The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-03-03


gross ignorance and recklessness so
Displayed; and IL IL equally laughable
Oh ,i'e part OF the governor in his at
ebl@s 10 lay II upon somebody else.
ile VAS placed In his position for the
eA press purpose of carefully guarding
against such destructive legislation.
Members OF deliDerative bodies often
tlmes in the hurry of the moment or
perhaps moved by excitement or by
UNDUE passion or from a variety OF
other conceivable causes are not able
TO give to proposed legislation that
calm ana deliberate and careful ex-
animation requisite before legislation
shall fructify into law. And for this
reason the governor holding the veto
power is placed in his office to repre-
sent one-third of the legislative power
of the government and to call halt
as soon as he ascertains that undue
haste has penetrated the councils of
the legislature and is about. to precip-
itate upon the state some disastrous
law. He Is given ten days for his
careful examination Of the law. He
is authorized to sound the note of
warning by his veto message and to
call the attention not only
of the members but of
the people Of the state to what is
going on in their capitol so that pub
lie opinion may find some mode ofgiv-
ing itself expression so as TO influence
members. When this law was laid
upon his table, it was his duty to 'ex-
anime 1t most carefully. And it was
supposed that by reason of his eleva-
ton he had acumen to detect errors,
and the N hood 70
he examined this law and failed to de-
tect the disasters lurking beneath the
words, he wrote himself an ignora-
mus. If he examined this law and
detected the disasters necessarily
lurking beneath the words, and then
approved it, ~e}
HE OUGHT TO BE DTpEACHED.
If he failed TO examine the law and
affixed his signature to it without
Knowing its con- ents or its effects he
was guilty of gross and criminal negli-
gence unworthy of a governor. Now
he can take either horn of the di-
lemma he prefers and | will be salts
fled with his choice.
There was no necessity, fellow citi-
zens, for such nonsense upon our stat
ute book. The purpose sought to be
subserved by good men and true men,
and with which purpose / am in per-
feet sympathy, was to pass statute
which will prevent the accumulation
Of large landed estates in the hands Of
aliens or of alien corporations. So far
as am concerned, l am opposed to
any corporate ownership of land in
my state except for the immediate
purposes of the corporation. A COR
pOration has no soul, it is well said in
the law books. And there is another
expression which fits it equally we'll;
it can be made immortal. / want no
such ownership of landed interests in
this state as that. 1t Is contrary to
the genius of our institutions and
the constitution which forbids per-
petuities. | am not willing to
stand idly by and see an alien
corporation which can be created
and extended and re extended by
some foreign power, hold, at its will,
any portion of the landed interests Of
this great state; neither do L care to
/ see the experiment made by our do
nestle corporations. With individu-
} ais ii may be different, their lands are
, held under our laws of descent and
, distribution, and in vast number of
instances must change hands with
J each generation. But not so with
+ corporations. 1t cannot be a difficult
| matter to so adjust our laws that the
: state, through its proper officers, may
| at any time 1t becomes apparent that
the public interest so requires, insti-
, tute action against alien owners OF
u. lands, and escheat such lands to the
: state under such conditions as the
\ state may see fit TO impose. This
{ would leave
. OUR TITLES UNDISTURBED,
: and purchasers would not be required
f as under the Hogg law, to investigate
: the family history of his vendors in
+, the chain of title in order to ascertain
. if he had ever been stakeholder in an
, alien corporation, and to keep void
+ title from being imposed on him.
' Whether it be true or false know
/, not, but at any rate it has been pub
! lished by the Galveston and Dallas
News that in an interview with Gov
+ ernor Hogg at Corpus Christi last
y summer, he attributed the passage OF
of the alien land law to the railroad
lobby, stating that the motive was to
bring q srepute upon the administra.
: ton. If such be the fact, fellow citi-
) zens, the administration was very
= easily gulled, far too easily for the
> comfort of intelligent people in the
/ state, who realize that their interests
0 are in the hands of such an admins
. tration. If our governor is gullible
y we ought to swap him off, because
) Texans are smart people, and theiI
o governor ought to be thoroughly
!, representative in this respect
: We ought to select mar
9 who cannot be gulled, either by a
u railroad lobby or any other sort of in
- spiration. If the governor had de-
,. voted less time to the study of multi
u plying appointments by three wher
" only one vacancy had to be filled, he
q might have avoided this mistake
" which in one line upset the land titles
T. of the state, and cast disgrace anC
i suspicion upon our people.
y Another public feature of the pres
ID ent administration is the manifest
70 INSINCERITY OF IT'S PROMISES.
10 Notwithstanding the fierce war waget
IS by the governor upon the railroadl
n and other investments of the stat,