Chapter XLII: The End of Rangering and a New Appointment

STATE REVENUE AGENT OF TEXAS. THE "FULL RENDITION" BILL ENFORCED. A GREAT BATTLE AND A BLOODLESS TRIUMPH

The Rio Grande affair was Captain Bill's last Ranger service of dramatic importance. He was continuously busy during the two months that elapsed between that episode and his official retirement, but it was only in the usual line of duty, chasing murderers, putting down riot and disarming unruly men--the things he had done so often that to look back on his career now was to gaze down a kaleidoscopic vista of death and disorder--a whirling maze of bad men and guns.

It was in January, 1907, that he went to Bellville as a witness in a murder case, and it was while he was there, January 16th, that Governor T.M. Campbell, who had just succeeded Governor Lanham, appointed him State Revenue Agent of Texas. Captain Bill's first knowledge of the matter came to him through the morning paper at Bellville. When his duties were over there, he set out for Austin to inquire into it. He knew that a State Revenue Agent was appointed to keep a general supervision over the collection of the State revenues--taxes, license money and the like--but he had only a dim idea as to the specific duties of the office. He was by no means certain that he wanted to exchange the wide free life of Rangering, whatever might be its drawbacks, for the routine duties of an office in the Capitol, with a desk, a revolving chair and a stenographer, whatever might be the comforts and perquisites of these things. He was no longer a young man, and he had been shot through from different directions. Desperate wounds, long hard vigils, cold and exposure, had left him weather-beaten and with shoulders and chest no longer as full and erect as in the old days. Yet his eye was just as clear, his ear as alert and his nerve as steady as in the beginning, and if this appointment was merely a sinecure; a reward for deeds performed--a sort of official manifest that he was down and out--he would have none of it. He could _wear_ out, and he might some day stop a conclusive bullet, but he declined to _rust_ out.

Perhaps there was a pretty general belief in Texas that Captain McDonald's appointment was, in fact, a sinecure, but if so the idea was transient. Arriving at the State Capitol, he called on Governor Campbell, without delay.

"How about this appointment, Governor?" he said. "What kind of a job is it?"

"Well, it's a better job than you've got, Captain. The pay is better and it's safer, too. You're going to die, or be killed, someday, going about in all kinds of weather and getting shot at, from ambush. We can't afford to lose you, just yet."

"Thank you, Governor, I don't want to be lost, either," Captain Bill 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.]