Initial messages of Governor W. P. Hobby to the thirty-sixth legislature, state of Texas: Jan. 14, 1919 and Jan. 22, 1919. Page: 28 of 32
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28
GOVERNOR'S MESSAGES.
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market at such time and under such
conditions as the Legislature may determine.
If these lands are not
actually equal in value to the amount
of the authorized bond issue the
State of course will be the purchaser
of its own property and any excess
paid will merely become an endowment
which the State must at last
make if Texas is to have a University
and Agricultural and Mechanical College
of the first class as ontemplated
by the fathers, and in keeping with
the present day aspirations. If these
lands are sold for a greater total
sum than the authorized bond issue,
then it will be easy in future years to
apply it to the benefit of the University
and Agricultural and Mechanical
College. WVhatever may be the
outcome, with respect to the value
of the lands in relation to the authorized
bond issue, the lands today retard
development of the counties in
which they are located andl thqy
yield a revenue too small to permit
the development of those institutions
they are intended to serve. The
State University is being asked now
in a sense of fairness to pay the
counties in which these lands are
located, the local taxes they would
bring if in the hands of another
owner, and if this should be done it
would further reduce the net revenues
now derived from the lands.
It is suggested that the taxes received
by the state from these lands
if sold would pay the interest on
such an issue of State bonds as
might be authorized, while the principal
and interest derived from the
sale of the lands would retire the
bonds. Some of these lands are agricultural
but the bulk of them are
grazing lands. At this time there is
not only a renewed reason for placing
agricultural lands on the market,
but the grazing lands, too, so there
may be opportunity for the purchase
of same on easy terms by returning
soldiers who may wish to embark in
the business of farming or of raising
live stock. The terms of the proposed
amendment should make it
mandatory upon the Legislature to
provide by appropriation, special tax
or otherwise, for the development,
support and maintenance of the Universitv'of
Texas, the Agricultural
and Mechanical College, the College
of Industrial Arts and the normal
schools.
I recommend that an amendmentto the Constitution designed to ac-complish
the purposes I have mentioned,
be submitted to the people
so that tribunal may definitely determine
that which is now unsettled
as well as the future of these State
institutions of learning.
Home ownership is the cornerstone
of civilization. Agriculture is
tne basis of our State's livelihood,
and that which percolates through all
the channels of trade and brings
prosperity out of the ground. Not
only the crops which grow, but the
oil which lately has added millions
to the wealth of Texas, is a product
of the soil. That which will promote
the agricultural development and
more extensive use of the vast landed
area of Texas will prove the biggest
contribution to the happiness and
stability of our citizenship. Tenantry
is a curse to Texas. It was a source
of discord in the days of the feudal
system and has been a blight in all
nations and all states where practiced.
Tenantry has increased rapidly
in Texas in the last decade and
the most alarming phase of it now
is that under such a system landlords
are allowing un-Americans to
take the place of Americans who cultivate
the soil, finding the former
class more content with smaller
shares and cheaper rents. To make
it possible for the man who cultivates
the soil to find a way to buy it and
to afford an opportunity in Texas for
land renters to become land owners
is a paramount duty at our hands.
Such a plan was endorsed by the people
in my candidacy and this endorsement
was given expression to by the
Democracy of Texas in the State
platform.
I recommend the submission by
you of a constitutional amendment to
be voted upon this year so the State
mray lend or give its credit for the
purpose of assisting persons who are
the heads of families and identified
with the citizenship of this State to
acquire homes under such limitations
as the Legislature may impose especially
to the end of causing settlement
and cultivation of rather than
speculation in lands.
With such constitutional authority,
the State, under regulations prescribed
by the Legislature will upon
its own initiative, or by co-operation
with the Federal Land Bank or by
co-operation with the Federal government
in providing settlement lands
for soldiers find it possible to adopt
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Hobby, W. P. Initial messages of Governor W. P. Hobby to the thirty-sixth legislature, state of Texas: Jan. 14, 1919 and Jan. 22, 1919., book, 1919; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5863/m1/28/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .