The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-11-19
JOHN CLAlBORNE'S VAIL


THE passage BY the aw-making branch
OF the State OF what Is known as the aiien
land law was the apex OF the trouble.
There were In Texas at the time many
millions OF foreign money invested In great
herds Of CATTLE In mills and manufactures,
In railways, In banking and indeed Directly
and indirectly In every avenue OF endeavor.
In my own town there were $750.o00. This
great sum was lent to the people at from
. per cent on call TO 4 per cent on one 70
Ave years time. with privilege of renewal.
Early in the year 1890 Claiborne moved
TO Rusk, having traded some Galveston
property Tor residence in that town and
an addition to New Birmingham, and al
though, according to his statement. foreign
almost for the asking, he found 1t neces-
sary to engage in the precarious occupa-
ton Of editing country newspaper to
make q living. The truth Of the matter Is
that there was no such an amount Of for
eign capital in Rusk awaiting borrowers
as the general represents. and that as
matter Of fact the people Of that COM
munity were borrowing very little II any
money from abroad.
Further along in the communication re-
ferred to Claiborne delivers himself Of the
following
ut is true that the law, being unconsh-
tutional, was quashed by the next leGis-
lature. but the patient is not yet restored.
After the d0ctoring OF the bill was had an
iron plant, with nearly $1,0G0.0Q0 invested,
desired to bond the plant and a large boly
OF ore land 1.-THE finest on earth) In order
to continue improvements and perfect us
manufactures. An agent was sent TO the
American money center. No home capital
was idle, ard agents Of foreign capital
were induced to give hearing After
labor.ous argument of three hours day
for five days, showing that the fangs of the
alien land law had been extracted, one OF
the syndicate merely asked. Has any OF
the legislators who enacted the alien land
law sons? oh, yes, certainly, was re-
Piled. We'll. SIR eaid he. hereditary
damphul runs in their families, and they
may break into your legislature at <ny
time, END we have no money for your
State at any price, nor security on lands or
personal property in Texas. Thus was
caused, in one single instance, the laying
idle of an investment of s750,Oo0 from that
date to this, with such other great evils
az 1t detailed upon the hundreds Of other
industries and persons dependent upon such
enterprise"
Every attempt to improve the iron plant
referred to ceased in 1889. several years
before the alien land law was Thought OF.
Probably s500,00O was spent on 1t In one
way or another prior to that date. but certain
it is that during that year 1t practically
went to pieces. many people holding It's
due bills, which were hawked on the market
at discount. II any such attempt as the
general describes was subsequently mace
to obtain foreign capital to put 1t en- its
feet 1t need not be wondered at that Il
resulted in failure. not because of the ex-
istence OF the progeny of those who voted
for the alien land law, but because OF the
shrewdncss OF the foreign capitalists np-
ptaled to, who were too cute to be buncoed
into sinking any OF their good money In
dry hole" AS TO the ;rcn enterprises In
augurated at Rusk by certain New Orleans
parties and which also went by the board
the alien land law nor any other law had
any more to do with their collapse than
they did with the New Birmingham fiasco
Lack OF proper transportation facilities was
the cause OF the trouble In both instances
and to attribute 1t to anything else is
equivalent to confessing to deficiency OF
information or an abnormal faculty for
Misrepresentation.
Continuing, General Claiborne gets off
the following:
"The laws OF collection cost this State
| n Int
| great commercial emporiums of the East
or West and ask II they are seeking South
ern trada No. sir; no sir Why?" "Be-
cause We have no remedy on your statutes
| against thieves. We have all the losses we
want when we sell to man who runs the
| goods into Texas. where the laws protect
| him in theft Again, so into the house
that is seeking trade in Texas, and there
are twenty-five or thirty lines OF samples
laid out for the travelling statesmen. See the
| prices Of California and compare them
with the line laid out for Texas. and Texas
is marked 10 to Is per cent higher than
| those for California. There is G. cause II
simply says 1T COSTS is per cent more to
| get their money In Texas than 1t does in
California"
Less than ten weeks ago New Yorks
jobbers were paying the fare of Texas mer-
chants both ways to get them to the me-
tropolis to sell hem goods and traded with
them to the extent Of over 500, 900 900. And
the st. Louis jobbers to head off their
Eastern competitors and hold their Texas
trade followed their example in the mat
ter OF furnishing their Texas customers
with free transportation and went the New
Workers one better by supplying the Texans
VINO came to their town 10 do busin IS with
them with complimentary theater tickets
and banaueting them. Does this look as II
Texas trade is not wanted abroad? Goods
are sold from 10 to 10 per cent higher to
Texans than to Californians, asserts Clai-
borne, Now that's all stuff---villainous stun
and he knows it. Merchaniise is BOUGHT
and sold by Texas merchants as cheaply
as by the merchants OF any other State,
/ although IL may be necessary to the future
success OF certain renegade politicians to
have different impression prevail.
! When General Claiborne about a year ago
stood up before the republican convention