676 



TEXAS. 



publicans, Governor Pease sent his resignation 

 to the military commander. 



Among other removals, two seem worthy 

 of special mention. In the latter part of Oc- 

 tober, 1869, William E. Fayle, Judge of the 

 Criminal Court of Harris and Galveston Coun- 

 ties, was removed by order No. 249 of the 

 military commander, on the ground that the 

 judge had ordered the sheriff to summon a 

 white jury for the trial of a particular case 

 some time standing, in which the criminal was 

 "accused of two of the gravest offences 

 known to the law," but who appears to have 

 had the power greatly to influence the result 

 of the approaching election in favor of E. J. 

 Davis. The fact that the order removing the 

 judge was issued on the eve of the trial, and 

 based on the mere personal representation of 

 the criminal himself, asking not to be tried 

 before Judge Fayle, with other rather strange 

 circumstances concurring in this affair, are set 

 down in detail by the judge in his letter to 

 General Keynolds on the subject, dated Octo- 

 ber 26, where he cites, for the truth of his 

 statements, the authentic records of the court, 

 and other facts, concluding thus : "But, gen- 

 eral, will not the peculiar circumstances under 

 which that order was issued * * * fasten 

 the conviction in the minds of all unprejudiced 

 and thinking men that the real ground of inter- 

 ference in this certain case, by you, is not that 

 there was any actual or intentional violation 

 of the law on my part, but that there was an 

 essential necessity to secure the acquittal of 

 the mouth-piece of E. J. Davis's faction, lest 

 his fair and rightful conviction should prove 

 destructive to their prospects in the coming 

 election, and very largely tend to undeceive 

 the authorities at Washington as to the true 

 condition of affairs in this State of Texas ? " 

 Even more remarkable, perhaps, than the re- 

 moval just referred to, is that relating to Judge 

 D. J. Baldwin, suspended from the office of 

 District Attorney of the Federal Court, be- 

 cause he was a supporter of A. J. Hamilton. 

 This elicited loud cries of indignation even 

 from the judge's political adversaries, it being 

 well known that he condemned secession 

 from the beginning, and maintained his invio- 

 late attachment to the Federal Union by word 

 and deed ever afterward. On this account, he 

 was arrested by General Magruder's orders, and 

 confined, with others, in the jail at Anderson 

 for many months, in continual apprehension 

 of losing his life at the hands of the Confed- 

 erate mob, who attempted to storm the place 

 for that purpose, but were hindered from 

 accomplishing it only by the firmness and 

 courage of the men who guarded the place. 

 To prevent the repetition of similar attempts, 

 and, perhaps, to employ in other service the 

 many men posted to guard the jail, General 

 Magruder finally sent Mr. Baldwin and the 

 other prisoners out of the Confederacy. 



To provide for the manner of holding and 

 conducting the general election at which the 



new constitution should be submitted to the 

 people for ratification or rejection, when State 

 and county officers, members of Congress and 

 State Legislature, should also be elected, the 

 military commander issued two months in 

 advance the following order : 



General Orders, No. 174. 



HEADQUABTEBS FIFTH MILITAET DISTBICT, ) 

 STATE OF TEXAS, } 



AUSTIN, TEXAS, October 1, 1869. } 

 In compliance with the proclamation of the Presi- 

 dent of the United States, of the 15th day of July, 

 1869, and the reconstruction laws of Congress, it is 

 ordered : 



1. That an election be held at the county seat of 

 each organized county in the State of Texas, com- 

 mencing on Tuesday, the 30th day of November, 1869, 

 and to continue during the first, second, and third 

 days of December, 1869 ; at which election all regis- 

 tered voters may vote by "ballot " For the Constitu- 

 tion," or " Against the Constitution." 



An election will be held at the same time and place, 

 for 



Four members of House of Eepresentatives of Uni- 

 ted States Congress ; 



Also, for the following " elective officers, provided 

 for by the said constitution," viz. : 



Governor. 



Lieutenant-Governor. 



Comptroller of Public Accounts. 



Treasurer of the State. 



Commissioner of the General Land-Office. 



Thirty Senators. 



Ninety Eepresentatives. 



And for each county, one Clerk of the District 

 Court, one Sheriff, and five Justices of the Peace. 



Each registered voter, besides his vote on the con- 

 stitution, may vote for Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, Comptroller, Treasurer, Land-Office Commis- 

 sioner, one member of the United States Congress, 

 one State Senator and the number of Eepresentatives 

 apportioned to the district in which he resides, one 

 Clerk of the District Court, and one Sheriff for his 

 county, and one Justice of the Peace for the precinct 

 in which he resides. 



Where the Police Court of any county has not 

 already divided the county into Justices' precincts, 

 in accordance with General Orders, No. 27, from this 

 headquarters, it will be done immediately. The 

 Clerk of each County Court will furnish to the Board 

 of Eegistrars, on or before the day of election, the 

 boundaries of the Justices' precincts for the county. 



There can be no election of District Attorneys until 

 the Legislature shall have districted the State in com- 

 pliance with the new constitution. 



Eesidents of unorganized counties may register and 

 vote in the counties by whose Boards they were regis- 

 tered in 1867. 



2. Commencing fourteen days before the day of 

 election, viz. : on Tuesday, the 16th day of November, 

 the Board of Eegistrars will, for a period often days, 

 not including Sunday, revise, at the county seat of 

 each county, the registration list of the county, being 

 governed by the reconstruction laws of CongresSj as 

 published in General Orders, No. 92, current series, 

 from this Headquarters. 



8. It shall be the duty of the Board during the 

 revision of registration, upon the application* of any 

 duly-registered .voter who has removed, or is about 

 to remove, from the county in which he was originally 

 registered, to furnish him with a certificate that he 

 was so registered, and to note the fact and erase the 

 applicant's name from the original list, forwarding a 

 duplicate of the certificate to the Board for the county 

 in which the applicant will vote ; and, upon the pre- 

 sentation of said certificate at the place of registration 

 of the county in which his new residence is situated, 

 the Board of Eegistration for that county will enter 



