The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-03-19

| the leading stockmen of the State, often
| envelOping and shutting in the smaller
herdsmen and excluding them from ac
cess to the water courses. This produced
an organized system of fence cutting
which was extended to lawful owners
as well as to intruders upon public lands
and so outrageous and universal had
grown this evil that the governor conven
ed an extra session of the legislature in
this species of lawlessness Stringent
and efficient laws were enacted for its
suppression, which the governor eXecut
ed with his characteristic promptness
and vigor; and even this was sought tC
be used to his prejudice and to impair
his popularity. But the mate justice OF
the people approved and appreciated alike
his motives and his official acts, and al
the Houston convention in August, 1854
he was unanimously re-nominated, and
was reelected by majority vote of more
than 100000.
1t has been truly said that there are
times when even the virtues of men pro
woke hostility; as Tacitus expressed 1t
nee minus periculum ex magma favll
guam ex malo." But Governor Ireland
never once swerved from his prin.
ciples on the line of his conscious recti
tude to conciliate his enemies or to soften
opposition. But with motives based upon
principle. not policy, he has at all times
boldly proclaimed his views and fearless
" practiced the precepts of his convic-
ton and the dictates of his Judgment. llt
abided that the public appreciation which
never fails to do justice to noble ends at.
tanned by pure motives and upr'gh'
means.
He was a man of rare self-respcctinP
dignity, and possessed the virtues OF
steady independence and sober reliance
which never spring from commonplace
mind. Starting in life amid circumstances
by which thousands of our brightest gen
fuses have been overwhelmed, he. noercd
through the clouds of Ohscurity and hay
ing once caught glimpse of possibility
he fixed an answering aim upon success
and in the prime of life his sterling traits
of character bore him onward to the
achievement of usefulness and merit.
His career was one of incessant labor.
at the bar inseduously pursuing the inter
ests of his clients, in the thorough pre-
paration of his cases. in the study Of
both sides of every questionable POSSIBLE
tiles of defeat, as well as the possibilities
of success; on the bench, in the indefatig-
able search for the true principles of jus.
tice, and in the executive chair, in con
scientious efforts to perform the duties
of his office in the promotion Of the pub.
lie veal. He had an abiding faith and
lofty pride in the great destiny of his
State, and his official course. while I'M
warped by the demands of faction. sought
to harmonic the varied and often con
hicting interests of the great common
wealth over which he presided.
Governor Ireland was a thorough Dem
ocrat of the pure .Jeffersonian school. firm.
conservative and honest in his conviction.
he threw the open banner of his principles
to the public view. and while yielding full
accord to the political changes really af-
fected by the civil war, he was tenderly
mindful of the rights of his State, and
cherished ready endeavor to promote its
welfare in spite of faction and independ-
ent of Federal remissness.
Taught from his earliest youth in the
school of self-reliance and Independent
action, Governor Ireland kept his own
counsel and pandered to no element of So
ciety. He was man of iron will and In
his official capacity acknowledged no
suzrainty but the requirements of law,
the demands of duty, the dictates of his
own judgment and the welfare OF the
State. His manners were dignified and
reserved. yet he was generous and KIND
in his disposition, and true friend to
those who gained his respect and conf
dence. There was nothing Ostentatious
or artificial in his character. but solid and
practical in his intellectual composition,
his conduct was impressed with the quail
tiles of his mind, and he preserved a
steady equanimity in both.
!, To say that he was devoid of strong