Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/196

 House of Representatives, in his official character, requesting an investigation of some charges that had been made against him by a member of Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, which appeared in the character of a letter in one of the public journals of that State. A motion was submitted to appoint a special committee for the investigation of the subject, which, after consuming two days in discussion, was adopted. To this course I was opposed, because I did not think that Congress had anything to do with a difference which had been made personal by the course pursued by the Speaker himself. The imposing situation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is such, that I am never willing to give my vote for an extension of his power when I can either suspect the existence of personal feelings, or that there is even a remote possibility of rendering Congress a court of inquisition, or that it may become an engine of oppression to either members of the House or individuals in society who may choose to exercise their constitutional privileges in the expression of their opinions.

"The courts in our country are open at all times to the redress of grievances, and to them individuals can have recourse, where justice can be administered to the party aggrieved. There, every man is presented upon a footing of equality, stripped of power and patronage; no adventitious circumstances of official character or extensive influence can bias the minds of an impartial jury. The case is then determined upon its merits. There is no danger in this course; the Constitution has prescribed it. There is no danger of rendering it the fire-brand of partisan zeal.

"But it will assume a very different aspect if Congress is to become a court for the trial of personal altercation and disputes. It will render it a scene of confusion, and the whole of legislation will become a scene of uproar, party rancor, and personal animosity.

"The subject of the Presidential election, which agitated the American community so long, and was of so much interest to the nation, has resulted in the election of a candidate who had not a majority of the votes in the Electoral College. Nor had he a majority of the members in the House of Representatives, but only a majority of the States. As our Government is, in all other respects, a representative Republic where the voice of the people governs, there must be a manifest defect of the Constitution in relation to the election of President. During the present Congress, various resolutions have been submitted to the House of Representatives proposing amendment, but none have yet been adopted. That there is need for amendment of the Constitution we can not doubt, when we advert to the facts in the last election. One candidate had a decided preference in eleven out of twenty-four States by the people; yet, when the power passed from their hands and devolved on the House of Representatives, the voice of the people was not, in many instances, regarded by their representatives, but their individual inclinations were, for some cause or other, pursued without reference to the will of their constituents.

"The individual who was manifestly the choice of the majority of the people was not elevated to that distinguished situation for which his qualifications so pre-eminently fitted him, and to which the important services he had rendered to his country so richly entitled him. Another was chosen by the House of Representatives who had in his favor less expressions of national confidence, as manifested in the Electoral Colleges. This is a subject of serious consideration