732 



TEXAS. 



tax income of the State, issued to meet the 

 deficiency caused by short collection of taxes 

 owing to the change of government and the 

 defective system of assessing and collecting 

 taxes. The taxable property of the State is 

 estimated at $250,000,000. The following is a 

 summary of the tax income based on an esti- 

 mate that $200,000,000 is the amount of prop- 

 erty that will pay taxes : 



Direct State tax of 50 cents on $100, of which % 



is apportioned among the public schools $1,000,000 



Poll-tax 150!000 



Frontier defence tax 50,000 



District school-tax, if entire levy is collected 2,000,000 



County taxes 400,000 



Occupation taxes 150,000 



Making a total of $3,750,000 



The rate of taxation was $2.25 per $100, ac- 

 cording to a statement of the State Comptrol- 

 ler, against 15 cents per $100 in 1867, and 

 12^ cents per $100 in 1860. 



Lawlessness and " outrages against the peace 

 and dignity of the State," by combinations 

 of men too strong to be controlled by the local 

 authorities, being reported from Walker County 

 at the beginning of the year, and later from 

 Limestone and Freestone Counties, the Govern- 

 or issued proclamations, one in January and 

 another in October, declaring martial law in 

 those districts, and ordered sections of the 

 militia of the State to them. The Legislature 

 denounced his course in the case of the last 

 two counties, and on November 6th adopted 

 the following resolutions by a vote of 44 to 33 : 



Whereas, His Excellency E. J. Davis, Governor of 

 the State of Texas, did, on the 9th day of October, 

 1871 .declare martial law in the counties of Limestone 

 and Freestone, and did suspend the privilege of the 

 writ of habeas corpus in and to said counties ; and 



Whereas, An armed force has been quartered upon 

 the people of said counties for several weeks past at 

 a heavy expense to said counties, and the limitation 



Whereas, The Governor did, in his said proclama- 

 tion of martial law, direct a penalty of $50,000 to "be 

 levied and collected from the citizens of Limestone 

 County; and 



Whereas, In pursuance thereof an assessment of 

 three per cent, upc^n all taxable property of said 

 county has been levied and is being collected, to the 

 great detriment and ruin of said county ; and 



Whereas, The Legislature of the State was in ses- 

 sion at the date of said proclamation, and was in no- 

 wise consulted with reference to the said declaration 

 of martial law, as we believe it should have been 

 done, to make said proclamation legal : therefore 



Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the 

 Senate concurring, That the action ot his Excellency, 

 E. J. Davis, in declaring martial law in the manner 

 aforesaid, in the counties of Freestone and Lime- 

 stone, be and the same is hereby disapproved, as 

 being unnecessary to the ends of public justice, and 

 uncalled for, as the courts of the counties were in 

 the unobstructed exercise of their proper jurisdiction, 

 and illegal, as the Legislature was then in session. 



Resolved further, That the Governor be, and he is 

 hereby, requested and instructed to restore civil au- 

 thority in said counties, and to withdraw all armed 

 forces therefrom, and to disband the same. 



Previous to this action the Governor sent a 

 message to the Legislature in response to a 

 request for the evidence in his possession by 

 which he proclaimed martial law in these 



counties, transmitting a number of affidavits 

 of citizens of those sections, and making the 

 following statement : 



In addition to these communications, I have re- 

 ceived considerable verbal information from persons 

 who have come from the disturbed district ; some 

 of them haying come here especially to inform me of 

 the condition of affairs, and others being persons 

 who have recently had occasion to travel through 

 those counties. This information relates to the num- 

 ber of the insurrectionists as claimed by some of 

 themselves, the stopping of the United States mail- 

 coaches, and the inquisitorial proceedings against 

 passengers thereon, the cutting of the telegraph- 

 wires, the coercion exercised over the officers of tho 

 county, and the flight from that district of large 

 numbers of the citizens. 



On the 16th of November the Governor re- 

 voked this proclamation, declaring that the 

 purposes for which it was issued had been 

 mainly attained, and the writ of habeas corpus 

 was restored in these counties. 



A "Tax-payers' Convention" was held in 

 Austin, in September. Ninety-five counties 

 were represented. A committee of twenty- 

 one was appointed to investigate the affairs of 

 the State. Their report charged Governor 

 Davis with " violation of the constitution in 

 enforcing the police, militia, enabling, and 

 other oppressive laws, passed while a large 

 majority of the Senate were under arrest;" 

 with " a subversion of the law in declaring 

 martial law in two counties of the State, and 

 holding the threat of such law over another ; " 

 " that, in order to intimidate the grand-jury, 

 he is now endeavoring to force through the 

 Legislature a reapportionment bill which en- 

 deavors to hold the State of Texas in the hands 

 of a minority ; " and " that his power is daily 

 becoming more absolute, and he is a very des- 

 pot, while we have a republican government 

 only in name." Resolutions were adopted, 

 appealing to the Legislature to redress the 

 grievances under which the people labor ; de- 

 claring the school-tax of one per cent, illegal, 

 the general tax law imposing but one-eighth 

 of one per cent. ; directing that, in the event 

 that no relief is obtained from the Legislature, 

 and an early day fixed for a State election, 

 Congress be memorialized to protect the peo- 

 ple of Texas in the rights guaranteed by the 

 constitution of the State and nation ; depre- 

 cating all violations of the law ; recognizing 

 the rights of all citizens, of whatever race or 

 previous condition, to equal civil and political 

 rights under the law ; favoring the payment 

 of all lawful and reasonable taxes for the main- 

 tenance of the government and free schools, 

 but counselling non-payment of the one per 

 cent, school-tax now demanded which they 

 have declared illegal ; and solemnly appealing 

 to the civilized world, especially to that por- 

 tion believing in a republican form of govern- 

 ment, for support and aid in this protest. 



The convention included ex-Governors Ham- 

 ilton, Pease, and Throckmorton. Governor 

 Davis refused to recognize the body as a con 

 vention of the people. 



