WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1857
423
is about to make its advent, I want that Administration to have a fair start. I desire no bushwood to be left in its path. I want no incumbrance in its way. I shall glory in a prosperous Admin- istration of the country as long as I inhabit a small spot on this globe. But, Mr. President, I am for dealing out justice to every man. If he is the author of a good thing, give him the credit of it. If he is the author of evil to the country, point it out, so that the incoming Administration may arrest or remedy the evil if possible. To use a farmer's phrase, I want the old barn to be swept out before the new crop comes in, so that no weevils may enter into the grain and destroy its purity and worth. I desire to have the information called for in this resolution. It can be easily furnished. It will prejudice no man who has not prejudiced himself. It will give the Senate light to act on the Navy in the future. It will do justice to the present Admin-- istration, because it will only produce the true condition of the Navy, for which they are responsible; and it will extend to the incoming Administration a beginning point, at which to say, "we found things so and so." When that is done, I shall feel that I have acquitted myself to the present and to the incoming Admin- istration, and, above all, to honest and just men, who have been borne down, broken in spirit, destroyed in hopes, blasted in for- tune, and who are now cast upon the world friendless and alone, for they have passed that period of life when they could have cultivated the opinions of friends around them and felt that they were in the midst of brethren; they are now solitary, almost exiles at their homes. They are alone and friendless; and you have nothing to say in vindication of these men. They who are spot- less have been dismissed, and others who are spotted have been retained in preference to them. Who doubts that injustice has been done to many? It is to those who have been delinquent that I wish justice to be now done. I wish to understand the true condition of the Navy, so that we may act on it hereafter understandingly, and if evils exist remedy them; if all is well, accord to it our approbation. I move, Mr. President, to reconsider the vote on the amend- ment which was intended to destroy the force of the resolution. 1 Cong1·essional Globe, Part 1, 1856-1857, pp. 556-557. For former remarks and speeches on this subject, see documents under dates of January 14, 16, 30, 1857. After some quibbling among various Senators, a vote was taken, the result of which annulled the amendment that Mallory had offered to Houston's resolution concerning naval desertions, resolutions which had been submitted on January 14, 1857.
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