WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1856
251
been crippled, from which he has entirely recovered. To say that he was not an efficient officer ashore and afloat is not sus- tained by facts. Lieutenant Maury has not shrunk from the responsibilities of a commander at sea, for during the Mexican war he made application for service in his proper rank, and it was declined. Deficiency cannot be charged to him. As for his sea service, it is thirty-three and one third per cent.; while Com- modore Shubrick's is but thirty-seven per cent. of his whole length of service. That, therefore, cannot be the cause for disrating him. It was not the inefficiency of individuals that caused them to be stricken down. No, sir, it was a system of espionage on the Navy; it was a combination; and, as characterized by a dis- tinguished member of the navyboard, it was a "packed conspiracy" to strike down chivalrous and gallant men, and give position and promotion to those who grasped the scepter in their hands and wielded it with despotic sway. You may say it was the fault of Congress. I admit it was a great error to pass such a law as the one under which this action has taken place; and if its passage was commended to us by any who understood what would be the result, it was a cul- pable act-it was a criminal act. I have no doubt I voted for it, though I have not referred to the record; but if I did vote for it I voted without comprehending it. I deferred to the committee and the Department, supposipg everything was for the best. I was not importuned to vote against it, and I supposed it must all be right. I imagined that some two or three dozen officers would be withdrawn from the service who were inefficient through age or wounds or infirmity, or from habits intolerable in the Army or the Navy, and which reflected no credit on the service. Never did I dream that those dropped would amount to fifty. If I committed the sin of voting for the bill, it was the sin of igno- rance amounting.to omission only; though I may be properly cen- surable for not having examined it when it was to fall so weightily on men who deserved their country's thanks for preserving their country's honor. Yes, sir, it was a great offense; and greatly must we atone for it when we reflect on the injustice done to those injured by its operation. But, sir, has the law been carried out impartially, fairly, and justly? Who were the persons who went into the board? My honorable friend from Delaware, [Mr. Clayton,] says that one of the distinguished men on it. was Commander, now Captain, Du Pont, in whose behalf he presented, (as he always does) a most
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