The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 443
562 p. : ill. (some col.), ports., maps (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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What James Stephen Hogg Means to Texas
devotion to the task could become experts in the matters within
their jurisdiction. Accordingly, in 1890 Jim Hogg sought and
obtained the nomination of governor principally upon the plank
of the creation of a railroad commission. Following his election
as governor, he succeeded in having the railroad commission
created through constitutional amendment and, what is of prob-
ably equal importance, he assured the success of the commission
by persuading United States Senator John H. Reagan to resign
his office at Washington in order to be the first chairman of the
new commission.
At this time, almost sixty years later we are not so much
interested in the specific accomplishments of Governor Hogg's
administration as in its general objectives and over-all effects.
Governor Hogg's administration was a part of an epoch of almost
unrestrained corporate expansion and reckless exploitation of our
natural resources. Governor Hogg's view was that this almost
boundless expansive energy should be guided by wise laws to
insure the public good rather than the enrichment of only a
favored few. He was not, however, in any sense an opponent of
the sound growth of commerce and industry. In order to encour-
age Eastern capital to come to Texas, he journeyed to Philadel-
phia, New York, and Boston, where he made eloquent speeches
pointing out the natural riches of Texas and explaining its laws.
Governor Hogg was deeply interested in public education,
although he himself had been denied its benefits. In this, as in
other matters of importance, his clarity of vision and his willing-
ness to state the facts plainly were truly remarkable. In his first
message to the legislature, in 1891, he said:
The proposition, narrowed down to the line of candor, is that if the
people ever expect to have an efficient system of public free schools,
they must prepare to pay for it. Resort to sophistries and subterfuges
may disguise the truth, but its essence and effect will nevertheless
remain. Unmask the facts, deal candidly, let the truth be known, and
if the people revolt at the situation, they alone have the power to
change it. No greater principle was ever uttered than when our
fathers said that "unless the people are educated and enlightened,
it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty or the capacity of
self-government." . An efficient system of public schools is the
growth of years, the work of ability and experience, and above all443
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952, periodical, 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101139/m1/545/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.