Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/805

Jackson and the Texas Revolution 795 On October 28, reverting to his earlier notion of gaining the object by indirect methods, Butler wrote a letter which drew an indignant rejoinder from President Jackson. He said that a high official had recently opened the subject with him by asking if he had " command of money ". " I remember that you [President Jackson] had instructed me to use the money at my discretion and answered, Yes." He then said that two or three hundred thousand ■ dollars would be required to get the support of an important person, without whose aid nothing could be done, and that three or four hundred thousand -might have to be distributed to others. " I replied that I could arrange for the money if assured of the object " ; and the official left, saying that he would continue the subject as soon as Santa Anna returned to the city. Of course you know, Butler added, who the " important " man is. Jackson answered this letter the day he received it, November 27, 1833. He said that he had read it with care and astonishment — astonishment because such a communication had ever been entrusted to the mails without reducing it to cipher ; because his own private letters and instructions had been interpreted as authority for say- ing that Butler "' had money " ; because his authorization to apply the money at discretion had been construed to mean " that I au- thorized you to apply it to corruption, when nothing could be fur- ther from my intention than to convey such an idea ". He then explained what he had meant by " discretion ". He wanted Texas, if acquired at all, to be unincumbered by ^Mexican grants whose conditions had not been fulfilled by the grantees, and had suggested, therefore, that Mexico could extinguish such grants by buying back the rights of the grantees, and instructing the United States to pay them with a part of the five million dollars. Butler could agree to such stipulations for the distribution of the money as his '■ discretion approved ". " All the U. S. is interested in is the unin- cumbered cession, not how IMexico applies the consideration. . . . Therefore I repeat the best means to secure the object is left to your discretion — but I admonish you to give these shrewd fellozvs no room to charge you with tampering with their officers to obtain the cession thro corruption. Your duty is in exercising your sound discretion to obtain the cession of Texas to the boundary named. . . . But we are deeply interested that this treaty of cession should be obtained without any just imputation of corruption on our part." Again he repeated, " Let us have a boundary without the imputa- tion of corruption." He urged haste in the negotiation, and in- structed Butler, if he thought there was no probability of success