WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1842
82
Under these circumstances, and as soon as the Executive was apprised of the condition of the frontier, and of the apprehensions entertained by the inhabitants, he immediately directed the ar- chives and such other public property as was portable to be removed to this place. Although the emergency would have jus- tified the step without any express authority under the constitu- tion or laws; yet, in this case, he was not driven to the assump- tion of that responsibility. He acted in strict accordance with his powers and duty under the Constitution. He is also fully satis- fied of the policy as well as necessity of the location of the seat of government at some point within the Republic where the archives will be secure and where the functions of the govern- ment can be more efficiently exercised than they could be at a point as remote from the sea-board and as much detached from the body of settlements and the mass of population as the city of Austin. Should any occasion arise for the concentration of all the effective force of the country at some particular point on the frontier the fact of the location of the seat of government at a point so much exposed, would necessarily draw off considerable strength from active and perhaps valuable service in another quarter, to guard the archives against either Mexican or Indian enemies. This embarrassment would be obviated by its location at some interior situation, where it could be secure from danger and alarm, accessible to intelligence and convenient for its dis- semination throughout the country. During the last year the expense to the government for transportation to the City of Austin, over and above what it would have been to any point on the sea board, exceeded seventy thousand dollars; and the extra cost of the transportation of the mail, aside from all other expense and inconvenience attending its remote and detached situation, amounts to many thousand more. If we are to continue to remain in our present unsettled condi- tion, it is of the utmost importance that the seat of government be established at some point convenient for the speedy and effi- cient transaction of the public business. From the insecurity of the public records, the Executive was induced to the adoption of the course which he has pursued, and it being in accordance with the dictates of the constitution and his own judgment, he sees no reason to revoke his decision or yield to the illegal resistance which has been offered to the execu- tion of his orders by an association who constituted themsel~es a
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