WRITINGS OF °S..\M HOUSTON, 1854
73
Sir~ I have never for a moment thought as to one party or the other being in favor of the bill. I have not considered whether all the Democrats were in favor of it or not, whether the Whigs ,were united upon the subject. I believe the Whigs were not; and I know all the Democrats were not united upon it. If I am classed with them, I certainly have not been an advocate or adherent of the appropriations as they came embodied in the bill from the .other House. What the President may do is a matter about which ·r would not give a thought.. It is his right and his duty to act as he sees proper when we have presented measures for his appro- bation or his condemnation, and I am willing to refer it to his decision in the discharge of his high duty; but I am not going to vote here in anticipation of what he may or may not do. Nor will I vote here upon any measure with reference to what the House may be willing to do. Each body of Congress is separate in its appropriate sphere. The two Houses are coordinate, but not blended in their action. And therefore I will not commingle my views with those of any other department on subjects which come before us. But, sir, I had hoped that after the last motion to adjourn was made, we should immediately take the vote on the amendment proposed by the Senator from California. I was prepared to vote for his amendment, though I believed I should vote against the bill on its final passage. If an appropriation were necessary to the State of California, or for any other minor state of this Union, even if it were exorbitant, I should as unhesitatingly vote for that as for any other, so that the distribution might be according to the manifest necessities of each section of the country; and that, even if the bill were improper in itself, the-general benefits might, to some extent, be disseminated throughout the country. Yes, sir; this is my desire; and I am therefore prepared to vote for the amendment. But I believe that every time we approach a crisis in the progress of this bill, we get a little further off. Our course on the bill has reminded me of an anecdote of a boy going to school on the frozen snow. He was a little tardy, and as master brought him up about being truant. Said he, "You scamp, why have you not been here earlier this morning?" "vVhy, sir," said the boy, "really, in. coming along I did my best; but every step I gave forward, I slipped two steps backward." "Why, you young scamp, how then did you get here?" ·"Oh," then said the boy, "I just turned my face the other way, and I got here directly." 1 think we might profit by this. If we adjourn now, and turn our
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