Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-03-12
NOT FOR RENT.
The Capitol Syndicate Will Not
Lease Any Land.
HON. A. [. MATLOCK TALKS.
How Inc Company Was Organized s750000
Spent in lmprownen,ss Cannot
Now Be Made 10 Alternate
Their Lands

The Capitol FREEHOLD Land aud In
vestment company, limited. have no
I tenants. don't want any tenants and are
not going to have any tenants but win
| sell anywhere from one acre TO 1000
lands.
So stated Hon. A. l.. Matlock to a
! Gazette reporter yesterday Mr. Mat
lock continued
There is a great deal of misundor
| standing concerning the 100000 acres
Of land held hy the Capitol Freehold
! Land and Investment company and many
false statements have been made
concerning t.
'The corporation Is neither owned or
! controlled by English, but the land Is
owned 10y the FUrwolls and Hon. Abner
| II. Taylpr Of Chicago.
1t is true that the property is bonded
| iu England Ia order 10 raise money with
which to build the state capitol, and The
| company was chartered there for TINT
| reason, but it is owned by Americans
Another misunderstanding IN that
| there Is movement to let IL out in small
I tcnuncics aud iuHugurate 70 landlord rule
! Nothing Is further from the truth
There are mo- tenants there and the com
/ pAny VIII not rent or lease an acre Of IL
Another great error is that the land
! D. being allowed 10 lay there without
/ Development As matter of fact $780,
/ ONO has already been expended upon IL.
/ Two hundred aud fifty wells and wind
mills have been placed upon the proper
! ty. twelve hundred miles of wire fence
! put UP and two towns. Charming and
/ IoNliue, established by the company.
/ whore they hnyc erected good hotels for
the accommodation of those who come TO
| purchase lands
Eight or ten farms are being cult.
/ waited, upon which are raised AN kinds of
/ WrUIn umM nVUIHFN l.nu.lfsI
/ nnd acres around Charming and iOO.Oip
! ncres around IfNlinr have been laid of
/ IN small farms for snlc To- settlers. and
/ every iuducrmcnt of prices and terms rs
! being made TO bring in immigration and
. develop the country. On the ruugp there
are now 10000 head Of cattle.
Tho present movement In the Texas
! legislature to compel nll companies hold
| ing large tracts Of land To alternate them
/ within three ypurs cannot affect the
company except to cloud their title and
| make 10 difficult for them 90 proceed with
their work of Development
NO lawyer Of reputable standing i'm
! the profession would cluim for "a mo-
| mvuL II consulted professionally aud not
/ us % POLITICIAN that u law such as is
| proposed would Doe in accord with the
! federal constitution. There are at least
two clauses tu which 10 Is so clearly
| rrlusuuui That the question does not ud.
/ mit Of agreement, In the first place. IL
/ would Doe impurrinE the obligation of the
! contract between the state of Tcxus and
thiS company mud IN the second place IL
/ Woulu Dee % taking of private property
hy the state without just compensation
The contract by which the company
| hrcuMc the owner of this land rs pro-
! yidw for by constitutional provision,
and VI rs certainly not incumbent upon
| lhr legislature 20 pass an enactment that
VIII ubrugntc the constitution
''INp constitution of 1870 nr,,.iI,J
that certain portion of the public lands
! he SET aside for the purpose of building
Il state house.
In 1870 the Legislature passed law
carrying THIS into effect aud setting
aside those 3,uOO,OOO acres. the state
house not 10 cost more than the land
would pny.
M that time the state was selling It's
public lands ut 30 cents an aero. ana IL
was supposed chat the tract would build
a capitol with Sl5DO,COO, which would
give the state full value for its land.
'l'luns were advertised for aud thp
plan OF the present building was adopt
| ed, then the state advertised for pro
| pOsts setting forth the provision M 10
the mode of payment
"lt WuS about year before any hid
was received and then John Y. Fnrwcn
having iuith iu the state aud believing
that iu future years the land would n-
| go N'AA'N't NhN'.INifl the INOlNAuI
made by the state, taking the land M
the full valuation placed upon IT, and
taking the estimate of the state ms 10
what the building would cost, 81 800 d.
600. aud bonding the land ne organized
company aud the state house was
built according TO the specifications fur
nlshrd 10y the state and under the super
vision of the state.
Tine building cost over S4,O0OO 900.
anu The state not granting any more
land To cover the increased cost, thN
company found that instead Of paying 80
ceutS an acre. the price the state held on
H. they had paid Sl25, or i'm other
words, had lost $500. 600 upon whnt
Si.0OOOOO
They did not try to rescind their
contract but went TO work to retrieve
their losses by developing the property
and meanwhile stocked II with cattle 80
as 10 make It pay and build up the couu-
try. With 100000 In improvements
aud 100000 head OF cattle they have al
| ready added to the wealth of that sec
ton considerably over S2OOO,OOO, aud
are leaving mo- stone unturned TO induce
desirable immigration,
And not only did they pay over 81.
ONoOoO for SlEoOOOO worth OF land.
but they oven paid a cash indebtedness
Of S2oOoO placed upon it by the state of
| Texas.
III II not their fault that their holding
rs stll SO large. They did not want Ia
sell 10 nc q loss, and while the state was
selling land for much less than this tract
cost the company Il was unsnleable mi
a price that would cover the cost.
"Now public lands sell for enough 10
give a small profit II interest is not CON
siderod. and that being the ease. The
company can sell az the price the state
asks.
But the great natural advantages Of
he Panhandle country are beginning TO
be appreciated and 1t Is settling up fas-
ter than amy other section, with the most
desirable class nf people FROM all of the
older states. There are cities and towns.
churches aud school houses, cultivated
farms raising vast quantities OF grain,
and other products whore there was
nothing but st0ked plains and prairie
dogs five years ago The wilderness Is
blooming and blooming as the rose.
The most fertile lands IN the world
that avoids the extreme heat Of the sum.
mer aud a latitude that avoids the eX-
tremo cold OF the winter, where cattle
can Craze the year round whore the
products of almost every cline win
grow, the most healthy spot that can be
found a beautiful rolling country wa
tered by pure streams, an have called
attention 90 the Panhandle of Texas
"ihe Fort Worth aud Denver has
built through Il aud the Chicago, Rock
| Island aud POCitlg. the AtchlaOn To-