The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989 Page: 252
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Southwestern Hzstorzcal Quarterly
In late January the Austin Daily Statesman optimistically commented,
The drawing of the Capitol as it would appear should the Legislature see fit to
make an appropriation for its improvement, as suggested in Mr. Voigt's report,
is attracting considerable attention among the members and others."
The newspaper reported that the proposed renovation would cost
"about $25,oo000," but added:
It is a question worthy of some discussion, as to whether the improvements had
better be made or the building used as it is for a few years and then a magnifi-
cent and costly one substituted for it. So far as we have been able to learn, the
general drift of opinion among the heads of the departments and members is
in favor of the improvements. The building is certainly large enough, and will
be for years to come, and, whatever may be done, we hope the day is not distant
when Texas will have a more imposing State House."
The Second Session of the Fourteenth Legislature in 1875 made a
$5,oo000 appropriation to landscape the Capitol grounds and passed a
bill to light the Capitol with gas, but provided no other monies to repair
or renovate the structure in spite of the proposition to do so, probably
because of the lack of funds. The legislature also passed a joint resolu-
tion calling a convention to write a new constitution later in 1875.24
The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the nationwide panic of 1i873 re-
sulted in serious financial problems for Texas by 1875. The state's only
wealth lay in its several million acres of public lands, located primarily
in West Texas and the Panhandle-regions generally regarded as the
least desirable for settlement or investment. Optimistically, however,
the constitutional convention in late 1875 addressed the question of a
new Capitol by setting aside more than three million acres of vacant
land to finance its construction.2
Early in 1876 Texas voters approved the new constitution, and the
Fifteenth Legislature-the first legislature to meet after adoption of
the new charter-assembled later that year. In his report on public
22Ibid., Jan. 27, 1875.
29 Ibid.
24Journal of the Senate of Texas, Being the Second Session of the Fourteenth Legislature, Begun and
Held at the City of Austin, January 12, 1875 (Houston- A. C Gray, State Printer, 1875), o107,
111-112, 121, 127, 163, 169, 175, 180o, 291, 303, 347, 583, 593, 607-608;Journal of the House
of Representatives . 1875, pp.91-92, 170, 194, 230, 233, 275, 301, 391; Texas, Fourteenth
Legislature, General Laws of the State of Texas . 1875 (Houston: A C. Gray, State Printer,
1875), 24, 113, 189, 201o-2o02.
21Aldon Socrates Lang, Financial History of the Pubhlc Lands in Texas (Waco: Baylor University,
1932); Thomas Lloyd Miller, The Public Lands of Texas, 1519-197o (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1972), 59-125.252
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989, periodical, 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101212/m1/290/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.