TEXAS. ' 



717 



I.ro\i.K ], not subject to the claim of actual 

 occupants hut such location iun-,1 !>.- iiimlo 

 prior to tlie 1st of January, 1875, or such eer- 

 to or claim will bo forever barred. 



13y " an act to establish a system of public 

 free schools for the State of Texas," it is pro- 

 \ -Mi-'l that there shall bo a Superintendent of 

 I'ul)lic Instruction, to be appointed by the Gov- 

 ernor, with the advice and consent of the Sen- 

 ate, to hold office till the first general election, 

 :ni<l thereafter to be elected by the people for 

 a term of four year-*. The superintendent has 

 general supervision of educational matters and 

 general control over school officers, and is re- 

 quired to recommend to the Legislature such 

 legislation in his department as he may deem 

 expedient and useful. The county courts are 

 made ex offtcio boards of school directors for 

 their respective counties, with power to ap- 

 point a suitable number of school trustees in 

 the county, and are required to " levy and have 

 collected, when necessary, an ad-valorem tax 

 on the taxable property of the county, not ex- 

 c e'ling one per cent., for the purpose of build- 

 ing school-houses, under their supervision." 

 They shall also require " all parents and guar- 

 dians, in their respective counties, to send 

 their children and wards to some public school, 

 unless taught by private teachers, or in some 

 other school or seminary of learning, at least 

 four months in each year, under the penalty of 

 forfeiting interest in the school fund for the 

 time being." The board of school directors is 

 made subject to the rules, direction, and su- 

 supervision of the Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction. All school funds, derivable from 

 whatever source, are to be exclusively appro- 

 priated to the payment of teachers, and the 

 salary of the superintendent and clerk. All 

 moneys now standing to the credit of the 

 school fund in the State Treasury, and all 

 lands heretofore conveyed and set apart for 

 establishing primary schools or academies in 

 the several counties of the State, and all sums 

 of money that may hereafter come to the 

 State from fines and forfeitures set apart by 

 law for school purposes, or from the sale of 

 any portion of the public domain of the State, 

 constitute the permanent school fund of the 

 State ; and this fund is directed to be consoli- 

 dated and converted into United States funds. 

 The fourth of the annual revenue derivable 

 from taxation and the annual poll-tax of one 

 dollar, and the interest accruing on the perma- 

 nent fund, constitute the available school fund 

 which is applicable exclusively to the payment 

 of the expenses of the educational bureau. 



At this session a law was passed exempting 

 from execution for debt a homestead of not 

 more than two hundred acres of land in the 

 country, and in a city or village, a lot or lots 

 not exceeding $5,000 in value, exclusive of the 

 value' of improvements ; also a law providing 

 for the registration of voters. By the law reg- 

 ulating the holding of elections it is provided 

 that general elections shall be held on the first 



Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 

 1872, and every second year thereafter. Such 

 flections are to be held at the county-seats of 

 the several counties, and the polls are to to 

 open four days from 8 o'clock A. x. to 5 p. M., 

 of each day, with an hour's recess at noon. A 

 State police was established, composed of 1 

 chief of police, 4 captains, 8 lieutenants, 20 ser- 

 geants, and 225 privates. The Adjutant 

 era! of the State, when there is one, acts as 

 chief of police. All sheriffs and their deputies, 

 constables, marshals of cities and towns, and 

 their deputies, and the police of cities and 

 towns, are considered a part of the State 

 police, and, under the direction of the GoYern- 

 or, or chief of State police, may at any time be 

 called upon to act in concert with this force 

 in preventing or suppressing crime, or in bring- 

 ing offenders to justice. The chief of State 

 police and his subordinates are subject to all 

 orders of the Governor in relation to the pres- 

 ervation of the public peace, or the execution 

 of the laws throughout the State. 



Railroad enterprise has been active in Texas, 

 and the Legislature was besieged by per- 

 sons seeking land-grants and State aid. Few 

 of the bills that were introduced in aid of 

 these projects became laws. One of the most 

 important was the proposed charter of the 

 International Eailroad. This line, also known 

 as the Barnes road, connects with the Cairo 

 and Fulton Railroad at or near Fulton, Arkan- 

 sas, and is intended to pass through Texas in a 

 southwesterly direction, via Jefferson, Tyler, 

 Austin, and San Antonio, thence to the Rio 

 Grande at or near Laredo. In aid of this enter- 

 prise $5,000,000 in thirty-years bonds, to be 

 secured by mortgage of the road, was asked of 

 the State, and it was intended to have the road 

 finished in five years. Aid was also asked for 

 the United States and Mexico Railroad, pro- 

 jected from a point on the west bank of the 

 Mississippi River, at the junction of the Ohio 

 opposite Cairo, to pass through Missouri Imd 

 Arkansas to some point on the Arkansas River 

 near Fort Smith ; thence through the Indian 

 Territory to the junction of the Big Wichita 

 and Red Rivers ; thence through the State of 

 Texas to the boundary of the United States 

 and Mexico at Presidio del Norte on the Rio 

 Grande, with a branch, at some point east of 

 the 98th degree of longitude, to Lawrence, 

 Kansas ; thence on the Mexican side along the 

 Conchos River to the city of Salvazar ; thence 

 to Altata on the Gulf of California, with a 

 branch from Salvazar to the city of Mexico. 



The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado 

 will bo rapidly extended to San Antonio. The 

 Houston and Texas Central is in process of 

 construction northward to its ultimate ter- 

 minus on Red River, with a view of forming 

 connections with the roads coming down from 

 Kansas. The Washington County road, now 

 owned by the Texas Central, is in process of 

 construction to Austin, the capital of the State. 

 The San Antonio and Mexican Gulf road com- 



