154
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1837
of the several counties up to this time have not authorized the erection of jails. For the remedy of this defect, I would recom- mend that authority be given to the several district judges (when information shall be filed,) in cases of felony, to direct the immediate trial of the accused. From this course, no prejudice can arise to the culprit, while the county will be released from a burden, and the opportunities of the guilty to escape from justice, will be diminished. The regulation of fees and perquisites, connected with the judicial department of the government, is a subject of much importance and should claim the scrutiny and consideration of congress. If this is done, we may hope that cupidity will be disappointed, and extortion banished from our land. The finances of our country since the commencement of the revolution, up to this time, have been in a more embarrassed situation doubtless, than any other nation ever experienced. Since the commencement of the present administration, during the first year, there was at the disposition of the executive or the treasury, but five hundred dollars in cash! The several amounts which had been appropriated for specific or general purposes, depended upon the sale of the scrip, and that by acts of congress was placed in the hands of foreign agents, who were i1Tesponsible to the executive, having given no security, so as to insure account- ability, and furthermore, placed beyond the jurisdiction of our laws. This imaginary and unfortunate expedient is not at an end, and has left the government in a situation to afford the ample redemption of all her pledges and responsibilities. A boundless revenue to the country will arise from the opening of the land offices, and so soon as that can take place consistently with the positive provisions of the constitution, and regulated by such enactments as will guard the public interest against frauds and imposition, it will meet the desires of the executive and promote the public tranquility. Owing to the financial derangement of the United States, from which our currency was almost entirely derived, and where it was hoped that this country could obtain a negotiation for five million of dollars, our expectations have not been realized; by the last advices from our agents of the loan, they had not suc- ceeded, but regarded the prospects of success greater than had been at any previous time. The enactments of congress authorizing the funding of a portion of the public debt, in connection with the issue of half a million of treasury notes, is calculated in a short time to
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