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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1860
517
If a warrant can only be drawn "whenever there may be money in the Treasury appropriated for that purpose," then you have violated the laws for months, for with a knowledge that there was no money in the Treasury, except that ap- propriated for the payment of the Public Debt and the River Fund, you have drawn Warrants upon the Treasury in favor of Other claims and exhausted the public debt Fund. Over $25,000 of this Fund was paid out upon your Warrants, without a law authorizing its use; and when the Legislature with a view of relieving the embarrassed state of the Treasury and supposing the whole of this Fund, amounting to $122,682.59 was in the Treasury, placed it within the discretion of the Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer to use the same to meet demands of "greater emergency," you continued to draw warrants without consultation as provided by the law, until the whole has been exhausted. Refusing to draw from this fund for the payment of the supplies furnished for the Rangers in the field defending the frontier of Texas, you have drawn from it to pay your own partisans and favorites; and now talk about only issuing a Warrant when there is money in the Treasury appropriated to pay it. Perhaps the "act" passed by the Legislature requiring the consent of three departments of government, before this money could be used, was also unconstitutional in your view. In my opinion it is your duty to issue Warrants. The Treas- urer must be the judge as to whether there is money in the Treasury appropriated to pay them. There being no money in the Treasury to pay claimants, the credit of the State can only be met by promptly issuing the "Warrants" and paying them with the interest according to law. Sworn to support the Constitution, which requires me, "to see the laws faithfully executed," I can neither sanction the illegal course proposed in your letter, or fail to use all the powers con- ferred upon me by the Constitution to enforce the execution of the law requiring you to issue the warrants. A form of warrant drawn in accordance with the law will be furnished you by me. Sam Houston [Rubric] 1 Compt1·ollers' Lette1·s (1860); also Execut-ive Records, 1859-1861, J>P, 19-22, Texas State Library. The document to be found in the Comptroller's Letters is the 01·iginal letter, and is signed with the rubric. This is the •
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