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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1850
as any gentleman here. But I am not willing at this time to prejudge it, or to exclude it from a fair investigation. I -feel, Sir, that it is necessary, until I know the contents of that report, for me to protest against it on account of my being a southern Senator. I am from the South, Sir, the extreme South. The shores of the State which I represent are washed by the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, and I feel all that a southern Senator should feel who remembers the rights which we have already acquired. These rights we have acquired as freemen struggling for liberty, and also as participants in this Union, and my colleagues and myself are always prepared to stand up for their vindication. But, Sir, I am for compromise with my whole heart, unless it is proposed to compromise our honor and safety. I am for the Union, and for all honorable efforts which tend to its preservation. I am ready to vote for the printing of the report, and when I shall have examined it, I shall be ready to act upon its recommendations. 1 Congressionctl Globe, XXI, part 1, 1st Sess., 31st Congress, p. 955. These remarks were made in a debate whether or not to print committee reports on the bill to admit California as a State, establish territorial government in Utah and New Mexico, and make a proposition to Texas for establish- ing her western and northern boundaries. REMARI{S OPPOSING CREATION OF A BOARD OF ACCOUNTS, MAY 9, 1850 1 Mr. Houston. There are various amendments to this bill, which I have not heard, nor am I apprised of what they are. I have not regarded it as a measure favorable to the attainment of any valuable object. For upward of fifty years the country has been enabled to get along without the creation of any board of accounts, unless it was a temporary board, once created in this place. If the auditors and officers now created by the law are not sufficient for the adjustment of accounts, I cannot conceive of any advantage that will result to the country from the creation of this board. If it is necessary to render additional assistance, to create any additional number of officers to dispatch the business in the various offices, I am ready and willing at all times to render my aid. But to create a board of this description, upon which I think Congress will be mainly dependent for its action and its judgment, I am unwilling. If Congress, with the aid of the several accounting officers of the several rlepartments, is unable to dispatch the business, I think it will be throwing
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