The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 480
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
remain open to judicial review. Of course, Alexander's bill was
defeated, though my roommate, Judge B. D. Tarlton, I, and
many others voted for it.
Prior to the meeting of the convention Attorney General
James Stephen Hogg became a candidate for governor, declar-
ing in favor of this constitutional amendment and in favor of
the railway commission, with power to fix and maintain freight
rates. Several prominent and popular men opposed to the theory
became candidates. Former governor James W. Throckmorton,
who, was the idol of his congressional district and the governor
who had been removed as an impediment to Reconstruction by
the United States military authorities, was one of them. He
was obliged to retire because he was not in favor of what the
people wanted. Two other candidates carried their own counties
only. Hogg got all the rest.
Governor Hogg had made an active attorney general, bring-
ing suits against railroad companies to recover excessive land
grants that they did not rightfully own. He had been successful
in the trial courts, but a large part of the litigation was left to
his successors to complete. These lands thus recovered became
the property of the various eleemosynary and educational insti-
tutions: the University, common schools. This increased
Hogg's prestige greatly, and, when he was the only candidate
who was for the kind of a railroad commission that a large
majority of the people wanted and certainly needed, they went
to his standard as one man. They overlooked the fact that he
was a recent convert to the issue and that Judge Terrell had
made its necessity plain. The greater part of Hogg's opposition
was in the towns and cities. He was overwhelmingly nominated.
I have since been amused, not to say surprised, at certain per-
sons who claimed to have been largely instrumental in nomi-
nating him. None of the claims had even the semblance of
foundation. He was nominated because the people thought that
he alone of the candidates was in favor of protecting them
against confiscatory and, unjustly discriminating freight rates
of railroads. That was most vital to their interests.
Hogg's after success in politics was due to the further fact
that his political action always conformed to the majority view.
He led the people to believe that what he was doing he was
doing for them. He never sought their favor as a personal
tribute to himself. No single man nor group of men could have480
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/588/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.