The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 45, No. 14, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 9, 1886 Page: 4 of 12
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THE GALVESTON DAILY NEWS, SUNDAY,MAY 9, 188«,
A ROUSING ROSS MEETING.
THE WACO STATESMAN AIRS HIS VIEWS,
Rigidly Opposed to the Lease Law—Spain's
Record Riddled—A Timid Policy Outlined
— Other Candidates Announce.
Special to The News.
Sclphub Springs, May 8.—General Htil
Ross fired the signal gun of the gubernato-
rial campaign here to-day. The occasion
partook of the characteristics of an ovation.
Ktnte and national flags were flung to the
breeze with his name worked across the
folds,delegations from surrounding villages
poured into the town decorated with badges
bearing the name of Koss, a regiment of
mounted men made up of detachments from
different precincts of the country paraded
the streets headed with a band and flying
the Koss standard, merchi^its closed up
their places of business and proprietor and
employe pinned on their Ross badges and
added to the throngs walking, riding
ar,(J driving. No former demonstrations
in old Hopkins ever approached it in size
SLd enthusiasm. At about 10 o'clock the
crowds began to fill Sulphur Springs park
—the place of speaking. Shortly after-
ward the master of ceremonies introduced
General Ross, who was greeted with pro-
longed cheers. He opened his two hours
speech with expressions of regret at the
absence of his opponent—Colonel Swain—
who, it was understood through the State,
would be present to reply to him, aud was
warm in utterances of his admiration for
the gentleman personally in his speech.
Replying to the assertion that he was de-
pending upon a military record for suc-
cess, General Ross said while he did not
claim that this gave him any right to say
that he could serve the State more success-
fully than another, he should not be dis-
rated on this account, and challenged a
comparison of his civ41 record with that
of Colonel Swain. As a sheriff he had re-
stored law and order to his county, and
was largely instrumental in projecting ami
establishing an organization among the
sheriffs that had done more than anything
else to relieve the State from lawlessness
and crime. In the Constitutional conven-
tion he voted against the policy of sub-
sidizing railroads aud against reaffirming
to the Texas and Pacific a forfeited land
grant of 20,000,000 acres of the best land in
the State, which he desired to give to the
public school fund and that this land would
have made that fund richer to-day by
$50,000,0(10. Again, when the resolution was
introduced to set apart 11,000,000 acres of the
public domain, to be,sold ten years after
the adoption of the constitution, to build a
state-house, and an amendment was offered
to strike out "to be sold ten years after
adoption of the constitution," and insert
" to be sold as the legislature may direct,"
he voted against the amendment. Under
the original resolution the land would just
now be upon the market, and is richly worth
•t3 per acre, or $0,000,000, showing a clear
loss to the State of >7,500,000. He wanted
Colonel Swain to show to the people the
extent of his responsibility for the subse-
quent disposition of this land in a solid
body to an alien corporation at a valuation
of AO cents per acre, and thus permitting it
to be locked up for all time to the exclusion
of the actual settler, against the settled
policy of the State since annexation. If the
journals show that he was present, and
took to the fence and refused to vota on
the measure, his silent assent to this
great wrong makes him but little
less blameworthy than those who voted for
it. He should have espoused the cause of
the people as the speaker did in the first
instance. And in this lie Wanted Colonel
Swain to explain to the people why he found
it necessary to violate every sentiment of
state pride and advocate thedemand of this
syrdicate to go to a neighboring State, 15 >0
miles distant, to obtain limestone for the
construction of the building, after the State
had just expended $20,000 at the exposition
in Mew Orleans to advertise to the world her
exhaustless resources in granite and other
suitable building material so near at haud,
when section 18, of chapter 100, of the acts
of the legislature declared that" the interior
and exterior walls of the new Capitol shall
be of the most durable buildiug rock acces-
sible," and section 25 of the contract stipu-
lates that that law shall be a part of the
contract as fully as if incorporated into
it. Let Colonel Swain explain to
the the people why he fouud it necessary
to so change the original contract as to eu-
able this capitol syndicate to denude the
building of its most valuable ornamenta-
tion and obtain an advantage amounting to
nearly $1,000,000 in the cost of its construc-
tion, besides yielding possession of the
land before earned, and the use of convict
labor to work on the job. Since the original
contract had been changed, the speaker
thought,there was great danger that our peo-
ple would eventually undergo the financial
flaying 'hat had keen inflicted upon the peo-
ple of New York. The act providing for
the erection of a state-house, at Albany,was
passed in 1S67 and the cost limited to
$4,000,000, but a prominent official of that
State had informed the speaker that the
cost had already reached $17,250,00, and the
building not completed.
The speaker then alluded to his efforts, in
connection with others, in calling the at-
tention of the convention to the fact that
under the inefficient tax laws provided tra-
der the constitution of 1800 non-residents
were escaping taxation, in whole or in part,
and there was then due from them $0,000,000
for back taxes—an amount sufficient to
liquidate the entire state debt; and that
35,000,000 acres of patented land, belonging
mostly to this class, escaped assessment
and payment of taxes, thereby increasing
the burden upon honest tax-payers, and
urged as a remedy that all property
be assessed and the taxes paid in the couu-
urged as a remedy that all property should
be assessed and the taxes paid in the coun-
ty where situated ana not at * the
comptroller's office. After alluding briefly
to the fact that as chairman of the senate
finance committee of the special session of
the Seventeenth legislature he had labored
earnestly in support of Governor Roberts's
financial policy to reduce taxation to the
lowest possible limit consistent with an ef-
ficient state government, he entered direct-
ly upon a discussion of our present land
problem. The speaker said that while it
was true beyond controversy that the con-
vention had refused to engraft the lease
system upon the organic act, by an almost
unanimous vote, still as the language of the
organic law declaring that the lands shall
be sold, seems to be regarded by our law-
makers as advisory rather than mandatory,
so far as he was concerned he was willing
to place the State in an attitude to avail it-
self of every agency calculated to relieve
the people of taxation for the sup-
port' of the public schools, that being
clearly the object of the donation in
the first instance. It was not intended that
these lands should be held and adminis-
tered wholly for the use and benefit of the
children of another generation or of an-
other people yet to come to our State.
' While this people were not only denied by
mismanagement any participation in the
general benefit of this magnificent bequest,
fhey are oppressed with constantly increas-
ing burdens to provide by direct taxation
a fund for whichthese lands were set apart.
And knowing, as he did by actual observa-
tion, the. topography of the section where
these lands are situated, and believing that
according to all good authority upou physi-
cal geography, and the experiments
of the United States government for the
last half a century, much of this
land would be unsuitable for agricultural
purposes, and would be to the farmer like
selt-rightousness—the more of which a man
has the poorer he is—he could see no valid
objection to supplementing the school fund
by leasing this pastoral land upon such
terms; and with such protection to the lease-
holders as would induce its occflpancy and
use by those who would develop the great
cattle industry of our State. But he did
not believe that the lands suitable for agri-
cultural purposes and likely to be in de-
naic] for settlement should be locied up
by any kind of a lease law. There was no
longer a '..uestion that good policy requires
that these lands shall De so distribute.'.! as
to Sc-cure the greatest possible number of
actual settlers. Any legislation that will
produce this result should be adhered to.
Every law now in force, or hereafter to
be enacted, should be submitted to this
test. Will it promote settlement ?
This has been the settled policy of
the State since annexation. It is founded
on an enlightened public policy, rendered
necessary by the enterprise of our citizens.
We should build the interests of our State
to last, atfd not become impatient at the
slow but steady operation of wise laws that
have contributed so largely in times past to
its growth and greatness. The true policy
is to bring these lands into market, aud by
all legitimate means dispose of them as
speedily as possible to those who have been
induced to settle in this new section. The
interest of the State and the school fund
alike demand it. The strongest political and
economical considerations dictate this
course. It is radically wrong for a State as a
great landed proprietor to hold this large
territory practically exempt from the com-
mon burdens and contributing nothing by
way of taxes thrown upon' other lands. It
would be equally unwise to sell these lauds
in larger bodies to corporations. This
would, doubtless, speedily settle the pro-
blem of direct taxation for public school
purposes, and the State for the time might
seem to grow and prosper. But this high
feverish flush would not be the genial
warmth of health, but the tierce hectic glow
of a swift consumption. It would be the
herald of death and point to the tomb of
our State's ultimate interests. •These rich
and fertile lands are already attracting the
attention of the farmers aud small stock-
raisers, and they are what we desire to
make our State, great in population and
wealth, as it is now in extent of territory.
There is no just ground of jealousy or quar-
rel between these two great interests. From
the days of the patriarchs they have pro-
gressed and prospered with equal step in
conjunction, and the plow and the brand-
ing-iron would form no mean coat of arms
for any state or empire.
We should look to the returns these lands
would yield in an independent class of
small free-holders—the pride aud glory of a
country as well as its strength—returns in
the wealth created bythe extension of civil-
ization, and in the enlargement of the do-
main of law and order—returns in the
utilization by such as will use them in
opening up the highways of travel, and by
securing private .independence add to the
general prosperity. The interest on the
bonds and land notes resulting from pre-
vious sale produce nearly $1,000,000 to these
special funds at a nominal cost of collec-
tion, while the lands in the hands of the till-
ers of the soil so far surpass the returns to
be extracted from their temporary lease aud
barrenness as to defy all comparison. In
proof of this he read the following extracts
from the St. Louis Republican; "The Chey-
ennes leased at \i% cent per acre. Now
100 acres of land, the ordinary home for a
settler, at IK cents per acre would yield an
annual revenue of $2 40, while 100 acres
purchased by a settler at $1 25 per acre,
would bring $200. This sum turned over
and put at interest at 5 per cent,
would yield $10 annually, a differ-
ence of $7 00 more on every
quarter than the cattlemen pay. Besides,
to the wealth of the country would be added
a farm of 100 acres, worth from $5000 to
flOjOOO. The Indian Territory has a popu-
lation of about 70,000. Giving to each 100
acres, 11,200,000 acres of land would be
taken up, leaving 40,000,000 to be sold to
actual settlers, at $1 25 per acre, producing
the sum of $50,000,000, which, at 5 per cSnt.,
would yield an annual revenue of $2,500,000
to the Indians, or $1,000,000 more than the
rental paid by the cattlemen." The Gal-
veston News says: "Nearly, if Jjot quite,
$10,000,000 of bonds and securities have
been acqt ired from the sale of school lauds,
producing an interest-bearing capital whicli
returns a revenue of about $050,000. The
school lands unsold amount to about 24,000,-
000 acres. The 10,000,000 acres sold have
been on the tax-rolls from one to fifteen
years, yielding taxes as well as interest.
Under a sale system 20,000,000 acres more
would in ten years be on the tax-
rolls at a valuation of $10 per acre,
This amouut in purchase notes and bonds
at 5 per cent, and on the tax-rolls in inter-
est and taxes would yield $1,000,000 annu-
ally to the State and naif as much to the
counties. Lease this land at 4 cents un-
der the present law, and the general reve-
nue can get nothing from taxas. The 10,-
( 00.000 acres which have already been sold,
will yield in taxes and interestjon purchase
money a larger reveilue than 20,000,000
acres leased." The Fort Worth Gazette, in
speaking of the amount of lands leased and
sold,savs: "There are 300,000 more acres
leased than sold, and the leased lands bring
less than half the interest derived from
sales. The lands sold are being taxed, and
pay several thousand dollars in that way
to the support of the government, the
schools, etc. The leased lands pay not a
cent of taxes. The lands sold are being
improved and cultivated. Houses are built
on them, crops raised aud the material
wealth ot the State aggrandized by the pro-
ducts of the soil. Towns are built to sup-
ply the demands of trade to these farms,
and the towns furnish employment to
ot-her industries and valuable tax-
paying citizens, swelling the revenues
of the State. The great pastures sup-
port a few scanty herds and some roving
cowboys who do not pay even a poll-tax."
These are dry figures, but they speak elo-
quently and tell their own story. But in
addition to this, 219,986 acres of the uni-
versity lauds are situated in the counties of
Cook. Fannin, Grayson. Hunt, Collins, La-
mar, Shackelford, Callahan and McLennan,
and the asylum lands are situated in couu-
ties equally populous. What would be the
condition of this densely populated sec-
tion, with its churches and school-
houses, farms, mills, factories, towns
and cities, amounting to millions of taxa-
ble values, had it beejj tied up for the last
ten years by a lease system from sale and
settlement, excepting to those who might
have been willing to risk life and fortune
by going into some man's leased pasture
and fighting the cowboys for its possession?
Every consideration of duty, justice and
public policy demand that ' the State be
given a uniform, settled land policy of some
kind.
The speaker then proceeded to show the
evil effects attendant upon the present
lease law as enforced, showing that it had
induced a spirit of lawlessness and crime,
and had defrauded the school fund out of
more than $1,000,000 and the university of
more than $80,000 annually. It had pro-
duced an era of free grass to alien corpora-
tions despite the best efforts of the admin-
istrators of the law. It had depressed the
cattle interest by the uncertainty and con-
stant changes ot the requirements. It had
retarded the settlement of the country. It
had created a necessity for an increase of
the rate of taxation for public free school
purposes—taking from the fund that should
have gone to the benefit of the whole peo-
ple more than $1,000,000 to enrich a few cat-
tlemen who had by their miles of wire fences
laid an embargo tipon the ingress and egress
to our State.lt had,by the careless surveyand
demarkation of tlie lands sold, induced
frauds and planted the germ of future liti-
gation similar to that which wellnigh
ruined the people of Kentucky and Vir-
ginia at an early day—shingling their pub-
lic lands all over with conflicting claims
that not only retarded the growth and set-
tlement of those States, but in many in-
stances utterly ruined the citizen. It had
distracted aud divided our people, serious-
ly threatening at gne time the integrity of
the Democratic party. It had caused
Colonel Swain, bis honorable opponent, af-
ter being aroused too suddenly from a long
and sound nap, to become so violently en-
raged at the inability to extract the pro-
mised revenue from the lands to advo-
cate the undemocratic policy of sending the
strong arm of the military to remove by
force, and without due process of law, the
illegal fences thrown around millions
of acres of the school lands—
to the frge use of wjiich every one
admits these non resident corporations have
no greater right than they have to the use
; "f the special funds without payment of in-
tere.-o* But he demanded the warrant of
law to sus«»jn tjje assertion that either an
executive or T>»„ individual could create a
fvo nf1or,nfw"^\ailc' forcibly remote
it.>e i6iic6 of soother u due Droces4?
of I"*-- Every attorney f^nt knew that
the law-books are full of to tiie
contrary. He produced the decision of the
Supreme Court, reported in the Texas Re-
view, styled W. H. Sinclair et al. vs. Henry
Stanley, which reads as follows: "The
party who has the • legal rttie to real
estate, but only constructive possession,
is liable in damages to the actual
occupant who holds under a void title, for
a forcible entry and destruction of pro-
perty of such party. The measure of dam-
ages in this case is the actual damages of
the property destroyed. * * Punitory
damages may also be allowed." The court
says: " To adopt any other rule is to make
a liian judge in his own cause, with the
right to enforce his judgment. To allow
him to employ force against a peaceable
party, is to invite a breach of the peace
and a public disturbance, instead of a legal
settlement of disputed rights." Such an
assumption of power would not only vio-
late our organic act, but would contravene
the spirit and letter of section 1, article 14,
of the federal constitution, wh.ich says:
" Nor shall "any State deprive any man of
life, liberty or property, without due pro-
cess of law."
General Ross, continuing, .held that con-
stitutions were made to restrain govern-
ments as laws are individuals, and that it,
would be an assault upon the wisdom and
statesmanship of tlie Democratic party to
teach men that they should for any real and
imaginary wrongs take the execution of the
law into their own hands. Since to teach
men to hate is to prepare them to destroy
the object of their hatred, and that when an
executive or an individual took the execu-
tion of the law away from the proper tri-
bunals government, in its proper sense,
ceased to exist and becomes a nullity. It
would be turning civilization backward to
those days when the savage, untrammeled
by other than natural laws, claimed as pro-
perty whatever he fancied, and was his own
avenges, even to the death, in case of injury
or wrong. It would be peculiarly disas-
trous at this time, when the whole State is
atlirob with the heat of passion and
excitement, "aud cobwebs that fly before
the wintf are becoming cords and twist-
ing into cables strong enough to hold
a fleet at anchor." When men, driven
by the pangs of hunger,or a sense of patient
and unrequited toil hre enlisting under the
broad banner of innovation, and having
lost confidence in redress from any other
source, are eager for the day when they can
settle in blood the controversy between
labor and capital. The Nineteenth legisla-
ture enacted a law against railway compa-
nies consolidating with competing parallel
lines chartered iiy the State or the United
States, and the attorney-general was given
$5000 to secure its enforcement, and yet
these companies utterly disregard this law
of the State. ^V4ouhl he turn the rangers
loose on these corporations; and if not, why
should they be favored above the individual
or other corporations:' Agaiu, he said, it
was well known that when the libertine in-
vaded the sanctity of the domestic circle,
and brought ruin and shame upon its
inmates, and his life paid the forfeit, there
was no Anglo-Saxon jury in the world that
would convict the slayer, and yet it would
be murder pure and simple. Would he in-
voke the military to vindicate the majesty
of the outraged law in this instance? If so,
and the people were taught to depend upon
the military instead of civil law, backed
by a public opinion that may always be re-
lied upon to come to its support, where
would it all end? No man should be en-
couraged to become the sole judge of when
to take militaiy occupation of a State or
any part thereof. He declared that
he would not intrust an arch-
angel with such power, for no tyrant
of earth ever exercised greater. It would
be legislative and judicial abdication in
fayor of executive despotism. The bill of
rights is to our constitution what the De-
calogue is to the Bible. Not one word need
be added thereto, and to take from it a sin-
gle idea would be to murder free govern-
ment. On this subject Junius, in his ad-
vice to the Buglish people, said in language
as forcible as it is beautiful: " If an honest,
and I may truly affirm a laborious zeal for
the public service,has given one any weight
in your esteem, let me exhort aud conjure
you never to suffer an invasion of your po-
litical constitution, however minute the in-
stance may appear, to pass without a de-
termined and persevering resistance. One
precedent begets another. Th-jy soon
accumulate and. constitute law. Whsit
yesterday was fact, to-day is doctrine. Ex-
amples are supposed to justify the most
dangerous measures, and when they do not
suit exactly the defect is supplied by analo-
gy;" and Macaulay, at a much later period,
said: "AVe have been taught by long ex-
perience that we can not, without danger,
suffer any breach of the constitution to pass
without notice." Daniel Webster gave ut-
terance to the same patriotic sentiments
when he said: "If men would enjoy the
blessings of a republican government
they must govern themselves by rea-
son, by mutual counsel and consultation,
and, above all, the military must
be kept according to the bill of rights in
strict subordination to the civil authority.
Wherever this lesson is not learned aud
practiced there can be no political free-
dom."
The speaker said the great Democratic
party had always been a party of law and
order, and had suffered more from violence
than any other party that had ever existed
in the country. If it has ever had any fa-
naticism, it has been a love for the great fun-
damental principles of constitutional rights
and liberties, and if it has ever paused in
its career of progress it has been because it
found the constitution of the country across
its pathway. Have the people of Texas so
soon forgotten how they, in the inid3t of
bristling bayonets, showed that they knew
what likerty meant as they marched in solid
phalanx to the ballot-box and chose a man
to supplant in the executive office one
who had undertaken, without just
cause to play the role of a tyraut
over them? Can they have forgotten how
that patriot, stateaman-soldier Hancock,
when Texas sat amid her cypress groves
clad in the habiliments of mourning aud
poverty, weeping like Rachel for her child-
ren who were not; when terror with point-
ed finger stood at every door, and the ag-
gressor, with sharpened sword, hilt in
hand, was ready to strike her helpless peo-
ple yet again, this soldier-patriot, with a
potency of voice that would brook no de-
nial, interposed the constitution of this
•country and stayed the blow? Under
the mania of passion or prejudice
they may applaud the act in this
instance, but they should remember that
bad precedents are always followed by in-
novations, and each repetition Becomes
magnified, and they can not know to whose
lips the chalice will next be presented. But
as a Texan, devoted to her whole people and
their interests, and jealous of her honor
and fame, he appealed to them to stand by
their constitution, because it was the only
bulwark and safeguard to their lives, liber-
ties and property against the encroach-
ments of unbridled power. He bad faith
enough in the intelligence of the people to
believe-that they could send representa-
tives to Austin who would enable
the State by civil process to
force users of such lands as may be' desig-
nated for lease to pay for them," or failing
to do so, pay a much greater price than that
exacted from lease. It is made the duty of
the legislature to guard and protect this
fund. Let it adopt the most stringent law
the constitution will permit to be executed
by a firm hand, and then let the executive
keep the government completely within the
letter of the law, for he has no greater
right to overstep its bounds than the
humblest individual.
General Ross then directed his attention
to our present labor troubles, and while
admitting that these corporations were
created by the people in their legislative
capacity to supply an urgent need, and had
become a dangerous power in the land be-
cause of their vast accumulations which en-
abled them to rival in monetary power the
potentates of the old world, still as they
Wi re the creatures of the statutes, an appeal
to that higher power of public opinion—be-
fore which wealth, though intrenched
within its vast accumulations always
trembles and turns pale—would prove
an unfailing fountain of legitimate redress
in our republican government. And in
view of this fact the attempt to draw the
lines between labor and capital had always
occurred to him as something foreign to
our institutions. In this land of the free,
with every avenue of employment
and profit equally open to all, tae
?a>orer of to-d<*y is the capitalist of
ic-3-pnow, and tie ffalamities of each
recurring financial period remaud manv of
the rich back agaiu to the condition of labor
in order to earn a simple livelihood, The per-
manency of'our institutions can rest upon
no other basis save the conservative forces
and influences of all classes, arrayed not
against each other, but side by side with
each other as they march forward to achieve
the development of a common country.
Recent events admonish us that thetiui3
has come in which these conservative forces
of all classes must begin to assert them-
selves if we would save our institutions
and transmit them unimpaired to our pos-
terity. The rapid growth of capital
in the hands of the few in a cor-
porate capacity, possessing within them-
selves every necessary element of despotism
in their exclusive powers, rights and privi-
leges ill perpetuity, and influenced as it has
been to a great extent by unwise legislation,
has begotten a spirit of unrest in the rniuds
of labor, which evinces itself in acts of
turbulence on the part of a few of the more
thoughtless in a desperate struggle to right
their wrongs, real and imaginary. This
contest between labor and capital has in-
volved the interest of the general public to
such an extent that the real and substantive
rights of labor are likely to be lost sight of
by the governing majority,. who, seeing
tlieir own interests jeopardized, are dis-
posed to turn their sympathies toward capi-
tal as the more conservative element in ttie
strife. The events of the past few weeks
have demonstrated this tendency iu a
prominent tfay by repeated declarations
of sympathy for the corporations en-
gaged in the struggle with labor, declared
and published by associations and meetings
in various localities of the State, composed
in a great part by the business men and
prominent citizens of such localities. The
true friend of labor sees in these lemon-
strations the mistake made by some of the
more leckless of that class in precipitating
a serious issue which has tended to divert
public sympathy from their cause to that
ot their opponents, and which iu like man-
ner has seriously alarmed the conservative
masses as to the complications and reGults
of the struggle.
The speaker, warming up, said the rights
of the general public are of at least equal
importance wi n the rights of capital or the
rights of labor, and these two classes must,
in the progress of their struggle, learn that
their differences and antagonisms must not
invade or jeopardize the peace and safety
of society, or the rights ot individuals not
concerned in the struggle. The State must
stand as the arbiter between these warring
f actions, and with a just and honest en-
denvor to do wrong to neither. It must dis-
charge its highest duty to society by the
preservation of the public peace at all haz-
ards and at any cost. The destruction of
property, the stoppage of commerce and
trade, the interference with the na-
tural rights of individuals pur-
sue their honest employments without
molestation must be condemned and re-
strained, for they lead to anarchy and the
destruction of government and society.
When these dangers are threatened we can
not pause to inquire which side is right, or
which party is wrong—our simple duty is
to re-establish the public peace and safety,
and rights of individuals. When that is ac-
complished and assured all the dictates of
sound statesmanship demand that griev-
ances shall be patiently inquired into, aud
when it is found that vicious, or
oppressive, or discriminating legis-
lation has found its way upon our
statute books, it must be stamped out with
similar promptitude. The speaker said his
sympathies in this struggle are naturally
and properly with labor because it is the
weaker party'and not able to cope with its
adversary in the control of those forces
which silently but successfully mature
legislation. In its organization for an ag-
gressive fight with capital for the preserva-
tion of its rights and interests, it must pur-
sue its remedies by the peaceful methods of
thfc ballot and legislation, backed by a
public sentiment which will always come to
its support when convinced that its aims
and purposes are compatible with public
tranquillity.
The speaker closed by reiterating his
views and position on the question of pro-
hibition. as outlined in his interview with
the Waco correspondent of The News, and
devoted some time in reviewing the posi-
tion of Colonel Swain on the same question
from a ludicrous standpoint, illustrating
his opponent's straddle with happy effect.
The speech was attentively listened to
throughout, and his points were invariably
greeted with hearty cheers of approval.
General Ross was followed by Mr. Bryan
Barry, chairman of the state Democratic
executive committee, in a well-considered
speech, announcing his candidacy for the
office of lieutenant-governor, aud urging
upoD the Democracy the necessity for a
thorough organization of the party. •
He was followed by Colonel L. W. Ogles-
by, of Collin county, who announced him-
self as a candidate for state comptroller of
public accounts, and asked the support of
the citizens of Hopkins county, if, after in-
vestigation, they believe he came up to the
Jeffersonian standard capacity of honesty
and courage of his convictions.
At the close of the speaking the throngs
divided into groups and enjoyed the sub-
s'tantials and pleasantries of a basket meet-
ing. If one-half of what The News re-
porter gathered from all classes be true
the woods in this portion of the State are
on fire for Ross.
TERRELL HEARD FROM.
He Makes an Able Address to the Fannin Coun-
ty Democrats.
Special to The News.
Bonham, May 8.—Hon. A. W. Terrell ar-
rived in this city bythe noon train yester-
day. Last nigjit the Bonham brass band
serenaded him, when he, in a neat.-brief
speech, thanked them, but excused himself
from making any extended remarks, as he
was booked to address the people at the
court-house to-day. To-day the court-
house was crowded, at least 500 people
being present, who listened atten-
tively to his speech, which was able
and well received. This is the
first gun of the senatorial campaign, and as
it was fired in the lion's den and well ad-
vertised, most of the leading Democrats
of the county were here to witness its effect.
Judge Terrell has many admirers here, but
while there is some dissatisfaction with
General Maxey, this is his old home, the
bulk of the Democracy love him, and it is
safe to say that Fannin county is for Maxey
first, last and all the time.
BURIAL OF MR. HICXS.
The Old Family Coachman Translated as in a
Chariot 61 Fire.
New York Sun.
Mr. Hicks was a colored man. He lived
on a sugar plantation in Louisiana, where
he d*ove the family carriage and controlled
the team of gray mules, Tib and Lemon,
with a skill that won universal admiration.
He had begun the education of the mules in
their skittish and obstinate youth, and by
the time they had arrived at years of sober
discretion the understanding between the
three was such that they moved as
though with a single will, fired by
a common ambition. By this co-opera-
tion it was , that they succeeded
in conquering the difficulties of travel over
Louisiana roads. Other people gave up in
despair in the rainy season, and in Decem-
ber, when the roads were cut with the teams
hauling cane; but at all times when Sunday
came and " Miss Fanny " signified her de-
sire to go to church, twelve miles away,
John Hicks appeared promptly at the door,
and whqji other members of the family ex-
pressed doubts as to their ever reaching
the end of the journey he only smiled iu a
superior fashion and said . nothing—for
those three knew of what they were capa-
ble.
Mr. Hicks was of a saturnine tempera-
ment, and was gifted with a sort of shrewd-
ness and hard sense not uncommon to his
race. He was a " professor " and a leader
in all church affairs; an elder, and one who
had much religious experience.
He occupied one of the servants houses in
the yard of the " big house," aud through-
cut his last illness—borne with the grim pa-
tience with which he plunged into the very
worst holes in the bottomless roads—his
children never approached him. They calm-
ly stayed in the quarters, and he was left to
the ministrations of his mistress and the
house servants.
But that Sunday when he died, just at the
hour when he and Tib and Lemon usually
pulled up at the church door weary.splasheu,
nut triumphant, the news circulated quickly,
and before long his children came rushing
in wailing loudly.
No work was accomplished in the house
that day. Every one of the servants was
devoting his energies to "layin'out Brer
Hicks." Late iu the afternoon the family
was invited out to see him. On the bed iu
the great dingy cabin lay the old dead negro
arrayed all in black. A lamp burned dimly
in the half gloom. His face was bound
about with two napkins—one around the
brows and the other binding up the chin.
On his breast lay a till plate full of salt, and
a bowl of clean water was on the table at
his side. Of the meaning of these two last
no explr.nation could be obtained; they did
not know why, but they always did it.
Some relic of African superstition whose
significance has been lost.
By this time the house and yard were full
of negroes from this and all the neighboring
plantations, and a constant, exhortation was
kept up. The preacher burst into a frenzied
tangle of words, repeated agaiu and again:
"An' I saw a cha'iot! an' two anguls in
der cha'iot. A fie'y cha'iot! an' er flamiu'
•cha'iot! Dey comin'fer Brer Hicks. Gwine
tek him up ter heaven! "
At intervals he paused to gasp for breath-
while in a deep, full undertone all his audi-
ence cried, " Yts, Lawd!" and rocked them
selves back and forth. This went on until
nearly daylight of the next morning, one
preacner falling out of the ranks in exhaus-
tion, and another taking his place every
hour through the night.
All the next day until afternoon the house
was deserted and closed, but at 3 o'clock a
great assembly of negroes again conevned
for the burial. The coffin was nailed up and
placed In a little mule cart driven by a
lame old darky, who was regarded a per-
fect dare devil to undertake such a task, as
it is well known among the colored people
that one who goes before the dead on his
last journey will not be long in following
him.
Down the old plantation road they silent-
ly jolted in the fierce glare of an August
sun, followed by a great miscellaneous
throng of friends and relatives in every
conceivable absurdity of costumes The
poignancy of grief and the scale of rela-
tionship were expressed in the varying di-
mensions of the pocket handkerchief. Those
of his daughters were fully the size of a
towel.
Then the whole procession swept solemn-
ly into the graveyard—a grove of huge,
moss-grown live oaks on the borders of the
bayou. Hero and there a gray cross, rot-
ting and lichen-covered, showed amiu the
palmettos. A space had been cleared amid
the weids. where the grave was dug. When
the dead man's relatives caught sight of
this they burst into a long, wild cry, fol-
lowed by a barbaric chant, to the words of
one of their hymns.
The preacher took as his text the transla-
tion of Elijah in tlie fiery chariot.
" Yer all done seen how Brer Hicks been
drivin' Miss Fanny's carriage, an' how he
been tendin' Marse John's horses. He do
dat faithful, an' now the Lawd A'mighty
■say,'Brer Hicks, I want yer ter drive my
fiery cha'iot,' an' Brer Hicks done drive
deru fie'y an' er fiamin' horses straight up
ter heavin; dus same like he drive Tib
an' Lemon—kase de Lawd done put a
bit en deir mouths, an' er perfessen'
member in good standin', like Brer
Hicks, don' fine no mo' dif'culty en drivin'
de Lawd fie'y cha'ot den any dese
here thick-headed niggers does ter drive er
canewaggin. An'de Lawd's gwine ter sen'
comfort to dese here po' afflicted members
what done loss er good daddy. Dey hadn't
orter grieve arter him, case lie done gone
straight ter glory on Ab'ham's bosom; an'
right now he got er crown an' er harp, tin'
no mo' tears in his eyes, an' settin' on a
white satin stool eatin' bananas."
The preacher paused for breath, and,
picking up a handful of earth, said sol-
emnly:
"Derefo, 1 say, brethren, earth ter earth
an' dus' ter dus'; all do likewise."
Every one dropped in earth, and while
the gri.'ve was being dug Brer Hicks's two
daughters began to writhe and scream and
1 eat themselves, and were only restrained
by their friends from getting into the
grave.
"Oh, no mo', po' daddy! no mo' po*
daddy! Oh, Lawd, lemme git in de hole! I
don't want ter live no mo'. Oh, Lawd
Gawd A'mighty, no mo', po' daddy!'over
•and over, until the grave was filled and the
preacher cried: " Brer Hicks done gone to
tine der angels, oh, Gawd! ter res'on de
bosom er Ab'iiam, oh, Lawdl" The crowd
took up the sentiment and repeated its wail,
with the same slow rise and fall, until half
the women were carried out in convulsions.
Suddenly their energy seemed to wane.
They left the graveyard hurriedly, bun-
dled, laughing and joking, into the empty
cart. The women came out of their convul-
sions, and the crowd streamed cheerfully
home to the quarters to supper. A little
cool west wind came out from under the
sinking sun and lightly flashed the swords
of the palmettos and waved the long, hang-
ing moss over the grave where Mr. Htcks
lay quiet and forgotten.
A Man with Brains and Conscience
will drop petty prejudices carelessly picked
up when truth knocks at the door. Such are In-
v ited to try one pair ot " Italian's " shoes. We
know the result. Sold by
FLATTO & BRO.
TnE attention of medical men in France
has been directed to a new sleep-producing
drug, called liypnone, a distilled mixture of
acetate of lime with benzoate of lime. It
is claimed that the new drug produces none
of the unpleasant after-symptoms of opium.
A LITTLE SUFFERER
Cleansed, Purified and Beautified by
the Cuticura Remedies.
It affords me pleasure to give vou this re-
port of tlie cure of our little grandchild by
your Cuticuka Kkmediks. When six months
old his left hand began to swell and had every
appearance of a large boil. We poulticed it,
but all to no purpose. About live months af-
ter it became a running sore. Soon other sores
formed, lie then had two of them on each
hand, and as his blood became more and more
impure it took Jess time for them to break out.
A sore came on the chin, beneath the under
lip, which was very offensive. Ilis head was
one solid scab, discharging a great deal. Tnis
was his condition at twenty two months old,
when 1 undertook the care of him, his mother
having died when he was a little more than a
year old, of consumption (scrofula, of course),
lie could walk a little, but could not get up if
lie fell down,and could not move when in bed,
having no use of his hands. 1 immediately
commenced with thS Cuticura Remedies,
using the Cuticura and Cuticura Soap freely,
and when he had taken one bottle of the Cuti-
cura Resolvent, his head was completely
cured, and he was improved in every way. We
were very much encouraged, and continued
the use of the remedies for a year and a half.
One sore after another healed, a bony matter
forming in each one of these five deep ones
just before healings which would finally grow
loose and were taken out; then they would
heal rapidly. One of these ugly bone forma
tions I preserved. After taking a d ">zen and a
lialf bottles he was completely cured, and is
now, at the age of six years, a strong and
healthy child. The scars on his hands must
always remain; his hands are strong, though
we once feared he would never be able to lise
them. All the physicians did for him did him
no good. All who saw the child before usimr
the Cuticura Remedies and see the child no<v
consider it a wonderful cure. It the abovo
facts are ot any use to you, you are at liberty
to lite them. MRS. K. S. DKKiGS,
May i>, 18^0. 812 E. Clay St., liloomington, III.
The child was really in a worse condition
than he appeared to his grandmother, who,
being with him every daw became accustomed
to the disease. MAGGIE HOPPING.
Cuticura Remedies are sold everywhere.
Cuticura,the great Skin Cure, 50c; Cuticuu v
Soap, an exquisites Skin Reautifler, )2nc; Cuti-
cura Resolvent,the new Rlooi Purifier, ?1 00.
Prepared by the Potter Drug and Chemical
Co., Boston, Mass.
Send for " How to Cure Skin Diseases."
rm/^TTlNG. Scaly, Pimply and Oily Skin
± JL vXI beautitied by Cuticura Soap.
' backache; weakness.
Uterine Pains, Soreness and Lame-
ness speedily cured by that new,
original, elegant and infallible an-
tidote to pain and inflammation, the
Cuticuka anti-Pain Plaster. At
druggist*. 25c,
Issued Simultaneously Every Bay
in the Year at
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The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 45, No. 14, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 9, 1886, newspaper, May 9, 1886; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth461099/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.