WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1854
36
it, assuring him that all reliance might be placed upon its proper use, and he yielded under the restriction of not hypothecating it for less than ninety days. The Commodore received ;the money, left for New Orleans, and disobeying his instructions, threw the money immediately into circulation, which was squandered in every direction at a time when the issues from the treasury were suspended with the avowal that no more money should be issued for a certain time. It brought against the Government the imputation that it was acting with duplicity. While it held out that money was not to be issued at the Capitol or at Houston, that money was sent off to a distance to be issued, and that depreciated the character of the currency. The navy remained, though, in the port of New Orleans, the commodore still giving assurances of his efficiency, and telling what immense things he would do; while he was living in splendid style, and keeping up everything in a way which the means of Texas at home could not support. While he remained the distrust increased. It existed before from his conduct in evading orders and keeping the navy out after the new Administration came in. Repeatedly, successive orders were issued requiring him to return the vessels to the port of Galveston ; and the Legislature at length met, and passed a secret act for the purpose of disposing of the navy. Why was that act secret? It was not to conform to the desire of the Executive; for the President was so happily circumstanced that he never had a majority in Congress to sustain his measures; and his only consolation was, that he had honest men enough to sustain his vetoes. T'he President, under these circumstances, fo~nd it necessary to appoint commissioners to carry out this secret act; but in the meantime repeated orders had been disregarded, and it was believed that if the act was made public it would be avoided. In confirmation of this, I see the individual has himself said that he was charged in secret session with having designed to turn pirate. How that was I know not; but I do know, that so un- believing was the Congress in his integrity, that it passed a secret act, lest its publicity might induce him to run away with the vessels, or make some disposition of them so as to lose them effectually to the country. That was the reason why the secret act was passed, and no other reason did I ever hear assigned. I will read the instructions given to the commissioners, that the Senate may be fully apprised of the circumstances under which
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