Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/327

 a course of this kind, there can be no doubt. Up to this time, none of them have been husbanded but for the purposes of paying duties. The demand will be greatly increased, and as soon as the taxes are collected they will become an object of procurement. If prudence is observed in their issue, the whole amount now authorized would not be sufficient to pay the direct taxes, and that deficit must be made up in gold and silver. It is impossible, under these circumstances, that the money should not be at par—from the time that taxes are collectable, as the demand would be greater than the amount in circulation to meet it. According to the amount of circulating medium in the United States, estimating our population at one hundred thousand souls, our circulation ought to be six hundred thousand dollars, or six dollars for each individual. Supposing this data to be correct, a circulating medium of one-third of that sum would, from the force of circumstances, sustain itself at par, controlled by the absolute wants of the country. I view the subject of the finances of the nation as of vital importance to its existence, and that they can be sustained in a sound and healthy condition, the Executive entertains not a doubt.

To enforce the collection of the revenues is also of the highest importance. The enactment of laws without their enforcement is of no avail to the country. If resistance is made to the constituted authorities, of what avail are enactments on paper without the means or the power to punish? It is the duty of Congress to enact such laws as will enable the Executive to command the power commensurate to their execution. Resistance to the constituted authorities, and to the laws of the land, is one of the most flagrant offenses that can be committed against society, and is entitled to no milder appellation than that of sedition or rebellion. The Constitution has declared these offenses, but has not prescribed a remedy for the punishment of offenders. That power is delegated to Congress. The attention of the honorable Congress has, therefore, been called to it, and salutary enactments requested. They are now urged as indispensable to the public safety and the execution of the laws. The law has delegated to the President the power to call out the militia to suppress insurrection, without giving any definition to the crime, or authorizing the infliction of any adequate punishment. No tribunal is appointed for the trial of the offense. Instances have occurred within the last three years of a character well calculated to enforce a conviction upon the mind of every patriot that the offense should no longer be disregarded or the delinquents unpunished. Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the security of life and property being guaranteed to the peaceful citizen, and the punishment of those who disregard the letter and spirit of our social compact. When men take the laws into their own hands, or undertake to construe the Constitution in derogation of the constituted authorities of the land, it manifests a diseased condition of the body politic, and demands of the law-making power the prescription of a remedy, whilst the Executive, by his oath, is bound to enforce it. The punishment of offenses ought to " be as prompt and summary as the nature of our institutions will admit. The reason is manifest. There are not jails and prisons in the country, for the confinement of the accused, nor are the several counties in a situation to pay a tax sufficient to ensure the safe-keeping of culprits."

Our foreign relations have undergone no material change since the last Executive communication to the honorable Congress, with the exception of the exchange of ratification of the treaties of Great Britain. No information has