Texas. Legislature

The Texas Legislature's Central Investigating Committees of the House and Senate were formed in 1917 to investigate every state department and institution in Texas. The investigation was an outgrowth of general public suspicion and distrust of state government, aggravated by: the entry of the United States into World War I and the resulting distrust of German-Americans; the impeachment of Governor Ferguson earlier in 1917; and charges of corruption and collusion made against officials and employees associated with or appointed by Ferguson.

On September 5, 1917, during the 3rd Called Session of the 35th Legislature, 11 representatives offered an unnumbered simple resolution calling for a statewide investigation and providing for a steering committee to formulate recommendations and procedural plans for conducting that investigation. Shortly later, the steering committee offered an unnumbered supplemental resolution proposing the creation of the House Central Executive Committee. The Committee was to be composed of 10 House members who would be divided into 10 subcommittees and investigate a group of agencies and institutions. Each of the subcommittees was to be assigned a second House member. The Committee was to receive clerical assistance, and submit a final report to the House and to the Governor. The Central Executive Committee members included: Representatives Bryan, Cope, Fairchild, Fly (the chair), Johnson, McMillin, Sentell, Spencer, and Tillotson. The additional appointees included: Sackett, Seawright, Terrell, Pillow, Davis of Grimes, Holaday, McDowra, O'Banion, De Bogory, and Hudspeth.

At about the same time, a similar resolution was passed in the Senate (Senate Resolution 18, 35th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 1917), appointing 10 members to an investigating committee. The Senate committee members were authorized to sit and cooperate with any committee or subcommittee of the House that had been created for similar purposes. Senate members included: Westbrook (the chair), Clark, Lattimore, Decherd, Alderdice, Hopkins, McNealus, Hudspeth, Smith, and Buchanan of Scurry.

The Senate Investigating Committee first convened in Dallas on October 26, 1917 and decided to act in conjunction with the House Committee, to meet jointly on October 30 in Austin, and to begin investigations on November 1st. The House Committee first convened in Austin on October 25, 1917 and asked Governor Hobby to come before the Committee with any suggestions he might have concerning the investigations. Governor Hobby suggested that: each department be audited; each institution be visited; units of the prison system be visited; inquiries be made regarding the scope of work of each department, to determine the extent to which the work could be combined and consolidated with a view toward eliminating as many offices and positions as possible; the efficiency of the financial management practices of each department be investigated; and bookkeeping and accounting procedures be investigated to develop recommendations for improvement.

The final organizational meeting on November 1 determined that the Senate Committee would, like the House, have 10 subcommittees. Working jointly, the House and Senate subcommittees composing any one group were to be distinct and independent entities, but were to work together as a unit in the investigation of any department or institution when there should be agreement between them. In the case of disagreement, each subcommittee would conduct the investigation independently and in its own way, making its own report to its own Central Committee. After all subcommittee reports were submitted to the Central Committees, the Central Committees were to act jointly in the creation of the general reports and recommendations to the Legislature and Governor. (See the series descriptions for the composition of each subcommittee and the list of departments/institutions they were to investigate.)

Subcommittee reports were issued to the Central Committees on January 7, 1918. The Central Committees met jointly, reviewing the subcommittee reports and creating the final reports, until January 27, 1918 - on which day the sessions of all committees were concluded. The joint report of the House and Senate Central Committees was printed and filed on February 1, 1918. The reports, excluding the testimony before the subcommittees, were published in 1918/1919.

From the guide to the Records of the Central Investigating Committees of the House and Senate, 1917-1918, (Repository Unknown)