WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1848
44
been a worthless inquiry? Would it not have been considered so by those who were suffering beneath the fury of the ferocious savages? In portions of Mexico the Indians are not savages. The Indians that Cortez met were not like the aboriginal inhabitants of Yucatan. They had a knowledge of the arts. They were, to a great extent, civilized and improved. The Indians on the south of the Gulf of Mexico are cannibals, who live upon fish, and feed upon their captive enemies, and when assailed, fly to their moun- tain fastnesses for safety. Such people inhabited the southern portion of Texas. They were of gigantic size, ferocious in their disposition, loathsome in their habits, and rioted on human flesh. Such are the natives against whom the people of Yucatan appeal to you for protection. I grant you that we are at war with Mexico, and that an armistice now exists. That might form an obstacle to our interference if Yucatan were really a portion of Mexico. It cannot be so regarded, for it has been separated for eight years from that distracted country. Therefore, it should be no obstacle. I admit there is no modern precedent for our interference in behalf of the people of Yucatan. Are we to wait for a precendent? Are we to stand with our arms folded, until we can send and ascertain the cause of the quarrel between the whites and the savages? Are we to wait until we ascertain the probability of the success of the Indians in the extermination of the whites? Shall we maintain our composure, undisturbed, until all this is done, before we act upon this bill? If so, we had better reject the bill at once, and give to it no further con- sideration. Gentlemen have expressed apprehension and fears lest this subject should enter into the Presidential election, as I under- stand them. Sir, I discover that everything here, to the minds of some gentlemen, enters into the Presidential election. Nothing is exempt from its influence, nor is it exempt from other influ- ences in their estimation. Are we to avoid the discharge of our duty, and abandon an object of national policy, or the cause of humanity, because, in its prosecution, a Presidential election may be incidentally involved? I should be sorry to participate in the legislation of this Hall, if honorable Senators were to so far forget themselves as to huckster in a Presidential canvass, or render aid to the aspirations of any candidate for that high office. This is not the appropriate sphere for electioneering. These Halls are dedicated to a higher and nobler object. The legislators who meet here are expected to promote the public weal, but not to minister
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