WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1827
76
a proviso moved by Mr. Taylor of Virginia, to Mr. Cocke's amendment to a bill for the relief of Willie Blount. 2 Mr. Cocke's amendment was in the following words: "That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to settle the ac- counts of Willie Blount, late Governor of the State of Tennessee, and allow him a credit of two and a h,alf. per centum on the full amount of money borrowed for drafts, on which he was com- pelled to procure endorsements to give them credit, or in any manner raised by him for the use of the United States, where no security was required, and which were paid according to the terms of the said drafts; and any balance found in favor of the said Willie Blount, shall be paid out of any money in the Treas- ury not otherwise appropriated." [There were many remarks and speeches before Houston en- terea the debate with the following remarks:] Mr. Houston .of Tennessee, spoke with much zeal in favor of the bill. He gave a history of the claim through Congress; de- nied that it ought now be refused, because it had once been re- ported against; insisted on the case of Tompkin's as a correct precedent, and on the hazard incurred by the claimant, especially when his drafts had, at first, been refused. He of the Legislature of Tennessee. The banks refused to advance on any such grounds, and he had obtained the money solely by the pledging of his own credit and that of his friends. He did not claim to be rewarded for his patriotism; that had been urged only in an incidental manner, as an aggravation of the injustice of rejecting the c!aim. As to the argument of ivir. Drayton that there was no· risk in becoming responsible on behalf of the Government-- if it were so, how could Governor Tompkins be ruined by incurring such responsibility? Yet Tompkins had received actual instructions, and was the acredited agent of the Government; but Blount had volunteered witho1,1t authority. Mr. H. concluded by presenting a certificate from the Secretary of State of Tennessee, which was read at the Clerk's desk. [Later in the debate, a Mr. Wright moved to amend the bill by striking out these words: "To pay Willie Blount, or his heirs, or his representatives, the sum of $9,250, in full of all claims, charges, and commissions, to which the said Willie Blount is entitled, for raising and disbursing moneys for the use on account of the United States, during the late War, subject to deduction of whatever sum the said Willie Blount may be in arrears in the United States, out of any money in the Treasury = =
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