WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1844
508
To THE TEXAS 8ENATE 1
Executive Department, Washington, January 10, 1844.
To the Honorable, the Senate: The Executive has had under consideration, the bill providing for a "repeal of all laws now in force. authorizing the President to form colonization contracts, and to forfeit such as have already been made, where the conditions have not been strictly complied with," and is constrained to return the same to the House in which it originated, without his approval. The various contracts under the laws intended to be repealed by this bill, were all made with reference to those laws as they stood at the date of the contracts. Those laws contemplate and provide for an extension of time, under certain circumstances, to the contractors. This provision entered into and became one of the governing principles of the contracts; and any law now passed, declaring that "no extension of time or privilege shall be granted to said contractors /01· the purpose of carrying such contracts into en·ect," would in the opinion of the Executive, directly impair the obligation of the existing contracts. The contractors have the right to expect a just and strict compliance with the spirit and letter of the law goYerning their contracts, on the part of the Government; and to curtail their rights as provided for in the bill, would, the Executive conceives, be not only a violation of the constitution, but work great loss and inconvenience to those who have invested capital and expended labor in endeavoring to carry out their respective undertakings in good faith. In one or two instances, contractors have been prevented from introducing settlers into their colonies, by the express request and direction of the government, under the apprehension that by so doing the efforts of the government in bringing about a peace with the Indians would probably be interrupted. Under these circumstances, it would be a glaring violation of good faith to deprive the contractors of the privileges secured to them under the law. Nothing, certainly, exerts a more detrimental influence upon the prosperity and happiness of a nation than instability in legis- lation. The contractors for the settlement of our vacant domain, have not, as yet had time to perfect their respective contracts; and before a fair experiment of the policy of this mode of settling the country is made, it should not be condemned.
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