684 



TEXAS. 



law which this association deems necessary to be 

 made. 



5. That the members of this body who arc present, 

 as well as our brethren who are absent, and the execu- 

 tive officers of the State generally, be requested to 

 correspond with the chairman of said committee, be- 

 fore the first day of November next, giving fully their 

 views upon the needed changes and corrections in our 

 criminal laws. 



6. That said committee, at some convenient time and 

 place, after November 1st, meet and formulate for the 

 Legislature such bill, or bills, as will fully express the 

 wishes and suggestions of the association. 



7. That said committee be also charged with the 

 duty of having said bill, or bills, properly presented 

 and referred at the next session of our Legislature, 

 thus bringing our suggestions squarely before them, 

 and preventing the silent evasion which alone was ac- 

 corded us at its last session. 



8. It is believed that each sheriff in Texas should 

 be supplied with printed copies of the work of said 

 committee as soon as the same is completed, to the 

 end that he may secure the support of his immediate 

 representative in securing the passage of such bills. 



9. Whether the last suggestion is the will of the 

 association, or not, still we urge upon every sheriff in 

 the State the supreme necessity by himself and 

 through his friends, of securing the earnest support 

 of his representative in effecting these needed reforms, 

 and it is believed that, if we can bring our representa- 

 tives to fully understand the difficulties in the way of 

 a prompt and efficient administration of our criminal 

 laws, they can but be with us in this attempt to pro- 

 tect the fair name and fame of our beloved State. 



The State election of November 2d resulted 

 in favor of the Democratic party, whose nom- 

 inees were generally elected. The aggregate 

 number of votes polled in the State for Gov- 

 ernor was 264,343, of which the Democratic 

 candidate received 166,102 ; the Republican, 

 64,382; the Greenback, 33,721 ; the remaining 

 139 votes were reckoned scattering. In 1878 

 the distribution of the votes for Governor 

 among the competing parties was Democratic 

 candidate, 158,933; Republican, 23,402; Green- 

 back, 55,002. 



In regard to the election of members of the 

 Legislature, the political complexion of that 

 body is as follows : In the Senate twenty-nine 

 Democrats, two Republicans ; in the House of 

 Representatives sixty-nine Democrats, six In- 

 dependent Democrats, seven Republicans, three 

 Greenbackers. The Democrats claimed for 

 their party, as the result of the election, a 

 gain of one Senator and four Representatives. 

 Among the members returned for either House, 

 the number of persons engaged in the law pro- 

 fession is twenty -three of the thirty-one Sena- 

 tors and thirty-seven of the eighty-five Repre- 

 sentatives. 



The members-elect of the Seventeenth Legis- 

 lature of the State assembled at Austin on 

 Jajmary 11, 1881, when both Houses were or- 

 ganized by the election of their respective offi- 

 cers. 



The State census, taken in 1880, shows the 

 population of Texas to be above one million 

 and a half, or nearly twice as numerous as it 

 was in 1870. 



The State tax paid by the people on their 

 property of all kinds is assessed at the rate of 

 fifty cents for every hundred dollars ; the ag- 



14,471,193 



122,870 



83,141 



121,300 



4,742,404 



475,939 

 18.561,569 

 19.866,679 



159,074 

 3,384,515 



gregate sum annually received into the public 

 Treasury from this source being somewhat 

 more than $1,500,000, as the entire value of 

 taxable property in the State amounts to $300,- 

 525,427. The summary table of totals hereto 

 subjoined represents the various kinds of such 

 property, as classified and valued in the tax- 

 rolls for 1879 : 



Land, 83,1 66,029 acres, valued at $139 694,101 



Town lots 



Railroads, 1 ,769 miles ...... 



Telegraph lines, 2,003 miles 



Land certificates 



Steamboats, sailing-vessels, etc 



Carriages, wagons, etc., 134,452 



Manufacturers 1 tools, etc 



Materials and manufactured articles 



Horses and mules, 966,760 head.. . 



Cattle, 3,552,193 head . .." 



Jacks and jennets, 4,982 head 



Sheep, 2,546,582 head. . . 



Goats, 255,759 head '.'.... 



Hogs, 1,596,686 head 2,028^168 



Goods, wares, and merchandise 14,921,408 



Miscellaneous 24,844,108 



Total (on which the State ad valorem tax of 

 50 cents on the $100 is $1,502,668.67). . . . $300,525,40T 



The poll-tax assessed for the same year on 

 260,294 polls, two dollars per caput, adds $520,- 

 588 to the amount of the aforesaid tax on 

 property; the public revenue from these two 

 sources for 1879 being $2,023,256.67. 



The annual expenditures of the State gov- 

 ernment for all purposes, ordinary and ex- 

 traordinary, are less than the receipts from the 

 said two taxes by above a hundred thousand 

 dollars, as appears from the following statement 

 of such expenditures embodied by the State 

 Comptroller in his report for the two fiscal 

 years ended March 1, 1879, and March 1, 1880 : 



EXPENDITURES. 



Actual current expenses $1,411,709 80 



Expenses for permanent pub-j 



lie improvements, build-' 



ings, etc [ 



Extraordinary and occasional 



expenses. 



59,998 29 



90,698 91 



Expense on account of public 

 debt I 368,346 70 



Total expenees of govern-' 

 ment for all purposes! 

 from taxation '' $1,980,753 70 



$1,111,255 00 



95,888 27 

 142,548 09 

 567,342 06 



$1,916,989 42 



The charitable institutions in Texas are well 

 provided for by the State. The appropriations 

 for the maintenance of the Lunatic Asylum, 

 the Deaf-Mutes, and the Blind, during the last 

 two years, were $77,433.89, $34,607.13, $34,- 

 592.87 respectively ; the sum expended on each 

 of these institutions in the second year was by 

 several thousands greater than in the first. 



For the public schools, the State's expendi- 

 ture during the same period of time was $1,- 

 020,092.49 ; of which total $640,000 were paid 

 in the first year, $380,092.49 in the second. 

 For payments made on account of schools the 

 year is reckoned from August 31st. The total 

 amount expended on them for all purposes 

 within that period was $1,632,485. The total 

 school expense for 1880 was $717,485; for the 

 previous year, $915,000. 



