were undoubtedly bad
times for agriculture, and the last
census shows that there were actually
5000, 900 homesteads mortgaged. But
even these figures do not necessarily
prove the depression to have been so
bad as they would make it appear.
The go-ahead disposition of the Amer
lean is such that he is always trying
to add to what he has got, and it is
quite conceivable that, as opportuni-
ties of acquiring more land arose, the
farmers mortgaged their original
holdings, as we'll as the new ones, to
pay for their increased acreage. If