358
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1840
He admitted that there were some good claims, but they had been excepted by the treaty with the Cherokees. He would not attempt to invalidate any good claim, but he would never give his assent to any claim which was not founded in equity. The Cherokees had no right to sell or alienate any portion of this land to individuals, nor to sell to any power but the govern- ment of Texas. Consequently if they had made a transfer, it would not be binding on this government-the land had been ob- tained by conquest, and was public property. Therefore, we should sell the land, and get some money for it-that was his opinion. He knew of no better way to discharge our national liabilities; and, as we clearly had the right, he thought we should act on the ground of expediency. (Here Mr. Houston gave way for a mo- tion of adjournment; and the house adjourned to 3 o'clock) Friday Evening, 3 o'clock Mr. Houston resumed. He said the interest shown in this dis- cussion manifested the interest taken in the measure. He had the proof to adduce to this house of the truth of all the assertions he had made in the forepart of his remarks, The gentlemen op- posed to the measure would use every influence in their power to defeat the measure, but he had come prepared for them. They would not bring up the document to prove the correctness of the Indian's claim, and he should be under the necessity of doing it himself. T'his question was fully discussed at the last session, and, after a full examination of all the ground, the bill passed almost unanimous. It had received the sanction of the last congress, and it had received the sanction of the nation, and met with op- position no where but from the speculators of Nacogdoches. The large assembly which the discussion of this bill invariably pro- duces, shows the interest which is felt in its passage. He did not play at ad cap tandum, to amuse the car, but he was glad to see so much interest manifested upon the subject. He had procured a copy of Mr. Burnet's contract from the gen- eral land office. By a reference to article 2 of that document, it will be seen that there was a reservation made in that contract to the lands belonging to individuals or communities; the law had pointed them out as a community; they had been placed there as a community-and as a community they held their lands. W[ould we] reward a man who had been unlrue to [ torn ]
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