2. His Administration.

In a brief paper a just presentation of Lamar's policy is extremely difficult. His administration has never been sanely studied. Personal admirers could see no evil in it, opponents no good; and historians have seemingly been at fault in viewing it unsympathetically and too much as an isolated entity. Even standing alone it is by no means certain that the good does not outweigh the bad, but it should be studied as a period in the making of the Republic in its full relations with the administrations which preceded and followed it.

At his inauguration President Lamar outlined his policy in these words: "The character of my administration may be anticipated in the domestic nature of our Government and the peaceful habits of the people. Looking upon agriculture, commerce, and the useful arts as the basis of national strength and glory, it will be my leading policy to awaken into vigorous activity, the wealth, talent and enterprise of the country, and at the same time to lay the foundation of those higher institutions for moral and mental culture, without which no government on Democratic principles can prosper, nor the people long preserve their liberties." The development of this policy may be followed, says a writer in the Texas Almanac for 1858 (p. 110), along four lines: "First, the defense of the country, and especially that of the frontier, which was crying aloud for protection against the merciless savages. Second, the obtaining of the recognition of our independence by the principal maritime powers of Europe, and of establishing with them the best commercial relations. Third, the purification of the different departments of Government, and establishing a rigid responsibility among public officers of every grade and class. Fourth, the creation of an educational fund by adequate appropriation of land for that purpose." Under these captions and the additional one of Finances it will be convenient to discuss the administration.

Defensive Measures. Houston had pursued with the Indians a policy of conciliation, but toward the end of his term, when settlers began to push westward, conflicts became frequent, and cowardly massacres were of common occurrence. As a result, population was still practically restricted to the territory east of the San Antonio.

road, and while as yet this section was in no danger of strangulation from over-crowding, measures looking toward expansion do not appear to have been unwise. Lamar's aggressiveness was but the natural reaction against Houston's long-suffering patience. He believed that friendly relations with the Indians were impossible, and went to the other extreme in urging a war of extermination which should "admit of no compromise, and have no termination except in their total extinction, or total expulsion."

Immediately upon receipt of the president's first message, on December 21, 1838, Congress passed a bill providing for the regular enlistment of a regiment of 840 mounted men. They were to serve three years. A week later a volunteer regiment of 472 men was authorized, to serve six months; and on January 26, 1839, the total military force was increasd to more than 1400 by the enlistment of 112 additional volunteers. Through the activity of this little army better conditions soon began to prevail on the frontier. Several tribes of Indians were removed from the Republic, some peaceably, with nominal payment for their improvements, and others by force-notably the Cherokees. These Cherokees had a pretty strong claim to the territory which they were occupying in East Texas, but they desired to hold it in independent suzerainty. This alone was sufficient to draw upon them the attention of the president, but he also suspected them of plotting with the Mexicans a general uprising, and when this suspicion was verified in May, 1839, by the capture of some dispatches to the Cherokee chief, Bowles, he determined upon their expulsion. After a severe battle this was accomplished in July of the same year. The raids of the Comanches were also checked, and in his second message, November 12, 1839, he was able to declare that "The cries of captivity and murder have of late been seldom heard upon the borders. With the exception of a few recent massacres, resulting entirely from the temerity of our own people, the frontier has for some time enjoyed an almost equal security with the interior sections of the country."

As to the fruits of the policy, Lamar was of the opinion that it had "not only proven of incalculable benefit at home, by affording the people an opportunity of raising sustenance for the coming year, but of equal advantage to us abroad, by inspiring confidence

in the energy of our Government and giving a new impulse to emigration." Whether it had any effect on our international relations may, perhaps, be doubted, but it certainly did stimulate immigration, and to this and other acts of his can be traced a new era of colonization in Northern and Western Texas. One great disadvantage of his policy will be noticed below-it was very expensive. Consistent with these vigorous frontier measures was the removal of the Capital from Houston to Austin. The new Capital became an outpost on the extreme western edge of civilization, and began to draw the center of population steadily toward it.

But of all Lamar's protective measures, his manipulation of the navy has been most severely and unjustly criticized. He was in no way responsible for the creation of the "New Navy," as it is called. The act providing for it was passed in November, 1837, during the administration of Houston, and Samuel M. Williams was appointed by President Houston to contract for the purchase of the requisite vessels. Before Lamar's inauguration Mr. Williams had closed negotiations with Frederick Dawson for "one ship, two brigs, and three schooners," all to be fully armed and equipped. Six months after Lamar assumed the reins of government the delivery of these vessels began, but the financial straits of the young republic made. it necessary to place them temporarily in ordinary. For this needful act of economy he was blamed by the same critics who condemned his extravagance in other matters; and when in 1840, an opportunity came to use them in an alliance with Yucatan, he was blamed again for putting them into active service. But the alliance does not seem to have been ill-timed. Mexico had persistently refused to recognize the independence of Texas, and though torn by strife at home between the Liberals and Centralists, she still managed to keep the Texans in a state of panic by countless rumors of invasion. Lamar first attempted diplomatic negotiations with her for recognition, but Mexico would have none of him, so that when the opportunity came to join Yucatan and create a diversion in the South, he seized it. He himself always believed that the show of strength which the navy thus enabled him to make was instrumental in securing recognition from some of the European States as well as in prevnting Mexico from throwing an army of invasion into Texas. It may be that he exaggerated its effect in

both directions. At least it seems quite certain that there was little real danger to be apprehended from Mexico. His critics maintain that it would have been better statecraft to sell the vessels and apply the proceeds to the liquidation of the rapidly increasing debt.

Recognition of Independence. President Lamar always took to himself a good deal of credit for securing the recognition of Texan independence from England, France, Belgium and Holland; but the fact is that negotiations looking to this had already begun before Lamar's election, and it is likely that any other president would in his time have had the same success. Of course it is possible, however, that his aggressiveness in home affairs inspired them with greater confidence in the ability of the young government to hold its own, and thus hastened the revolt.

Purification of the Public Service. This work consisted mainly in the removal of certain land commissioners who were making a practice of issuing fraudulent land certificates, "a system of villainy," says a writer in the Texas Almanac (1. c.), "which was in a fair way of grasping the whole unappropriated territory of the country."

Education. Lamar's belief in the importance of popular education was supreme and from his inaugural to his farewell address he neglected no opportunity to impress his own views upon Congress and the State. At his inauguration he urged the subject with great force and eloquence. "If we desire to establish a Republican Government upon a broad and permanent basis," he said, "it will be our duty to adopt a comprehensive and well regulated system of mental and moral culture. Education is a subject in which every citizen, and especially every parent, feels a deep and lively concern. It is one in which no jarring interests are involved and no acrimonious political feelings excited; for its benefits are so universal that all parties can cordially unite in advancing it. It is admitted by all that cultivated mind is the guardian genius of Democracy, and, while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge, and the only security which freemen desire. Let me, therefore, urge upon you, gentlemen, not to postpone the matter too long; the present is a propitious moment to lay the foundation of a great moral and intellectual edifice which will in after ages be hailed as the

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chief ornament and blessing of Texas. A suitable appropriation of lands to the purpose of general education can be made at this time. without inconvenience to the Government or the people; but defer it until the public domain shall have passed from our hands, and the uneducated youths of Texas will constitute the living monuments of our neglect and remission."

In his first message the president urged the matter again, and Congress forthwith passed an act appropriating in each county of the Republic three leagues of land for the establishment of "a primary school or academy in said county." In case so much good land was not found unoccupied in the county, such county was "empowered and required" to have its land surveyed upon any of the vacant domain of the State. Besides this, the president was authorized to have fifty leagues surveyed for the endowment of "two colleges or universities, hereafter to be created." President Lamar had the pleasure of signing this bill on January 26, 1839, and immediately set himself to carrying out its provisions. Through the State Department he instructed the county surveyors to use all diligence in locating the county lands, and a corps began the survey of university lands in Nacogdoches County.

It was sometimes necessary for the surveyors to work under the protection of the regular army, so that under these circumstances it is not surprising that, notwithstanding the president's persistent efforts, the undertaking progressed slowly. However, on February 5, 1840, a supplementary act was passed, requiring the completion of the county surveys and appropriating an additional league of land in each county. This was to be sold by the commissioners, who were created by the same law, and the proceeds were to be applied "to the purchase of the necessary scientific endowments, one-half for the use and benefit of an academic school of each county, and the remainder distributed equally among the various common school districts." How much of these county lands was located before the end of Lamar's term is unknown-though with a great deal of labor the Land Office records might be made to show, -but he himself says that forty-seven of the fifty leagues had been surveyed for the universities.

It is interesting to notice, by the way, that the commissioners created by the act of February 5, 1840, were to examine teachers