WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1860
550
sentiments; and he who does not submit to this dictation is to be proscribed. In the construction of platforms, the first thing considered is, how can they best contrive to gull the people, secure party success and distribute the "spoils;" and in their arrangement, the effort is not to announce in bold and unmistakeable terms, doctrines, which will touch the hearts of the masses and convince their reason, but to express in ambiguous language, ideas subject to different constructions in various parts of the Union and calcu- lated to deceive. The qualifications of a candidate are not considered, nor, whether he is known to the nation, or has done aught to advance its interests; but is he ai,ailable! If he is, the end of party is secured, and there are always on the spot, the leading men of delegations, friendly to him, ready to give pledges, who united, nominate the candidate and endorse him. Pledging all the dele- gates who enter the Convention, to support the nominee, that independent action, so essential to freedom is destroyed. No independent man ought to accept a nomination, accompanied by any platform, with which his previously entertained opinions, are in conflict. If his feelings are national and he has claims upon the confidence of the country, the nation must know what his principles are, and if they are proper, they surely do not require the endorsement of a Convention to make them pass current, with the people, but their intelligence will enable them to judge. And again, if an individual accepts a nomination of a party, under these circumstances, he could not be President of the nation. He must select his Cabinet from the members of the party. He must make all his prominent appointments from the party, and allow party leaders to select them. No matter what the merits,-no matter, how patriotic and intelligent an individual may be, unless he has "voted the ticket," he is to be excluded from office and his merits and claims disregarded. A man who would consent to be a mere tool, because it secured him the Presidency, does not deserve to be the head of a nation! Unless he reserves to himself the right of remaining free and untrammelled from all pledges, except his official obligations, he will never be able to control the destinies of this great nation; and· if he would give a single pledge to secure the Presidency, it is conclusive of his want of merit and he deserves to be repudiated. Though the nation might accidentally prosper under his administration, by its mere self-sustaining powers and the onward spirit of our
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