Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-28
THE TEXAS FIGHT.
Chairman Trammell Wires q Letter
Explaining the Georgia COM
mission.
What II Has Done-AlIlance President Living
ston Talks, Explaining that He is
sseNF For the Commission.
Atlanta Constitution.

| candidates in the field-all Democrats,
but divided on the railroad commission
| question.
The commission is, at bottom, the is
sue. The candidates are all good men,
of intelligence and unimpeachable char
acter, but some favor commission and
| some do not; some want commission
with pleuary powers, and some want one
with limited powers. There are all
| shades of opinion on the commission
! question, and all shades are ably repre-
sented.
''It is great compeign, - said Mr..
| d. e. Bentley of the Merkel Mail, who
came all the way TO Georgia TO study
| the commission question, "a campaign
more Of meas ures than of men. There
are no personalities involved-only a
| question of policy tor the state. 1t is a
| question that comes home to the people.
| Railroad development is what they want,
and anything that affects that rouses
Texas.
The state is stirred from center TO cir
| conference, and the campaign is on from
now till November. 1t is square fight
| on the commission question, and there
are able men on both sides. The strong
est men of the state are in the campaign.
II is great season for Oratory in Texas.
| Ne have men there who are the peers of
laeny orators in any country, and they are
all on the stump
s. ats pretty good job to stump the
state of Texas, ism I it?
''You are right. You can travel 900
miles in crossing the state. IL takes you
thirty-six hours, about the same time it
takes to go from here to New York;
day aud two nights.
''But they have that immense terri
tory-as' big as half dozen of your
states-so well organized that there will
not be town or hamlet that will not
hear q speech on both sides of the ques-
ton.
''Oratory,'' continued Mr.. Bently
enthusiastically, els being developed all
over the state. 1t is abundant every
where. Even the constables are stump
ing their beats on the commission qCes-
ton. We have justices of the peace who
will entertain a crowd of 1000 people.
The same issue runs through all the leg
islative elections. If the August con-
vention at San Antonio makes the es-
Enlistment of railroad commission a
plank in the Democratic platform, there
will be no more cavil about it; but if the
convention simply dominates man and
leaves the commission question open,
then the fight goes on before the people
upon the constitutional amendment. -
"'Tell us something about the candi-
dates. -
"'There are four-AttorneY-G General
Hogg, Lieutenant Governor Wheeler,
Land Commissioner Hall and Judge Gus
tave Cook.
"Hogg is a large, fine-looking man.
He is portly and weighs about 800 pounds,
an able man and active. He started this
issue and favors a commission with plenty
of powers.
EWheeler is a nlce-lookiDg man of
fifty, very pleasant man, and one who
has been remarkably lucky IN politics.
He has filled a number of important
offices, from the mayoralty of Austin up
TO the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS He ia
vors a commission with limited powers.
Hall is the young man in the race,
about thirty five. He is man of fine
intelligence, and has filed the land office
with efficiency. He also favors COM
mission of limited pow ers.
Judge Cook is the oldest man in the
race-probably fifty or titty-five. He is
a distinguished jurist and statesman and
a speaker OF reputation-the best speaker
in the lot. He is a straightout anti
commission man.
CAN these men claim to be Democrats
and they are all men of unimpeachable
character. The race has brought out the
tHiepi of Texas.
s4ssS hen left Hogg was in the lead.
re has been out the longest and has
canvassed the state. They are running
for a nomination by the Democratic con-
vention. Despite all this agitation there
is no chance for Republican. The
candidates will all abide the nomina-
tion of the convention which meets at
San Antonio on the 18th of August.
hIn this convention there Will be
something over 900 delegates and the
nomination is made by the two-thirds
rule. 1t takes COZ or 603 votes to nomi-
nate. The probability is that Hogg will
go into the convention with a majority of
the instructed votes, but 1t is altogether
a problematicaI question whether he will
be elected. -
"what arguments are being used
against commission
1.-The opposition to the commission
grows out of the fact that they believe a
new state like Texas needs railroads
more than a commission. In other
WOrus, we ueeu ueVelOpIn6tlI. Inc pre-
vailing impression is that commission
would check this development and in
fiuence OF tside capital unfavorabIy -
''Who is making the fight against the
commission
''Judge Cook, the anti-commission
candidate, is backed by some of the very
strongest men in the state; men like
Judge George Clark of Waco, the ac-
knowledged Warwick of Texas Democ-
racy, who has made and unmade more
governors in convention than any man in
Texas. Then there is Judge A. 7. Watts,
one of the ex-supreme court judges. The
chairman of the anti-oommission ex-
ocutive committee is the Hon. Bryan
Barry, eX-chairman of the state Demo-
cratic executive committee.
1.-THE field is being thoroughly worked
by both sides on the stump, through
printed matter, by workers in all the
counties and by organization. The press
of the state is divided. My impression is
that the Fort Worth GAZETTE is on the
commission side. The Dallas Morning
News and the Galveston News, the
Houston Post and the San Antonio Ex-
press do not favor a commission.
The Constitution has received num-