Referring in his message of 1870 to the report of Comptroller BledGovernor Davis says:

soe,

It will be noticed in the comptroller's report of assets the accounts bear from year to year the items: Special school fund, $79,409.50; university land sales, $10,300.41, and 6 per cent manuscript State bonds for school fund, $320,367.13. These items represent State warrants or State bonds issued during the war and, representing obligations which are now void, should no longer be borne on the comptroller's reports; but the comptroller considers it his duty to continue them until the legislature directs otherwise.

Subsequently, in his message to the legislature in 1871, Governor Davis says:

It will be perceived that I have not included in the estimates of the State's indebtedness the bonds issued to the common school and university funds under the provisional act of November 12, 1866, amounting to $216,641.08 and interest. I can perceive no good reason why these bonds, issued to replace 5 per cent United States indemnity bonds taken and disposed of during the rebellion by the authorities then in possession of the State, should now be a charge upon the people. If it is necessary that the school and university fund should be increased in a sum equivalent to those bonds it had better be done in plain terms, but there is no such necessity, and it is our experience in the past that the accumulation of these special funds tends to invite spoliation.

For a long time there seems to have been a disposition not to regard the university fund as a trust so sacred that it could not be applied to other uses, less on account of the danger of its "spoliation" than its convenience for government purposes as long as its operation remained an uncertain problem of the distant future.

The legislature had all along proceeded by statutes under the existing organic law to establish free schools, and had incorporated the idea of providing for one or more State universities as part of its governmental functions. So that the university was, in fact as well as purpose, the logical capstone to the general edifice of public instruction, a great leading high school, as evidently contemplated by the fathers of the Republic, and was, equally with the common schools, as part and parcel of them, coexistent with the birth of the State.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS.

The provisions of article 10 of the constitution of 1866 on the subject of education were amended by declaring that "the legislature shall, as early as practicable, establish a system of free public schools throughout the State; and as a basis for the endowment and support of said system all the funds, lands, and other property heretofore set apart, or that may hereafter be set apart, and appropriated for the support and maintenance of public schools shall constitute the public-school fund; and said fund and the income derived therefrom shall be a perpetual fund for the education of all the white scholastic inhabitants of this State, and no law shall ever be made appropriating said fund to any other use or purpose.'

It was also provided that all the alternate sections reserved by the State out of previous or future grants to railroad companies or other corporations for internal improvements, or for the development of the wealth or resources of the State, shall be set apart as a perpetual school fund of the State; that the legislature shall hereafter appropriate onehalf of the proceeds of sales of public lands to the perpetual school fund and shall provide for the levying of a tax for educational purposes, and that the sums arising from said tax which may be collected. from Africans or persons of African descent shall be exclusively appropriated for the maintenance of a system of public schools for Africans and their children; that the university funds shall be invested in like manner as provided for the public-school funds, and the legislature shall have no power to appropriate the university fund for any other purpose than that of the maintenance of universities, and shall at an early day make such provisions by law as will organize and put into operation the university."

Next came the "period of reconstruction" during which the State constitution was adopted in a convention held under the reconstruction acts of Congress, by authority of which the State constitution was adopted as it was finally ratified by the people in July, 1869. This constitution reaffirmed the section of that of 1866 fixing the basis of the public-school endowment, except the clause confining its use to the education of white children. This had to be changed under the reconstruction provisions against " race discriminations," and was so changed as to provide that "the perpetual school fund shall be applied as needed exclusively for the education of all the scholastic inhabitants of the State, and no law shall ever be made appropriating such fund for any other use or purpose." It also provided that "all sums of money that may come to this State from the sale of any portion of the public domain of the State shall also constitute a part of the public-school fund, and the legislature shall set apart for the benefit of public schools one-fourth of the annual revenue derivable from general taxation, and shall also cause to be levied and collected an annual poll tax of $1 on all male persons in this State between the ages of 21 and 60 years for the benefit of public schools." "And said fund and the income therefrom and the taxes herein provided for school purposes shall be a perpetual fund, to be applied" as above stated.

The constitution secures these provisions by annulling the "ordinance of secession" of 1861 and all legislation based thereon, and declares in effect that the legislatures which sat in the State from March, 1861, to August, 1866, were unconstitutional and their enactments not binding except as to such regulations as were not violative. of the Constitution and laws of the United States or in aid of the rebellion against the United States. The legislature which assembled in Austin August 6, 1866, is declared to have been provisional only,

and its acts were to be respected only so far as they were not violative of the Constitution and laws of the United States or were not intended to reward those who participated in the late rebellion, or to discriminate between citizens on account of race or color, or to operate prejudicially to any class of citizens. It is further declared that

All debts created by the so-called State of Texas from and after the 28th day of January, 1861, and prior to the 5th day of August, 1865, were and are null and void; and the legislature is prohibited from making any provision for the acknowledgment or payment of such debts.

Under these provisions the university, though not then recognized to be in any way a matter of concern in the war, suffered great loss by some $74,804.48 having been received in "Confederate notes" in payment for university lands and turned over to the Confederate. States depository. As to other interests involved in the same way no estimates appear to have been presented of the loss to the free-school fund and other special trusts resulting from the State being prohibited from paying any debt involving Confederate money further than appears in a message of Governor Davis (April 29, 1870, already cited).

EXTRAVAGANT SCHOOL ORGANIZATION.

An act of 1871 amended the general school law by providing that the board of education shall apportion the territory of the State anew into convenient educational districts. The State superintendent was authorized to appoint the district supervisors, and the supervisors were to appoint the school directors and could act as examiners of teachers. Thus the school officers were very numerous and involved an expense that was well calculated to exhaust the school fund, if not to bankrupt the State, if the system were maintained. At all events it was too extravagant for maintenance by the counties, many of which were overtaxed and their treasuries depleted to favor the teachers and school officials with increased salaries. The extent to which extravagance was licensed is manifested in the expenditures of the State educational department at Austin, amounting in 1872 to $96,505, or 20 per cent of the fund, as against $15,393 expended in 1896, which was but one-half of 1 per cent of the fund.

THE EXISTING ORGANIC LAW.

Among the features affecting education the present organic law (constitution, Art. III, sec. 48) provides for taxation and other public burdens for support of public schools, including colleges and universities established by the State; and further, in section 2, Article VIII, that the legislature may exempt from taxation all buildings used exclusively and owned by persons or associations of persons for school purposes (and the necessary furniture of all schools); and still further,

in section 7, Article VIII, that the legislature shall not have power to borrow or in any manner divert from its purpose any special fundsuch as that of the free schools or the university. Section 1 of Article VII makes it the duty of the legislature to establish and provide for an efficient system of public free schools. Section 9 provides for the maintenance of State asylums as being in some sense educational institutions.

Other educational provisions in article 7 of the constitution, as affected by amendments and relating exclusively to the "public free schools," are as follows:

SEC. 2. All funds, lands, and other property heretofore set apart and appropriated for the support of public schools; all the alternate sections of land reserved by the State out of grants heretofore made or that may hereafter be made to railroads, or other corporations, of any nature whatsoever; one-half of the public domain of the State; and all sums of money that may come to the State from the sale of any portion of the same, shall constitute a perpetual public school fund.

SEC. 3. One-fourth of the revenue derived from the State occupation taxes, and a poll tax of $1 on every male inhabitant of this State between the ages of 21 and 60 years, shall be set apart annually for the benefit of the public free schools, and, in addition thereto, there shall be levied and collected an annual ad valorem State tax of such an amount, not to exceed 20 cents on the $100 valuation, as, with the available school fund arising from all other sources, will be sufficient to maintain and support the public free schools of this State for a period of not less than six months in each year; and the legislature may also provide for the formation of school districts within all or any of the counties of this State, by general or special law, without the local notice required in other cases of special legislation, and may authorize an additional annual ad valorem tax to be levied and collected within such school districts for the further maintenance of public free schools and the erection of school buildings therein: Provided, That two-thirds of the qualified property taxpaying voters of the district, voting at an election to be held for that purpose, shall vote such tax, not to exceed in any one year 20 cents on the $100 valuation of the property subject to taxation in such district, but the limitation upon the amount of district tax herein authorized, shall not apply to incorporated cities or towns constituting separate and independent school districts. [Sec. 3, Art. VII, declared adopted September 25, 1883.]

SEC. 4. The lands herein set apart to the public free school fund shall be sold under such regulations, at such times, and on such terms as may be prescribed by law, and the legislature shall not have power to grant any relief to purchasers thereof. The comptroller shall invest the proceeds of such sales and of those heretofore made, as may be directed by the board of education herein provided for, in the bonds of the United States, the State of Texas, or counties in said State, or in such other securities and under such restrictions as may be prescribed by law; and the State shall be responsible for all investments. [Sec. 4, Art. VII, declared adopted September 25, 1883.]

SEC. 5. The principal of all bonds and other funds, and the principal arising from the sale of the lands herein before set apart to said school fund, shall be the permanent school fund; and all the interest derivable therefrom and the taxes herein authorized and levied shall be the available school fund, to which the legislature may add not exceeding 1 per cent annually of the total value of the permanent school fund; such value to be ascertained by the board of education until otherwise provided by law, and the available school fund shall be applied annually to the support of the

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public free schools. And no law shall ever be enacted appropriating any part of the permanent or available school fund to any other purpose whatever, nor shall the same or any part thereof ever be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school; and the available school fund herein provided shall be distributed to the several counties according to their scholastic population and applied in such manner as may be provided by law. [Sec. 5, Art. VII, declared adopted September 22, 1891.]

SEC. 6. All lands heretofore or hereafter granted to the several counties of this State for educational purposes are of right the property of said counties respectively to which they were granted, and title thereto is vested in said counties, and no adverse possession or limitation shall ever be available against the title of any county. Each county may sell or dispose of its lands, in whole or in part, in manner to be provided by the commissioners' court of the county. Actual settlers residing on said lands shall be protected, in the prior right of purchasing the same to the extent of their settlement, not to exceed 160 acres, at the price fixed by said court, which price shall not include the value of existing improvements made thereon by such settlers. Said lands, and the proceeds thereof, when sold, shall be held by said counties alone as a trust for the benefit of public schools therein; said proceeds to be invested in bonds of the United States, the State of Texas, or counties of said State, or in such other securities and under such restrictions as may be prescribed by law; and the counties shall be responsible for all investments; the interest thereon, and other revenue, except the principal, shall be available fund. [Sec. 6, Art. VII, declared adopted September 25, 1883.]

SEC. 7. Separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provision shall be made for both.

SEC. 8. The governor, comptroller, and secretary of state shall constitute a board of education, who shall distribute said funds to the several counties, and perform such other duties concerning public schools as may be prescribed by law.

Still other educational provisions of the same article of the constitution are those relating entirely to the university, as follows:

SEC. 10. The legislature shall, as soon as practicable, establish, organize, and provide for the maintenance, support, and direction of a university of the first class, to be located by a vote of the people of this State, and styled "The University of Texas,” for the promotion of literature and the arts and sciences, including an agricultural and mechanical department.

SEC. 11. In order to enable the legislature to perform the duties set forth in the foregoing section, it is hereby declared that all lands and other property heretofore set apart and appropriated for the establishment and maintenance of the University of Texas, together with all the proceeds of sales of the same, heretofore made or hereafter to be made, and all grants, donations, and appropriations that may hereafter be made by the State of Texas, or from any other source, shall constitute and become a permanent university fund. And the same as realized and received into the treasury of the State (together with such sum belonging to the fund as may now be in the treasury), shall be invested in bonds of the State of Texas, if the same can be obtained; if not, then in United States bonds; and the interest accruing thereon shall be subject to appropriation by the legislature to accomplish the purpose declared in the foregoing section: Provided, That the one-tenth of the alternate sections of the lands granted to railroads, reserved by the State, which were set apart and appropriated to the establishment of the University of Texas, by an act of the legislature of February 11, 1858, entitled "An act to establish the University of Texas," shall not be included in or constitute a part of the permanent university fund.

SEC. 12. The land herein set apart to the university fund shall be sold under such regulations, at such times, and on such terms as may be provided by law; and the