736 



TEXAS. 



voting-places ; and forbidding the carrying of 

 fire-arms or deadly weapons of any descrip- 

 tion. All officers of election, peace officers, 

 State Guard, and militia on duty, were ordered 

 to vigorously enforce these regulations, and to 

 disperse all gatherings, combinations, or assem- 

 blies, presuming that they are for the purpose 

 of intimidating voters, provided it does not 

 clearly appear that they are of persons peace- 

 ably and quietly waiting for their turn to re- 

 gister, or to vote. Previous to the election, the 

 Governor assumed command of all peace-offi- 

 cers, including sheriffs and their deputies, city 

 and town police, and marshals and their depu- 

 ties, and the adjutant-general in command of 

 the military organizations was directed to co- 

 operate with him. 



The election took place in October, begin- 

 ning on the 3d. The polls were open four 

 days, from 8 A. M. to 5 p. M., with an hour's 

 recess at noon each day. A full Democratic 

 delegation was elected, according to the first 

 returns. These showed that, in the first dis- 

 trict, "Whitmore, Republican, had 11,572 votes, 

 and Herndon, Democrat, 16,172 : Herndon over 

 Whitmore, 4,600. In the second district, Bry- 

 ant, Republican, had 5,948, and Connor, Dem- 

 ocrat, 18,285; Connor over Bryant, 12,337. In 

 the third district, Clark, Republican, 20,406 ; 

 Giddings, Democrat, 23,374, and Stevenson, 

 independent Republican, 409 ; Giddings over 

 Clark, 2,968; and in the fourth district, De- 

 gener, Republican, 12,636, and Hancock, Dem- 

 ocrat, 17,010 : Hancock over Degener, 4,374. 

 But in each district votes of one or more coun- 

 ties were rejected by the State canvassers, and 

 by the official declaration the result changed. 

 In the first district, the vote of Rusk County 

 was rejected on account of alleged fraud and 

 intimidation, and the officially declared result 

 was, for Whitraore, Republican, 10,209 votes, 

 and for Herndon, Democrat, 14,521. In the 

 second district, the returns from Bowie, Mari- 

 on, and Red River Counties were rejected, and 

 the State canvassers declared the result to be, 

 for Bryant, Republican, 4,002, and Connor, 

 Democrat, 15,900. In the third, the votes of 

 the counties of Basque, Brazos, Freestone, and 

 Limestone, and 2,322 of the votes cast for Gid- 

 dings, Democrat, in Washington County, on ac- 

 count of alleged irregularity and fraud, were 

 rejected, and the result was officially declared 

 to be : for Clark, Republican, 18,407, and Gid- 

 dings, 17,082, thus electing Clark by 1,325. 

 Mr. Giddings contested the seat. In the fourth 

 district, the canvassers rejected the returns 

 from Bee, Brown, Concho, Fayette, and Starr 

 Counties, making the result for Degener, Re- 

 publican, 11,153 ; and for Hancock, Democrat, 

 15,022. The total vote of the State for Con- 

 gress, including the rejected returns, and the 

 vote for Stevenson in the third district, was 

 125,812, showing a Democratic majority of 

 24,279. Total vote for Congress in 1869, 70,- 

 293 ; Republican majority, 7,117. Total vote 

 for Governor in 1869, including 445 for Ham- 



ilton Stewart, Democrat, 79,338; Davis, Re- 

 publican, over Hamilton, 783 ; over all, 338. 

 Notwithstanding the appeals of the leaders of 

 both parties, the election was not peacefully 

 conducted in all sections. In a circular, signed 

 by the Secretary of State, Adjutant-General, 

 and Superintendent of Public Schools, it was 

 declared that in not more than twenty-five 

 counties was there a free and fair expression 

 of the people ; and that, in some counties, 

 Limestone and Freestone particularly, armed 

 men, in organized bands of hundreds, took 

 possession of the polls, and drove away oppo- 

 sition voters, and committed open acts of vio- 

 lence and insurrection ; and that not only were 

 voters intimidated, but candidates and canvass- 

 ers were mobbed, and with difficulty escaped 

 violence. 



More than a dozen railroads were in pro- 

 cess of construction during the year. The 

 most important of these is the Texas Pacific 

 Railroad, incorporated by an act of Congress, 

 March 3, 1871. It is to run from Marshall, in 

 Harrison County, through Smith, Van Zandt, 

 Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Hood, Erath, East- 

 land, Callahan, and Taylor Counties, to El 

 Paso, through New Mexico and Arizona, to a 

 point on the Rio Colorado, at or near the south- 

 eastern boundary of California, and thence by 

 the most direct route to ships' channel in the 

 bay of San Diego, California, passing as near 

 as possible to the thirty-second parallel of north 

 latitude. The road will be about sixteen hun- 

 dred miles in length, connecting San Diego 

 with the Atlantic coast by a route seven hun- 

 dred miles shorter than any existing line. It 

 has a subsidy of land of forty sections to the 

 mile through the Territories, and of twenty 

 sections to the mile through the States, besides 

 the grant from the State of Texas. The list 

 of corporators includes the names of John C. 

 Fremont, James L. Alcorn, O. C. French, 

 Marshal O. Roberts, W. Vermilye, Enoch L. 

 Fancher, Charles F. Livermore, Daniel Drew, 

 W. Orton. Samuel Sloan, S. W. Morton, P. S. 

 Forbes, L. R. Marsh, and one hundred and six- 

 teen others almost equally well known. Next 

 in importance to the State is the Houston & 

 Texas Central Railroad, to run from Houston 

 to Preston, on Red River, and to the northern 

 boundary of the State, where it will connect 

 with the great railroads from Missouri and 

 Kansas, bringing a fruitful portion of Texas 

 into direct communication with the Northwest, 

 and with California by the Union Pacific Rail- 

 road. The route is through a good prairie 

 country to Hempstead, fifty miles from Hous- 

 ton; along the rich Brazos Bottom, a distance 

 of one hundred miles ; and northward, pene- 

 trating the heart of the wheat-region of tho 

 State. At Hearne, in Robertson County, it 

 will intersect the great international railroad, 

 which is now nearly completed in an easterly 

 and westerly direction from that point. Tho 

 length of the road will be four hundred miles. 

 It is expected to be completed in July, 1872. 



