714 



TEXAS. 



ing of evidence was continued through two weeks, 

 and the arguments occupied a week. The vote was 

 reached June 2. The Senate was unanimously in 

 favor of acquittal on 7 charges, on 18 charges 

 a majority voted not guilty, on 4 the vote was 

 a tie, on 5 a majority said guilty, but on only 2 

 charges did the necessary two thirds say guilty. 

 These were that the judge had set aside the writ 

 of habeas corpus by instructing a sheriff to hold 

 a prisoner, no matter what the decision of Judge 

 Estes might be, and trying by threats to compel 

 a wife to relinquish to a trustee $10,000 in prop- 

 erty that the circuit court had decreed to her in 

 divorce proceedings. 



A resolution was then unanimously adopted, 

 formally declaring Judge DuBose convicted of 

 misdemeanor in office and forever barring him 

 from holding office in the State. The costs, 

 amounting to about $9,000, were charged to the 

 defendant. 



TEXAS, a Southern State, admitted to the 

 Union Dec. 29, 1845; area, 265,780 square miles; 

 population, according to each decennial census 

 since admission, 212.592 in 1850; 604,215 in 

 1860; 818,759 in 1870; 1,591,749 in 1880; and 

 2,235,523 in 1890. Capital, Austin. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, James S. 

 Hogg, Democrat ; Lieutenant-Governor, M. M. 

 Crane; Secretary of State, George W. Smith; 

 Treasurer, W. B. Wortham : Comptroller, John 

 D. McCall; Attorney-General, Charles A. Cul- 

 berson ; Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. 

 M. Carlisle ; Commissioner of the General Land 

 Office, W. L. McGaughey ; Commissioner of In- 

 surance, John E. Hollingsworth ; Railroad Com- 

 missioners, John H. Reagan, L. L. Poster. W. P. 

 McLean ; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 John W. Stayton : Associate Justices, Reuben 

 R. Gaines and John L. Henry, who resigned in 

 May, and was succeeded by T. J. Brown, ap- 

 pointed by the Governor on May 31. Court of 

 Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge, James M. 

 Hurt ; Judges, W. L. Davidson, E. J. Simkins. 

 Court of Civil Appeals. First District Presiding 

 Judge, C. C. Garrett ; Judges, F. A. Williams, H. 

 Clay Pleasants ; Second District Presiding 

 Judge, B. D. Tarlton ; Judges, H. 0. Head, J. 

 W. Stephens; Third District Presiding Judge. 

 H. C. Fisher; Judges, W. M. Key, W. E. Col- 

 lard ; Fourth District Presiding Judge, J. H. 

 James ; Judges, W. S. Fly, H. H. Neill ; Fifth 

 District Presiding Judge, Henry W. Lightfoot ; 

 Judges, N. W. Finley, Anson Rainey. The 

 Fourth and Fifth Districts were created by the 

 Legislature this year, and the judges therein 

 were appointed by the Governor in May. 



County Debts. On Jan. 1, 1893, the bonded 

 debt of Texas counties was $8,411,541.93 and 

 the floating debt $608,944. One year previous 

 the figures were $7,143,258.83 and $511,519.32 

 respectively. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature con- 

 vened at Austin on Jan. 10 and adjourned on 

 May 9. On Jan. 24 Hon. Roger Q. Mills, Demo- 

 crat, was re-elected United States Senator for 

 the full term of six years from March 3 by the 

 following vote : Senate Mills 29, Thomas L. 

 Nugent, Populist, 1 ; House Mills 114, Nugent 

 8, N. W. Cuney, Republican, 1. For the pur- 

 pose of refunding that part of the State debt 



already payable the Governor was authorized to 

 issue 4-per-cent. bonds to the amount of $334,- 

 500, payable in forty years, but redeemable at 

 the option of the State after five years, such 

 bonds to be substituted for the past-due State 

 bonds held by special funds so far as practicable, 

 and the remainder to be sold. Authority was 

 also given for the issue of nonnegotiable 5-per- 

 cent, bonds to the amount of $152,000, payable 

 to the State University. These issues provide 

 for the retirement of' the following past-due 

 bonds: $200,000 of 6 per cents., act of 1885; 

 $25,500 of 6 per cents., act of May, 1871 : and 

 $261,000 of 7 per cents., act of December, 1871. 



An important result of the session was the 

 passage of an act limiting the issue of stocks 

 and bonds by railroads. It is provided that the 

 Railroad Commission shall report to the Secre- 

 tary of State the value of each railroad in the 

 State, including all its franchises and property, 

 and the value so fixed shall be the limit to which 

 bonds or other indebtedness secured by lien or 

 mortgage shall be issued by the company. The 

 commission may from time to time modify its 

 report of value to promote the public interest. 

 Every judicial or other sale of any railroad that 

 shall have the effect to discharge the property 

 so sold from liability in the hands of purchasers 

 for claims for damages, unsecured debts, or 

 junior mortgages, shall have the effect to cancel 

 all claims of every stockholder therein to any 

 share in the stock of such railroad, and it shall 

 not be lawful for the purchasers or for any rail- 

 road company organized hereafter to operate 

 that railroad, to issue any stock in lieu of the old 

 stock, or to allow any compensation therefor, 

 nor shall any part of the debt to satisfy which 

 such sale was made be continued or held as a 

 claim or lien on said property. Provision is 

 made in case a company building a railroad de- 

 sires to issue bonds in advance of its completion. 

 The value of stock issued shall in no event ex- 

 ceed the value of the railroad property, fixed as 

 above stated, and the manner of its issue is 

 strictly regulated. 



An act designed to destroy large holdings of 

 agricultural land by corporations provides that 

 every private corporation whose principal busi- 

 ness is the acquisition or ownership of land shall 

 within fifteen years make an actual bona fide 

 sale of all the lands now held by it, and that no 

 such corporation shall hereafter acquire land 

 within the State. All land not so disposed of 

 within the period shall escheat to the State. 

 But these provisions shall not apply to lands 

 within incorporated towns, cities, or villages, or 

 to land within 2 miles of the limits thereof. All 

 other corporations are restricted to the owner- 

 ship, outside of these limits, of so much land 

 only as is necessary for their business. 



A Stale live-stock sanitary commission of 3 

 members was established, and its duties in pro- 

 tecting and preserving the health of live stock 

 were defined. 



An "antiscalper" law requires every ticket- 

 agent in the State to obtain a certificate of au- 

 thority from the company or companies whose 

 agent he purports to be, and to display it con- 

 spicuously in his office. All persons not having 

 such authority and selling tickets are subject to 

 a heavy fine. 



