WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1839
331
it there himself, and it was a base forgery. He would here sol- emnly protest in the face of Heaven, that the first time he had ever seen it, his name was attached to it. He did not know whether it had been placed there by some kind friend, to make the whole number complete, or by some one who wished to mor- tify him, by appending his name to so imperfect an instrument. But to return to the subject of the Cherokee lands- it had been contended by honorable gentlemen, that the land now pro- vided to be sectionized and sold, had long since been granted to Empresarios by the Mexican government for settlements. But this part depended upon mere assertion - and they had brought forward no proofs in support of it: This territory lay north of the San Antonio Road, between the Naches and the Sabine Riv- ers: he should not attempt to prove a negative, but he defied any gentleman to show that this territory was included in any Em- presario grant. Its limits were sufficiently defined, and his friend from Colorado was mistaken when he said that it had no western boundary. There was not that boundless outlet which gentleman_ spoke of, and he would assure him that he had no disposition to extend the Cherokee Reservation to the Rio Grande, for though he had a high opinion of the people of Bastrop, he did not like the country well enough to scuffle for it. But his friend from Colorado had undertaken to throw con- tempt upon this bill by underrating the section of country em- braced in its provisions.- He had no doubt it would realize all the expectations of its warmest advocates.- But if they were to reserve from sale those hundred leagues of land illegally located after the land office had been closed-- if the government should guarantee every fraudulent and spurious claim which had been located since the expulsion of the Indians, then, there might be some ground for the apprehension of the gentleman from Colo- rado. But he did not propose to legalize fraud and corruption by making an exception of their claims. He would sell the whole territory, and he had no doubt it would produce a revenue, and he knew no better method than the one proposed. If we had to depend upon taxes to defray the extravagances which had crept into the government, our people would have to pay more tythes for its support. Now we have the means of raising an ample revenue by rendering an act of justice and he called upon the Representatives of the people to sustain the measure. His honorable friend had alluded to a mistake which had oc- curred in filling a blank in the 13th section of the bill, with 1832
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