(Austin), TX- Bank of Texas/Secured by the Sacred Funds of Our School Children Political Satirical Note "($)100" 1914, Printed in Green with Portrait of Governor Colquitt, Crisp Uncirculated.
This scarce Texas satirical note measures 7.5" x 3.25" and is printed in the form of period currency, headed "Secured by the Sacred Funds of Our School Children" and titled "The Bank of Texas." At center is a circular portrait of Governor Colquitt in profile, encircled by the ironic legends "In Politicians We Trust" and "Washington or Bust." The surrounding vignettes present a pointed visual narrative: at upper left, politicians robbing the columned "Bank of Texas"; at upper right, the same politicians imprisoned behind penitentiary bars; at lower left, a shuttered schoolhouse with the sign "School Closed No Funds"; and at lower right, a stooped figure labeled "Texas Tax Payer" struggling under sacks marked "45 Cent Tax Rate," "More School Taxes," and "Greater Penitentiary Debt." The denomination "100" appears in each corner, completing the mock-currency conceit, with the identical design printed on both sides.
OSCAR BRANCH COLQUITT (1861-1940) served as the 25th Governor of Texas from January 17, 1911, to January 19, 1915, and the present satirical note dates to the climactic political moment of his career, the 1914 campaign in which Colquitt sought to advance to the United States Senate but was ultimately defeated.

This note is a remarkable piece of grassroots political satire centered on a genuine and bitterly contested controversy of the 1914 Texas Democratic Party platform: the disposition of the Texas Permanent School Fund, a constitutionally protected endowment derived substantially from state public lands and dedicated to the support of Texas public education. The note's pointed visual narrative accuses Texas politicians of plundering this sacred educational trust to cover unrelated state expenditures, including rising penitentiary debt, while ordinary Texas taxpayers and schoolchildren bore the resulting burden, a charge given explicit textual support through the direct quotation of Section 14 of the 1914 Democratic Platform of Texas printed across the lower portion of the note, which affirmed the school fund as "a sacred fund preserved by our fathers to educate our children" and denounced any suggestion of diverting it from that purpose.