Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 16, 2015 Page: 4 of 20
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PAGE 4A
ELGIN COURIER - ELGIN, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
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I THINK IN THIS CASE WE CAM MAKE AN EXCEPTION, MR. SCHULZ
The absurdity of tinkering with Texas history
Offer thanks and respect the uniform
d.
By Jan Reid
www.texastribune.com
I
1
The Elgin Courier is published weekly by Blacklands Publications,
Inc. at 105 North Main, Elgin, Bastrop County, Texas 78621. Established
in 1890. Periodical postage paid at Elgin, Texas, 78621. SUBSCRIP-
TION RATES: $41.00 per year in Bastrop County; $44.00 per year out-
side Bastrop County; $49.00 per year outside Texas. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to ELGIN COURIER, P.O. BOX 631, ELGIN,
TX 78621. Any erroneous reflection upon character, standing, or repu-
tation of any individual, firm or organization that may appear in the
columns of this paper will be corrected if brought to the attention of the
publisher. We do not hold ourselves responsible for the views of our cor-
respondents.
Send e-mails to elgincourier@elgincourier.com or publisher@elgin-
courier.com. Website is elgincourier.com. Call 512-285-3333. News and
ad copy deadline is Fridays at 5 p.m. Letters to Editor deadline is Fridays
at noon.
The Elgin Courier Letters to the Editor column is an open forum offering op-
portunities to the public to comment on issues of interest or concern to the com-
munity. They should refrain from making personal attacks on the individuals, and
comments which in the opinion of the editors are potentially libelous or in bad
taste will not be printed. Letters should be brief, 300 words or less, if possible. We
solicit and encourage such comment. The deadline for Letters to the Editor is Fri-
day at noon. It is our policy not to print letters with political opinions, ideals or
views. Political messages must be paid for in advertisement form. All letters must
be signed and include the address of the author. The Courier will not withhold the
name of letter writers and anonymous letters will be discarded.
John Reagan rose
from county judge to
congressman in East
Texas and was the Con-
federacy’s postmaster
general. Captured with
President Jefferson
Davis, Reagan wrote an
open letter from a soli-
tary confinement cell
urging Texans to submit
to federal law and re-
nounce secession and
slavery. Reaction was fe-
rocious, yet he was
elected to 12 more years
in Congress and chaired
the new Texas Railroad
Commission.
In 1836, Albert Sidney
Johnston enlisted as a
private in Texas’ revolu-
tionary army and be-
came the Republic’s
secretary of war. As a
U.S. officer he helped
defend settlers against
Comanches and Kiowa
raiders. In 1862, as a
Confederate general he
was killed at Shiloh.
Young Robert E. Lee
also helped defend the
Texas frontier. He ex-
celled in the Mexican
War and forced the sur-
render of John Brown
and followers after they
seized a federal armory
at Harpers Ferry. For
five years, Lee thought
he had to retain the
slave labor of his father-
in-law to spare the es-
of those who risk their
lives to protect ours.
Greater love hath no
man than to lay down
his life for his friends,
reads the Scriptures.
Whenever I see a
member of our armed
forces or a combat vet-
eran in uniform, I al-
ways thank them for
their service. I hope
that you will join me
in extending this same
spirit of gratitude to-
ward our peace offi-
cers. Whether you see
an officer in passing
or perhaps even at
your car window,
please remember their
sacrifice and thank
them for their service.
Remember their
spouses and their chil-
dren, and pray for
their safety.
Rep. John Cyrier is
serving his first term as
State Representative for
District 17. You can
reach him at his capitol
office or new district of-
fice in downtown Bas-
trop at 512-463-0682,
or email
John.Cyrier@house.stat
tate from bankruptcy
and forfeiture. Lee
freed those slaves in
1862 and never owned
another. He opposed se-
cession. After the Civil
War was lost, his concil-
iatory leadership won
out over die-hard radi-
cals who wanted to con-
tinue a guerilla
insurgency.
Jefferson Davis came
to Texas as a regimental
commander in the Mex-
ican War. A Mississippi
planter and congress-
man, he championed
Texas’ entry in the
Union as a slave state.
During his time as U.S.
secretary of war, his
grand experiment was
using camels as army
pack animals in West
Texas. After the North
drove old Dixie down, as
the song goes, the Con-
federate president lit
out for Texas and hoped
for safe haven. After
two years in prison but
never tried, Davis in
1875 graciously de-
clined an offer to be the
first president of the
Agricultural and Me-
chanical College of
Texas. The Aggies
dodged a bullet on that
one.
Following the stagger-
ing news in Charleston,
a UT task force last
[1
—1
ELGIN COURIER
(U.S.P.S. 172-740)
8
$
>2
The
State
s 5 Rep
Texas Rep.
John
Cyrier
DAN KLEINER - PUBLISHER
PATTY FINNEY - MANAGING EDITOR
MATT MCELHINNEY - SPORTS EDITOR
MARIE OTT - AD DIRECTOR
HEATHER ROMINE - BOOKKEEPER/CLASSIFIEDS
STATE OF
TEXAS
GOVERNOR
Greg Abbott
800-843-5789
LT. GOVERNOR
Dan Patrick
512-463-0001
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ken Paxton
512-463-2100
U.S. SENATORS
John Cornyn
713-572-3337
Ted Cruz
713-718-3059
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Michael McCaul
202-225-2401
STATE SENATOR
Kirk Watson
512-463-0114
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
John Cyrier
512-463-0682
BASTROP
COUNTY
COUNTY JUDGE
Paul Pape
512-332-7201
SHERIFF
Terry Pickering
512-549-5100
COUNTY COURT
Judge Benton Eskew
512-581-4277
JUSTICES OF THE
PEACE
Donna Van Gilder (Pct.1)
512-581-4258
Raymah Davis (Pct.2)
512-581-7112
Katherine Hanna (Pct.3)
512-332-7288
Larry Dunne (Pct.4)
512-581-7162
COMMISSIONERS
William Pina (Pct.1)
512-581-4001
Clara Beckett (Pct.2)
512-360-2764
John Klaus (Pct.3)
512-303-6800
Bubba Snowden (Pct.4)
512-332-7267
CITY OF
ELGIN
MAYOR
Marc Holm
512-788-6110
CITY MANAGER
Kerry Lacy
512-281-5724
POLICE CHIEF
Chris Bratton
512-285-5757
FIRE CHIEF
Randy Reyna
512-281-4025
CITY COUNCIL
Chris Cannon (Mayor
Pro-Tem, Ward 3)
512-217-1283
Mary Penson (Ward 1)
512-281-4158
Jessica Bega (Ward 1)
512-653-1900
Edward Maldonado
(Ward 2)
512-297-4258
Juan Gonzalez (Ward 2)
512-285-6499
Craig Fromme (Ward 3)
512-567-5702
Keith Joesel (Ward 4)
512-281-3182
Sue Brashar (Ward 4)
512-689-5692
ELGIN SCHOOL
DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT
Dr. Jodi Duron
512-281-3434
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TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
-22015
>>
Growing up, I was al-
ways taught to “re-
spect the uniform.”
My late father is a Ma-
month offered five op-
tions for dealing with
Civil War stains on its
campus. University
President Greg Fenves
announced a compro-
mise: The statue of
Davis would be moved
to the Dolph Briscoe
Center for American
History on the east end
of the campus, and
Woodrow Wilson’s
statue would vacate the
South Mall to “maintain
symmetry.” (Wilson was
in the White House
when the sculptures
were commissioned,
and he was born in Vir-
ginia. His father sup-
ported the
Confederacy).
Imagine where this
might go if all of Texas
were like Austin. After
two terms as governor
that Lawrence “Sul”
Ross won for having
been a Confederate
general and claiming to
be a great Indian
fighter, he led Texas
A&M University as
president from 1891 to
1898. Could the Aggies
disown Ross, so revered
that students place
coins at the statue of
“Sully” for luck on
exams? Could Sul Ross
State University in
Alpine be in line for a
name change? What
against officers of the
law. A Harris County
sheriff’s deputy was
recently murdered in a
gas station parking lot
simply because of his
uniform. He left be-
hind a wife and two
children.
My father’s lesson
has never been truer.
Respect the uniform.
Yet, some have criti-
cized people for say-
ing, “police lives
matters” in response
to this awful violence.
In fact, this past week,
one young man had his
pickup truck vandal-
ized with $5,000 in
damage because he
wrote, “police lives
matter” across his
back window.
How tragic that it
has become politically
incorrect to denounce
violence against peace
Opinion
m Email the Editor at elgincouner@elgincourier.com
letii
Gat
Ppt2et
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LAReigililgii
about Jeff Davis County
and the town of Little-
field? Would Robert
Lee, Texas, be rechris-
tened Dry Lake, Texas?
Tinkering with history
is a feckless and absurd
business.
The administration
proposal, on hold while
the Sons of Confederate
Veterans seek a re-
straining order, is being
called reasoned, but the
apt word is convenient.
What will the educators
do if the defacing con-
tinues on the others?
This panicky stampede
is a surrender to van-
dals armed with cans of
spray paint.
As violent, cruel and
bigoted as Texas history
has often been, this
tempest in a political
teapot does nothing to
change that. Leaders
who try to airbrush our
state’s past will soon be
forgotten. And unlike a
Robert E. Lee, they de-
serve to be.
This article appeared
first on the Texas Tribune
website, a non-partisan
organization tasked with
informing — and engag-
ing — Texans about pub-
lic policy, politics,
government and
statewide issues. It is used
with permission.
V our statues on the
—4 University of
-I Texas at Austin’s
South Mall and an ele-
gant fountain sculpture
by Pompeo Coppini
bear the names of men
who have become vil-
lains du jour because of
their ties to the Confed-
eracy and the recent
murders at a black
church in Charleston,
South Carolina. Until
UT’s statues began to
be defaced with paint
and graffiti, I wonder
how many students on
the mall ever stopped to
look at them — to think
about or even wonder
who they were. I know I
didn't during my years
in graduate school.
Coppini’s sculpture of
horses running through
water honors George
Littlefield, who was
crippled by a cannon
shell blast in 1863 while
fighting in the Civil War
with the cavalry Terry’s
Texas Rangers. Pioneer-
ing the use of windmills
and barbed wire, Little-
field established a vast
ranching empire in West
Texas and New Mexico,
founded an Austin bank
and became a UT re-
gent in 1911.
78
x i
।
"a
rine veteran of the Ko-
rean War and the fa-
ther of four boys, of
whom I am the
youngest. He died
when I was only 18
years old, but I still
carry his lessons with
me. I learned to re-
spect the uniform not
simply because it
demonstrates author-
ity but because it in-
volves sacrifice.
Watching the news
and staying apprised
of state business over
the past few weeks, I
have thought often of
my father and all
those who wear a uni-
form — the men and
women of our armed
forces and also the
peace officers who
risk their lives every
day to keep our fami-
lies safe at home.
These past few
weeks, we have seen
persistent anti-police
rhetoric from certain
individuals and
groups. This has be-
come manifest as vio-
lence and even brutal
murders committed
officers. However po-
litically incorrect, it is
a message that our na-
tion needs to hear. Po-
lice lives matter. All
lives matter.
I am thankful that
Texas Gov. Greg Ab-
bott recently declared
that, “heinous and de-
liberate crimes
against law enforce-
ment will not be toler-
ated in the State of
Texas.” I wish that our
President would show
the same resolve.
The men and women
who wear the uniform
of a peace officer —
our sheriff’s deputies,
police officers, state
troopers — risk their
lives to protect ours. A
safe and orderly soci-
ety requires these offi-
cers to fight crime and
protect our God-given
rights to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of hap-
piness.
I fear for our soci-
ety’s future if it is no
longer deemed accept-
able to respect the
uniform and honor the
dignity and sacrifice
- <
4
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Finney, Patty. Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 16, 2015, newspaper, September 16, 2015; Elgin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1555301/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Elgin Public Library.