The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939 Page: 34
446 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The first open dispute between governor and Council came as
a result of the creation by the Council, December 11, of the office
of judge advocate general, and the appointment to that position
of D. C. Barrett.8 To this nomination, as well as to the nomina-
tion of Edward Gritten as collector for the port of C6pano, the
governor was to register serious objections. It is doubtful whether
the governor had authority to question nominations made by the
Council, and if he did have his objections should have been made
known within the period of three days given him for the use of
his veto. Smith took no action on either of these appointments
until December 17, when he sent to the Council a number of
charges against these men, and objected to their appointment.
Admitting that it was unwise for the Council to appoint its own
members to office, the message of the governor is still interesting
and amusing.
Smith said, in this message, that he had no acquaintance with
most of the men appointed to office by the Council,
but feel bound to presume that inasmuch as you are the
guardians of the people, you feel the responsibility of the
trust reposed, and would not confer an appointment of either
honor, trust or profit on any man either unworthy or incapable
of performing the functions of his office.9
Despite this expression of confidence in the Council, the governor
felt that Barrett and Gritten should not be entrusted with the
designated offices. He objected to Gritten because he had "ever
considered him a spy among us."'0 The objections to Barrett
were more numerous. In the first place he objected to the
office of judge advocate general since it was "new and unheard
of in the country."" This charge might have been offered with
equal impunity to any of the numerous offices created by the
Council and approved by the governor. Smith then proceeded to
make six charges against Barrett. Yoakum lists four of the
charges as follows: he had forged an attorney's license in
North Carolina; he had taken fees on both sides of a case as
an attorney; he had passed counterfeit money knowingly; and
8sbid., I, 654, 655.
9Brown, Life and Times of Henry Smith, 152.
lolbid., 154.
11The office was created at the request of General Houston.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939, periodical, 1939; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101107/m1/42/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.