305
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1838
as in a most precarious, insecure, and defenceless condition, and without the means and power of the Executive to command the necessary aids for its security. The appropriations of the hon- orable congress have never been such as to enable him to provide the necessary munitions of war, or supplies of any kind, requisite to the maintenance of any force that could be beneficial to the frontier, in giving its inhabitants protection. It is true that an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars was at one time made by congress, for the purchase of arms, &c., necessary to the national defence, but that appropriation was placed entirely at the disposition of the secretary of war, and not left within the control of the President. The manner in which it was disposed of has been explained to your honorable body by the present secretary of war, in his re- port now before congress. The Executive not having had any. control over the appropriation, and not having been consulted in what manner it should be disbursed, does not feel that he is accountable for the misfortunes which may have resulted from the manner in which it has been applied. An act was passed at the last session of congress, whjch was vetoed by the Executive, and afterwards became a law, by the act of a constitutional majority. That act placed at the disposi- tion of the Major General, the sum of $20,000, as well as the control of warlike operations on the frontier, whilst it divested the President of what he conceived to be his constitutional right to direct those operations. Notwithstanding this, no exertions have been wanting on the part of the Executive, nor the war department, in affording every facility within the control of the government, to an object so desirable as the protection and security of its citizens. The honorable congress will remark, that the Executive holds it not within his competency, when an appropriation is made of any specific object, to direct that appropriation to the accomplish- ment of any other; nor has he any constitutional right to draw money from the treasury, unless it is by authority of Congress. Sam Houston. 1 The Telegravh and Texas Register, November 24, 1838. There is a long letter from Houston, dated November 19, 1838, reported in The Journal of the Ho11se of Re7)resentcttives of the Republic of Texas, 3rd Cong., Rq~. Sess., 87-92 (see preceding document), but this letter taken from the TclegrnJ)h is not in the Jo1irncil. The substance of the two letters is similar in various paragraphs, but the two communications are different.
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