USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 8
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He proposed that the gold bonds in the permanent school fund, amounting to $17,800,000, should be the basis of the capital stock of the bank. State banks were to be required to become stockholders to the extent of five percent of their capital. One half of the reserve of state banks was to be deposited in the State Bank of Texas. The accounts of escheated estates. the current accounts of the secretary of state, comptroller of state and school fund balances, the whole making an aggregate of about $14,500,000, were to be kept in the State Bank of Texas.
It provided that the bank should be controlled and governed by nine directors, three to be chosen by the State Board of Education. three by the constitutional elective officers of the state and three to
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be chosen by the State Bank and Trust Companies, who were re- quired to invest a part of their capital stock in the State Bank of Texas, these directors to select a manager and other employes. The bill was presented at the first special session of the Thirty-first legis- lature, but defeated by a very decided majority.
Another measure advocated by the government was the passage of a law regulating the acreage of cotton by the farmers of the state. The bill was prepared by the attorney-general and submitted to the Legislature on October 6. 1914, accompanied by a message urgently seeking the enactment of the law. The purpose was to bring about a reduction in the cotton acreage in Texas for the year 1915.
As originally presented, it provided that farmers should not plant more than 50 per cent as much cotton in 1915 as was planted in 1914,
GINNING COTTON
and prescribed that any violation of the act should be considered a felony.
This penalty raised such a storm of indignation from the Red River to the gulf that, on the 9th of October, the governor submitted another message, in which he stated that the bill had been prepared with great care by the attorney-general, but, on account of his absence from the capital, he did not have time to read it carefully. In this message he stated: "I do not recommend, in fact, I am opposed to, making any violation of the law providing for its object an enforced reduction of the cotton acreage for 1915 a felony." He recommended that sufficient misdemeanor penalties would be far enough to go along this line. Even with this modification the Legislature declined to pass the bill, much to the discomfiture of the governor.
Another measure of state-wide interest was an amendment to the constitution to the state, which had been submitted to and adopted by
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the people. It was what was known as the "Home Rule" law. The purpose of this was to enable cities of more than 5,000 population to frame charters and articles of incorporation for their government, and which, when submitted to the people of the city and adopted by them, should become the law without any action by the Legislature. The proponents of this measure adopted a slogan, "let the people rule," and the constitutional amendment was adopted by a very large, in fact, an almost unanimous vote. A few, who had made a study of municipal government and were therefore more competent to form a wise and unbiased judgment, opposed the amendment, but they were in a hopeless minority.
The Thirty-third Legislature when it met proceeded to enact a law carrying this measure into effect. "Let the people rule" exercised as great an influence over the lawmakers as it did over the voters of the state, and the law was enacted. It provided among other things that no city, having adopted its charter, could amend the same but once in two years, which provision has returned to plague the administration of cities. It would be manifestly impossible for any man or set of men to prepare a charter that would cover and meet all conditions, and any error of omission or commission would have to stand for at least two years.
During the second administration of Governor Colquitt the attor- ney-general, Mr. B. F. Looney, was very active in bringing suits against corporations and business associations, the most prominent of which was a suit instituted against the Magnolia Oil Co. and the Corsicana Petroleum Co., Texas corporations; the Standard Oil Co. of New York, the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, John D. Rocke- feller, John D. Archbold, H. C. Folger and a number of other indi- viduals commonly known as the Standard Oil crowd, for violations of the Texas Anti-Trust Law and to recover penalties amounting to $99,275,000.00. It was known by all men and must have been familiar to the attorney-general that the Standard Oil Companies and members thereof, being non-residents of Texas, could not be subjected to the jurisdiction of the courts in the case, neither of these corporations having properties in the state or permits to do business therein, and none of such individual defendants being or residing in the state. It was therefore manifestly apparent that this suit, as far as it applied to these foreign corporations, was instituted more for political effect and to give prominence to the author than for any hope of collecting any such mammoth sum of money from them.
This opinion was verified by the fact that the suits were never brought to trial, and that the attorney-general compromised them and gave the defendants a clean bill of health upon the payment, by the non-resident oil companies, of the sum of $500,000, and that each of the other defendants should be ajudged not guilty of violating the anti-trust laws of Texas.
Another suit, which attracted much attention, was against the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company of Texas for violation of the law prohibiting consolidation of competing lines. This suit was also compromised by the attorney-general. Another suit, and
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one for which there was possibly less excuse than for any other, was brought on June 27. 1914, against the Texas Business Association, an organization ostensibly for the promotion of the business interests of the state. This organization was supported by voluntary contribu- tions from the corporations in Texas interested in the development of the state, by the banks, business houses, business concerns and indi- viduals. It was charged with using its funds and influence for political purposes. The court issued an injunction prohibiting any corporation, for whatever purpose organized, from making any further contribu- tions to this association. The Business Men's Association in its answer made an emphatic and explicit denial that any of its funds had been used for political purposes, or that any of its activities were in the interest of any candidate or party. It agreed to submit, and did submit, its books and accounts for the examination of the courts and the attorney-general's office to substantiate its contention. These books and vouchers are still in the city of Austin and the case has never been brought to trial.
In 1914, James E. Ferguson, of Bell County, entered the list as a candidate for governor, appealing to the farmers and particularly the tenant farmers of Texas for their support, promising that, if elected, he would advocate and if possible secure the enactment of laws gov- erning rents of agricultural lands, whether the same should be a cash rent or a share of the crops. The Farmers' Union, under leadership of Peter Radford, espoused Ferguson's cause, and, while contending that the Farmers' Union was not in politics, advised its members to vote for Ferguson. Ferguson announced that during his administra- tion there should be no legislation on the prohibition question, if he could prevent it, and that any bill or measure on this subject by either pros or antis, if passed by the legislature, would receive his veto.
The prohibitionists had four or five candidates in the field, among them being Thomas H. Ball, of Harris County ; William Poindexter, of Johnson County, and Cone Johnson, of Smith County. They recog- nized the fact that with the prohibition vote divided among them, defeat was inevitable. A conference was arranged between the candi- dates and their friends to eliminate several candidates and unite on one, and Mr. Ball was selected to lead the prohibition host. At the primary election Ferguson defeated Ball by a very handsome ma- jority. W. P. Hobby, of Jefferson County, was nominated for lieu- tenant-governor, and B. F. Looney for attorney-general. John W. Philp, of Dallas County, was nominated by the republicans and Henry Faulk by the socialists. At the ensuing election, Ferguson received 229,167 votes ; republicans, 21,291 votes; socialists, 16,785 votes.
Ferguson failed in his effort to secure the legislation promised the farmers and his administration was practically devoid of any signifi- cant feature.
In 1916, Ferguson, Hobby and Looney were renominated by the democrats; R. B. Creager, of Bexar County, by the republicans, and E. R. Metzer by the socialists. At the ensuing election the demo- crats received 284,767 votes, the republicans 47,631 and the socialists 18,870 votes.
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During the latter part of 1915 the Normal Institute, at Canyon, was destroyed by fire, and the insurance money, amounting to about $106,000, was collected by the state, and, at the direction of Governor Ferguson, deposited in a bank of which he was president, instead of being deposited with the state treasurer, where it rightfully belonged. When the Legislature assembled articles of impeachment were pre- sented against the governor, and, after a long and warmly contested trial, Ferguson was found guilty of malfeasance in office and deposed, and Lieutenant-Governor Hobby succeeded to the office of governor.
In 1918, W. P. Hobby was nominated as a democratic candidate for governor ; W. A. Johnson, of Hall County, for lieutenant-governor, and C. M. Curiton for attorney-general. Charles A. Boynton, of Mc- Lennan County, was nominated by the republicans for governor, and John C. Scott for lieutenant-governor. At the ensuing election the democratic ticket received 148,962 votes, the republican ticket 26,713 votes.
The contest in 1920 was the most spectacular in the history of the state. The candidates for the democratic nomination were: Pat M. Neff, of McLennan County ; J. W. Bailey, claiming Cooke County as a place of residence ; R. E. Thomason, of El Paso County, and B. F. Looney, of Hopkins County. In the primary election to select dele- gates to the national democratic convention at San Francisco, Mr. Bailey devoted himself almost exclusively to an effort to secure dele- gates to the San Francisco convention who were opposed to the ad- ministration of President Wilson, and who should be in favor of withholding any endorsement of the president and his policies by the national convention.
It was contended by many that had Mr. Bailey refrained from his assault upon President Wilson and confined his efforts to the advocacy of state questions he would easily have been nominated at the primary to select candidates for state offices. He made a brilliant canvass of the state but was defeated overwhelmingly.
Notwithstanding this he continued his canvass for the nomination for governor, and at the primary ran second to Mr. Neff ; Thomason and Looney following in the order named.
Under the primary laws of Texas a second election was held between Neff and Bailey, and the former was an easy winner, Bailey receiving about the same number of votes that his ticket had received in the primary election for delegates to the national convention.
Listening to the speeches made by the rival candidates and their friends in the second primary and reading communications from the advocates of their candidates printed in the newspapers of the state, one would be irresistibly forced to the conclusion that the vital issue in the campaign was whether Mr. Bailey's home was in Washington, D. C., or Gainesville, Texas, and whether candidate Neff was born in 1871 or 1872. At first flush it would seem that these were trivial and unimportant questions, but under the surface there was some ground for these issues.
If Bailey's home was in Washington, D. C., and not in Gainesville,
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Texas, he was ineligible to the office of governor and could not qualify and be inaugurated, if elected.
The date of Candidate Neff's birth did not reach the question of his qualification or eligibility for the office. It was contended and endeavored to be shown by his opponents that on various, divers and sundry occasions he had made the statement that he was born in 1872. The application was that if he was born in 1872 he was subject to draft for service in the World War then raging in Europe, that in order to escape this draft, he asserted and offered evidence in support of the claim that he was born in 1871 and therefore not subject to draft.
The effort to make it appear that he was a "slacker" seemed to have produced no effect on the public mind, and he was nominated by a very handsome majority.
Lynch Davidson, of Harris County, was nominated for lieutenant- governor, and C. M. Curiton, for attorney-general.
Ex-Governor Ferguson proceeded to the organization of what he called the American party, with T. H. McGregor, of Travis County, as a candidate for governor.
In the following election the democratic ticket received 289,880 votes ; the republican, 115,640 votes, and the American party, 47,699 votes.
There have been several contests for senatorial and congressional honors of more than ordinary interest. Among the earliest of these was that between Throckmorton and Maxey. The latter had been elected to the United States Senate to succeed the notorious J. W. Flannigan, and he was a candidate for re-election before the Seven- teenth Legislature in 1881. Throckmorton, having been recently defeated for the nomination for governor, became a candidate for the United States Senate.
Both men canvassed the state before the election and were at Austin with a horde of supporters who zealously advocated the nomi- nation of the man of their choice. Maxey was elected by a hand- some majority in both houses, but, like many other politicians, he sacrificed his friends to conciliate his enemies, and when his term expired and he was a candidate for re-election he found himself con- fronted with a large number of those who had previously espoused his cause.
Upon the ascension of Grover Cleveland to the presidency the democratic party. having been out of power for a long time, had a host of applicants for every public position at the disposal of the president. Maxey had neglected his friends and recommended men for these positions who had hitherto opposed him. Candidates for the United States Senate included Maxey, John H. Reagan, John Ireland and Thomas L. Nugent, all of whom had a number of followers in each house. Maxey and his friends sent out a distress call to men who had before that supported him, requesting them to come to Austin and assist him in securing the nomination. A great many of them responded to the call, but when they arrived at the capital they used their influence for some other man than Maxey. Balloting was
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had in each house for thirty consecutive days, when John H. Reagan secured the majority votes and was declared the nominee.
When the railway commission was formed, Governor Hogg ten- dered the chairmanship of the committee to Senator Reagan, who accepted the same and tendered his resignation as United States senator. Governor Hogg appointed Horace Chilton, of Smith County, to serve for the remainder of Reagan's term.
At that time Roger Q. Mills was the idol of the democratic hosts, and a howl of indignation and remonstrance went up from all parts of the state, from Red River to the gulf. Chilton's service was of short duration, for when the legislature met they proceeded to elect Mills with practical unanimity.
Cleveland's second term was practically a repetition of the clamor for offices on the part of the democrats. The democracy of the Gal- veston district nominated George P. Finley, a prominent lawyer of Galveston. He was a brilliant man and very popular in his home city, but, unfortunately for his political success, he endeavored to carry water on both shoulders. His district ran along the gulf, nearly to the Rio Grande, in which there were a large number of rice and sugar planters, wool growers and cattle men. The national demo- cratic platform had pronounced in favor of a "tariff for revenue only." Finley said he was in favor of a "tariff for revenue" with incidental protection for rice, sugar, wool and hides. Thomas P. Ochiltree, a noted character in Texas politics, was his opponent and came out squarely for protection upon the industries mentioned. The result was a victory for Ochiltree. In the succeeding election Ochiltree was again a candidate but was defeated by Walter Gresham. Finley was appointed collector of customs at Galveston by President Cleveland.
Another interesting contest was in 1886, in the district composed of Dallas, Tarrant, Kaufman, Ellis, Hill and Johnson counties. Olin Wellborn, of Dallas, then a member of Congress, was a candidate for re-election with Barnett Gibbs, of Dallas; Jack Beale, of Ellis ; H. M. Furman, of Tarrant, as opposing candidates. Convention met at Waxahachie and lasted an entire week, when the most sable of "dark horses" in the person of Jo Abbott, of Hill County, received the nomination. Wellborn served out his term, but never returned to Texas. When Congress adjourned he went to San Diego, California. and President Cleveland subsequently appointed him to the Bench of the United States District Court, which position he still holds.
Another spirited contest was in the Fort Worth district between Poindexter, of Johnson ; Lee Riddle, of Hood, and O. W. Gillespie, of Tarrant. The convention balloted for several days without success, when Riddle withdrew and threw his strength to Gillespie, who was nominated and served for three terms.
That the party collar has not fitted very snugly in Texas is evidenced by the fact that for the census of 1910, and before con- gressional apportionment was had, the state was entitled to two additional congressmen to be elected from the state at large. At this election, "Cyclone" Davis, who had been a pronounced and uncom- promising opponent of the democratic party at every issue and at
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every election, was elected as one of the congressmen-at-large from the great Democratic State of Texas.
There were other contests, always within the ranks of the party, but the above are the most prominent.
SENATORIAL CONTESTS
In the latter part of 1912 Senator J. W. Bailey resigned his seat in the United States Senate. He gave as reason for this action that he was weary of being maligned and traduced by his political enemies, and having his actions criticised and his motives impugned, all of which made his further services undesirable to himself and greatly impaired his usefulness as a senator from the great State of Texas.
Accepting his resignation, Governor Colquitt appointed R. M. Johnston. the then editor of the Houston Post, to serve for the unexpired term of Senator Bailey which would come to an end the following March. This would give Mr. Johnston the honor for a period of about six weeks. and it was thought that no one would object to this honor or contest his confirmation by the legislature.
The Honorable Morris Sheppard, then a member of the House of Representatives in the United States Congress, who had gone before the people in the primary held July 27, 1912, and had been nominated by the primary, was announced as candidate for the short term caused by the resignation of Mr. Bailey. When the matter came before the legis- lature on the 28th of January, 1913, Sheppard was nominated receiving eighty-seven votes in the House and seventeen in the Senate as against fifty-four for Johnston in the House and twelve in the Senate. On the joint ballot the following day this vote was repeated and Sheppard nomi- nated.
In the primary election held July 27, 1912, to select a candidate for the United States Senate, for the term beginning March, 1913. the candi- dates were Morris Sheppard, Jake Walters, C. B. Randell and Mat Zollner. All of these candidates made a thorough canvass of the state. and Sheppard was nominated by a plurality vote of about 8.000. As already related, this result was confirmed by the legislature by a unani- mous vote. This was the last time that the Texas Legislature would have any voice in the selection of the United States senators, a law having been passed for the election of United States senators by direct vote of the people.
In 1916 a primary election was held to select a United States senator to succeed the Honorable C. A. Culberson, the then incumbent of the office.
In this primary the candidates were C. A. Culberson, of Dallas, O. B. Colquitt, of Dallas, R. L. Henry, of McLennan County. S. P. Brooks, of McLennan County, and T. M. Campbell, of Anderson County. In the primary election none of these candidates received a majority. Culberson and Colquitt leading ; and a second primary was therefore held to make a choice between these two.
The principal argument made against Mr. Culberson was on the ground of his ill health. His opponents endeavored to show that he was physically unable to discharge the duties devolving upon him, but his
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supporters and advocates were able to show that, while his physical con- dition was not robust, he had been in his seat in the Senate chamber at all times, and voted and acted upon the measures coming before that body. At the second primary Culberson received 165,182 votes and Colquitt 94,098 votes.
THE BAILEY INVESTIGATION
One of the most sensational episodes in Texas politics was the investi- gation, by the Texas Legislature of the personal and political activities of Joseph Weldon Bailey. It is designated as a political activity advisedly, for it was apparent that the purpose was to discredit Mr. Bailey.
In January, 1907, Mr. Bailey was elected to the United States Senate by the Thirtieth Legislature to succeed himself. Mr. William A. Cocke, a member of the House of Representatives from Bexar County, pre- sented to the House a series of charges, thirty-five in number, covering every activity of Mr. Bailey, of a personal, business and official nature, in a period of about seven years, during which time he was member of Congress either in the House or Senate.
Subsequently he filed seven additional charges. The House appointed a committee of seven to investigate these charges. Similar charges were presented in the Senate and a like committee of investigation ap- pointed. The committees were consolidated and proceeded to the work assigned them as one committee.
The House committee, which was given charge of the proceedings. were H. A. O'Neal, T. H. McGregor, J. A. L. Wolfe, J. H. Robertson, T. D. Cobbs, I. A. Patton and C. H. Jenkins. The Senate committee sat with the House members, but the conduct, of the case was committed to the members from the House. Mr. Cocke was the prosecutor and W. L. Crawford, M. M. Crane, J. E. Cockrell, F. M. Etheridge and R. C. Porter of Dallas, political opponents of Mr. Bailey, tendered their serv- ices to aid in the prosecution.
Mr. W. Hanger of Fort Worth and J. W. Odell of Cleburne and T. N. Jones of Tyler represented Mr. Bailey.
William Poindexter of Cleburne was employed by the Senate to represent that body in the investigation.
It is unnecessary here to reproduce the charges. Suffice it to say that they covered every activity of Mr. Bailey of a political, business and personal nature. It was contended that the interests which employed Mr. Bailey from time to time were influenced, not so much on account of his legal attainments and business qualifications as for his personal and political influence. This was stressed in the examination throughout . the entire proceedings.
The committee sat for about a month, and witnesses from all parts of the country were examined and the books and correspondence of the individuals and companies which he served were brought before the committee.
At the conclusion of the hearing Mr. Wolfe offered a resolution covering the salient portion of the evidence and concluding with the following paragraph :
"Mr. Cocke filed some forty odd charges against Senator Bailey, the most of which were of the gravest character, and many of which. VOL. 11-5
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if true, would have constituted felonies. It appears that he made these charges without personal knowledge of a single fact upon which to base them. They were founded on rumor, and after having been given the freest opportunity for four weeks to establish his charges and having signally failed to prove a single one of them, I, for one, do not feel as a member of this committee or as a representative of the people of Texas, that I should gratify his desire for further notoriety.
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