Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 76

THE TEXAS ALMANAC-1939.

land to call a special session in 1884 at
which provisions against illegal fenc-
ing-in of land and obstruction of high-
ways was passed and fence-cutting made
a felony. It effectively ended the trouble
between large \and small landowners.
The first disturbance in Texas politi-
cal economy, as the result of a growing
industrialization of the United States,
was evidenced in the passing of Texas'
first antitrust and antimonopoly laws
during the administration of Gov. L. S.
Ross (Jan. 18, 1887-Jan. 20, 1891), who
succeeded Governor Ireland. The legis-
lation was the culmination of a wave of
agitation that had its beginning before
the Civil War and had been fostered espe-
cially by the rise of the People's (Popu-
list) party, which was a factor in Texas
elections from 1878 until the end of the
century. Although the Populist party
never gained control of the administra-
tion of Texas, many reforms it agitated
were subsequently picked (up by the
Democratic party and put into effect.
Governor Ross effected a betterment
in the state eleemosynary institutions
and reduced taxes, the latter reform be-
ing due primarily to receipt from the
Federal Government of $1,000,000 to re-
imburse the state for its expenditures
for border protection. The administra-
tion is also remembered for the great
drouth of 1887, and the dedication in
May, 1888, of the present Capitol.
The reform trend evidenced in the
administration of Governor Ross con-
tinued with increased force during the
administration of James Stephen Hogg
(Jan. 20, 1891-Jan. 15, 1895). Hogg had
been elected on a platform demanding
regulation of railroads, which had be-
come a public issue, and curbing of
monopolies.
The present Railroad Commission of
Texas was established in 1891. Other leg-
islation included that providing for "Jim
Crow" coaches on railroads, reduction of
legal maximum rate of interest, the
alien land law forbidding ownership of
land by aliens with certain exceptions, a
law regulating the issuance of stocks and
bonds and protecting investors, and an
act establishing the Board of Pardon Ad-
visers. Hogg's vigorous policies aroused
stiff opposition, and the Hogg-Clark
Campaign of 1892 involving a split in the
ranks of the Democratic party was one
of the bitterest in the history of the state.
Hogg was re-elected over George W.
Clark by a vote of 190,846 to 133,395.
In the elections of 1894 Charles A.
Culberson (Dem.) defeated T. L. Nu-
gent, People's party, after a stirring
campaign by a vote of 207,167 to 152,-
731. Although the People's party had
polled a sizable vote in 1892, this was
the first year in which there was doubt
of the outcome of the election. Culber-
son's administration (Jan. 15, 1895-Jan.

17, 1899) was, characterized by strength-
ening of the antitrust laws, collection of
delinquent taxes, enactment of law for
arbitration of employer-employee dis-
putes and reduction of excessive fees
to public officials. In 1895, Culberson
called a special session of Legislature and
there was enacted a law to prevent prize
fights, its immediate purpose being the
prevention of a scheduled bout in Dal-
las between James J. Corbett and Robert
R. Fitzsimmons. Culberson was re-elect-
ed in 1896, winning by a vote of
298,528 to 238,692 over J. C. Kearby of
the People's party. This represented the
peak of the Populist movement in Tex-
as, although their nominees appeared
regularly on the ticket through the elec-
tion of 1904. The last year of the Cul-
berson administration, and the first year
of the following Sayers administration,
witnessed the stirring events of the Span-
ish-American War. Texas sent about
10,000 soldiers to the front. The famous
Rough Riders, commanded by Col. Leo-
nard Wood and Lieut Col. Theodore
Roosevelt, were organized at San An-
tonio.
During the administration of Culber-
son the first of the famous ouster suits
was brought against the Waters-Pierce
Oil Company by Attorney General M. M.
Crane. The trial lasted for a number of
years finally going to the Supreme Court
of the United States where the state won
its suit to forfeit the company's right to
do business in Texas. A later suit was
brought against a reorganized Waters-
Pierce Oil Company during the Lanham
administration min 1906 by Attorney Gen-
eral R. V. Davidson, ending also in suc-
cess for the state and assessment of a
fine of $1,623,000.
BEGINNINGS OF THE INDUSTRIALI-
ZATION OF TEXAS, 1900-1936.
At the end of the century Texas had
obtained a population of 3,048,719, an in-
creasek of 273 per cent over that in 1870.
This represented an increase in density
from 3.1 to 11.6 per square mile. In the
same period mileage of main line railway
track increased from 711 miles to 9,867
miles.
By the end of the century, Texas had
at least passed through those crude
stages of economic development that at
first whitened the prairies with the
bones of animals killed for their hides
and that later forced millions of cattle
on foot over the long trails to the mar-
kets of the North. There had come ivto
Texas at least sufficient population to
absorb into private ownership all except
the marginal lands of the great free
ranges. By the end of the century, the
wilderness was conquered, there was suf-
ficient substance in humanity and human
activity in the great expanse of Texas to
form the basis for the beginning of in-