The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 509
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Decimus et Ultimus Barziza
with a clear, ringing voice and the dramatic quality highly
developed." He was said to have been addressed generally by his
intimates and professional associates as "Bar.""
In the fourteenth legislature, Barziza took the lead in seeking
to call a convention for a new state constitution.88
Late in 1875, he was re-elected by the voters of Harris County"'
and at the opening of the fifteenth legislature, he was a strong con-
tender for the speakership."8
During the fifteenth legislature, Barziza and a strong minority
group clashed bitterly with the majority over a bill"8 designed to
give the Texas 8c Pacific Railway Company an extension of time
for complying with requirements for a land grant." The bill had
passed the senate amid protests and cries of "railroading," on
July 25, 1876. Unable to secure passage in the house before noon,
July 31, 1876, the date set by joint resolution for adjournment,
proponents of the measure attempted to keep the legislature in
session beyond that time.""
The original adjournment resolution was rescinded by the
senate and an attempt was made to do the same in the house.
This was blocked by Barziza and his friends. On the morning of
July 31, a resolution was introduced, calling for adjournment
until 3:30 that afternoon. Barziza rose to speak, declaring the
session would end at noon, in accordance with the original
resolution. He refused to resume his seat on orders of the
82Norman G. Kittrell, Governors Who Have Been and Other Public Men of Texas
(Houston, 1921), 84.
88Dallas Herald, January 24, 1874, February 13, 1875.
34Ibid., December 25, 1875-
85Ibid., March 11, 1876, announced:
we know of none more competent to fill the speaker's chair than the Honor-
able D. U. Barziza an excellent lawyer, fine parliamentarian, and quick,
forceable and energetic speaker.
Barziza lost the speakership to T. R. Bonner of Smith County by a vote of
forty-five to forty-three. Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of
Texas, being the first session of the fifteenth Legislature, begun and held at the
city of Austin, April 18, 1876 (Galveston, 1876), 4.
8"Senate Bill 303, "An Act for the Relief of Railroads and other Internal Im-
provement Companies."
"8House Journal, z5th Legislature, 733.
88There were other pressing reasons for keeping the legislature in session (set
out in Governor Richard Coke's message, read to the house on July 31) but Bar-
ziza and his group believed the entire maneuver aimed at giving the railroad an
undue advantage.509
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/547/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.