792 



TEXAS. 



The Eleventh Quadrennial General Confer- 

 ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 

 will take place at Richmond, Va., in May, 

 1886. 



TEXAS. STATE OFFICERS. Governor, 0. M. 

 Eoberts ; Lieutenant-Governor, L. J. Storey ; 

 Secretary of State, T. H. Bowman ; Treasurer, 

 F. R. Lubbock ; Comptroller, W. M. Brown ; 

 Attorney-General, J. H. McLeary ; Commis- 

 sioner of the General Land-Office, W. C. 

 Walsh ; Commissioner of Insurance. Statistics, 

 etc., A. W. Spaight; Adjutant-General, W. H. 

 King. United States Senators, Richard Coke 

 and S. B. Maxey. Members of the Forty-sev- 

 enth Congress : First District, John H. Reagan ; 

 Second District, D. B. Culberson; Third Dis- 

 trict, Olin Wellborn; Fourth District, Roger 

 Q. Mills; Fifth District, G. W. Jones; Sixth 

 District, Columbus Upson. Members-elect of 

 Forty-eighth Congress : First District, Charles 

 Stewart; Second District, John H. Reagan; 

 Third District, James H. Jones ; Fourth Dis- 

 trict, D. B. Culberson ; Fifth District, John W. 

 Throckmorton ; Sixth District, Olin Wellborn ; 

 Seventh District, Thomas Ochiltree; Eighth 

 District, J. F. Miller ; Ninth District, Roger Q. 

 Mills ; Tenth District, John Hancock ; Eleventh 

 District, S. W. T. Lanham. 



GROWTH OF THE STATE. No stronger proof 

 can be afforded of the wonderfully rapid growth 

 of Texas during the past decade than that given 

 by the last Congressional Apportionment Act, 

 under which, at the election on November 7th, 

 she was entitled to elect five additional Repre- 

 sentatives in the Lower House of the Federal 

 Congress. And not only has she grown in 

 population, but her advance in everything that 

 constitutes the material prosperity of a people 

 has been equally rapid and equally great. In 

 a vast territory which a few years ago was 

 only accessible to the traveler on horseback, 

 and at a serious risk of life from the tomahawk 

 of the Comanche and the lawlessness of the 

 desperado, the whistle of the locomotive, the 

 church-bell calling to divine worship, the voice 

 of the school-teacher, the hum of the machine- 

 shop are now heard in every direction, and 

 millions of acres of fertile lands, as profitless as 

 if they were a desert, are now dotted with the 

 homes of thrifty husbandmen, rewarding with 

 abundant crops the intelligent industry which 

 has subdued them to civilization. Where 

 " they might take who had the power, and 

 they might keep who can," was the law of 

 property ; where personal rights were defended 

 only by the pistol and the rifle, and where the 

 name of God was never heard but to be blas- 

 phemed, law and order now prevail, and the 

 ( mandates of justice and of the preached word 

 are heard and respected. In no State are the 

 revelations of the last census as startling in 

 their proofs of progress as they are in Texas. 



FINANCIAL CONDITION. In consequence of 

 the increased valuation of property, the close 

 collection of taxes, and the generally increased 

 prosperity of the country, the receipts of the 



State Treasury have exceeded the disburse- 

 ments for the year. In order that this excess 

 might not remain unproductive in the Treas- 

 ury, while the outstanding bonded debt was 

 drawing regular interest, the surplus revenue 

 was used to purchase and cancel State bonds. 

 In the reduction of the bonded debt, the ap- 

 propriations made by the Legislature for sink- 

 ing fund, surplus revenue, and a part of the 

 proceeds of sales of public lands, have been 

 used whenever a purchase on favorable terms 

 could be made. No part of the above funds 

 can be used for any other purpose than to re- 

 tire outstanding bonds the sinking fund being 

 subject to investment by the Treasurer, and 

 the surplus revenue by the Treasurer, with the 

 advice and consent of the Governor and Comp- 

 troller. The total amount of bonds retired 

 and canceled, according to the Treasurer's re- 

 port of September 1, 1882, is $958,290. The 

 total outstanding bonded debt of the State on 

 December 31st amounted to $4,037,730, of 

 which $1,712,200 bear 6 per cent interest; 

 $1,254,000 bear 7 per cent; $1,068,900 bear 5 

 per cent ; and $2,630 bear 4 per cent. Of this 

 amount the special funds in the Treasury the 

 school funds, the university, and other funds 

 hold $2,547,100, the interest on which is an- 

 nually paid to those funds for the benefit of 

 the State, leaving $1,492,530 in the hands of 

 individuals. The public credit is now so high 

 that it has not been possible for the State to 

 buy her 6 per cent bonds at less than 40 per 

 cent premium. The bonds retired have been 

 chiefly those which had the longest time to 

 run to maturity, and bearing the highest in- 

 terest. In the past three years the debt has 

 been reduced, in round numbers, $1,400,000, 

 and the annual interest has been diminished 

 $140,000. The reduction in interest during 

 the year has been $65,950.60. 



The balances in the Treasury to the credit 

 of the several funds, on December 31, 1882, are 

 as follow : 



State revenue (currency) $500,121 96 



Common schools, university, asylums, and 



other special funds (currency) 888,827 92 



Common schools, university, asylums, and 



other special funds (bonds) 4,927,510 1 2 



Total balances in currency and bonds $6,316,460 00 



The ordinary necessary expenses of the State 

 government for one year are as follow : 



Executive office $29.700 00 



State Department 84,785 00 



Treasury Department 18,300 00 



Comptroller's office 47,850 00 



General Land-Office 55,060 00 



Department of Insurance 10,300 



Fish Commissioner 4,700 



Adjutant-General 96,350 00 



Attorney-General H.260 00 



Judiciarv Department 376, 525 i 



Deaf and Dumb Asylum 85,350 00 



Blind Asvlum 27,05000 



Lunatic Asylum 55,00000 



Public schools one fourth revenue 491,240 



Quarantine. 85,00000 



Interest on public debt 244,062 00 



Sinking fluid 80,75400 



Capitol-Building Commission 10,660 00 



Total.... .- $1,663,44600 



