The three years of the Lamar administration saw an increase in treasury notes and in expenditures that was unparalleled in any former or succeeding administration. The debt was more than tripled and the paper promises of the government became worth only twelve cents on the dollar. The republic was a virtual bankrupt. To lead them out of the financial morass, the people turned again to General Sam Houston. Lamar's policies were reversed, and the retrenchment initiated by the Fifth Congress was carried much farther.

The Sixth Congress, or the first under Houston's second administration, has been called the "Reform Congress." The act of December 11, 1841, abolished officers, decreased the number of clerks employed in the several departments, and reduced salaries from that of the president down.2

1 Yoakum, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 321-331, gives an account of this expedition. See also Garrison, Texas, pp. 244-6.

2 The salaries, as fixed by this act, were as follows:

President, $5,000.

Vice-president, $1,000.

Secretary of state, $1,500.

Secretary of treasury, $1,500.

Secretary of war and navy, $1,500.

Attorney general, $1,000.

Commissioner of the general land office, $1,200.

Treasurer, $1,000.

Comptroller, $1,000.

Chief justice and district judges, $1,750.

Chief clerks, $600.

Assistant clerks, $500.

Members of Congress, $3 per diem. Gammel, op. cit, vol. 2, p. 684,

The zeal of congress for retrenchment in the civil list exceeded, however, that of the president. In his message of December 20, 1841, Houston said that the time when retrenchment was necessary and important had gone by.1 He meant by this, doubtless, that the military and naval policy of the Lamar administration should never have been entered upon. In his message of June 27, 1842, also, he complained that his suggestions as to the finances had not been enacted at the preceding session, and, as if to express his opinion of the retrenchment bill that had been passed, he added that salaries were insufficient and that the most efficient officers of the government were resigning.2

The reduction in salaries was, indeed, extraordinary, and, in view of the high prices prevailing and the opportunities for gain outside of government employment, Houston was justified in deprecating the action of congress.3 No further reduction was recommended either in or out of congress, but the discontinuance of what were regarded as useless officers, such as, for example, foreign ministers, charge d'affaires, and secretaries of legation, was advocated.4

More important than the economies worked in the civil list were those in the army and navy. The policy of Lamar toward the Indians was, as has been stated, one of extermination; and in regard to Mexico, he was in constant expectation of the renewal of the war. Houston's policy toward the Indians was markedly different. He had lived among them and understood them, and they had a very high regard for him. Treaties were made with nearly all of the tribes, and a regime of amity was established which told greatly in favor of decreased Indian expenditures.1

1 Executive Record, No. 40. 2Executive Record, No. 40.

3 The following is a statement of salaries paid at the seat of government before and after the act of December 11, 1841:

Quoted by Yoakum, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 321, from a statement of the comptroller, December 16, 1842. The reduction here shown looks almost incredible, but the figures tally closely with those of the appropriation acts.

4 The senate committee on finance believed in abolishing the foreign missions and offices of secretary of the treasury and secretary of war and navy. Senate Journal, 7th Tex. Cong., p. 30. The Telegraph and Texas Register of January 3, 1844, thought the work of economy was not completed and advocated dispensing with "useless foreign representatives." These recommendations were not carried out, however, and the act of December 11, 1841, remained the great measure of re-trenchment of civil expenditures.

The failure of the Fifth Congress to make any appropriation for the regular army showed how little the legislators feared a renewal of hostilities with Mexico. But, as a matter of fact, in March and September of 1842 there were two invasions, and San Antonio, Refugio, and Goliad were occupied by the enemy. Following the invasion in March, congress, in June, declared for an offensive war, and a large body of Texans rushed to arms. The invading armies withdrew after a few days' occupation of the captured towns, and the failure of the republic's agents to effect a loan and the president's veto of a bill appropriating one million acres of land upon which land scrip should be based and sold, dispelled the war cloud. Mexico besides being weak on account of internal dissensions was also, like Texas, too poor to engage in a war.

The expenditures of a military character were, after 1841, only such as were necessary to keep a few companies of rangers in the field. Expenditures on account of the navy diminished to a nominal sum. A secret act was passed in January, 1843, to sell the vessels, and they were put out of commission at once.2

The economy of Houston's second administration resulted in total expenditures of only $511,083 for the three years, 1842-44, as compared with $4,855,215 for the preceding three years. At the beginning of his term President Houston found the financial condition of the government to be deplorable; at its close, he noted that the finances were in a most "healthy and prosperous condition."1

1 The following statement of expenditures on account of the Indians was prepared by the comptroller in 1854:

Yoakum, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 341 n.

2 This secret act was repealed February 5, 1844, but expenditures were unaffected. Gammel, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 1027.

Viewing the entire period of the republic, the history of expenditures falls into two well defined divisions, one of which extends from 1836 to 1841, the other from 1841 to 1846. Total expenditures for the first period were $7,128,873, or an annual average of $1,879,978; the total for the second period was $736,-713, or an annual average of $184,178.

The functions performed by the government were confined to the administrative and protective. Although in the beginning the general governmental framework was of most pretentious proportions, it was gradually modified by either abolition or consolidation of offices until it was so simple as to be almost inconsistent with the position of Texas as a national entity. Civil expenditures were quite exclusively for the congress, the president and his cabinet, and the judiciary. One will look in vain for appropriations for education, the care of the defectives, or internal improvements.2 It was not because such objects of expenditures were unappreciated, but because there were more pressing needs. In the case of education, rich provision was made by appropriations of public lands, but the fruits of this endowment did not materialize during the life of the republic.

The greatest drain upon the treasury, and the chief cause of its difficulties, was the military and naval expenditures. The frontier position and condition of the state caused these expenditures. Mexico refused to recognize the independence of Texas, and an army and navy were deemed necessary to repel the expected attempt at resubjugation. Rangers also were in constant service on account of the attacks of marauding Mexicans and of hostile Indians upon the western settlements. It is true that conditions in Mexico were throughout the period such as to render fanciful the fear of an invading army strong enough to accomplish reconquest, but in the early years of the republic this was not understood by the Texans. A different and less costly policy toward the Indians also might have been adopted; but there was no change in either policy until 1841, and by that time the greatest harm had been done. The mistake of the republic in preparing for defense is not to be judged too harshly because both the Indians and the Mexicans seemed a great menace at that time.

1 See Anonymous (C. E. Lester), The Life of Sam Houston, p. 191, for a panegyric account of Houston's accomplishments in conducting the government. Also Crane's Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston, p. 157-165.

2 The erection of a penitentiary was provided for by the act of January 4, 1842; Gammel, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 695. On February 3, 1845, an appropriation of $9,000 was made for the erection of lighthouses on Galveston Island and at Port Caballo; ibid., p. 1135.