Tyler & Smith County, Texas: An Historical Survey Page: 84
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challenge him for votes from a speaker's platform in Tyler. Many
Republicans, including former governor E. J. Davis, openly supported the
Greenback Party. Nevertheless, that party's convention nominated A. B.
Norton as its official candidate.13
Roberts had every reason to campaign hard in the face of the rising
Greenback Party. He made an extensive tour of north and central Texas,
pointing to his own strong fiscal conservatism and suggesting not only was
the Greenback Party northern in origin but also that it contained Negro
and Republican backers. To the average white Texan of the day, such war-
nings were ominous.14
In the election, Roberts easily carried the day, receiving 158,933 votes to
55,002 for Hamman. A. B. Norton ran a poor third with 23,402.15 For the
second time in a row, Tyler and Smith County claimed the governorship,
and for the next four years, citizens of the city and county watched
pridefully as Roberts served two consecutive terms.
Once in office, the Governor made good his promise of fiscal conser-
vatism. Employing the veto, he forced the legislature to roll back expen-
ditures for public education. Through pardons and paroles, he cut the
costs of the state penitentiary, and under his administration the size of
state expenditures for frontier defense was sharply reduced. Roberts
ended his tenure in office with great satisfaction in his accomplishments
and savings. The public debt and its burden of interest had both been
reduced greatly, while the ad valorem tax rate was significantly reduced as
well.16
Roberts' tight money policies resulted in some criticism by 1880, and for
a time it seemed that the Governor might be challenged by one or more
fellow Democrats for the party nomination. The state convention took only
one ballot, however, to make Roberts a candidate for reelection, and he
had equally little difficulty in getting reelected to a second term. Roberts
received 166,101 votes to 64,382 for E. J. Davis, the Republican candidate,
and 33,721 for W. H. Hamman, the Greenback candidate.17
In his second administration, Roberts loosened his attitudes on fiscal
matters and advocated a return to earlier levels of public school financing.
In addition, he advocated greater support of higher education and oversaw
the establishment of The University of Texas.'1 By the end of his second
3Barr, Reconstruction to Reform, pp. 43,48.
4Ibid.
15Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide, 1972-1973 (Dallas: A. H. Belo Corporation, 1971), p.
529.
'6Richardson, Texas: The Lone Star State, p. 230.
'7Barr, Reconstruction to Reform, pp. 54-60.
'8Ibid., p. 79.
84
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Glover, Robert W. Tyler & Smith County, Texas: An Historical Survey, book, 1976; Tyler, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61117/m1/88/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .