said in his gentle drawl, "but I don't know as I can fill the bill.
What do I have to do as State Revenue Agent, anyway. No chance to
handle a gun, is there? I can do that about as well as anything."
Governor Campbell laughed and handed Captain Bill a copy of the
statutes.
"There's the law, on the subject," he said. "You'll find all the
information you need, right there."
Captain Bill took the book and spent several days reading and
re-reading whatever he could find bearing on the matter of tax-paying;
also on the duties of tax-assessors and tax-gatherers in general, and
on those of the State Revenue Agent in particular. He found that he
knew a good deal on the subject, after all; not in technical detail,
perhaps, but fundamentally and vitally. In his wide general knowledge
of the conditions prevailing in every portion of the State he knew that
the poorest counties--those least able to bear the burden--carried a
disproportionate load of the State expenses. He had never given the
matter much consideration before, taking it for granted that in a
new county, and a poor county, taxes could not help being high. This
was true, no doubt, but he saw clearly enough, now, that in such
counties, taxes had been by far too high, all along, and that the "Full
Rendition" law provided a remedy for just that thing. Captain Bill had
but one idea about law, which was that it must be enforced. To enforce
that law would be interesting, and righteous. He went back to Governor
Campbell.
"Governor," he said, "I think this job will suit me pretty well, if I
can run it my way."
"Well, Captain, that was what you were appointed for."
"Governor," Captain Bill proceeded, "there's some of our counties and
people paying twice as much tax as they ought to, and some of them, the
ones that ought to pay most, and the railroads and corporations, are
not paying half enough."
Governor Campbell nodded.
"How would you rectify that, Captain?" he asked.
"Well, you see, the tax rate is the same for all counties, and the
poor counties to provide for their own home expenses have to assess on
a high valuation in order to make the amount big enough to go around,
while the rich counties that are practically out of debt assess on
a low valuation, sometimes not more than a fourth the value of the
property. That might be all right if it was only the _home_ levy that
counted, but you see the _State_ levy is assessed on the same valuation
as the home levy, and the result is that a county that is in debt is
paying State taxes on a valuation about twice or three times as big as
those big rich counties that have had the most benefit from the State
and are best able to pay for it. Why those old rich counties get an
allowance of school money from the State that is actually more than
all the taxes they turn in. Now the way to fix that is to make all the
counties assess exactly alike--on full valuation--and get the State
levy down where it belongs and the State expense fairly apportioned.
The Full Rendition bill provides clearly for this case, and ought to be
enforced."
Governor Campbell looked thoughtful. He foresaw the storm that a man
with the convictions and determination of Bill McDonald could stir up
in a State like Texas. Presently he said:
"Well, Captain, that was what the Full Rendition Bill was passed for,
but it's been considered a dead letter, so far."
"It won't be a dead letter if I take the job, Governor. It will be the
livest letter in the statute book, for a while."
Campbell smiled grimly. In imagination he already heard the howl that
would go up, and the imprecations that would descend upon appointer as
well as appointee. After all, perhaps a Ranger Captain in a job like
that was not a perfect selection. Then presently he turned to Captain
Bill.
"Well, Captain, you've got your appointment," he said.
The State Revenue Agent lost no time in beginning his work. Already
many of the annual assessments for 1907 had been made, and if any
re-assessments were to be taken there was no time to lose. In 1906 the
assessed values of Texas properties had aggregated $1,210,000,000.
State Agent McDonald resolved that they should properly be more than
double this amount, and he undertook at once the first step in that
direction. He did this knowing full well what would result. He knew
that a man's purse is his tenderest point, and that to lay a finger on
his taxes is to touch a spot already sore. He knew that what he was
about to do meant to antagonize practically every corporation in the
State, and every rich county as a whole. Also, perhaps, a majority of
the press. Papers that had lauded him to the skies for his achievements
would be first to belittle him, now, and to cry him down. What he was
undertaking was distinctly a minority crusade; a struggle for the
pioneer; a fight for the under dog.
Yet I think his chief consideration was the enforcement of the law.
That would be likely to be so; the law's enforcement had been his habit
so long. If the other things weighed at all, they probably only added
zest to his resolve.
He began by issuing a general letter to assessors throughout the State.
In part the letter ran:
"Dear Sir:
"As State Revenue Agent with well defined duties imposed upon me,
I feel called upon to communicate with Tax Assessors relative to
the rendition and assessment of real and personal property for
Taxation....
"An inspection of the tax rolls of your county for 1906 and some years
prior thereto, discloses the fact that real and personal property is
assessed at only a certain percentage of its value instead of "at
its value" as required by the Constitution and laws of the State. I
will take occasion during the year to visit such counties as may be
practicable and examine into the mode of rendition and assessment ...
and I hope to have your assistance."
The letter then called attention to, and quoted from, the law, setting
forth the duties which good officers and citizens would perform in
full, and the penalties for being, and doing, otherwise. Near the end
of this letter he said:
"This duty is imposed upon you by the law, and I suppose I am not
presumptuous in asking you to follow it strictly so that there
will be no embarrassment when I call for the purpose of making an
investigation," etc., etc.
It was a careful dignified letter, entirely justified by the
conditions. It is true the Revenue Agent did not fully explain in that
last clause just what would be likely to cause the "embarrassment"
when he appeared upon the scene "for the purpose of making an
investigation," and the thoughtful assessor who had followed Bill
McDonald's career and remembered some of his former investigations may
have inferred that it would have something to do with guns.
Certainly that letter made those assessors mad. Also it made the people
mad. And the newspapers. Even the people and newspapers of the counties
that would benefit by the Full Rendition law--not quite understanding,
at first--got mad as a preparation for further enlightenment. Never,
since Joseph laid a twenty per cent. levy on the Egyptians, after first
taking away all of their land, was there such a general madness over
any tax order under the sun. In all the history of Texas there had been
no such commotion--such a cyclone of indignation as that which had its
storm center in the State Revenue Agent's office at Austin. Newspapers
that only a week before had been praising Bill McDonald as the bravest
man since Bowie and Travis--a fit successor to those heroes of the
Alamo--now denounced him as a bloodthirsty desperado, who proposed to
hold up the people of Texas as he had held up bad men--at the point
of a six-shooter. They declared that his sole purpose was to fill the
State Treasury to bursting with the people's money, so that it might
be an easy prey for grafters, already lying in wait with schemes.
Then they denounced Governor Campbell for appointing such a man, and
prophesied his political ruin and general downfall. Some of them could
not, and others would not, see that a full assessment for all was the
only fair system, and that, if the values increased, the general
rate of levy would lower accordingly. None so blind as those who will
not see, and property owners, public and private, in counties where
assessments had long been far too low to give them a fair share of the
State's burdens, were naturally blinded by that self-interest which was
stirred in with Adam's dust.
Indignation meetings prevailed. Assessors elected "by the people," told
their constituents that they would "obey the will of the people," and
tell any petty Revenue Agent that he could go to, with his bluff--that
the "people" of Texas were bigger than any individual in it and knew
what they wanted in the way of assessments, regardless of any fool laws
to the contrary.
Perhaps the coolest man in the State sat in the State Revenue Agent's
office at Austin, and smiled that bland winning smile of his as he
greeted the reporters and declined to get mad or to recede from his
position, merely referring them to the law as set down; dictating,
between times, answers to excited assessors in which he assured them
that his first letter was quite genuine and meant what it said, and
that furthermore if they had--as some of them stated--already turned
in their assessment rolls for 1907, they must go back and do it again,
observing the law both in letter and spirit, in order to avoid, that
little "embarrassment" when he should call somewhat later in the year.
And this kicked up the dust worse than ever.
There was, however, a percentage of public sentiment in favor of the
law and justice, regardless of personal interest. There were men in
high places who stood boldly for the new order of assessment, and there
were newspapers, even in the old rich counties that for a principle
were willing to lose subscribers and pay the additional tax, besides.
The names of those men and of those newspapers Texas should inscribe on
a roll of honor in her State Capitol, for it was by such as those that
some seventy years ago her independence was won.
Governor Campbell, assailed on every side, breasted the storm and
stood firm. If his political structure must go down to ruin because
of an effort to secure justice and the enforcement of the statutes as
laid down, then perhaps the ruin would be better than the edifice. He
discussed the matter thoughtfully and earnestly, here and there, when
called upon, and was listened to with respect though with uncertain
approval. Other officials throughout the State were inclined to be
governed by the temper of their constituents. Yet there were notable
exceptions. In February, 1907, at a convention of county judges,
in Dallas, the statement was made that an attempt to carry out the
instructions of the State Revenue Agent in the matter of the Full
Rendition law would mean the political death of such county judges
or commissioners as engaged in that effort. This statement, though
wide, was not general. Among others to dissent was Judge Hill of
Eastland County, who declared that if the people of Texas did not
want a man in office who would carry out the law he, for one, would be
glad to resign. That was a fine brave statement and had its effect. A
resolution pledging the members of the association, individually and
as a whole, to support and maintain the letter and spirit of the Full
Rendition law, to the end that the taxes of the entire State might be
equal and uniform, was unanimously adopted. The right word from the
right source had been spoken. It began to be echoed in public places.
It was along in March, 1907, that the State Revenue Agent decided that
he would not wait to call on the assessors during the year, but that he
would gather them in Austin where he could talk to them, all together.
A meeting of the State Association of Assessors, near the end of the
month, was the result.
The assessors came together in many frames of mind, but mainly
belligerent. Some of them had given it out to their constituents before
they started that they were going down to tell that old Ranger that he
might be able to round-up cattle-thieves and Mexicans, but that a bunch
of county assessors would be a different matter. When these officials
began to collect around the Capitol there was plenty of talk--not
always complimentary. The State Revenue Agent loafed around among them.
It was noticeable how the criticism subsided in the various groups as
he sauntered in their direction. It was rumored that, though a civil
officer, he still wore a "forty-five" in a holster and carried an
"automatic" in his hip-pocket. When the members were finally assembled
in general meeting, and "Captain Bill" rose to address them--they were
quite still. He did not make a long speech, but it was to the point.
"We have been assessing in this go-as-you-please sort of a fashion a
good while," he said, "and now we are going to do it the other way.
We've been assessing by custom--now we're going to do it by law. The
present tax rate is twenty cents on the hundred. We want to get it down
to five cents on the hundred and adjust it so that every man will pay
what he should--no more and no less. I don't want to pay out money any
more than the next one, but I want to pay what is right, and I know
you men want to _do_ what is right, with your people, when you find
out what the right thing is. This law is right, and just because we've
been going according to an old unjust custom, is no reason now, why we
shouldn't go according to an old and just law."
It was in this strain that he talked to them, using the friendly
familiar vernacular which meant sincerity and a genuine interest in
their welfare. They saw that he was in earnest, and he spoke to their
better inclination. Also, he had the strong side of the argument. A
paper commenting on the matter said:
"Thrice was the Captain armed, for the reason that he was in the right,
and had the laws of the State to back him"--a statement true in the
main, though it leaves the reader to guess in what third way the
"Captain" was thought to be armed.
At all events, whatever rebellion may have existed must have been
pretty well quieted by the next day, for the following resolution was
unanimously adopted:
"_Resolved_, That we, the Assessors of the State of Texas, in
convention assembled, will make what improvements we possibly can to
increase the renditions of 1907, and promise to fully comply with the
law, in the assessments of the future, and we hereby authorize the
secretary of this convention to notify all assessors not present to
co-operate with us in this matter."[22]
When that association disbanded, if there was any indignation and
resentment existing for the State Revenue Agent it made no outward
manifestation. One assessor said:
"As to what my duty was, I very well knew that before I went to Austin.
But like most other assessors I followed a custom instead of the law.
When a change was demanded I though it would cause a great deal of
confusion among the people who had made an inventory of their property.
I find it is not the case. I have very little trouble, and in my
judgment I will get forty per cent. raise, for an average."
And another assessor, writing to the Fort Worth Record, said:
"Well, I am going to do my duty. I am swearing every man to the value
of his property, as well as to the rendering of it, so when brother
McDonald comes around, if he ever does, there will be no kick coming my
way."
The result came when the inventories were all gathered and the items
footed. Between the figures of 1906 and 1907 there was an actual
difference of $414,137,246 in favor of the latter year. A part of
this vast increase would come from the natural property growth of
the State, but in the main it was due to the revised inventories and
valuations. And this was a mere beginning, undertaken under disturbing
and adverse conditions. The increase of 1908 over 1907 added another
total of $561,297,248 to the property assessment values, aggregating
an increase over the year 1906 of $975,434,494. Perhaps Texas will be
a three billion dollar State yet, as has been prophesied, and the tax
rate in the pioneer counties will be such as to encourage still further
settlement and progress.
Not that the system is perfect yet. There are still assessors who
shirk their duty, and hence counties who default in their burdens.
No great reform can be immediately complete, but if State Revenue
Agent McDonald survives long enough, this one will be so, in time, and
already it stands as his greatest monument and victory.[23]
[Full rendition of property values for the purposes of taxation has
always been the law in Texas. The Thirtieth Legislature provided for
the reestablishment of an old and dishonored system. For a fuller
understanding of the conditions before and after the enforcement
of this and other laws the reader may refer to Governor Campbell's
Message of Jan., 1909 (Appendix F), and an address by Hon. W.D.
Williams (Appendix G), at the end of this volume.]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 22: The New York "Sun," commenting on this, said:
"Many of the assessors came to Austin with a feeling of animosity
toward Captain McDonald, but he brought them all into line and before
the meeting adjourned resolutions were unanimously adopted thanking
him for taking up the question of assessments and promising to assess
property at its full market value."]
[Footnote 23: In addition to this work, State Revenue Agent McDonald
has very largely increased the State income by the systematic and
vigorous enforcing of the law, providing for the licensing of various
public entertainments and for regulating the sale of liquors. His
experience in putting into effect the new "Baskin-McGregor" law
somewhat resembled his adventures with the Full Rendition law and ended
with as signal a victory.]
XLIII
In Conclusion
CAPTAIN BILL MC DONALD OF TEXAS--WHAT HE HAS BEEN AND WHAT HE IS TO-DAY
So now we have arrived at the end of our story--the story of "a man who
does things"--who has been making history for twenty-five years, who is
still making it, to-day. It is the story of a life so full of incident
and episode that we have been able to give only a chapter here and
there--to touch the high places as it were; for the tale entire would
fill a library, and would involve the chronology of a State, which in
that quarter of a century has increased its population nearly five
times, its wealth in a like proportion, while its progress in education
and morals has been incalculable. It is with the improvement last named
that Bill McDonald, and the little army of State Rangers from which he
had been selected as an example, have been chiefly concerned, though
advancement in other directions has been collateral and dependent on
moral growth. Order is not only the first law of Heaven, but of the
frontier, and by the sturdy Frontier Battalion has the fight for order
been made, and won. For in spite of plague-spots here and there (and
in a State of so vast an area, and so recent and motley a settlement,
it would be strange indeed if these did not exist), Texas is to-day a
splendid empire of beautiful towns and cities--of fair and fruitful
farms, and of handsome, hardy law-abiding men and women.
The Pan-handle has become a garden--not a Garden of Eden, exactly, but
a garden of agriculture and home-culture--a larger garden than Eden,
and happier and more profitable than Eden has ever been, since the fall.
And the best evidence of what the Ranger Force has done for Texas may
be found in the steady reduction of its numbers. By the very nature
of its achievements it has each year reduced the necessity of its
existence. To-day it consists of four little companies, aggregating
about thirty men, all told. They are brave, picked men--who face death
daily and are not afraid. If from among these Bill McDonald has been
marked for special distinction, it is not because he has been more
willing to do and dare, or more resolute in its purpose of reform,
but because he was at his birth marked by that special genius which,
whatever his environment, would make episodic achievement and peculiar
distinction his inevitable portion. Long before he became an officer he
was a peace-maker. Wherever trouble occurred, McDonald had a genius for
being there, separating and disarming the combatants, admonishing them
in that convincing manner which few men ever resented. No one ever knew
him to flinch at a time like that--perhaps no one ever dreamed that he
would be likely to do so.
He was variously gifted. His perceptions were abnormally keen--his
deductive conclusions often startling in their exactness. In his
detective work, he was sometimes referred to as the Sherlock Holmes of
Texas, though his processes would seem to have been more instinctive,
and perhaps less intellectual, than those of Dr. Doyle's imaginary
hero. For he had the eyes of a fox, the ears of a wolf and he could
follow a scent like a hound.
"Cap, you have eyes in the back of your head and can smell a criminal
in the dark," was once said to him, and perhaps this statement was not
so wide of the mark.
His understanding of character--frontier character--was likewise a
gift. Almost every man has a right side, and Bill McDonald always
seemed to know how to reach that side. When no right side developed,
he knew how to handle the wrong one. He seldom failed to win the
confidence and the respect--even the friendship--of his prisoners.
Such enemies as he has to-day are not among the men he caused to be
punished, but among those who feared--and still fear--capture and
punishment. There may be a good many such. Time and again his removal
was not only requested, but demanded--sometimes by a whole community--a
community which did not want the law's enforcement, and such a demand
was likely to be accompanied by the threat of political revolt. But
Texas, from the days of Sam Houston, has had good governors--governors
to whom such a demand was in the nature of a compliment and the best
reason for retaining the "offending" incumbent. Hence Bill McDonald not
only remained in service, but was given an ever widening usefulness.
His "suddenness" and determination was a constant amazement to
law-breakers. Once when he was in El Paso he received a telegram
stating that some of his horses had been stolen from a ranch he then
owned on the Oklahoma and Texas line. That ranch was nearly five
hundred miles away as the crow flies, but Bill McDonald was on the
train bound in that direction while the telegram was still damp.
Arriving at his ranch, he struck the trail and set out alone to follow
it, without rest, through Greer County, riding hot foot a distance of
three hundred miles; overtaking the thieves at last somewhere beyond
Norman, Oklahoma. Sid Woodring, a wary old outlaw, was in that gang,
also his nephew, Frank Woodring, and a third member whose name is not
recalled. It was a genuine surprise when Bill McDonald, whom they
thought at the other end of Texas, charged in among them and had them
disarmed almost before they realized what was going on. He marched them
back to the jail at Norman; had them indicted in Greer County, where
court was then in session; got them convicted for terms ranging from
five to ten years, and returned with his recovered horses--completing,
in the space of a few days, one of the neatest and most spectacular
bits of official work on record.
The amount of his work was something enormous. In the two years ending
August 31st, 1904, Ranger Company B, which he commanded, traveled
74,537 miles, made 205 scouts and 174 arrests. Thirty-one of the
arrests were for murder, and nearly all for desperate crimes. When
it is remembered that some of those scouts required days, and some
of the arrests were hundreds of miles apart, and the result of long
and arduous trailing and persistent detective work, the labor and the
result can be better understood. Nor is this an unusual report. It has
been selected at random and is by no means of the busiest period--the
period of the early nineties--those riotous Pan-handle days.[24]