WRITINGS OF SA.M HOUSTON, 1827
82
politics of the country. I would not measure principles by money. But this much I can say- that I never knew this public printing, or any other form of governmental patronage, render any paper hostile to the Government. Men are not apt to be inimical to the hand that feeds them. The sum received may be very convenient, even if it be small; nor is there anything in the receipt of it which will indispose an editor to _insert, now and then, an edi- torial remarkably favorable to the course of the administration; or will induce him to exclude such an article, should it come from another hand. Sir, it is not the actual amount of money, which renders this power formidable; it is the manner of its distribu- tion. The necessities of an editor of a newspaper are like those of·other men; he has the same love of comfort, the same ambition to rise in the world, the same occasional calls for cash, the same desire to provide for his family. Gentlemen may talk as they please about the amount being paltry. The mere credit of receiv- ing anything thus from the Government is important: it gives certain standing to his paper; it shows that he has some influence; it gratifies his professional pride. Else why do we see, in very conspicuous capitals, the words, "BY AUTHORITY," whenever and wherever the printer is entitled to use them? It tends to increase his subscription list. He thinks to himself, "I am now distinguished over neighboring editors. I am preferred by the Government as an organ for publishing its official acts ; and peo- ple must refer to my paper, if they wish for an opportunity of seeing what the laws are. Sir, I cannot but believe that what was the good old rule on this matter, would still be the best rule: that when the Representa- tives from any state agree in recommending certain indh:"iduals as worthy of receiving the public printing, the Editors thus recom- mended ought to receive the ·appointment. It would be for the real advantage of the People. It might not, indeed, be so much for the benefit of some powerful individual - it would lessen the mass of patronage which he controls: and it is often by patron- age alone that s1:1ch an individual stands. Patronage, Sir, is not a thing local and circumscribed. It seeks every little ramifica- tion into which it can, by any possibility, insinuate itself. It is like the progress of a cancer in the human body; it seizes on every vein and artery, one after another, nor stops its progress till the sufferer sinks, and then the knife is too late applied. Were the wishes of th,e Representatives consulted, they would naturally be -
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