WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1837-184,1
But if suits of this character should be much multiplied, the time and labor which a suitable _preparation of the defence alone, would require, must either become onerous to the officers con- cerned, or occasion a diversion of their services from the legiti- mate business of their departments, injurious to the public inter- est. In the diversified and unsettled state of our jurisprudence, and the multiplicity of claims upon the Government, growing out of our land system, and the public service, it would not be sur- prising if many suits of this character should arise. The propriety, therefore, of some enactment that shall exone- rate the officers referred to in the Report, from the defence of suits involving their official action, is respectfully submitted. It will be seen, upon looking into the character of the suit against the Commissioner General, instituted in Brazoria County, that an opinion is seriously entertained, that all the lands to which the Republic may in any event, be entitled, as those which for years [have] been under grants to individuals, and withdrawn from the common mass of public domain, as those entirely vacant and unappropriated, are liable to the claims and location of any person who may choose to search them out. The suit referred to seeks to establish this right. The opinion of the law officer of the Government upon the resources of the Government, and the repose and quietude of the country, commends it to your serious consideration. While the vigilance and activity of private interest would be, perhaps, the most efficient agent in searching out and exposing the numerous fraudulent titles which, no doubt, exist in the coun- try, there is great danger that in the eagerness to acquire, proper discrimination might be lost sight of, and the weak and defence- less fall a prey to greater evils than they now suffer. A law with suitable provisions declaratory of the rights of the Government, in this species of property, and prescribing a course of procedure for ascertaining the lands to which the Republic is justly entitled, and vacating the grants which cover them, would, it is believed, greatly subserve the general interest, and do much to soothe the disappointment and agitation now existing in ref- erence to the public lands. [Sam Houston] 1 Miscellaneous Documents, University of Texas Library. This volume is a collection of very rare pamphlets that were originally the property of Isaac Van Zandt, who had them bound together for his own convt:'nience. His order to the binders, in his own handwriting, is still attached to one of the fly leaves under the front cover. One of the pamphlets of this volume contains
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