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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1842
449
portion of Texas was to become the object of competition and purchase. With these considerations, I return the bill without my sig- nature, believing as I do, that it would be an invasion of the avowed principle and contradiction of the 8th section of the law fixing the basis of our finances. Should the Honorable Congress adopt the suggestions in rela- tion to the Cherokee country, I feel most confident that they will have a highly beneficial effect upon the credit and character of our currency, and sustain the country by producing millions to our Treasury and inducing a flood of emigration to our country. Sam Houston [Rublic] 1 "Messages of the Presidents," Cong1·cssional Pa,pers; also Executive Rec- ord Boole, No 40, pp. 27-28. :?William Bryan was a merchant and general business man of New Orleans. Archer and Austin, in a letter to Henry Smith, January 20, 1836, stated that they had appointed William Bryan "General Agent of the Gov- ernment [Texas] in this city, and Edward Hall purchasing agent." Bryan and Hall were partners in business. They had enough faith in, and sym- pathy for the people of Texas, who were struggling for independence, to advance money for purchases made by the Commissioners (Austin, Archer, Wharton) after several other firms had 1·efused to do so. ·This appointment developed into the first consulate of the de facto republic. Bryan, especially, was exceedingly active in promoting the interests of the Texas Government, and he won the confidence and esteem of all the officials of the Texas Government who understood the risks and the efficiency with which he served them. (See Consula,· Correspondence, 1836, Texas State Library.) For some reason David G. Burnet did not like Bryan, so during the Ad Interim, government of Texas, he dismissed Bryan (with consent of the Senate) and appointed Thomas Toby & Brother of New Orleans, sole agents of the Texas Republic. During his first administration, Houston continued this appointment and the Toby Brothers remained the Commercial agent, or consuls for the Texas Republic at New Orleans, although Houston, on December 16, 1836, appointed John Woodward Consul General. (See this appointment, Houston to the Texas Senate, December 15, 1836, in The W1·itings of Seim Houston, I, 506.) When Lamar's administration began he appointed Bryan consul at New Orleans (See E. W. Winkler (ed.), Sec1·et Jounials of the Sena,te, Re7mblic of Texas, 1896-1845, 119, 120, 231, 232; also, Lantar Papers, II, 331-332.), but at the beginning of his second administration, Houston again dismissed Bryan and appointed P. Edmunds consul at New Orleans. But P. Edmunds was not a success as a consul, nor did he like the position, for he deliberately left it, July 4, 1842, without even the formality of resigning. The consulate was again turned over to William Bryan, and with the exception of a few breaks of short periods when the consulate was in the hands of the vice-consul, he remained the representative of Texas at New Orleans throughout its e.·dstencc as a republic. During Bryan's agency and consulship for Texas at New Orleans,
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