738 



TEXAS. 



that taxation should be imposed at equal ami uni- 

 form rate* upon property ; very little if any to be 

 put upon occupations ; while we desire to have our 

 State government administered with real economy, 

 avoiding, alike, parsimony and extravagant . 

 wiah our public debt paid according to its terms ; we 

 ore opposed to the creation of any new public debt*, 

 and we are inflexibly opposed to repudiation in any 

 form. 



7. The speedy development of the varied resources 

 of our State we regard with favor, and to thin end 

 do pledge ourselves to extend every reasonable facil- 

 ity and aid toward the establishment of an equalized 

 and judicious railway system for the State ; that the 

 success of the railway* building in Texan materially 

 depends upon carrying out in pcri'ect good faitii 

 our obligations heretofore made, whereby capitalists 

 have been and may bo induced to come into our 

 midst. 



8. We declare ourselves opposed to the enactment 

 of any public laws that may operate unequally upon 

 citizens on account of their race, nativity, or belief. 

 and that we are in favor of the largest amount of 

 personal liberty consistent with the security of our 

 people in the enjoyment of life and property. 



9. We respectfully ask the national Government 

 to dismount, disarm, and put upon securely guarded 

 reservations the savage tribes that continually ravage 

 our large frontier. 



_ 10. Again we ask pur General Government to re- 

 lieve such of our citizens as are under political dis- 

 abilities, and to improve the harbors upon our coasts 

 as the national interests require doinu so. We trust 

 the present Congress of the United States will not 

 permit itself to be prejudiced against our people so 

 as to treat tlicm with injustice or illibcrality because 

 the members from Texas in the last Congress dis- 

 honestly voted themselves and took back pay which 

 they should be mode to disgorge. 



11. We are in favor of short sessions of the Legis- 

 lature. We desire to have pur Public Printing Law 

 repealed, and the public printing let on contract to 

 the lowest bidder, who can do it as required. 



U. We express our . <rol>ation of the 



bad acts and worse omissions of the Thirteenth Le- 

 gislature ; wo condemn its useless expenditures of 

 money, chiefly upon itself, its indiscrimin-ito 

 idering of the public domain, to a large 

 upon : ilative and worthless corporations, 



aud the unjust and discriminatin .' legislation in favor 

 of the rieh and up- 

 take time and space to < ':s misdeeds. We 

 cannot forbear to denounce its unscrupulous effort* 

 to make homesteads su' under execution ; 

 at the same time we congratulate ourselves and the 

 people of the State that its oppressive Land I >r,l 

 and Tenant Bill was effectually vetoed by the Gov- 

 ernor. 



1. We trust that from this time forward the peo- 

 ple will take step* to relieve themselves from the 

 risk of vicious legislation by electing Senators and 

 Bepresentatives, as well as 'other State officers, on 

 account of their qualifications and character. 



14. We heartily commend to the consideration of 

 the people the resolution adopted )>v ; 

 Convention, held at Austin, on the fth and 8th of 

 August, 1878. 



The Democratic Convention assembled in 

 Austin September Cth, and continm-il in 



two (lays, being one of the largest nnd 

 most enthoiUctio convention* of the i 



H M in the State. The followintr ticket 

 WM [ilnoc-il in nomination: For Governor, 

 JndRe Richard Coke; Uwtmant-Gownor, 



15. Hnlil.nr.1 ; Controller of I'nb- 

 lic AceonnU, Colonel Stephen II. Dar 



.iiioner of the C.-n. r ;.] I itnl-tMti.T. .1. .T. 

 Gross; Treasurer, A. J. Dorn ; Superintendent 



of Public Instruction, O. X. Hollin^sworth. 

 The platform adopted was as follov 



We, the Democracy of Texas, in convention as- 

 sembled, rclj.nj: "ii the virtue and im 

 the people, again declare our principles and 

 and ask for them the popular approval. And 



I. We declare our adhesion to the time-honored 

 principles of the Democratic party; our 



popular liberty regulated by h,u': 



tioim; i:t simple in machinery, aud 



administered with the si ^ > IU v. 



II. We congratulate i of Texas on the 



It Thirteenth Legislature of a num. 

 the oppressive, odious, and uneon-titi; 

 passed by the Twelfth 



the radical policy to overthrow the goveriuii. 

 the people, and among which acts v. 



1. The Militia Law, whereby the Governor was 

 authorized to suspend the writ of habiat corpus and 

 establish martini law, thereby dcpi 

 of all legal and constitutional protection, an.i 

 jecting their lives, liberty, and property 

 strained caprice and malignity of a pa'rtisan Execu- 

 tive. 



-'. The Police Bill, designed and intended, among 

 other ; 



by hired fiitormers, 111 .'.c; at war with 



the principles of civil liberty; odious t<> : 

 and heretofore tolerati-d only In thedespol 

 old World, and the execution of which act was for 

 the most part intrusted to a class of men of degraded 

 and infamous character. 



3. The Knablin^ Act, under which the Governor 

 was authorized to appoint distriet nti 



were made elective by the constitution ; to appoint 

 all municipal officers, and to all all vacancies that 

 might occur in t 1 t' clerks and sh 



thereby de.-i - <m him irrcat 



nnd patronage, to enable him to continue r 

 misrule over 



4. The registration and election laws, which were 

 framed and intended t'-r the purpose of prr\< 



freo and fair ;hey ..penh i the 



perpetuation of frauds to defeat the will , 

 people, and to perpetuate radical misrule. present- 

 Ing to our people the extraordinary and hunir'i 

 spectacle of surrounding the places of i 



'ing with an armed partisan police with which 

 to intimidate and overawe the citizens. 



6. The net relating to public fru Inch, 



among many other bad 



of enabling puhi; ,,,>oi- 



books, in the building and furniture for cho|- 

 houses, in the salaries of teachers, and fumi 



darics for a Ian."- and useless number of offl- 

 lii.'h L-ave the radical party the nn 

 "olitical missionaries who traveled tor radical 

 purposes and frauds, from one end of the Sta 

 the other. 



fi. And we further congratulate the people of Texas 

 that the Democratic members of the Thir". 



lire, so far ns it was possible tn accomplish 

 jert in presence ; the 



i the 



rep. :iled -obnoxious nieii- 



by just and wholesome laws, bearing alike on all, 

 and which if honestly nnd faithfully executed will 

 1 to the lasting good of the country and pros- 

 p>-ritv o*' tl|,- i.roplo. 



I V. The Democratic party, when it comes into the 

 possession of the ; 1 nd- 



r it in the interest and for ti if the 



whole people, and not of a party; an*!. 

 much wo may have been provoked to hostile and 

 retaliatory legislation, by the outrages committed on 

 us by the radical Lcgtsul 



it will be a part of our great mission to rist s>ip< rior 

 to our just r. and administer the L'"vcni- 



mcnt in such manner that every citizen, wh:<' 

 his politics, religion, nationality, or color, shall feel 



