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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1827
in which I had the honor to address the House some days since, on this subject, it was not my intention to involve personal char- acter in any quarter; and the gentlemen are whol!y unauthorized in the inference which they have drawn, that I intended to insti- tute any parallel between certain characters which I alluded to in Roman history, and any member of the present Administration. The question presented by this resolution, is whether or not there has been improper exercise of power by the Secretary of State in reference to the appointment of printers of the Laws of the United States. To have answered this question conclusively, is in the power of the Secretary and his friends: for me, it will be proper to advert to facts in order to see whether the Secretary has been culpable or not. An investigation of facts will satisfac- torily show whether it is not expedient to divest that office of this appointing power, and vest it somewhere else, where there will be fewer incentives to its abuse. This investigation could have been pursued by his friends without their seeking to involve a distinguished individual, not at all connected with this discussion. 'l'he charge of personality, therefore, belongs not to the advocates but to the opposers of this resolution. As evidence that such a charge may be true, I will appeal to a semi-official paper pub- lished in this city, under the immediate eye of the Government, and considered as the organ of the Administration. An Editorial article in that paper says: "Men are always corruptible, if not always corrupt: it is absolutely essential to the welfare of a com- munity that those in power, however pure and irreproachable in their private or public character, should be subjected to a severe, and even jealous scrutiny: and this scrutiny can never be so well performed by friends as by enemies." These remarks were recently published in the Journal, at a time when the conduct of the second officer of the United States was under investigation before a committee of this House to which investigation they had reference. The same remarks will apply with equal propriety and force to the present Secretary of State, who is charged by those who are denominated "a corrupt and factious opposition," with a misapplication of power confided to him, for the purpose ·of bolstering up an Administration which was never the choice of the People, through the patronage of the State Department. Are there no solid grounds for such a charge? Look at facts. We see Editors in various sections of the Union, who have long been employed in publishing the Laws of the United States; whose faithfulness, and whose accuracy in the t ' f' f j
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