WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1847
503
for the Western part of the State to be entered only at the Gal- veston custom-house and thence sent to Paso Cavallo for consump- tion in the interior. As I am informed, even the vessels contain- ing emigrants from western Texas are compelled to waste much time and incur heavy charges by being able to enter only at Galveston, when they might, under the arrangement proposed, sail directly to the port of their destination.-In my opinion, the trade and resources of Western Texas make it obligatory on the Government to afford the people of that part of the country greater facilities than they, in this respect, at present enjoy. The expenses, I am told, would be but little, if at all, increased by the E:stablishment of the separate collectoral district proposed; and as it would relieve a large portion of our population from serious hardship, I trust it may be done at once. The reasons I hav·e given (and indeed many others might be urged) apply with equal force to the erection of the Sabine into a similar district, with a deputy collector. As things now stand, cargoes for exportation from the Sabine are obliged to go to Gal- veston for clearance; and vessels importing cargoes have to sail by the port of their destination to Galveston in order to make their entry, and then return to discharge.x This is certainly an inconvenience and hardship so palpable, it is not to be expected that Congress will not be willing to make the necessary provision by law to obviate it. Sam Houston [Rubric] "The distance is sixty miles along a dangerous coast, and the Bar of Galveston has to be twice crossed. There is no danger at Sabine. Hon. T. Pilsbury, Ho. of Representatives. 'The original letter is in possession of Mr. W. E. Wrather, Dallas, Texas. There is a photostatic copy in the University of Texas Library. Timothy Pilsbury (April 12, 1780-November 23, 1858), was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and was educated in the common schools of his native town. He clerked in a store for several years and engaged in shipping at Newburyport, then settled at Eastport, Maine, and became a member of the Maine House of Representatives, from 1825 to 1826. He was a member of the Executive Council, 1827-1836, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth United States Congress; so when his term in the Executive Council expired, he moved to Ohio, thence to New Orleans, and later to Brazorin, Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Brazoria, 1840-1841, and served his district in the Texas Senate in 1842. After
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