The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1875-06-20
Oenerai sam Houston aud ihe TTnii'
Of History,


10 the Edilor OF lhe Dallas Herald
Az one Of tho multitude Of old Heoes'
sion Texans, thank you Tor your re'
nuke In SUNDAYS llgnAlp, Of tlo New
Orleans llullotin IN speaking of Den
eral Sam Houston - u "debauched old
dragoon,p also endono your con
domination Of a Texas pnpor (thoTmnH'
Continental Iron Age, Of Morahalll for
republlahlng The Outrage without note
or comment hut II must bo borne In
mind that tho hlgh-aoundlng Trans
Continental Iron Age II run by mem'
her Of our race not yet acolimnled and
40 full OF the article compounded of
copper and zine the hybrid on mule OF
metals m 10 thrust himself 10 the
front Of every thing wherein II hlusler,
check and blow Lot tho little one
pasa lie will aoon jump no high ~ To
dIslocaie his spinal column, aud that
viii be the end Of him
Tho New Orleans Bulletin, u new
paper, which hlw seized upon n once
hon0red nnmo, stamps ltaell ~ coarse
aud vulgar IN styling General Houston
n "debauohed old dragoonp
Admit that IN the days OF sorrow,
from his resignation M governor OF
Tennessee, In 1890, TO the day OF hlA
greatest triumpha In 'lcNas, In 1910,
General Houston did occasionally IN
dnlge beyond the rules Of moderation,
the stern fact remains that from his
his marriage, In the latter yoar 10 his
death, twenty-five years later, he was n
model OF nbslcnlousness aud temper
ancc, and, for many years before his
dcnth, n consistent member Of u chris
tlan church,
You sny also, at IL true that thopeo'
pie, In order 10 OOnsliinmAte SECESSION,
removed him from the governorshlp OF
the state etc, but you also assert his
subsequent lrlcndlincss to the conled'
crate cause, On this point allow n few
remarks. During, and soon after the
war; while lls passions relgned IN the
breasts OF men, partsans sought Ia
impress the public mind, especially IN
the north, that General Houston had
been kicked out of his seat w gov
ernor by the rampant spcesslonists
and had virtually died In 1868 NJ I
martyr 10 the cause of tho union.
am unaware ofauy emphatic denial Of
these charges, for they were spread
broadcast while the people Of Texas
were In sorrow AZ well as In chains.
But the truth should be known, and
now IL has ut least nm equal chance
with falsehood to be vlndicated. Sim
plo incts speak for themselves.
General Houston, M governor OPP
posed secession as the remedy for evils
TO the south which he admitted to
exist. The convention was elected IN
an Irregular manner on the Sth of Jan
uary, 1861, and assembled ut Austin ON
the 18th of the same month The leg
islature, under proclamation Of the
was then i'm eXtMordl nary
session, and promptly recognised the
~ u legitimate body, rep
resehting the people in their sovereign
capacity. The convention almost
unanimously passed the ordinance Of
secession, and submitted it to the peO-
pie for ratification or rejection. The
legislature passed an act providing for
the election, and General Houston
issued his proclamation rs governor
ordering the same. On the 23d of Feb
ruary, the people, 10y II free, peaceable
and fair expression though the ballot
box, ratified the ordinance by vote of
about fifteen thousand against forty
six thousand for ratification, nearly rs
full vote as had over been given.
The convention reassembled on the
second of March, counted the vote and
tho result. 1t then pro.
ceeded to change the constitution only
so far as became necessary 10y the act
of secession. Texas having joined in
the government of the confederate
states, simply inserted those words
wherever Omitted Statesn occurred in
the state constitution. The other
changes affected no principle of gov
ernment. This being accomplished, It
became an imperative necessity for all
public officers to be relieved OF their
official obligation to support the con-
stitution of the United States. No
power but o convention representing
the sovereignty of the state could re-
lieve them, Hence an ordinance was
passed providing that all public
officers, within a time,named, should
take the reformed oath to support "the
constitution of the confederate states.
and OF this state" 1t was an absolute
necessity of the situation. The state
officers at Austin We're to take the