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]