, 1843-06-17
[For the Radical.l
The Republic Of Texas, III ISIS,
(No. ~

DEAR SIR-Having a few leisure mo-
ments to-day, l improve the occasion TO
make some remarks upon the present
situation of the young Republic, TO the
people in this part of the State-a de-
sire which | have had for some time, IN
order to remove some Of the many erro-
neous impressions into which the people
of this country seem to have fallen. l
have no aspiration to figure as a newspa-
per scribbler in this country, further
than may be useful TO the cause of truth,
justice and free principles. Surely no
country calls more loudly for the dis
semination of truthful matters, than does
my adopted c~ountry-the much SANDER
Gus but proud and generous and chival-
rous Texas! l do not wish to insinuate
that the American people are u%nf:iendly
to Texas; but they suffer themselves TO
adopt incorrect ideas of the people there;
thence we often hear The remark, con-
nectcd with the disappearance Of some
bad man, 30. he has gone TO Texas ,
and | find that people here imagine that
the Tcxinas are a set o pistol and bowie
knife dcsperadors, and consider it a small
matter TO butcher and sacrifice each 9TH
or. These opinions are more or less
prevalent, though | often meet with men
who knows better: many citizens Of this
country have visited that and became
convinced of their error, while others
have friends and relatives there who
change their minds by correspondence.
This, sir, is my native country,-my
Cd neighbors AID f.iends are still here,
and although many strangers have come
in since | left here. still | hope my char
acter is well enough established to COM
mand respect, and a, | have lived near
four years in Texas, and have taken an
active part in the affairs of the country,
| feel prepared 10 speak with confidence.
My principal objects are 10 speak of the
character of the Texan people, and TO
show that The condition of Texas il not
nor worse than il has been.
1t is difficult, it seems, for people here
TO understand how the Texans can he
good people when it has been place Of
refuge for bad men for so long a time
In the first place let me say that by the
colonization laws under which Austin,
De Witt, De Lean, Burnet, Travalla and
others contracted for the introduction Of
emigrants, they were bound under cath,
10 receive 10 man who could not pro-
ducc 4 good character on his entrance in
to the colonies. Fortunately, these con-
tractors were good men and endeavored,
as far as possible, to comply with the
laws,-and admirably did they succeed
especially Gen. Austin, who settled his
colony almost entirely from Tennessee
and Missouri. Being a Missourian Kim
self, he had no difficulty in discrimina-
ting between good and bad men. Two
of these cases occurred where he CON-
PEELED renegades to quit the colony and
return TO the United States. Then, you
ask, where did the many ~rufians and
outlaws GO TO, who entered Texas? !
can answer this. The laws Of Mexico
reserved from settlement a strip of coun-
try, Commonly called the twenty bor-
!, der leagues, } 60 miles in width, border
ing on the United States. This place
t opened a fine field for s~coundrels, who
could rendezvous here, steal from the
colonies and run over TO Louisiana, and
then steal in Louisiana and fly into the
colonies. Thus an organized band was
f kept up, and gradually grew in power
until the year 1878, when the tide
commenced an opposite flow, and has
now succeeded in purging that boundary
line of them in a great degree. This
was the effect of Texan laws. Immedi-
latoly upon the organization of the new
government, the reserved land WAS
brought into market and opened for SET
tlement; and in 1897 an emigration of
substantial Tennessee and Alabama far
mers began to rush into that district
Gas virtue advances, so vice recedcsr-
Is a maxim which aptly applies in this
case. During the years of lS37-S-9
there was great excitement and animosi-
between the honest and dishonest mar.
ties. Murders, fights and rows were
common: but the honest mn