PROVISIONS OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF TEXAS,

TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR RATIFICATION, ON THE THIRD TUESDAY OF FEBRUARY, 1876.

ARTICLE VII.

Education-The Public Free Schools,

SECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.

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. There shall be set apart annually not more than onefourth of the general revenue of the State, and a poll tax of one dollar on all male inhabitants in this State between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, for the benefit of the public free schools.

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 the 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 this State, if the same can be obtained, otherwise in United States bonds; and the United States bonds now belonging to said fund shall likewise be invested in State bonds, if the same can be obtained on terms advantageous to the school fund.

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, which shall be applied annually to the support of the 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

levied, shall be the available school fund, which shall be applied annually to the support of the 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 manner as may be provided by law.

SEC. 6. All lands heretofore or hereafter granted to the several counties of this State for education, or schools, 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 one hundred and sixty 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 State of Texas, or of the United States, and only the interest thereon to be used and exended annually.

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 shools as may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE VIII.
Taxation.

SEC. 9. The State tax on property, exclusive of the tax necessary to pay the public debt, shall never exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars valuation; and no county, city or town shall levy more than one-half of said State tax, except for the payment of debts already incurred, and for the erection of public buildings, not to exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars in any one year, and except as in this constitution is otherwise provided.

eighty acres of public land, upon the terms and conditions prescribed for heads of families.

ARTICLE XVI.

Marital Law.

SEC. 15. All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned or claimed hy her before marriage, and that acquired afterward by gift, devise or descent, shall be her separate property; and laws shall be passed more clearly defining the rights of the wife, in relation as well to her separate property as that held in common with her husband. Laws shall also be passed providing for the registration of the wife's separate property.

Lien Law.

SEC. 37. Mechanics, artisans and material men, of every class, shall have a lien upon the buildings and articles made or repaired by them for the value of their labor done thereon, or material furnished therefor; and the Legislature shall provide by law for the speedy and efficient enforcement of said liens.

Exemption Law.

SEC. 49. The Legislature shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to protect by law from forced sale a certain portion of the personal property of all heads of families, and also of unmarried adults, male and female.

SEC. 50. The homestead of a family shall be, and is hereby protected from forced sale, for the payment of all debts except for the purchase money thereof, or a part of such purchase money, the taxes due thereon, or for work and material used in constructing improvements thereon, and in this last case only when the work and material are contracted for in writing, with the consent of the wife given in the same manner as is required in making a sale and conveyance of the homestead; nor shall the owner, if a married man, sell the homestead without the consent of the wife, given in such manner as may be prescribed by law. No mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the homestead shall ever be valid, except for the purchase money therefor, or improvements made thereon, as herein before provided, whether such mortgage, or trust deed, or other lien, shall have been created by the husband alone, or together with his wife; and all pretended sales of the homestead involving any condition of the defeasance shall be void. SEC. 51. The homestead, not in a town or city, shall consist of not more than two hundred acres of land, which may be in one or more parcels, with the improvements thereon; the homestead in a city, town, or village, shall consist of lot, or lots, not to exceed in value five thousand dollars, at the time of their designation as the

homestead, without reference to the value of any improvements thereon; provided, that the same shall be used for the purposes of a home, or as a place to exercise the calling or business of the head of a family; provided, also, that any temporary renting of the homestead shall not change the character of the same, when no other homestead has been acquired.

SEC. 52. On the death of the husband or wife, or both, the homestead shall descend and vest in like manner as other real property of the deceased, and shall be governed by the same laws of descent and distribution, but it shall not be partitioned among the heirs of the deceased during the lifetime of the surviving husband or wife, or so long as the survivor may elect to use or occupy the same as a homestead, or so long as the guardian of the minor children of the deceased may be permitted, under the order of the proper court having the jurisdiction, to use and occupy the same. MINERAL WATERS.

A passing allusion has been made to mineral waters that are found in several places contiguous to the route. We desire to say further, that evidence is daily being adduced of the value of these waters in all affections of the kidneys; and that, unless indications point erroneously, they will prove of extraordinary efficacy in that terrible affliction, which is known as Bright's disease, and that Luling and Harwood will soon be regular resorts for invalids with this and kindred affections. This is the testimony of physicians, and it is believed that experience will verify their judgment.

That this picture is not overdrawn, all who visit the section of country we are describing will be constrained to admit. And among other facts that will confirm this statement is this, that the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio road has progressed continuously, while other roads have been compelled to suspend operations-while they have been impeded, delayed and stopped by panics and monetary disturbances-this road has progressed, if not so rapidly as its builder desired, yet with regular and systematic advancement. Its history shows that it is being constructed through a country which can support a road of the first class, and through a country which needed but a road to make it teem with an industrious and wealthy population.

DISTANCE TO THE PACIFIC.

1475 miles.

San Antonio to San Diego....

These distances are those of the mail route.

Railroad surveys

will probably reduce them,