101
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
and minute man of business, if he transcended the powers dele- gated to him, he did so from a full conviction that he was pro- moting the interest of the public. Sure am I that he had no ulterior views of self-aggrandizement, or of pecuniary gain beyond the legitimate salary of his office and the perquisites fairly his. Though it may be somewhat irregular, if it is a claim by an individual for justice, the Government has the same ability to pay it now that it will have at any future time. I cannot perceive the propriety of postponing it and putting in a private bill. If it would be just to pay it as an individual claim, it is equally just to embrace it in this deficiency bill, though I am not in favor of deficiency bills; but it is as proper to pay it now as at any other time, the consequence of not paying it will be ruin to him. Where a man has been just, honest and faithful, and where the benefits of his labors, and misapprehensions have accrued advantageously to the Government, I do not see any just excuse that we have for postponing it. To receive the work and labor of individuals, faithfully performed, and not requite them for it, would be to stamp infamy upon this Government if it is able to pay its debts; and if it is not, let it declare itself bankrupt. If it has the means of paying just demands against it, let it meet them properly, and defray the expenses incident to its existence and preservation. [Mr. Trumbull spoke.] Mr. Houston. I would remark, sir, to the gentleman from Illi- nois, that upon the very same principle that I voted to retain in the deficiency bill the section proposing to reimburse the Clerk of the House of Representatives, I vote to pay the surveyor general of California. I was opposed to striking out the third section of the bill; I thought that it ought to be retained. ·I thought that if the Clerk had faithfully paid out the money, he ought to be reimbursed, particularly as he had done it under an order of the House of Representatives, because he was their officer, subject to their direction; and if he faithfully executed their orders, the nation, in good faith, was bound to defray the expense, or to repay the money he had disbursed, and credit him with it at the Treasury. That is the reason that I voted against striking out the third section. Now, as the benefits of the mistake of this surveyor general of California have resulted to the advantage of the Government, and it has received the labor performed in con- sequence of the misapprehension he entertained, I think we are equally bound, in good faith, to pay him. 1 Congressional Globe, 1857-1858, Part 2, p. 1773. The Deficiency Bill was necessarily composed of many items. On April 24, Senator James Harlan,
Powered by FlippingBook