Not
Yours To Give
Col. David Crockett
US Representative from Tennessee
Originally
published in "The Life of Colonel David
Crockett,"
by
Edward Sylvester Ellis.
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 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 not the 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 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 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 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 intend 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 in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers
from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings 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 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 $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 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 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 creditably; 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 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, 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 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 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 three 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 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 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
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."
