Mobile register and journal., 1846-12-16


 to the east bank of the hl,t river. we passed the Tex 'n lIne, and invaded thierIilory of MexIco.-- 1 simple stalemeni 0f fac. known in exist. will | ? eoncus'ely lein'e such an ssumpitn, Texas, as 3 ceded to the United Staesy France III la02, has been always claimed as exmdiuR west of Iie Rio ! Grande, or Rio Bravo Tls fact Is established bv tlie authority Of ouI most enneut statesmen ai a pc 1 ind when ihe question well if not heiIer un
 dersiood than Il Is al preset. During Mir l. fer | 1 sons administration. Mess. Monroe aud Pinrk. , neH, ~hn had been sent ispecial mission 10 Ma | drld, charged. among other lngs wh ihe adjust | ment ol boundary between he two countries, in a nole addies-ed io The Sparsh Minister of Foreign
 Aillrs, u"der dae of Ihe 'enty eighth of January,
 ls05 asserts that the boufiarIes ol Innisiana as
 eeded To tue Dnlied Saies France. .'are the river Perd'd" en lhe east, and he liver Bravo on he west and they add hat the facts and prino fslrs
 which justify lhis coneiusfo satisfactory to our government AS 10 cofflnce t thai The United
 States have not better riglt tO the island of kNew
 Orleans, under tbe cesslm referred io. than they
 have 70 the whole district U territory which IS above
 described"
 Down lo the conclusion a the Florida treaty, in
 February ISl9 by which nis Ier' iory was ceded
 To Spain, the United Staesassered and ma inl alned
 theIr territorial rights ihi extent. In the month
 oi June, ISIS, during MT Monroe's administration,
 information having been renewed that number oi
 oreIgn adventures had landed at Galveston, with
 the a'owed purpose of forming settlement tn that
 vicinity, special messenger was despatched by the
 government of ihe Uaud Saaies, with instructions
 from ihe Secretary of State to warn them 10 desst,
 should they be ionnd there any other place north
 of the Rio Bravo and within the territory claImed
 by the United States" He was instructed should
 they be found n the country north oi that rYero make
 haTR heS ie&iiofa IF limits, and Spph lfA lfA the he P!ssi
 ettlement be made without their sanction."
 He instructed 10 call upon them To ''avow under
 what national authority they profess to act" and to
 give them due warning that the place is within ihe
 United States, who will suffer no permanent settle
 ment 10 be made there, under any authority other
 than their own" As late the eighth of July,
 lSI2, the Secretary of State of the United States,
 in pole addressed 10 sur minister in Mexico. main
 aius hat by the Florida treaty ol lSl9. the terri
 loIy as far west the Rio Grande was confirmed to
 SpaiH. In that he states that, 'by ihe resty of
 the twerl, second of February, 1879, between the United States and spain, the Sabine was adopted the line of boundary between the two Powers.-
 Upto that period, considerable coIinizat lon had been effected III Texas; hut the territory between
 ihe Sabine aiN ihe Rio Grande being confirmed to
 Spain by the trsaty, appllcal ions were made that Power for grant, of land, and such granls, per missions ol settlement, in fact gade by tue
 Spanish authorities in favor of citizens of the United States proposing to oemgrate to TExAs in numerous iamilies before he declaration of independence by Mexico."
 The Texas which was ceded to Spain by the
 Florida treaty of 1919 embl aced all the count, now f claimed by the Slate of Texas between lbe Nueces and the Rio Grande. The republic of Texas always . her treaty made with Santa Anna in May, 1886, he 3 recognised il as such. By the constitution which Texas adopted in March, 1896, senatorial and re- presenalve districts were organized extending west i of the Nueces. The Congress of Texas, on ihe ! nineteenth of December, 1886, passed "An act to define inc boundaries O6 the republic nf Texas" in hich they declared he Rio Grande from it's mouth
 10 it's source be their boundary, and by the said F. act they extended their "cv and political jurIs. il dictinn" over the country up that boundary Uu.
 l ai lla,nu ,Ah,c fl yened between the adoption of her constitution and ]. her annexation one of the States of our Union,
 Texas asserted and exercised many acts of sov- a ereIgny and jurisdiction over the territory and in n habisnts west of the Nueces. She organized and il defnpd he limits oi counties extending to ihe Rio . Cirande. She established cOurls of justice and ex. tended her judicial system over the territory. She established custsmhouse, and collected duties, and c also post offices and roads, in She estab- n shed land office, and issued numerous grants for n land, within Its limits. Senator asd Representa- tive residing in n were elected 10 the Congress of !, e republic and served such before the of an . nexarion took place. In both the Congress and 6 Convention of Texas, which gave lhelr assent to | the terms of annexation 10 the United Staies, pro- # posed by our Cengress, were representatives resi-
 ding of the Nueces, who took part in ,he act of
 annexation itself This WAS the Texas which, hy . the act of Congress of the twenty -nnih of De eomber ls45. admitted as one of he States of
 our Union That the Congress of the Uai.sd S,-tes . understood the State of Texas which they admitted |, into the Union extend beyond ihe Nueces ap-
 parent from the iact, that on the lh,rty- oi De cember 1915, only two days aier the act of admis- v | sion. they passed a law 'to establish collection
 district in the State of Texas, by which they !, led A mort of delivery Corpus Christi, situated . west of the Nueces, and being lhe same point at which the Texas custom house, under the laws of . that republc. had been located, and directed that . suryeyor to collect the revenue should be appointed
 for that port by the President, by and with the ad s vice and consent of the Senate. surveyor was |. accordingly nominated and confirmed by the Senate. - and has been since in the performance Of his l. dulies All these acts of the republic of Texas, and
 of our Congress- preceded the orders fnr the advance C of our army the east bank of the Rio Grande.-- r Subsequently, Congress passed act .'estabshng s certain post routes extending west of the Nueces d The country west oi that rlver constitutes
 part ol one of the Congressional districts Of Texas s The Senators from thai State chosen by le- l. gslaure in whcfthe country west of that river represented In view of all these iacts is difficult ,. conceive upon what grouod 1t be maintained V that, occupyng the country west of the Nueces Il with army, with view solely 10 its security and n defence, we invaded the territory of Mexico. But would have been still more difficult e justify the Executive, whose duty it is to that ihe laws be -- faithfully executed, if in the face of all these pro- If ceedngs, both of the Congress of Texas and of the IT United States, he had assumed the responsibility of s yielding up the territory west of the Nueces to Mex ico of refusing 10 protect and defend this terri d loryaud Us Inhabtaats including Corpus Christ, }. as we'll the remainder oG Texas, against the V threatened Mcxic,n invasion.
 l. But Mexico herself has never placed the war which she waged upon the ground that army
 cupied the intermediate territory between the Nue. [. ces and the RD Grande. Her reiuted pretenson d that Texas was not in fact independent State, h but rebeious prosiHce was Obslinaiely persever Il ed in; and her ayowed purpose in commen ncing a e with the United States was to reeonquer Texas. r. and restore Mexican authority the whole ler- T, ritory-not to te Nueces only, but to the Sabine. !, | In view of the proclaimed menaces of Mexico to ;. this effect, 1 deemed it my duty, a measure Of precauion and dience to order army occupy r. il position oar lroaier military post, from which troop could best resist and repel any if tempted invasion ~hich Mexico might make.
 V Our army had occupied position al Corpus : Christi, ol the Nueccs, as early as August, = 1S45 without complaint from any quarter. Had the Nueces been regarded the true western boundary fl of rexrs, that boundary had bs-u passed by | my mouths before advanced theeasiern bank of |. the Rio Graade. In my annual message of Decem. d Der last informed Congress that upon the invita-. d lion ol both he Congress and the Convention oi e Texas, 1 had deemed il proper to order a strong sqadron the of Mexico, and to concentrate IT as efficient military force the wesera frontier of |, Texas, proect snd defend the inhabitants against s | the menaced invasion of Mexico h that me ssage !. informed Congress- that ihe moment the terms of ,r annexation offered by the United States were ac- j. ceped by Tetas, the latter became far mart of our county to make i duly to afford such |. protection and defence; and that for that purpose a our squadron had been ordered the Gulf, and d army Co ",ake position between the Nueces and d the Del Norte," Rio Graude. and to "repsl any Is nvssion of the Texan territory which might be at y tempted by the Mexican forces.'
 ,; It deemed proper issue this order, because
 soon after the President of Texas, in April, l845