454
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
No. 1907 1840 Sept. 30, G. B. LAMAR, ALEXANDRIA, [GEORGIA?] TO M. B. LAMAR, [AUSTIN, TEXASJ 6
Alexandria 30th Sept 1840
Genl. M. B. Lamar, My Dear Sir,
I have had nothing from you in reply to my letter- 7 of last spring- But I am advised that your Draft on George W. Lamar, drawn to be paid by me, as a Loan to you has been accepted- & I shall provide for its payment accordingly-I should like to hear where my 1600 Acres Land are located & to get the Titles by some safe con- veyance-with advices as to the attention necessary to prevent the sale of them for taxes, or other alienation- and also to have you to attend to them as to prevent either- The stream of emigration must by this time have given you a popu- lation sufficient to place beyond an question the ability of your young Republic to mantain itself against all foreign powers with which there is any probability of collision-If your internal Relations be equally sound-the prosperity of the Country, can depend on nothing more than the Wisdom of its Legislators- & will require but sound political measures to place it in the very highest eminence- I have always doubted your policy of getting foreign Loans- The recourse to Direct Taxation may have been unpopular, but it is the true .& only honest policy__:_ To be so compounded between the prop_erty & the Incomes of the people as to be as nearly equal as may be & as little onerous in the assessment & collection as practicable- Which simplicity of detail & precision of the Law would abundantly secure- The Wisdom & liberality already manifested by the Congress of the Republic- are a sufficient earnest to my mind that they need only properly to understand & weigh the advantages of the System to ensure its almost unanimous adoption- & be an example to our Southern States-of lasting advantage. These taxes, would in your depreciated State of the Currency, be apparently very high for 2 or 3 years to come, but Uo; the result of them would diminish your debts- & cause an appreciation in your scrip they might be diminished as they progressed- which would recommend them to the people-and while they remained so high, it would be but in appearance only- for where one dollar would pay five- the ones would not be very great- I hope you will be enabled before you leave the Administration to put the Government in a proper train for permanent prosperity- always bearing strongly in mind- that steadiness & regularity are substantial pillars of Government- to which all others will in time accommodate themselves- I hate Loans-I detest indirect taxation- which alone is the mother of every excess & corruption in a Republic especially- & which our own Government is every day more & more exemplifying- We shall shortly have another protective tariff- perhaps an assumption of State
•A. L. S. (carbon.) 'No. 1756.
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