The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-02-14
WHAT MAY WE EXPECT?

ng ldWl"SSneSS anu crime. InlS IL
lid probably in Difference to his eX
pressed desire to have money placed
at his disposal for such purposes; but,
what is he going to dolwith it? The
as we have heretofore
shown, has no more power to suppress
laWlessness and crime now than he |
has had. Our constitution and our
laws have clothed him as but few ex-
ecutives in any country are clothed;
he is the commander-in-chief of all
the military forces of the state, regu-
lar and volunteer; he has had the
power to employ any Of these troops,
of any grade, in suppressing lawless-
ness and crime anywhere within
the limits of the state;
the governor of Texas has often eXer-
cised this power by ordering out the
military and by employing detectives
to ferret out crime and bring crimi-
nails to the bar of justice. Under the old
and the new constitution this power
has been fully exercised when occa-
sion required. Under the present con-
stitution Gov. Hubbard employed the
military to look after disturbances in
Northern Texas and to hunt robber
bands, while Gov. Roberts found moth
ing in his way to place the military
and detectives in the field when the
peace and dignity of the state and the
welfare of communities demanded.
We have heretofore shown how
governors have at all times had the
right to act in emergencies, and how
they have not heSitated to do so even
when they have not had money appro-
priated for their use in such cases.
Why Governor Ireland did not eXer-
else the power granted him to sup
press lawlessneSS and crime in the
case of fence-cutting is one of the
things not explained, and which can
never be explained to the satisfaction
of anybody, unless his strange excuses
be accepted as truth. The constitu-
ton and the laws give the gov
ernor the power to suppress law
lessness and crime, and, though
he solemnly stated to the contrary. the
legislature had already provided him
with all the money necessary for the
exercise of this power. He refused to
use mony given him for the suppress
ion of fence cutting, and for as uDac-
countable reasons he may still refuse
to use it. The Eighteenth Legislature
at its regular session, III 1888, acting
under Gov. Ireland, appropriated
$4,000 ''for the protection of the
frontier and for the suppression of
lawlessness and crime" Certain regu-
lar troops were placed at his dis
posal for protecting the frontier
and for suppressing lawlessness and
crime, and these, proving inadequate
at any time, he had the additional
power to employ armed men to ope-
rate against any lawless element, or
combination of men. Besides, he
could, under the provision named
above, employ, as other governors
have done, detectives to ferret out
crime and to detect violators of peace
and order, to hunt down organized
fence cutting bands-tnese defiers of
law, these organized rebels against the
power and authority of the state. Said
the governor, Il have exhausted every
means at my command" to stop
the terrible evil, and vet it is known
in spite of this declaration, that he did
absolutely nothing when empowered
to do all that was necessary. Let us
/ be generous enough to say that the
governor was not attemptingto deceive
the public in such declaration, but
that he was incompetent to under
stand or to comprehend the powers of
the states chief executive that he
did not in reality know what he ought
to do. But here we are led to reflect
upon his course when the befuddled
justice called for aid in suppressing
the alleged negro Instruction at
Cause. When not a gun had been
fired, when not a drop of
bleed hadbbeeeefh spilled sF led, when a few few
negroes were assembled simply to
raise funds to build a house of wor-
ship to their Maker, he walked the
echoes in telegraph offices in all parts
of the state, calling men to arms, and
he did this on the authority given in
that appropriation of $150,O0O for
frontier defence and for the "snppres-
sion of lawlessness and crime" At
that very time he knew there were Or
ganized bands of fence-cutters oper-
ating in various parts of the state, in
the detection of whom and to sup
press lawlessness and crime detectives
could have been by the same author
lty successfully employed. None
will deny that the detection and appre-
hension IF few of these bands would
have put an end to fence cutting in
Texas, and that such suppression of
crime would have saved numerous
lives and millions of property, while
the zeal displayed in the Cause affair
brought ridicule upon the state.
Again, when some lawless men were
arrayed against each other at McDade
the governor did not hesitate to inter-
fere in an effort to prevent bloodshed
when no property was involved.
He ordered troops to the scene.
and he derived his power to do so
under the constitution and under that
same law OF the Eighteenth Legisla-
ture which granted him money to
suppress "lawlessness and crime" A
military company at BRENNAN and
one at Hampstead, were ordered to
McDade, and the vouchers now in the
comptroller's Office show that the per
diem and the expense Of transporta-
ton and meals for the men were paid
out of the appropriation of $4,000
above referred to. This occurred De-
cember %, 1883, and at that
very time, and previous to and
subsequent to it, the knights of the
nippers, fully organized, were plying
their life taking and property DESTROY
ing practices in all parts ofithe state.
Where lies the difference between ex-
ecutlve interference at Gauze and at
McDade and where the nipper bands
insulted the dignity and peace of the
state in destroying lives and millions
of property? The povernor