The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 380
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
minutes of almost any Masonic lodge of that era will disclose
the close relationship which existed between it and the Protes-
tant church or churches of the local community. And so, it
may truly be said that Free Masonry was in a real sense an
inseparable link in the chain of circumstances tending to co-
ordinate the activities of the state, the church, and the school
in laying the sure foundations upon which our social order
has been thus far built.
Public Education in the Early Days
Popular education has always been an object of vital concern
to the people of Texas. It was a matter which attracted the
particular attention of the Masons in the early days and was
a field in which they made a most remarkable contribution to
the public welfare of this commonwealth.
One of the grievances against the Mexican government, as
listed in the Texas Declaration of Independence, was the fail-
ure of the government to establish any system of education.
The Texas Constitution of 1836 provided: "It shall be the duty
of Congress, as soon as circumstances will permit, to provide
by law a general system of education." Although Jones, Whar-
ton, and other Masonic leaders urged repeatedly upon the Con-
gress its constitutional duty to make some provision for a
system of education, the financial circumstances of the Republic
were not such, in the opinion of Congress, as to permit the
provision to be made.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1845, the president of
the convention was authorized to appoint a committee on edu-
cation, consisting of seven members. Of the seven members
appointed on this committee, four were Masons.8 Among other
recommendations made to the convention by this committee as
to what the constitution should provide, was the following:
The Legislature shall, as early as practicable, establish free public
schools throughout the State, and shall furnish means for their support
by taxation on property, and from and after the year eighteen hundred
and fifty, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to set apart one-tenth
of the annual revenue of the State, as a perpetual fund, the interest of
which, at six per cent per annum, shall be apportioned to the support of
free public schools; and no law shall ever be made, directing said fund to
any other use.
SJudge R. E. B. Baylor, Edward Clark, J. P. Henderson, and E. H.
Tarrant.380
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/435/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.