The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1873-09-13

auln declare o0f principles and ppl
les md nsk tof lhon The poltillt ~
proVal. And
I. We declare 0if ndlcsion 10 The
time honorcd principles or thc Demo.
cratic party; our dcfoIion 10 popular
liberty regulated hy l0S; and 10 constl-
tullonal government eimplc IN ma
clIlney, and IL bo adlnlniscd with the
slrictpsi economy
IT.. We congratulate the pcopl" Of
Texas on tie repeal by the Thirteenth
Legislature Of n number of the opprcS-
sivc, odlous mud unconstitutional nct',
passed. by the Twelfth Legislature, IN
pursuance Of tho Radical policy To
overthrow the government of tho peo-
pie, and among which acts were:
|. The IIilitia Law, whereby the
Governor was authorized to suspend
the writ of habcNs corpus and establish
martial law, thereby dGpriYing The cit
liens Of all legal and constitutional pro-
lection, and suhiccting their lives, lit
erty and property 10 the unrcstrained
caprice and malignty of partisan
Executive.
>. The Police Bill, designed and in
tended among other things, to create IL
system of secret espionage, by bird i'll
formers upon the people, at war with
the principles Of civil liberty, odious to
all frecmcn, and heretofore tolerated
only in the dcspotism Of the old world,
and the execution of which acts WINS,
for the most part, entrusted to II class
of men Of degraded and infamous char
aatcr.
! 3. The Enabling Act, Hndcr which
/ the Governor was authorized 80 APP
point district attorneys who were made
tive by the Constitution, to ap
point all municipal offers, and to i'll
/ all vacancic. that might occur in the
Offices OF clerks and shcritis, thereby
dcsignr,lly bestowing on him great
power and patronage, TO enable him to
continue Radical mis!'ulC over this PEG
| pie.
L. The registration and election laws,
which were framed and intended fol
the purpose of preventing free and fair
elections; they openly encouraged the
perpetration of frauds to defeat the Will
of the people, and TO perretuatc Radl-
cal misrule, presenting to our people
the ordinary and humiliating spectacle
of surrounding the places of regiStra
ton and voting with an armed parti-
san police with which to intmidate and
overawe the citizens.
5. The act relating 10 public free
schools, which, among many other bad
features, provided the means of ena-
bling public officials to speculate IN
school books, in the building and fur
niture of school bouses, in the salaries
of teachers, and furnished high sala-
ries for large and uacless number OF
officers, which gave the Radical party
the means to pay their political mis-
scenarios, who travelled for Radical
purposes and frauds from one end OF
the state to the other.
III. And we further congratulate the
people of Texas that the Democratic
leaders Of the Thirteenth Legislature,
so far rs it was possible to accomplish
their object, in presenccof the captiou-
vetocs of the Governor and the oppo-
sition of his partisans in the Senate,
replaced the foregoing obnoxious, re-
pealcd measures, by just and whole
some laws, bearing alike on all, and
which, if honestly and faithfully exc
cuted, will rebound to the lasting good
of the country and prosperity of the
people.
". The Democratic party, when il
comes into the possession of the gov
crnmcnt of the State, will administer
it in the interest and for the benefit of
the whole people, and not of Il party;
and, however much we may have been
provoked to hostile and rctaliatory
legislation, by the outrages committed
on us by the Radical Legislature and
State government, it will be II part OF
our great mission to rise superior to
our Just resentments, and administer
the government in such manner that
every citizen, whatever his politics,
religion, nationality or color, shall feel
that he is securely protected in his life,
liberty and property.
V. The school fund, sacredly set
apart for the education of the children
of the State, has, under the operation
of the nisrule of the party in power,
been plundered by peculation, squan-
dered and perverted to political pur-
poses. The Democratic party, through
us, reaflirms its past opinion and the
| policy it has ever pursued, that it is the
bounden duty of the State to maintain
an efficient system of free common
schools, and secure the means of 4
common education to every child III
the State; and we advocate the gradual
sale of the alternate sections of land
belonging To the common school fund;
as also of the asylum and university
lands, under such restrictions as will
secure the funds arising therefrom to
the purposes for which they were ill.,
tended, aud giving in such sales proper
preferences to actual settlers in good
faith thereon.
vi. 1t was the Democratic party
which first inaugurated the wise and
generous policy which has made the
United States the asylum of all nations
from oppressive government and less
favorable means of livelihood and in
dependence; and the Democratic party
of Texas, true TO the carly teachings
and uniform practices of the party, adj
vocates the most liberal and active pol