One Reason of many, Why I don't like Grants and Government Largesse

April 24, 2009

DAVY

CROCKETT'S "NOT YOURS TO GIVE" SPEECH IN CONGRESS

History's immortals sometimes offer a glimpse of their greatness

in events other than those that granted them immortality.

Tennessee

militia colonel David Crockett, perhaps best known for his role in the

1836 defense of the Alamo, also served three terms in the United States

Congress between 1827 and 1835. Nationally known during his lifetime as

a political representative of the frontier, Crockett apparently came by

that reputation honestly, inasmuch as he was not above listening to his

constituents. The following excerpt from an 1884 biography by Edward S.

Ellis, "The Life of Colonel David Crockett," reveals how his own rural

electorate taught him the importance of adhering to the Constitution

and the perils of ignoring its restrictions.

Crockett

was then the lion of Washington. I was a great admirer of his

character, and, having several friends who were intimate with him, I

found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I was fascinated with

him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me.

One day in

the 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 Mr. Crockett arose:

"Mr.

Speaker --- I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and

as much sympathy for the suffering 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 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

homeless, 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 one 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 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 came to

the fence. As he came 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 worth-while 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 in the 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 proceedings in Congress. My papers say that last

winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some suffers 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 intrusted to

man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by 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 $20,000,000 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 thing 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. 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 dollar of the public money

for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this

county as 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 suffers by contributing each one week's pay, it

would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of 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 Constitu- tion, 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 it's 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 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 to talking, he would set others to talking, and in that

district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, for 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 did not have 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 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 this district,

you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied that

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 a little influence in

that way.'

"If I don't [said I] I wish I may be shot;

and to convince you that I am 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 to 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 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

in 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 an interest and a confidence in me stronger than I had ever

seen manifested before. Though I was considerably fatigued when I

reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone

early to bed, I kept 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 three

times a year; and I will tell you sir, if everyone 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 all 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 upon 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 reputation

I have ever made, or shall ever 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 wish to call to 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

insignificance 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 come out 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."

David

Crockett was born August 17, 1786 at Limestone (Greene County),

Tennessee. He died March 06, 1836 as one of the brave Southerners

defending the Alamo.

Crockett had settled in Franklin

County, Tennessee in 1811. He served in the Creek War under Andrew

Jackson. In 1821 and 1823 he was elected to the Tennessee legislature.

In 1826 and 1828 he was elected to Congress. He was defeated in 1830

for his outspoken opposition to President Jackson's Indian Bill - but

was elected again in 1832.

In Washington, although his

eccentricities of dress and manner excited comment, he was always

popular on account of his shrewd common sense and homely wit; although

generally favoring Jackson's policy, he was entirely independent and

refused to vote to please any party leader.

At

the end of the congressional term, he joined the Texans in the war

against Mexico, and in 1836 was one of the roughly 180 men who died

defending the Alamo. Tradition and diaries of Mexican Officers has it

that Crockett was one of only six survivors after the Mexicans took the

fort, and that he and the others were taken out and executed by firing

squad.

Doc Shillington

Attachment: vcard [not shown]

April 24, 2009

Thank you for sharing this marvelous piece of history, truth and honesty. We certainly could use a few Davy Crocketts in Washington today......... The whole piece is full of integrity .........

so grateful you shared ....... this with us.

ML

CJ --- On Fri, 4/24/09, Ian <docshillington wrote:

Ian <docshillington{Herbal Remedies} One Reason of many, Why I don't like Grants and Government Largesseherbal remedies (AT) Groups (DOT) comDate: Friday, April 24, 2009, 4:14 PM

DAVY CROCKETT'S "NOT YOURS TO GIVE" SPEECH IN CONGRESS

History's immortals sometimes offer a glimpse of their greatness in events other than those that granted them immortality.

Tennessee militia colonel David Crockett, perhaps best known for his role in the 1836 defense of the Alamo, also served three terms in the United States Congress between 1827 and 1835. Nationally known during his lifetime as a political representative of the frontier, Crockett apparently came by that reputation honestly, inasmuch as he was not above listening to his constituents. The following excerpt from an 1884 biography by Edward S. Ellis, "The Life of Colonel David Crockett," reveals how his own rural electorate taught him the importance of adhering to the Constitution and the perils of ignoring its restrictions.

Crockett was then the lion of Washington. I was a great admirer of his character, and, having several friends who were intimate with him, I found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I was fascinated with him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me.

One day in the 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 Mr. Crockett arose:

"Mr. Speaker --- I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering 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 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 homeless, 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 one 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 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 came to the fence. As he came 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 worth-while 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 in the 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 proceedings in Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some suffers 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 intrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by 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 $20,000,000 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 thing 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. 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 dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this county as 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 suffers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of 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 Constitu- tion, 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 it's 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 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 to talking, he would set others to talking, and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, for 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 did not have 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 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 this district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied that 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 a little influence in that way.'

"If I don't [said I] I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am 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 to 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 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 in 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 an interest and a confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before. Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept 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 three times a year; and I will tell you sir, if everyone 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 all 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 upon 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 reputation I have ever made, or shall ever 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 wish to call to 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 insignificance 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 come out 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."

David Crockett was born August 17, 1786 at Limestone (Greene County), Tennessee. He died March 06, 1836 as one of the brave Southerners defending the Alamo.

Crockett had settled in Franklin County, Tennessee in 1811. He served in the Creek War under Andrew Jackson. In 1821 and 1823 he was elected to the Tennessee legislature. In 1826 and 1828 he was elected to Congress. He was defeated in 1830 for his outspoken opposition to President Jackson's Indian Bill - but was elected again in 1832.

In Washington, although his eccentricities of dress and manner excited comment, he was always popular on account of his shrewd common sense and homely wit; although generally favoring Jackson's policy, he was entirely independent and refused to vote to please any party leader.

At the end of the congressional term, he joined the Texans in the war against Mexico, and in 1836 was one of the roughly 180 men who died defending the Alamo. Tradition and diaries of Mexican Officers has it that Crockett was one of only six survivors after the Mexicans took the fort, and that he and the others were taken out and executed by firing squad. Doc Shillington

April 27, 2009

Yer welcome hon.

Hugs,

Doc

CJ Fox wrote:

Thank you for sharing this marvelous piece of history,

truth and honesty. We certainly could use a few Davy Crocketts in

Washington today......... The whole piece is full of integrity

..........

so grateful you shared ....... this with us.

ML

CJ

--- On Fri, 4/24/09, Ian <docshillington (AT) cabletvonline (DOT) net>

wrote:

Ian <docshillington (AT) cabletvonline (DOT) net>

{Herbal Remedies} One Reason of many, Why I don't like Grants

and Government Largesse

herbal remedies (AT) Groups (DOT) com

Friday, April 24, 2009, 4:14 PM

DAVY

CROCKETT'S "NOT YOURS TO GIVE" SPEECH IN CONGRESS

History's immortals sometimes offer a glimpse of their greatness

in events other than those that granted them immortality.

Tennessee militia colonel David Crockett, perhaps

best known for his role in the 1836 defense of the Alamo, also served

three terms in the United States Congress between 1827 and 1835.

Nationally known during his lifetime as a political representative of

the frontier, Crockett apparently came by that reputation honestly,

inasmuch as he was not above listening to his constituents. The

following excerpt from an 1884 biography by Edward S. Ellis, "The Life

of Colonel David Crockett," reveals how his own rural electorate taught

him the importance of adhering to the Constitution and the perils of

ignoring its restrictions.

Crockett was then the lion of Washington. I was a

great admirer of his character, and, having several friends who were

intimate with him, I found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I

was fascinated with him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me.

One day in the 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 Mr.

Crockett arose:

"Mr. Speaker --- I have as much respect for the

memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering 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 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 homeless, 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 one 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 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 came to the fence. As he

came 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 worth-while 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 in the 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 proceedings in Congress. My

papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000

to some suffers 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

intrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue

by 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 $20,000,000 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 thing 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. 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 dollar of the public

money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this