133
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoN.A.P.ARTE LAM.AR
No. 2219 1846 May 2, M. B. LAMAR AUSTIN, [TEXAS] TO J. P. HEN- DERSON. [AUSTIN, TEXAS]' 8 · Austin 2nd May 1846. His Excellency J. Pinckney Henderson, Sir--In the general Appropriation Act,' 9 5th Febry. 1841, the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars was set apart for the payment of the President's salary for that year. When I retired from office, I left a portion of the salary undrawn; not suspecting for a moment, that I might be arbitrarily deprived of it; or that I should forfeit my right to the money by permitting to remain temporarily in the Treasury. I was disappointed, however, in my expectations. On application for it, the Executive forbid its payment. I was once in- formed by the Secretary of the Treasury that a Bill had been passed in the Congress for my relief, and that the money could then be drawn ; yet when the application was made, the exifltence of such a Bill was denied by the Executive, and the money was still withheld. It remains unpaid to the present day; and apparently for no other purpose, than the gratification of the Executive towards me. He is now no longer in office; and I am emboldened to renew my application, under the belief that the reasons, whatever they may be, which have heretofore operated my defeat, will not be felt by your Excellency. That the money belongs to me, and not to the Government, is a point which I have always regarded as beyond dispute; and of consequence I have not been able to look upon the withholding of it in any other light than as a deliberate injustice on the part of the Executive-a wrong which I do not believe Your Excellency can approve of, however sus- tained it may be by the popular voice. Nothing, in my estimation, can be plainer than the fact, tliat when the payment of the particular sum to an individual has been ordered by the law, the money ceases to be a portion of the public Treasury. This seems to be almost self- evident. So soon as the appropriation is made, the money becomes private property; and it is the duty of the Executive to deliver it to the claimant whenever demru1ded. If he refuse to do this, he is guilty of a dereliction of duty. No matter who may be in office at the time, the law remains the same; and the duty of the Executive to comply with its requirements, is obvious and imperative. The money still be- longs to the person ·for whose benefit the appropriation was made; and to withhold it from him, must be as indefensible as the detention of any private funds which might be accidentally left on the Treasurer's desk. It is upon these truths, that I predicate my present application. I do not come before the Government for the adjudication and pay- ment of any claims against the State. Mine is a demand for the de• livery of money which was voted to me by the proper authorities-· of the country, and which has been illegally detained by the Executive. If I had any unsettled claims to prefer, I would go to the Legislature first for the appropriation, and then to the Executive for the money.
41 A. Df. S. ..See Gammel, H. P. N., Laws of Tell)as, II, 571.
Powered by FlippingBook