407
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1841
the case, is not only the duty of the legislature but of the Execu- tive, so far as the Executive may have delegated to him the power. The constitution provides that certain means should be placed within his control to enable him to exercise all his legiti- mate powers. Amongst these are the services of certain officers, such as are necessary for the collection, safe-keeping and dis- bursement of the treasure of the country. These, also, are to be responsible and accountable to the Executive for the trusts dele- gated to them. If their trusts are violated, they are amenable to the laws and accountable to the Executive. He is responsible to the nation; and if the means necessary are placed in his power and he does not employ them to the advancement of the public good or should use them for purposes not contemplated by law, he is answerable for their perversion. I would respectfully sug- gest to the Honorable Congress, that I desire to exercise no priv- ilege or power but that which is delegated to me by the constitu- tion or accorded to me by the Congress under the sanction of that instrument. I do, at the same time, solicit from your Honorable Bodies, as the representatives of the nation, such provision and assistance as has heretofore been deemed indispensable to the administration of the government. The same facilities will be required by the present Executive that were accorded to his prede- cessor during the first two years of his administration. Indeed there is reason - pressing reason, why those facilities should not be diminished. The accumulation of business in the offices, and a derangement which has been consequent upon the con- solidation of several departments during the last Congress and the unsettled state of some bureaus for years past, overwhelm the officers now in service with a task which they are totally unable to perform. The objects of retrenchment should be to dispen~e with all the unnecessary officers and to retain those only which are necessary to the speedy and accurate transaction of business. Persons who have public business to transact in the offices will otherwise be detained at the seat of government at great individual expense and detriment, for weeks and months. That there should be a responsible head to each department of the government, agree- ably to its first organization to my mind is clear and decided; and that they should receive a just and liberal compensation is beyond a.U question. Men of capacity and character cannot afford to bestow their time and incur the responsibilities of office without an adequate reward. With such men employed, the government
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