TEXAS. 



813 



men as the stationing of small armies of foreign sol- 

 diers all over the country would be against the inde- 

 pendence of our nation. 



That, whereas the protection of one's own house- 

 hold is not only an impulse of human nature but a 

 rule of the Christian religion ; and, whereas those 

 who are forced to compete with ignorant paupers 

 may in time become paupers themselves, therefore 

 we declare it to be a high moral and political duty of 

 our Government to protect the educated laboring-men 

 of free America from all manner of hurtful competi- 

 tion with the half-paid, half-fed, half-clothed, and half- 

 educated laborers of despotic Europe ; and that in levy- 

 ing tariff duties on European goods brought here for 

 sale, Congress should so apportion these imposts as to 

 give the greatest possible protection to the American 

 laboring-man. 



That the people have the undoubted right to alter, 

 amend, or abolish their Constitution and form of gov- 

 ernment, none will dispute : Therefore, be it 

 , Resolved, That the Kepublican party of the State of 

 Tennessee recognize the right of the people to have 

 the prohibition amendment voted upon at the bal- 

 lot-box. 



The Democratic State Convention met in 

 Nashville, on August 11, and nominated for 

 Governor, Robert L. Taylor, brother of the 

 Republican nominee. The following are the 

 principal features of the platform : 



The Democracy of Tennessee, by its representa- 

 tives in convention assembled, congratulates the 

 country at large on the restoration of the Democratic 

 party to power in the administration of the General 

 Government. It indorses the Administration of Pres- 

 ident Cleveland, and upholds him in his efforts to 

 purify the Government from corruption, to restore 

 economy, to revive respect for the Constitution, to 

 reduce taxation, to reform the existing tariff, to allay 

 sectional animosities^ to guard the Treasury against 

 unwarranted appropriations of the public money, and 

 to restore the Government to the simple and honest 

 methods of administration known and practiced by 

 its founders. 



It indorses the administration of Gov. Bate as hon- 

 est, intelligent, and patriotic, and it particularly ap- 

 proves the settlement of the State debt. 



We oppose the farming out of convicts so as to 

 bring them in competition with the honest labor of our 

 State, and favor the enactment of such laws as will 

 terminate ; as early as practicable, such competition. 



Kecogmzing the sovereignty of the people, in re- 

 sponse to their demand made through their repre- 

 sentatives in the last General Assembly, we favor 

 submitting to them, for their adoption or rejection, 

 the proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting 

 the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a 

 beverage in Tennessee. 



On November 2 the Democratic candidate 

 was elected, the vote being Democratic, 126,- 

 151 ; Republican, 109,837. Republicans were 

 elected to Congress from the First and Second 

 Districts, and Democrats from the other eight. 

 The Legislature of 1887 consists of 21 Demo- 

 crats and 12 Republicans in the Senate, and 63 

 Democrats and 36 Republicans in the House. 



On August 5 Peter Turney, W. C. Caldwell, 

 D. L. Snodgrass, H. H. Lurton, and W. C. 

 Folkes were elected Supreme Court Judges. 



TEXAS. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year : Gov- 

 ernor, John Ireland, Democrat; Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Barnett Gibbs; Secretary of State, 

 J. W. Raines; Treasurer, Frank R. Lubbock ; 

 Comptroller, W. J. Swain ; Attorney-General, 



John D. Templeton ; Commissioner of the Gen- 

 eral Land-Office, W. C. Walsh; Superintend- 

 ent of Public Instruction, B. M. Baker ; Com- 

 missioner of Insurance, Statistics, and History, 

 H. P. Bee; State Engineer, James H. Britton. 

 Supreme Conrt: Chief- Justice, Asa H. Willie; 

 Associate Justices, John W. Stayton and S. 

 Robertson. 



Finances. The rate of taxation at the begin- 

 ning of the fiscal year, Sept. 1, 1884, was 17 

 cents on $100. The State received during the 

 year ending Aug. 31, 1885, the sum of $2,064,- 

 222.89, and expended during the same time 

 $1,979,381.25, leaving in the Treasury, Aug. 

 31, 1885, a balance of revenue, $84,841.64. 



The next fiscal year began with the rate of 

 taxation raised to 25 cents on the $100. For 

 the year beginning Sept. 1, 1885, and ending 

 Aug. 31, 1886, total receipts from all sources, 

 including balance on hand at the beginning of 

 the year, were $2,198.873.04; expenditures 

 during the same time, $1,635,410.14; balance 

 on hand Aug. 31, 1886, $563,462.90, 



The total assessed value of property in the 

 State for 1885 was $621,011,989, and for 1886 

 $630,591,029. The increase in the assessed 

 values of 1885 over the assessed values for 1884 

 is $17,951,072, <nnd the increase of 1886 over 

 1885 is $9,579,040. The increase in 1886 is 

 mainly from real estate, while there has been 

 a marked .shrinkage in the value of personal 

 property, especially in cattle and sheep. The 

 outstanding bonds of the State, Aug. 31, 1886, 

 aggregated $4,237,730. The balances in the 

 treasury, Jan. 1, 1887, were $734,717.78 in cash 

 and $6,897,861.50 in bonds. 



Education. The total scholastic population 

 for the year ending Aug. 31, 1878, was 198,- 

 489, with 152 counties reporting; amouct of 

 school fund apportioned, $857,968.70. For 

 the year ending Aug. 31, 1886, the scholastic 

 population was 386,137; counties reporting, 

 191 ; amount of fund apportioned, $2,007,- 

 912.40. For the year ending Aug. 31, 1887, 

 the respective figures are 412,380, 188, and 

 $1,958,805. These figures are for counties. 

 Those for cities and towns are : 



The scholastic population of the counties in 

 1886-'87 is divided as follows: White males, 

 160,168; white females, 148,178; colored 

 males, 53,257; colored females, 50,777. In 

 the cities the scholastic population of that year 

 stands distributed as follows: White males, 

 28,139; white females, 28,468; colored males, 

 9,962; colored females, 10,846. Some of the 

 other county statistics are as follow : 



Teachers employed 7,941 



School-houses built during the year 821 



School -houses belonging to the State 2,284 



Schorl-houses in good condition 1,642 



School-houses in indifferent condition . . . 433 



