WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1856
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speech in the long-protracted debate on the Naval Retiring Board's actions. The two speeches a1·e closely related.
REMARKS ON THE ACTION OF THE NAVAL RETIRING BOARD, JULY 15, 1856 1 Mr. President, it is with great diffidence in my judgment that I differ upon any constitutional or legal question with my friend from South Carolina; but upon this occasion I have the mis- fortune to do so. I believe that Congress has the power to repeal the act of 1855, and that repeal will leave the officers in precisely the situation in which they were before any attempt was made at its execution. In the first place, it has not been executed con- stitutionally, or even consistently with its own provisions. In the next place, the President, I admit, has the prerogative (if you please to term it so) to dismiss any officer in the army or navy, by a mere act of his will; and if the President has dis- missed any officer of the Navy by a mere act of his will, by virtue of his constitutional power granted to him, we could not interfere; but in this case he has not done so, and he ca·nnot assume now that he has done it in accordance with his preroga- tive. In his approval of the proceedings of the board he said his act was in pursuance of the law. If the law is unconstitutional, or if the proceedings under it have been improperly conducted, or if an attempt had been made to execute it not in conformity with the spirit of the law, all this can be made void by a repeal. He says that his act was in conformity with the law, and not by virtue of his prerogative, or the power vested in him by the Constitution. It seems to me, therefore, that a repeal of the law will nullify all that has been done for it. I will not vote for this amendment; and I never will vote for any measure that will not repeal this law and restore these officers. We have more officers now than we can furnish employment for. But if you go on and confirm the officers now before the Senate, for higher places, this evil will be greatly increased. I heard the honorable Senator from Tennessee say that a great and grievous wrong had been done, and that tyranny and oppres- sion had been exercised. I may not use his language, but in substance this was the ·idea. He said he wanted justice done to the officers who had been wronged. Sir, they have all been wronged-every one of them. The country has been wronged by retaining officers as unqualified for service as those who have been dismissed ; unqualified from personal defects as well as from bad habits. There are now in the Navy twice as many men
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