TEXAS. 



729 



all vote for Bryan, each votiii.tr as he pleased for 

 ill. but they refused to permit Tay- 

 lor t<> meet Minis in joint debate. In some di-' 

 Republicans and Populists united on Candida'' 



the Legislature. 



About loo d aended the Prohibition 



ntion in Xa-hville. April 29. The resolutions 

 declared against the litjiior power, for national or- 

 ganization of Prohibitionists, for woman sut' 

 more money for schools, a graduated income tax. 

 local option for cities, and a State constitutional 

 convention. Josephus Hopwood was nominated for 

 Governor. 



At the August election the Democratic candidates 

 for judges of the Court of Appeals were elected. 

 The highest Democratic vote was 141,328 ; the high- 

 est Republican vote. 115.056. 



At the November election the vote for President 

 : Bryan. 166,268, of which about 4.525 were 

 for Watson electors; McKinley. 148.773; Palmer, 

 1,951 ; Levering. 3.098. For Governor it was : Tay- 

 lor, Democrat, 156,288; Tillman, Republican. 149.- 

 374: Minis. Populist, 11,976: Hopwood, Prohibi- 

 tionist. 2.831. The vote was the largest ever polled 

 in this State by 19,000. 



Of the 10 Representatives in Congress elected, 2 

 are Republicans and 8 Democrats. 



The Legislature will stand on joint ballot : 88 

 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and 4 Populi- 



The Republicans denied that Mr. Taylor had been 

 fairly elected, claiming that Mr. Tillman was elect- 

 ed by more than 5,000 majority, and that he had 

 been'counted out by extensive frauds. Soon after 

 the assembling of the Legislature in January Mr. 

 Tillman filed a notrce of contest. Thereupon a bill 

 to require a contestant for the office of Governor to 

 give a bond of $25,000 for the costs of the con- 

 test was passed. 



Mr. Tillman. in an address to the public, spoke 

 of the bond bill passed after his notice of contest 

 was filed. The bond is conditioned upon the faith- 

 ful, bona fide, and successful prosecution of the 

 contest. The $25.000 is to be paid as a penalty 

 should the joint assembly determine the contest un- 

 warranted, or not in go'od faith, or malicious, or 

 made for political effect, or without reasonable 

 cause. Mr. Tillman said he had determined not 

 to assume so large a liability as a bond for the 

 amount named, enforceable at the will of the joint 

 ;bly of the Legislature; that the heavy ex- 

 penses and the labor involved in such a contest, 

 " and the probability, in the case of a Republican 

 contestant in this State, of a decision adverse to 

 him, would seem to be sufficient discouragement to 

 a man of even more than ordinary public spirit and 

 of moderate fortune, and when the Legislature in 

 addition threatens him with a penalty of $25.000 

 for presuming to make the contest, the discourage- 

 ment reaches a point amounting almost to a pro- 

 hibition." 



TEXAS, a Southern State, admitted to the 

 Union Dec. 29, 1845: area. 2''i5.7 s n square miles. 

 The population, according to each decennial census 

 since admission, was 212.592 in 1850; 604.215 in 

 1860; 818,759 in 1870: 1.591.749 in 1880; and 

 2.2:15.523 in 1890. Capital. Austin. 



Government. The State officers in 1896 were : 

 Governor, Charles A. Culberson : Lieutenant Gov- 

 ernor, George T. Jester: Secretary of State, Allison 

 Mayfield : Treasurer, W. B. Wortham : Comptroller, 

 li. \V. Finley : Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion, James M. Carlisle : Commissioner of the Land 

 Office. A. J. Baker : Commissioner of Agriculture. 

 Insurance. Statistics, and History, A. J. 1; 

 Attorney-General. Martin M. Crane : Adjutant 

 General. W. II. Mabry : Chief Justice of the 

 Supreme Court, Reuben R. Gaines; Associate Jus- 



H'-nman and Thou,;,- .'. T 

 All the State olV 



Finance*. .mptroller's report i 



ending An-. 81, ] iv ing 



summary: On Aug. 31. 



to the credit of the general account amount!] 



31. is-.i.-,. $2,086,578.20; total, $2,125,022.05; 



bursed during the sai 



fersadju-' ; . a , H i 



Aug. 81, 1895, 128,01 i ,}. 



fiscal year Sept. 1.1- 



in the treasury to the credit of general : 



$28,072.71: receipts of general reveiiu.- durin. 



ending Aug. 31. is'.iti. S3.023.72.V.- 

 *3."~ disbursements during the same pe- 



riod. $2. ^4.71 10.03 : transfers adjusting a-.>unts. 

 15.14; total credit. $2,942,045.17; balance to 

 the credit of general revenue Aug. 31, !>: 

 753.52: warrants drawn against this account . _ 

 gating $69.637.94 had not at that time beei. 

 sented for payment. 



The receipts and disbursements of available 

 school fund for the year ending Aug. 31. 1896. were 

 as follow: Balance on hand Aug. 31. ls)5. $133.- 

 479.38: receipts during the year, $2.843.4: 

 total, 2.976.913.24: disburse! - j.-'.i : 



transfers and amount refunded. $1.870; balance 

 31. 1896. *73.nfi0.3.-,. On Sept. 1. 1895. the?-. 

 unpaid $547.090.52 of the school fund apportioned 

 for the scholastic year of 1894-'95. The Board of 

 Education apportioned $2.519.271.50 for the scho- 

 lastic year of 1895-'96. The receipts and disburse- 

 ments of the permanent school fund during the 

 year, and the amount of securities held by the State 

 in trust for that fund were : Cash on hand Aug. 31, 

 1>!'5. $173.938.05: received during the year ending 

 Aug. 31. 1896, $759.207.40; total. $933.145.45: dis- 

 bursements, $555.399.48: transferred to available 

 school fund, $160.902.42: balance Aug. 31. 

 s21fi.N43.55; bonds on hand Aug. 31. 1*95. $7.579,- 

 144.52: bonds purchased, $526.164; total. $8.105,- 

 52; bonds redeemed, $529,023; balance Aug. 

 81, 1896, s7.57fi.235.52. 



The amount of occupation taxes collected in the 

 counties for the two years ending April 30 was 

 $1,631.686.94. while the amounts payable to the 

 Comptroller by law were : Collected from nonresi- 

 dents in organized counties. $110,652.95 : from 

 nonresidents in unorganized counties, $59,268.18; 

 railroad, stasecoach. steamboat, passenger tax. etc., 

 $56.257.63: total. $226.176.76. Th> alue 



of all property in the State for 1896 is $850.309,- 

 2-H). round $860,910,567 for 1895. The cost of 

 State educational, charitable, and penal institutions 

 for 1893 and 1894 wa- $1.403.472.12: for 1895 and 

 1896 it was $1.399.441.79. The average number in 

 all these institutions in the former period was 

 7.712: in the latter. 8,8 



The total value of State property, including the 

 Capitol and educational and charitable institutions, 

 is $10.917.879. 



The total bonded debt of the counties, as nearly 

 as can be obtained from reports and records on file 

 Aug. 31. 1896. was $10^45.206. 



Education. During the biennium the scho- 

 lastic population increased from 693.752 in 1894 to 

 751.335 in 1*96. yet the schools were conducted 

 for four and a half months on an apportionment 

 of $3.50 per capita, the same as the preceding year, 

 and an apportionment of $4 per capita has been 

 declared for 1897. Under an act of the Legislature 

 of 1856 part of the school fund was loaned, prior 

 to the war. to the Houston and Texas Central Rail- 

 way Company and the Galveston, Harrisburg and 

 San Antonio Railway Company. For many years 

 a controversy has existed between these companies 



