The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-04-28

constitution remains in force, mobs
and murderers shall receive special
attention to their discomforture.
When they show their heads in de-
fiance of law; with the constitutional
obligation resting upon me 1 need no
instructions as to my course. If men
are to be tried and executed by mobs,
then the weak and friendless will be
at the mercy of the strong and power
full. haveno smiles for mobs and
murderers, nor shall 1 ever expect
truce with them. So long as I am
govesnor l shall exercise the consti-
tutional power and exhaust all the
money placed at my command if nec-
essary to suppress and bring them to
justice. If the people do not like their
laws, let them so instruct their rep.
resentatives and have them modified
or repealed. This is the proper course,
but they should never call on an Off
Ger to disobey any law, for that leads
to anarchy.
OPPOSITION CHARGES.
Those who would make any sacri-
flee to defeat me have been indus
trious since my Inauguration as gov
ernor in making charges. In this
they are excusable, for it seems their
calm reason has been dethroned to
give place to inflamed passion. They
charge that l have been sectional in
my appointments, when the truth is
the offices have been equitably dis
tributed over the state; that 1 have
appointed dozens of men from Tyler
and Smith county, when the fact is
havea ppointed only one from there;
that l would not appoint my enc
mics, as if they had applied for the
offices and capable friends had not;
that my administration created two
hundred new state offices, when the
truth is the legislature created only
ten, consisting of three railroad COM
missioners, one revenue agent, three
commissioners to codity the laws, and
three commission OF appeals judges;
that no ex-COntederate could get Of
flee under me, when, out of the twen-
ty-seven leading officers appointed,
nineteen of them were Confederate
soldiers, and the remaining eight are
sons of ex-Confederates; that / have
appointed my kin people when
the records show that not
one of them holds or ever held
Office by, under or through me; that
am demagogue; yet in the next
breath they say that L am despou
and ignore the people: that my ad-
ministration is extIavagant, when the
facts show a reduction of general rev.
enue taxes % per cent, the
payment of the public debt incurred
over twenty years ago by the Republi-
can administration. That have paid
out large sums for rewards and to
prosecute criminals, when the records
show that during the year paid
about SO 900 out of the SIS 900 set apart
for that purpose; and further, the in
terest on amounts collected from de-
linquents will foot the bills; that my
administration caused the financial
depression, when well posted, truth
full men admit and the record
show it that the crash be-
gan by heavy failures in Europe and
reached New York where money went
up to twenty-five per cent. in October
before my election. That caused the
low price of cotton, when it is and has
been as high in Texas as any other
state. That money is scarce in the
state, when nearly every bank has
money to loan on good security. That
cheap money has been driven from
the state and interest made high,
when the truth is, borrowers as a rule
always paid ten per cent, and there
is plenty of honey to be had at that
rate. That factories have been closed
and people are starving, when the
truth is there is ten new ones in oper-
alton in the state for every one shut
down; and there is not now, has never
been, and will never be starving peo-
pie in Texas unless corporate avarice
and rapacity take the bread from
their mouths.
The logic Of the situation produced
by results that must be clear to every
one makes the pivotal point on which
this campaign must turn the question
of the supremacy of the corporations
or the people. The question is, shall
the creators or the creatures control?
My work as attorney general, added
to my utterances of the last campaign
and the execution of my duties as gov
ernor has Threatened" the personal
liberty" of corporations; hence they
must fight. They must resort to the
''first law of nature In times past
natural persons advocated personal
liberty and opposed paternalism as to
themselves. Now such terms are the
playwords of the corporations. When
called on to obey the law they sing
out in high key, personal liberty
''paternalism." Natural persons
create the government, bind it to.
gether by a constitution and make
laws to give affect to public
affairs. In obedience to the demand
of public interest the government OF
the people, through some law, create
corporations. They are authorized fol
the public good. AS to them the gov
eminent is the creator and they the
creatures. The people are natural
persons, having the right of personal
liberty, while the corporations are ar
tificial persons, having the right of IL
cense only by some law. This is the
same old fight of two years ago and
the corporations are not whipped.
They are sulking, pouting and strik-
ing for personal liberty" Give them
liberty" and "turn them loose"-
from the law. Freedom, not law;
monopoly, not regulation, is what
L