TEXAS UNDER A CLOUD.

Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1972. 159pp. Frontis. of Frank Sharp. Notes. Photographs. End paper chart on the front and rear pastedowns showing the timeline. Black cloth with the title in silver on cover and spine. First edition, with the small tasteful book plate of Stanley Marcus. Bright, fine copy. The dust jacket shows slight darkening to the spine and minor edgewear, overall, very good. In January, 1972, a stock fraud scandal rocked Texas when the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that two bills promoted by Houston financer Frank W. Sharp had passed the Legislature about the time Sharp and some of his friends had arranged profitable bank-loan stock purchases for Governor Preston Smith, state Democratic Chairman Elmer Baum, and Speaker of the House Gus Mutscher and others. The result was a housecleaning in which not a single candidate running for statewide office survived if they had even the remotest connection to the scandal. The final chapter consists of the authors’ recommendations for reform.