Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1846-12-24


The country north of tina, river, To- make
known TO them the surprise with which
the President has seen possession inns IA.
ken, without authority from the Uni,cl
States, Of a place within their territorial
limits, and upon which no lawful settle.
tacnt can be mule without, their SANCTION"
He was instructed to call upon them TO
"avow under what national authority they
profess to act. anu TO give them due warn
ing that the place is within tho United
States, who will suffer no permanent SET,
'lemen, To be nude there, under any au-
thority other than their own" As late ms
the eighth Of Jaly, 1912, the Secretary of
State Of the Uniicd States, in Il notc adj.
dressed tn our Munster in Mexico. main
tains that. by the Florida. treaty of 1919,
the territory rs lar west as tho Rio Graude
was confirmed To Spain. In that note he
states that "by the treaty OF The twcnty-sc-
cond of February, 1919, between the II.
States and Spain, the Sabine was adopted
rs the line OF boundary between the two
Powers. Up to that period, no cnns,,iera-
bic colonization had been effected i'm Tex
as; but the territory between the Sabine
and the RIO Grande being confirmed to
Spain by The treaty, applications were made
to that Power Tor grants of laud aud such
grants, or pcrmissIons of settlement, were
III fact made by the Spanish authorities in
favor OF citizens of the United States pro-
posing to emiyrate to TEXAS in numerous
families, before the declaration of indepcn-
dence by Mexico.
The Texas which was coded to Spain by
the Florida treaty of 1919, embraced all the
country now claimed 10y :he State ofrexas
between The Nueces and the Rio Grane.
The rcpublic of Texas always claimed this
river as her western boundary, and in her
treaty, made with Santa Anna IN May, 1886,
he recognized it as such. BY the cnmsti-
tuition which Texas adopted in March 1896,
senatorial and representative districts were
organized, extending west of the Nmeccs.
The Con yress of Texas, on the 18th of
December, 1885, passed "An act to define
the boundaries of the rcpnblic ri Tryas.'
in which they declared the Rio Grantle
from lis mouth To its source tn be their
boundary, mud by The said act they extend
cd their "cvl and political jurisdiction" o.
YER tho country up tn that boundary. Dur
ing period of more than nine years which
intervened between the adoption Of her
constitution aud her annexation as one of
the States of onr Union, Texas asserted
and exercised many acts Of sovereignty and
jurisdiction over tho territory and inhab-
tants west of the Nucces. She organized
and defined the Limits Of counties extend
ing To the Rio Grande. She established
custom-housc, and collected duties, and
also post Offices and post roads, in it.. She
established land office. and issued nnmer-
Gus grants for land, within It's limits. A
Senator ard Representative residing in il
were elected to The Congress of the repub-
lie, and served as such belnrc the act of
annexation took place. In both the Con-
gress and Convention of Texas which gave
their assent to the terms Of annexation TO
the U. States, proposed by our Congress
were representatives residing west of the
Nueces which took part in the act of an
neXation itself
This was the TEXAS which, by the act of
our congress ofthe twenty-nnth Of Deem
Der, 1919, was admitted as one ofthe States
of our Union. That the Congress of The
United States understood the State Of Ter
as which they admitted into the Union to
ertemd beyond the Nueces is apparent from
the fact, that on The tliiriy-ffst Of Deccm-
ber 1915, only three days after the act of
admission. they passed a law "to establish
4 collection district in the State Of Teas, ~
by which they created port of delivery at
Corpus Christi, situated west ofthe Nucccs
and being the same point at which the Tea
as custom-house, under tile laws of that re-
public, had been located, and directed that
Il surveyor to collect the revenue should be
appointed for that port by the President
by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. A surveyor was accordingly nom
mated aud confirmed by the Senate, and
has been ever since III The performance of
his duties. All these acts of the republic
Of rcrrs. and of our Congress, preceded
the orders for the advance of our army to
the crst bank Of the Rio Grande. Suisse
Gucntly, Congress passed an act "esiabsh-
ing certain post routes" extending west
of the Nueces. The country west Of lha,
river now constitutes a part of one of the
congressional districts of Tenas, and is rep
resented in the House of Representatives.
The senators from that State were chosen
by legislature in which the country west
Of that river was represented. In view Of
all these facts. IL is difficult to conceive up
on what ground it can be maintained that,
in occupying the country west Of the Nue.
ces WITH our army. with view solely To lis
security and defence, we invaded the terri
tory of Merico. Bat it would have been
still more difficult TO Justify the executive,
whose duty is to see that the laws be faith
fully erecuied, if in the face Of all these
proceedings, both Of the Congress Of Ten-
rs and Of the United States, he had assum-
ed the responsibility Of yielding up the ter
fitory west Of the Nueces to MeTco, or Of
refusing to protect or defend this territory
and lis inhabitants, including Corpus Chris
ii, as well as the remainder ofTeras, against
the threatened MEXICAN invasion.
But Mexico herself has never placed the
war which she has waged upon the ground
tbat our army occupied the Intermediate