[Sammelband of Four Publications Relating to the Texas State Constitution of 1876]

[Austin &] Houston: A.C. Gray, 1876. Very good.. 31,32,35,112pp. Modern quarter blue calf and light blue paper-covered boards, spine gilt. Minor toning, a few short closed tears. A collection of four works by the Texas State Legislature pertaining to the Constitution of 1876. All four of the works were printed by the contemporary state printer, A.C. Gray, the son of Texas Founding Father William Fairfax Gray. The titles present here are as follows:

1. Ordinances Adopted by the Constitutional Convention of the State of Texas. Convened at the City of Austin, September 6, 1875.

2. Rules of Order and Standing Committees of the Senate of Texas, Fifteenth Legislature....

3. Rules of Order and Standing Committees of the State of House of Representatives, Fifteenth Legislature....

4. Constitution of the State of Texas, Adopted by the Constitutional Convention, Convened at Austin, September 6, 1875....

"The Constitution of 1876 is the sixth constitution by which Texas has been governed since independence from Mexico was achieved in 1836. It was framed by the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and adopted on February 15, 1876, by a vote of 136,606 to 56,652, and it remains the basic organic law of Texas.... Upon regaining control of both the legislative and executive branches of the government, the Democrats determined in 1874 to replace the unpopular Constitution of 1869. They wanted all officials elected for shorter terms and lower salaries, abolition of voter registration, local control of schools, severely limited powers for both the legislature and the governor, low taxation and state expenditures, strict control over corporations, and land subsidies for railroads.... Overall, the Constitution of 1876 complied with public opinion. It provided for biennial sessions of the legislature, low salaries for public officials, precinct voting, abolition of the road tax, and a return to the road-working system; for a homestead exemption clause, guarantees of a low tax rate, a less expensive, locally controlled, segregated school system, and a less expensive court system; for county and justice of the peace courts; and for popular election of officers.... In spite of its cumbersomeness, of its need for frequent amendment, and its occasional obscurity, however, Texans have continued to hold on to the Constitution of 1876" - Handbook of Texas online.