WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1843
451
are not done. But we hope they won't." They openly state these things in Galveston. They are not yet in the papers, but will come out. "The officers could refuse to act. People ought not to permit the Navy to be sold. But, then, observe the laws." What interest has the President, my friends, to sell the Navy? He is only the Executive of the law. It is the man that is de- nounced. But prejudices against the individual will do but little good, in the day to come, if anarchy should stalk abroad unchecked among the people. Were I disposed to retaliate, I could point to many remedies. I might say that "such and such things could be done. An effectual stop could be put to all these slanders. It would be a great thing for the country, and my countrymen could do it with ease. There were some things not stationary that might be upset. But then, I hope, my·countrymen are too discreet to do any thing of the kind. I hope they will not, for the honor of the laws and country." I say, obey the orders, not of the President, but of the Constitution and the laws. If you are dis- satisfied with the course of your Executive, if he has acted in opposition to the laws, you can have him arraigned. I will never plead incapacity, and if convicted, I shall have the satisfaction to know, that my countrymen regard me as a criminal, but have not thought proper to excuse me as a fool. But to return to the Indian policy. I ask you to go back with me to '38. Our intercourse with the Indians was characterized by flagrant violations of justice on our part. They came in among us peaceable and tranquil. When they returned home, traders went out with them packing poison, with a view to kill off all those who sit down to the first table; for they do not treat their ladies with quite so much respect as we: they are rather un- gallant, and always eat first. What was the result? Three hun- dred and fifty Commanches were poisoned, and died. More were poisoned, but some recovered. The survivors burned the men who had thus treacherously sacrificed so many of their people. This was proclaimed as a foul massacre of the whites on the part of the Indians; but it was only murdering traders who in fact had murdered them. I defy the present generation to point to a single instance, taking the history of all the tribes of Indians, from the first settlement at Jamestown or Plymouth to the present day, where they have been the violators of treaty, in which the deception was not first practised by the whites. But the peace policy was the policy of Houston. "We will kill off Houston's d-d pet Indians." That was the new policy. And
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