The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-07
ALIAS CHARTER BILL.
Hectious to It Have Been Filed With the
Governor. y
INSTITUTION WAS PLAINLY VIOLATED.
7. Alleged, Both by Failure 10
Property Advertise ana TO Read
Fully in the House.

Austin. Texas, May 6.--The following
pcuments have been nlsd with the Cover
n anent the Dallas charter amendment
n by members OF the house who are pro-
listing against its approval;
Before me, notary public In and for
rayis county. this day appeared Hon.
NJ. Kennedy. who after being by me
lly sworn, deposes and says. AS mem
er of the Twenty sixth legislature, was
a meeting OF the Twenty leglsla-
IRE on March IL, 1899, when house bill
o. Sl2, known as the Dallas charter came
h for consideration. Myself and a number
i other members called for the reading of
he bill 1t being voluminous document
nearly one hundred printed pages, con-
Inning such unusual provisions that the
sadlng thereof became a vital necessity.
The reading clerk proceeded to read the
An. and did read in regular order the first
xteen pages when of his own free will
+ at the suggestion of others, or under in
truction as given by some one unknown
b myself. said clerk skipped and refused
b read some sixty or more pages OF this
III, Notwithstanding the protests OF my
Ell and several other members, and our
ppeal TO the speaker TO compel the clerk
o read the same. The speaker declined to
ompel the clerk to read the bill stating
Sfficer. and not responsible to him for his
onduct The reading of this bill and the
failure to read the sixty pages mentioned
re known to me to be facts, because /
moved near the clerks desk, and with a
eopy of the bill before me, followed him
3 ord after word, and line after line, in
IBIS reading Our efforts at subsequent
"a ines when the bill was before the house
70 have the same read as the constitution
ha ffop
Skipped contained unusual and dangerous
u rants OF power The foregoing selection
FROM the Journal In this petition to which
This affidavit is attached have been read
#by me, and they are correct accounts OF
4 he proceedings therein recited. and known
to me to be true. A. NJ, Kennedy
n Subscribed and sworn to before me this
18th day OF May, A. D.. 1899. G. r. Hill,
NOTARY Public In and for Travis County,
Texas.
K To His Excellency. Joseph D. sayers, Gov
n ernor of Texas:
We, the undersigned representatives of
fthe following districts. respectfully urge
THAT house bill No 342, the same being an
4 act to incorporate the olty of Dallas do
T not become a law, for the following rea-
fsons among others:
stance of local bills be published in the
notice of application therefor. The print
ed copy OF the notice of this bill states in
substance that the proposed charter CON
Rtains what it now contains This is not
tonly failure to notify the people OF the
substance of the proposed law, but 1t is,
on the contrary, misleading. in that it
means, IL anything, that the charter pro-
posed was the same as that In existence.
This Is not the case. The new bill pre-
cents the commission feature. changes the
4 form OF government in almost every i'm
Bportant particular, embodying important
delegations of power, which must, II 1t be-
/ comes a law. supercede the State law, and
give the city of Dallas permission to regu-
late and promote many violations OF our
criminal statutes. The many other inno-
vations under the guise of charter privi-
leges are too numerous to mention In de-
tail. and none of these important changes
and Innovations of law have ever In sub
Stance been published, and the notice re-
quired by the law is not only misleading,
but wholly silent as TO the true substance
OF this bill.
We do not believe In the theory OF a
government by commissioners. II has
never prevailed in this State TO any con-
siderable extent since the incumbency OF
E J Davis. whose various appointees to
power In the cities of the State OF Texas
gave him an absolute dictatorship In the
policy OF our government that has never
been equaled aud has ever been condemned
in democratic councils.
The appointment OF commissioners, ns
provided for in the Dallas charter is. we
believe, dangerous Innovation, because il
Is not contemplated by democratic poll
cies and 1t places in the hands of the COM
missioners q dangerous power They owe
their appointment not to the people whom
they rule, but to centralized source for
eign to those people. II this system was
adopted In every city In the state of Texas
and this appointed commission had the
power TO discharge at will the members Of
the police force members of the fire COM
rany. together with their chiefs, who are
elective officers II would form one 9f the
most dangerous and powerful political ma
chimes that has ever been conceived or
centriyed under a republican form Of gov
eminent, one that would unerringlY and
continually turn the force of its psrsus-
slon and the influence Of It's power ~ it's
centralized source of creation at Austin.
Ana we respectfully submit that we do not
believe this condition Is desired either by
me people of Texas or the governors of
our State.
s. This hill has never legally passed the
nouse Of representatives, but was rushed
tnroush under conditions taSt ought not to
DC tolerated in any legislative body, and
must be condemned by every person who
oesires that propriety and purity in legis-
lallon Witch must be hid before our laws
can be said to be a lust expression of the
representatives. of the people.
pn March 2S the following point OF
orier was read. as shown by the journal Of
that day:
Question next REQUIRED on engross-
ment Of the bill whereupon Mr.. Ken
neQy rose TO point OF order and said: