PUBLIC MONIES AND PRIVATE SUPPLICATIONS
by Davy Crockett
[ShareDebate International editor's note: the
copyright for the below has expired eons ago and is in
the public domain. It was reprinted in The Washington
Times National Weekly Edition, February 6-12, 1995,
page 33.]
[Washington Times Editor's note: This argument by Davy
Crockett against the principle of wealth distribution
first was published in "The Life of Colonel David
Crockett,"compiled by Edward S. Ellis and published
in 1884. It appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch]
"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 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 a time to think
about the election, I concluded that 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."
A stranger's curt greeting
"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 worthwhile 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 no 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 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 having, 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."
Crockett's vote on bill recalled
"'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 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 no one will complain that a
great and rich country should not give the
insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering
women, particularly with a full and overflowing
treasury, and 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 entrusted 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 him anything, the
amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and
you had as much right to give $20 million 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 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.' "
Wide door to robbing people
"'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
district as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other
member of Congress would have thought of appropriating
a dollar for our relief. There are about 240 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.
Critic could persuade others
"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 10 days, and if
you will get up a gathering of people, I will make a
speech to them. Get up a barbeque 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 barbeque, 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 barbeque. This is
Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday.
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 goodbye. 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 is 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."
His fame extended far and wide
"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 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 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 barbeque, 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 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.' "