WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1850
116
beneficiaries of this policy. And I can assure the honorable Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. Foote,] with all cordiality of feel- ing and regard, not only for his locality, but for his preeminent talents and usefulness, that I will not place myself in competition with any "bid" that he may hereafter make. [Laughter.] . . . Mr. Houston. I would ~sk permission of the Senator from Vir- ginia to submit a few remarks in reply to the Senator from Georgia.... Mr. President, I sincerely regret that the resolution which I had the honor of presenting to the Senate, should have been the cause of any remark, or have led to the consumption of the time of the Senate. But, since it has been introduced, and has been the topic of discussion, I feel it due to the Senate, and I feel it due to myself, to explain the resolution, and, so far as I can, to show that the honorable Senator from Georgia, as well as the honorable Senator from North Carolina, [Mr. Badger,] have misappre- hended the character of that resolution. It is possible, however, that the Senator from North Carolina spoke, as the Senator from Georgia said he did, in a "Pickwickian" sense. It is understood and alleged that no provision is made for females in this resolution; that its object is to appeal to the voters of the country; and that it is even below demagogism that such a thing should be introduced. Sir, were it not for the character of the gentlemen who have made propositions, and who, without my knowledge, until this discussion, have taken part in the agitation of this subject, I might have misunderstood my motives on the subject; but as it now presents itself, I am left to conclude that it is a matter of great deliberation and sound policy. I am satis- fied that neither the gentleman who first originated the bill, the Senator from Illinois, the Senator from New York, or the dis- tinguished Senator from Massachusetts, would have concurrently given their attention to a subject that so exclusively embraced the principles of demagogism. And, if it had even come from the honorable and distinguished Senator from Michigan himself, I should not have imputed it to demagogism, as he might suppose. I should have thought he had been long enough on the frontier to have apprehended rightly the condition of the people who flocked thither to obtain comforta.ble homes and secure a competency for themselves and their families. I should have been ready to ascribe it to a higher motive than to that of demagogism. I would have thought that a love of country and the generous impulses of humanity combined to impress on his mind a conviction that it
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