197
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1859
allegiance and loyalty, the Federal Government owes them pro- tection. Can you give protection to California without a direct communication with the Pacific ocean? You cannot. Can you ~ind them in interest? Can you make them identical with us? Can you bind them in cordiality, in sympathy, and in. loyalty, unless you create a bond of this kind? ·You cannot. I wish no portion of this country to be alien to the Union, and I wish to-do justice to all. I never could conceive that there was a constitu- tional impediment in the way of this work. Are we authorized to build forts and fortifications? If we are, are we not equally bound to afford other means of defense? Is not the communica- tion with San Francisco and with the Pacific as important as it is to erect forts here upon our borders, on the Atlantic? Equally important. They are necessary to the protection of our Atlantic coast, and a railroad is indispensable to the protection of the Pacific coast. I have always been a stickler for strict construction, and I am yet; but I believe whatever is necessary for the salvation of the country is constitutional, There has been no constitutional pro- vision to bring these vast territories into the United States, and to incorporate them into our Union. The Constitution cannot be stretched; it is not a piece of India-rubber; it is a compacted whole, and not to be distended; but whenever you step beyond the Constitution to acquire a dominion, it becomes expedient that you should do something with that dominion; and then it becomes a matter of legislative discretion. That is my opinion about the Constitution and its application to those territories, that have been acquired without its pale and without its provisions. I in- sist that it would be an act of glaring injustice to this section of the country, possessing the vast and illimitable advantages which it does as a terminus of a road, to exclude it from the common benefits that are extended to other sections of the Union. Mr. President, as I remarked in the outset, it was not my intention to have uttered one syllable upon this occasion. I have always entertained my private views and opinions. I did not know that they were more orthodox than those of other gentle- men, nor did I wish to bring them in opposition to their views. It is possible that I might be reconciled to the views which they have advanced; but they have not yet convinced me, and I have a right to give my opinion. I have regretted, Mr. President, that in the course of this discussion it has been deemed necessary to draw any invidious
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