Message of Governor James S. Hogg to the twenty-fourth legislature of Texas Page: 29 of 48
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MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR HOGG. 29
creased. In some instances in this State it is well known that a single
-county official receives fees and salaries in the aggregate far in excess of
the three supreme judges, or more than the Governor, the Attorney-General,
and Treasurer all put together. Many others receive more than
any district or supreme judge or any State officer. There are plenty of
men in the service of counties, that, before election, could be employed
at from 50 to $75 per month in private pursuits, but who, on going into
.office, receive fees and salaries from $3000 to $12,000 a year.
It would be a good plan for the Legislature to limit the aggregate fees
-and salaries of the county officials upon a graduated scale in proportion
to population and service, so that they may be properly paid, while the
spirit of extravagance, encouraged and nurtured by wealth-producing
'offices, shall be checked and prevented.
It will be seen also that witness fees are annually increasing to an astonishing
extent. To check this it would be well either to return to the
old law, or to require such fees in attached cases to be paid in whole or
in part by the counties in which the trials are had. The tax-payers must
foot the bills anyway, and it will be materially to their interest for the
county commissioners court to be compelled to inspect, audit, and pay
.such fee bills where public interests demand that they shall be paid at all.
It is a common thing now for a sheriff or deputy to attach and " carry "
wealthy men hundreds of miles across the State to court at the State's
-expense. This useless practice should be checked, and also the law
-should provide that no officer shall be paid any fees or costs by the State
until the final disposition of the case. To disguise the truth, or deal
with this subject mildly or indifferently, is llut to encourage abuses
fraught with much danger t the public treasury.
THE PUBLIC FREE SCHOOLS.
The following table shows for each of the preceding four years the
:scholastic population, the annual apportionment made by the State Board
of Education, and the per capita division thereof:
Scholastic State Per capita
Population. Apportionment. apportioned
1891-92 ..................... .... 583,835 $2,627,257 $4.50
1892-93....................... .... 605,495 2,904,342 5.00
1893-94...................... 630,303 2,245,504 4.50
-1894-95............................. 693,752 2,428.132 3.50From the foregoing it will be seen that while the aggregate school fund
-from all sources in 1894-95 was about two hundred thousand dollars less
than for the years 1891-92, the scholastic population increased about one
Jiundred thousand duiing that time.
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Hogg, J.S. (James S.). Message of Governor James S. Hogg to the twenty-fourth legislature of Texas, book, 1895; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5862/m1/29/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .