WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1854
46
This is not all, sir. When the vessels were turned over they were destitute of everything. They were materially injured. The San Jacinto had been lost on the first cruise; and the San Antonio was lost in the next. The navy was literally destroyed under his guardianship, and the country was not benefited to the amount of one cent, but lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, besides losing the vessels themselves. The Government at great expense had purchased several thousand dollars worth of Colt's revolvers, and armed the sailors with them. Two hundred and thirty or two hundred and forty of them were furnished to the sailors. When the vessels were delivered to the Government, only about forty of the pistols remained. The rest had been disposed of in some way; even the chronometers of the vessels had been hypothecated, and they were lost from the Government; and all the proceeds of the Yucatan expedition, nearly two hundred thousand dollars, as reported, had been disbursed with- out any accountability to the Government. This was the conduct of the individual who says he gave his private means to Texas. He says in his book: "The promise of aid from my Government was forfeited, and I was left with nothing to depend upon but the balance of seven thousand and odd dollars." In another part he says that he had exhausted his individual means to sustain the credit of the Government. He says he had to pay money to keep the navy from being disbanded; and he attributes all the misfortunes of the navy to the hostility of the Executive. What motive could the Executive have had for hostility to the navy? He saw that it was ruined to the country. He saw that the resources of the Government could not sustain the navy. He perceived the disorganized and demoralized condition of it, from head to foot; and he was not for attempting to keep it up; and this course met with the approbation of the Congress. Sir, I said that I would show that Commodore E. W. Moore had not private means, either to sustain the reputation, or to maintain the service of Texas. It will be found, on referring to the records of the Navy Department in the city, that Lieutenant E. W. Moore, late of the United States Navy, is this day a defaulter to the Government of the United States; and the cir- sumstances under which that defalcation took place can readily be ascertained. If I am incorrect, it is because the record is false. I am governed entirely by the record. It appears that
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