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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1860
545
done, it will be the duty of the Governor to issue his proclamation annulling them. I desire an immediate reply. Very respectfully, Sam Houston. 1 Co1npt1·olle1·s' Letters; also, Executive Reco1·ds, 1859-1861, p. 106, Texas State Library. Johns's reply, March 26, 1860, may be found in the Comp-
trollers' Letters, Texas State Library. zsee Texas Republic, April 21, 1860.
To J oHN W. HARRIS AND OTHERs 1
Austin, Texas, March 25, 1860. To Messrs.John W. Harris/ Daniel D. Atchison,3 J. Carrol Smith,• A. S. Ruthven,5 Galveston, Texas. Gentlemen :-Your letter of January 20th, was received in due time; but owing to a press of official duties, I have been unable to answer it until the present moment. And, in fact, even ·at this time, such is the complex attitude of our State affairs, owing to the Indian troubles on our border, and the condition of our Treasury, that I shall not be able to devote that attention to it, which I would desire. In your letter, you desire to know, whether I will permit my name "to be usecl as a candidate for the Presidency, before the Charleston Convention" and solicit a frank expression of my views thereupon; and I will state that numerous letters from various parts of the Union, have reached me, making the same inquiry. Disposed at all times to give free expression to my views, I shall candidly meet the question before me. Nor will it be amiss in me, to glance at the present condition of our politics, their tendencies and results. The grand idea of parties, as maintained by the great men of the past, has been destroyed. All those absorbing questions of finance and government, which rallied around Jackson and Clay, the patriotism of the country differing as to the best mode of advancing the national intere~ts, yet all striving to accomplish that end, are lost sight of. We are drifting onward in the march of extravagance and corruption. That which pertains to the whole country, commands scarcely a passing thought, whil_e that which pertains to each individual section, is a theme of distrac- tion.
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