Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/313

 duties which may hereafter accrue to the Government be paid in gold and silver, or equivalent currency. The present tariff may require some revision and modification, and, on some articles, a reduction. This, however, will become a matter of consideration for the Congress. I would further recommend to the attention of the honorable Congress the propriety and absolute necessity of resorting to a new issue of paper, not exceeding in amount three hundred and fifty thousand dollars—not more than fifty thousand dollars of which to be issued in any one month until the whole shall be put in circulation. The Government must be supported, and the people must have a currency. It is designed for this new issue to take the place of the present promissory note system, and be receivable for all the revenues of the Government as equivalent to specie. For the redemption of this new species of paper I would recommend that one million acres of the public domain, lying within the territory known as the Cherokee country be specially set apart and reserved; and these lands, or the proceeds thereof, when brought into market, be pledged as a guaranty for that purpose. It is further recommended to the Congress to authorize the negotiation of a loan of three hundred thousand dollars to meet the emergencies of the country. The security upon which this loan is intended to be made will be specific portions of the public domain set apart, designated and specially reserved for its final payment; in default of which, on the part of the Government, said lands to become the property of the Government bondholders, on such conditions as may be agreed upon by the contracting parties; and the lands thus hypothecated not to be subject to any legislation that might divert their proceeds from the objects avowed.

The Executive feels fully satisfied that this system, once adopted in good faith, and adhered to, will furnish the country with a sufficient currency, and maintain its credit unimpaired. The excessive and unnecessary emission of the promissory notes of the Government has produced the depreciation of and destroyed the currency of the country. An amount not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars will answer all the conveniences of Government, and, in my opinion, remain in value equal to gold and silver. Experience has instructed us in the ruinous policy of issuing a greater amount of governmental liabilities than were necessary for the purposes of trade and commerce. The rock on which we have been wrecked must, in future, be avoided. So long as the amount did not exceed six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, our money remained nearly at par in foreign markets, whilst at home it suffered no depreciation. In the ratio of excessive increase in issue was its depreciation, until it sunk into its present almost valueless condition. In commencing anew, it is proper that we adopt a system from which no emergency will induce a departure. Instructed by experience in the fallacy of the past, we can have no excuse for a failure in our pledges of the future.

The principal reason why I incline to diminish direct taxation and rely upon impost duties as a source of revenue, is that I deem them the most just and equitable, and least burthensome to the actual laborer and productive classes of the country. Direct taxation bears immediately upon the farmer, whilst a larger portion of the community can only be reached by impost duties. It is not the agriculturist that is generally the consumer of articles of foreign manufacture and importation; but, those who produce nothing from the soil, and rely upon other pursuits for a subsistence, and who are not so directly engaged in developing the resources of the country, will be most sensibly affected by tariff regulations, and