The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-05-31


nation of your honor.
Third-That from the said application
and affidavit of the said C. L. Fisher, it is
made to appear that the said j. G. De
Gress is not citizen of Texas and not
entitled to hold the said Office under the
laws and constitution of the state of
Texas, he being an officer, as alleged, Of
the army of the United States.
Wherefore, l respectfully ask permits
sion from your honor authorizing me to
file i'll the district court of Travis county,
an information against the said j. @. De-
Gress, for the purpose on inquiring by
what right and authority he holds and
exercises the said office, which said in
formation is hereto attached for the full
information of your honor, the same be
ing in the nature of quo warranto
which with your honor's permission pro-
pose ~ file in this court,
JAS. II. ROBERTSON,
District Attorney, Twenty-sixth judicial
district, Texas.
In the name and by the authority of the State of
Iu the district court of Travis county,
"dICu TURN, n ~ 1000 uO ~ IbO vi
Texas now on this day comes, by Jas. H
Robertson its representative, he being the
district attorney of the twenty-sixth
judicial district of said state, and
with leave of the court first
had and obtained, files now this
information in the nature of quo war
ranto, at the instance and upon the re-
lation of G. L. Fisher, voter, citizen and
tax payer of the city of Austin, Texas,
who also has a direct interest in the ad
ministration of the municipal goAernment
of the said city of Austin, and would
respectfully show to the court:
First-That the city of Austin is the
seat of government of the state of Texas
and the county seat of Travis county, in
said state, being situated In said county,
being Incorporated under the laws of the
state of Texas by the name of "The City
of AUSTIN that said corporation was so
created aud existing, and was in the full
exercise of its corporate powers on the
9th day of December, A. D. 1887, and for
several years anterior thereto had existed
and now exists as corporation by virtue
of the public laws of said state.
Second-That by virtue of the laws of
the state of Texas, under which the said
city of Austin is incorporate d, the said
corporation was authorized on the 9th
day of December, A. d. 1887, the same
being the first Monday of said month, to
elect a mayor and one alderman from
each ward of said city, out of, and from
its citizens having certain qualifications
defined by law, and no other persons.
Third-That on the said 9TH day of De-
cember, A. d. 1887, the same being the
first Monday in said month, an election
was held in said city for the purpose of
electing mayor and one alderman from
each of the ten wards of said city, at
which said election one J.C. d, Gress, with
others, offered himself as candidate for
alderman for the eighth ward of said city;
that the votes cast at said election being
co Inted by the city council, the result for
the office of alderman of the said Eighth
ward showed that the said j. G. DeGress
received a majority of all the votes cast in
said ward for said office of alderman of
said city, and said j. C. DeGress was de-
clared, officially, by said city council, to
be duly elected alderman for the Eighth
ward for said city of Austin for the term
of two years, commencing on or about the
- day of December, A. d. 1887, and on
or about the said - day of December,
A. d. 1877, the said j. G. DsGress unlaw-
fully took upon himself the said Office of
alderman of said ward of said city of Aus
tin, and from the date last mentioned
down to the present time the said j. G.
DaGres5 has been, by intrusion and usur-
patton, in possession, and has held and
used and exercised the said Office of al
derman of the Eighth ward of said city
participating in the deliberations of the
city council of SAID city as one of its
members, voting upon questions to be de-
cided by said body and doing and per-
forming, unawfully, all the acts which, by
law, a lawful alderman from said ward
could alone do and perform.
That the said office of alderman from
said ward is an office of trust under the
constitution and laws of the state of
Texas.
Fourth-That the state of Texas would
further show and give the court to under
stand and be informed that the acts of the
voters of the said Eighth ward of the said
city in voting for the said j. c. DeGress
at the said election, and the act of the
said j. c. DeGress in offering himself to
be voted for for aldermen, as aforesaid,
and the acts of the said city council in
counting the votes so cast for him, as
aforesaid, and declaring him elected to
said office, and the acts of the said De
Gress in intruding himself into said Office
at the time named, and in exercising,
using and performing the duties of said
office from the date of his qualification
thereto, as aforesaid, down to the present
time, are and we're all, each and
every one of them at the time
when they were done, unlawful and
prohibited by law and null and void.
That at the date of the said cleo ion and
long prior thereto and at the date of his
intrusion into the said office of alderman,
as aforesaid. after said result had been as
certained, and from that date down to the
present time, the said j. @. DeGress was
aud is an army officer in the army of the
United States of America, subject to the
the rules and regulations governing that
army, receiving pay and compensation as
such from the said United States at the
rate of $3.50 per annum, and holding
rank in said army as captain of cavalry
on the retired list of the said army of the
United States, that the said rank and Office
Is lucrative Office under the said govern