The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1 Page: 630
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Proceedings of the General Council.
82
(630)
Executive DEPARTMENT OF Texas.
To the Honorable, the President, and
Members of the Legislative Council.
GENTLEMEN—I have had under consideration the following bills, which
have been passed by your body, viz: .
An ordinance and decree changing the manner .of drawing drafts on
the Treasurer, &.
I object to the bill for the following reasons: First, the Committee on
Finance, with whom the whole discretion of appropriating money and
drafting On the Treasury is vested, is like all other Committees belonging
to your body, liable to change and shift its members, as such indiscreet
appropriations might be made, and money drawn for improper uses. That
a bare report to the Council of what has been done in in order that it be
noted in your journals, would afford no check to the act of the Commit-
tee, because the appropriation and draft on the Treasury would be made
prior to the report of the Committee, and as such they would be left
without check or corrective.
Secondly, I consider that no appropriations of money should be made
except by law. That no committee or separate authority should be priv-
ileged to make appropriations, or draw money from the Treasury, without
the necessary formalities having been complied with. Acting without
the proper functionaries of Secretary, Comptroller, &c., it would be well
to incorporate in our plan as many checks and balances as would be con-
sistent, without producing complexity. For the foregoing reasons I ob-
ject to the bill.
The ordinance making it my duty to issue a Special Commission for
the arrest of Wm. H. Steel, I have signed and complied promptly with
its provisions.
The bill creating a Municipality to be called the Municipality of Jack-
son I have signed, believing that it might afford convenience to the citi-
zens, but at the same time feel satisfied that both that and the jurisdic-
tion from which it is taken, will by that separation be rendered con-
temptible in numbers, and as such the more heavily burthened with muni-
cipal taxes. I would recommend to your honorable body, that in future
you confine yourselves solely within the pale of the duties assigned to us.
The bills creating a loan and defining the duties of our Commissioners,
I have signed, and wish every thing done for their immediate dispatch.
I have seen no act of your body which has made any allowance for their .
outfit, or expenses while performing their various and responsible duties,
this matter has certainly escaped your observation, and will, I hope, he
promptly acted on, and that you will place such an amount at their dis-
position as will be ample and sufficient to comport with the dignity of the
station and duties assigned them.
The bills appointing the contractor and treasurer have been signed.
I also transmit to you a communication from M. Caldwell, of Gon-
zales, which speaks for itself, and of which you will make the proper dis-
position.
Every thing connected with the dispatch of our commissioners, will, I
hope, meet with the earliest possible dispatch.
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Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1, book, 1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5872/m1/638/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .