WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1839
347
But if the thing was to be reversed, and the whites were to be arraigned for perfidy to the Indians, it would not be a difficult matter to convict them. The Cherokees would point to the mur- der of their people upon the Brazos- and tell us of the heart burnings, and the misery they were compelled to bear at seeing their people the victims of such an outrage. They would speak of their long forbearance in which they had sought for redress only in a quiet and peaceful way- they would speak of the fatal- ity of war, and their desire to live in continued peace; and while they acknowledged the superiority of the arms of the white man over the Children of the forest, they would shed tears of bitter- ness at the reflection, that with them a desire always furnished them with a reason-and that might would give them a right to appropriate the property of the Indian to their own uses. They would then point to the blood of the Bowl, unburied, and speak of his murder, as the crowning act of wickedness. But he intended to address the House again upon this question, and he had said enough for the present relative to the justness of the claim, and should conclude by offering a few remarks in relation to the expediency of the· measure. The benefits of an overflowing treasury would be, to him a sufficient proof of the expediency- and of the justness and right he had never enter- tained a doubt. The expenditures of our government were con- stantly increasing- and money must be raised in some way. If we do not do it by the sale of lands, we must resort to a direct taxation, and he did not think the people prepared for high taxes. From the sale of those lands we would derive many millions- the country was fine- well watered, and well timbered. When offered for sale, we should receive nothing but gold and silver, and the government would soon be relieved from her embarrass- ment. Citizens from the United States could come forward and purchase, and as the titles would eminate directly from the gov- ernment, people in the United States would become interested in the country without emigrating to Texas. He did not know that he had convinced the House either of the justness or expediency of the measure- but he had spoken the honest convictions of his heart, and he believed that after years would give him credit for honesty and integrity of purpose, what- ever might be the decision of Congress upon this bill. 1 Harriet Smither (ed.), Journals of the Fonrth Congress of the R eprtblio of Texas, II, 202-215, 225-231.
Powered by FlippingBook