One day in the United States House of Representatives, a bill was taken up
appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer.
Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just
about to put the question when David Crockett arose:
"Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory
of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if
suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect
for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of
injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove
that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every
member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away
as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we
have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent
appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased.
Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in
office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was
in arrears to him."
Every man in this House knows it
is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this
money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to
appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have not the semblance of authority
to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to
give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor.
I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and
if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the
bill asks."
He took his seat. Nobody replied. The
bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was
generally supposed, and as no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received
but few votes, and, of course, was lost.
Later, when
asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this
explanation:
"Several years ago I was one evening
standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress, when
our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was
evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we
could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many
families made houseless, and besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes
they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and
children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next
morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put
aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done."
"The next summer, when it began to be time to think
about the election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my
district. I had no opposition there, but as the election was some time off, I
did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in
which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing
and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he come
to the fence. As he come up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but, as I
thought, rather coldly."
"I began: 'Well, friend, I am one
of those unfortunate beings called candidates and -"
"Yes, I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and
voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out
electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine. I shall not
vote for you again."
"This was a sockdolager...I
begged him to tell me what was the matter."
"Well,
Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see
how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either
you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting
honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to
represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not
intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a
candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you. I intended by it only to
say that your understanding of the constitution is very different from mine; and
I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I
believe you to be honest...But an understanding of the Constitution different
from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything,
must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who
wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is."
I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be
some mistake about it for I do not remember that I gave any vote last winter
upon any constitutional question."
"No, Colonel,
there's no mistake. Though I live here in the backwoods and seldom go from home,
I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceeding of
Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate
$20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown. Is that true?"
"Well, my friend; I may as well own up. You have got
me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like
ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women
and children, particularly with a full and overflowing Treasury, and I am sure,
if you had been there, you would have done just as I did."
"It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of;
it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the
Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing
to do with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at
pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly
under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in
the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays
in proportion to his means.
What is worse, it presses
upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man
in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So
you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from
thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything,
the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right
to give $2,000 as $20,000.
If you have the
right to give to one, you have the right to give to all; and, as the
constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at
liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to
believe, is a charity, and to any amount you may think proper. You will very
easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and
favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other hand, and
for robbing the people on the other.
No,
Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as
much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a collar
of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses in Georgetown,
neither you nor any other member of Congress would have thought of appropriating
a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of
Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing
each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of
wealthy men in and around Washington who could have given $20,000 without
depriving themselves of even a luxury of life.
The
congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of
them spend not very creditable; and the people about Washington, no doubt,
applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was
not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution,
the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay
moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a
violation of the Constitution.
"So you see, Colonel,
you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a
precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to
stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to
it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that
does not make it any better, except as far as you are a personally concerned,
and you see that I cannot vote for you."
"I tell you
I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go
talking, he would set others to talking, and in that district I was a gone
fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is I was so fully convinced that
he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:"
"Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when
you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be
guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in
Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow
has got more hard sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If
I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the
fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote
for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be
shot."
"He laughingly replied: 'Yes, Colonel, you
have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition.
You say that you are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of
it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district,
you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I
will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and,
perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way."
"If I don't, said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to
convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a
week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of the people, I will make
a speech to them Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.
"No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section,
but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare
for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we
can then afford a day for a barbecue. This is Thursday; I will see to getting it
up ; on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and
I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you."
"Well, I will be here. But one thing more, before I
say good-bye. I must know your name."
"My name is
Bunce."
"Not Horatio Bunce?"
"Yes."
"Well, Mr. Bunce, I
never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well.
I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my
friend."
"It was one of the luckiest hits of my life
that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for
his remarkable intelligence and incorruptible integrity, and for a heart brimful
and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only
in words but acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his
fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I
had never met him before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it
is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is
very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote."
"At the appointed time I was at his house, having
told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all
night with, and I found that it gave the people and interest and a confidence in
me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before."
"Though I was considerable fatigued when I reached his house, and, under
ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until
midnight, talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more
real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before."
"I have known and seen much of him since, for I
respect him -- no, that is not the word -- I reverence and love him more than
any living man, and I go to see him two or tree times every year; and I will
tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and
enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm."
"But to return to my story. The next morning we went
to the barbecue, and to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a
good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me
around until I had got pretty well acquainted -- at least, they knew me."
"In due time notice was given that I would speak to
them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech
by saying:"
"Fellow-citizens -- I present myself
before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to
truths which ignorance or prejudice, or both, had heretofore hidden from my
view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable
service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for
the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should
make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will
vote for me is a matter for your consideration only."
"I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and
then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:"
"And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to
tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest
was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce,
convinced me of my error."
"It is the best speech I
ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit for it. And now I hope he
is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so."
"He came up on the stand and said:"
"Fellow-citizens -- it affords me great pleasure to
comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a
thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all
that he has promised you today."
"He went down, and
there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never
called forth before."
"I am not much given to tears,
but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my
cheeks, and I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by
such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced is worth more to me than
all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever
shall make, as a member of Congress."
"Now, sir,"
concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday."
"There is one thing now to which I will
call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There
are in that House many very wealthy men--men who think nothing of spending a
week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have
something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches
upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased -- a debt
which could not be paid by money -- and the insignificance and worthlessness of
money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000, when weighed against the
honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with
them is nothing but trash when it is to come our of the people. But it is the
one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice
honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."
Send a
copy of this to your State and Federal Legislators (your servants) and tell them
you want a written answer.
(admin note) I found this on the Moses Hand
website----liked it so much I went and got the original