Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-01-01
MR.. CALHOUN'S LETTER TO GOV.
SHANNON.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, Sept. 10, 1914. !

that m6AlCO lHltluS 10 TeHeW lIu wal
against Texas on large scale, and carry
il on with more than savage ferocity.-
The loan she has authorized, and the ex-
pensive preparations she is making, by
land and sea, are sufficient proofs OF the
former, and the orders of the commander
of the army of the north, General VOL,
issued the Goth day of June last, and the
decree of Santa Anna, general Of divi-
sion and provisional President of Mexico,
on the 18th day of June, 1913, of the
latter. The decree makes the general-in-
chief OF divisions of the army and the
commandant of the coast and frontier re-
sponsible for its exact fulflment. II was
under that responsibility, it would seem,
that General VOL, to whom the Texan
frontier was assigned, issued his order Of
the Goth June. After promising, that the
war was renewed against Texas, that all
communications with it must cease, and
that every individual, Of whatever condi-
ton, who shall have communications with
it, shall be regarded as a traitor, and as
such, be punished according to the articles
of war, the order announces, in its third
article, that "every individual who may be
found at the distance of one league from
the west bank Of the Rio Bravo will be
regarded as favorer and accomplish Of
the usurpers of that part of the national
territory, and as a traitor to his country"
and, after summary military trial, "shall
be punished accordingly" And, in its
9TH article, it also states, "that every lndi-
vidual who may be embraced within the
provisions of the preceding article, and
may be rash enough to fly at the sight OF
any force belonging to the supreme 60
vernment, shall be pursued until taken or
put TO death"
In what spirit the decree of the 18th of
June, which the order is intended exactly
10 fulfil, is to be executed, the fate of the
party under general Sentmanat, at To-
basco, affords an ilustration--they we're
arrested under il, and executed without
hearing or trial, against the indignant re-
monstrances of the French and Spanish
ministers near the government Of Mexi-
co, who in vain invoked the voice Of hui
mainly, the sacred obligations of the con-
stituton, and the sanctity of treaties, in
behalf Of their countrymen who were ex.
ecuted under this illegal and bloody decree.
If the decree itself was thus enforced
in time of peace on subjects of friendly
powers, and against the circumstances Of
their ministers, some faint conception
may be formed of the ferocious and de-
yastating spirit in which the order of Gen.
VOL is intended to be executed against
the inhabitants of Texas, and all who
may, in any way, aid their cause, or even
have communication with them. 1t was
under decree similar to that of the 18th
of June, lS43, and issued by the same
authority on the Both of October, 1885,
but which was not so comprehensive in its
provisions, or so bloody and ferocious in its
character, that the cold blooded butchery
of Fannin and his party, and other Tex
an prisoners, was ordered by Santa Anna
in his invasion Of 1885.
That decree was limited to foreigners
who should land at any part of Mexico,
or arrive by land, being armed, and hav-
ing hostile intentions, or who should intro
duce arms and munitions OF war, TO be
used at any place in rebellion, or placed
in the hands of its enemies. As savage
and outrageous as its provisions were, the
order of Gen. Vol, intended TO carry out
that OF June, 1913, goes far beyond. 1t
embraces every individual who may be
found east of line drawn three miles east
of the Rio del Norte, without distinction of
age or sex, foreigner or citizen, condition
or vocation. All of every condition
whether they resist or surrender, are to be
treated as traitors, and all who flee to be
shot down. The war is intended, in short,
to be one OF utter extirpation. All that
breathe are to be destroyed or driven out,
and Texas left desolate waste, and so
proclaimed to the world, by Mexico, in
advance of her projected invasion.
The first question which presents itself
for consideration on the statement of facts
is, shall we stand by and witness in silence
the renewal of the war by Mexico, and its
prosecution, in this bloodthirsty and DESC
lating spirit2 In order to answer it fully
and satisfactorily, il will be necessary TO
inquire first into her object for renewing
the war at this time.
There can be but one; and that is to de.
feat the annexation of Texas to our Union.
She knows full well that the rejection of
the treaty has but postponed the question
of annexation. She knows that Congress
adjourned without finally disposng of it;
that it is now pending before both Houses,
and actively canvasseed before the
people throughout the wide extent of our
Union; and that it will, in all probability,
be decided in its favor, unless il should
be defeated by some movement exterior
to the country. We would be blind not to
see that she proposes to affect it by the
projected invasion, either by conqueriug