There is no reason to think that "efficient" meant anything different in 1875 from what it now means. "Efficient" conveys the meaning of effective or productive of results and connotes the use of resources so as to produce results with little waste; this meaning does not appear to have changed over time. [FN3] E.g., IV Oxford English Dictionary 52 (1971); Webster's Third New International Dictionary 725 (1976). One dictionary used by the framers defined efficient as follows: FN3. This usage is seen in text as well. E.g., H. Fawcett, Manual of Political Economics 193 (1863) ("That nothing more powerfully promotes the efficiency of labour than an abundance of fertile land."); G.D. Argyll, The Reign of Law 321 (1871) ("This change in mind is the efficient cause of a whole cycle of other changes."); H.B. Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 297 (1850) ("He was an expert and efficient workman."). Causing effects; producing results; actively operative; not inactive, slack or incapable; characterized by energetic and useful activity.... N. Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language 430 (1864). In 1890, this court described "efficient" machinery as being "such as is capable of well producing the effect intended to be secured by the use of it for the purpose for which it was made." Maxwell v. Bastrop Mfg. Co., 77 Tex. 233, 14 S.W. 35, 36 (1890). Considering "the general spirit of the times and the prevailing sentiments of the people," it is apparent from the historical record that those who drafted and ratified article VII, section 1 never contemplated the possibility that such gross inequalities could exist within an "efficient" system. [FN4] See Mumme v. Marrs, 120 Tex. 383, 40 S.W.2d 31, 35 (1931). At the Constitutional Convention of 1875, delegates spoke at length on the importance of education for all the people of this state, rich and poor alike. The chair of the education committee, speaking on behalf of the majority of the committee, declared: FN4. Delegate Henry Cline, who first proposed the term "efficient," urged the convention to ensure that sufficient funds would be provided to those districts most in need. S. McKay, Debates in the Constitutional Convention of 1875 217 (1930). He noted that those with some wealth were already making extravagant provisions for the schooling of their own children and described a public school system in which those funds that had selfishly been used by the wealthy would be made available for the education of all the children of the state. Id. at 217-18. [Education] must be classed among the abstract rights, based on apparent natural justice, which we individually concede to the State, for the general welfare, when we enter into a great compact as a commonwealth. I boldly assert that it is for the general welfare of all, rich and poor, male and female, that the means of a common school education should, if possible, be placed within the reach of every child in the State.