Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/632

 The various departments of Government should, in my opinion, be made, as far as possible, self-sustaining, and where it is impossible, from their nature, to make them so, a rigid exaction of duty at the hands of all those who are in the employ of the Government should be required. No free Government can afford to establish sinecures, or to support idleness. The money which comes from the pockets of the people, should be economized for their good, and all who are the recipients of it should render a fair recompense of time and labor. The subjects are within the province of the Legislature. The Executive is powerless, and if reform is needed in any of these respects, it falls upon the Legislature to inquire into abuses, if there be any, and provide an immediate remedy.

The deficit in the revenue of the Land Office, added to the fact that the business of that department does not keep pace with the demands upon it, furnish subjects for your consideration.

The interests of the State demand that it should be self-supporting, and the interests of the people demand that its business should be brought up at the earliest possible period. A large force is already employed in that department, but the issuance of patents has been delayed, and it remains for the Legislature to discover whether this is to be attributed to the amount of labor performed by the employés of the Government, or the fact that the force is inadequate to the demands of business. If the latter, it is false economy to allow a further accumulation of business, and thus cause a still greater delay. The holders of our land certificates are entitled to their patents, and if an additional force is necessary, it should at once be provided. The deficit in the operations of that department, estimated for the present fiscal year, ending August 31, 1860, at $24,000, shows the necessity of prompt legislation to bring its affairs up to a proper standard. If the fees paid by those who have business with that department do not meet its expenses, they should be increased; if, on the other hand, the deficit arises from the fact that a part of the time of that department is occupied by business for which no fees are provided by law, those who consume the time of the employés in the transaction of their business should be compelled to pay for the same. In my opinion, the affairs of that office can best be brought to a self-supporting standard, by providing an entire system of fees, covering the entire ground of its operations, and providing at the same time for payment of its employés, wherever the same is practicable, in proportion to the labor they perform.

I can not press too earnestly upon the Legislature the subject of common school education. The success of the system already in operation is established beyond a doubt. Its application is general, and its defects as few as any system which could be applied to a population as scattered as ours. The nucleus of a complete system exists already; and we have in our public domain the means of strengthening it until its capacity will equal the demands made upon it as our population increases. No better use can be made of the proceeds of the sale of the alternate sections of land reserved to the State for any cause, than to apply the same to this fund.

I would also commend to your consideration the importance of extending a reasonable aid to institutions of learning, now in operation in our State, supported by private enterprise, and encourage by a general law the