WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1849
74
REMARKS ON THE BILL FOR THE PAYMENT OF CERTAIN CLAIMS ON THE REPUBLIC OF ';['EXAS, FEBRUARY 5, 1849 1
Mr. Houston. Mr. President I would say in reply to the Sen- ator from Kentucky, that when the liabilities referred to by the Senator were originally incurred, Texas notes and bonds were depreciated to twenty cents on the dollar. The depreciation of Texas funds commenced in 1838, and it continued to depreciate until 1841, issues were made at the rate of ten cents on the dollar, when the liabilities of the Government were postponed on their payment, and a new currency was created, ·which existed, and was at par when Texas was annexed to the Union as a State. These issues of five for one, as it was called, were made according to the will of the Executive, and without any authority of law that I am apprised of. I presume it is the intention of the Gov- ernment of Texas to redeem her liabil_ities agreeably to principles of equity, and to make her payments according to the considera- tions for which all her obligations were incurred. !_merely Il}ake this explan·ation for the purpose of enabling the · Senator from Kentucky to understand how it is that these claims have been thus graduated.
1 Congl'C8Sional Globe, Appendix, 1848-1849, 441.
To MRs. HousTON 1
Washington, 9th Feby., 1849. My Dear, I am in the Senate, and will not write a letter, but only a note. On yesterday I wrote to you, and to day I could only tell you that I had passed another lonesome night, and that my hopes soon to be with you, brighten, as the sands of time run. You will laugh at the enclosed note, I am sure, though you may pity the poor fellows misfortunes. You will wish to know how the poor fellow is to live. He will·get a pension, and perhaps marry a pretty, young, lady, a namesake of yours, and I doubt not but what he has used that fact to advance his suit! You know him; I will say no more on the subject. She is rich & charm[ing], as I learn. My Dearest, it is 30_days since a word has reached me from our dear "Woodland Home." You are free, My Love, to select
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