Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1846-12-17

aVOWed purpose Vi iorHlHS "oLtioilout III
that vicinity, a special messenger was de-
spatched by the Government of the United
States, with instructions from the Secretary Of
State to warn them to desist, should they be
found there, or any other place north of the
Rio Bravo, and within the territory claimed
by the United States" He was instructed,
should they be found in the country north
of that river, to make known to them " the
surprise with which the President has seen
possession thus taken, without authority from
the United States, Of a place within their ter
ritorial limits, and upon which no lawful SET
tement can be made without their sanction" }"
! He was instructed to call upon them to ''avow
under what national authority they profess to
act" and to give them due warning " that the
place is within the United States, who will
suffer no permanent settlement to be made
there, under any other authority than their
own" AS late as the 6th of July, l643, the
Secretary of State of the United States, in a
note addressed II our Minister in Mexico,
maintains that, by the Florida treaty Of 1919,
the territory as far west as the Rio Grande
was confirmed to Spain. In that note he
states that, "by the treaty Of the 22nd Of
February, 1919, between the United States
and Spain, the Sabine was adopted as the
line of boundary between the two powers
Up TO that period mo considerable colonization
had been effected in Texas; but the territory
! between the Sabine and the Rio Grande being
confirmed TO Spain by the treaty, applications
were made to that power for grants of land
and such grants,or permissions Of settlement,
were in fact made by the Spanish authorities
in favor of citizens of the United States pro-
posing to emigrate to Texas in numerous fam
lies, before the Declaration Of independence
by Mexico"
The Texas which was ceded to Spain by
the Florida treaty of 1919, embraced all the
country now claimed by the State of Texas
between the Neuces and the Rio Grande.-
The Republic of Texas always claimed this
river as her western boundary, and in her
treaty made with Santa Anna, in May, 1886,
he recognised it as such. By the Constitution
which Texas adopted in March, 1886, senate
rial and Representative districts were organ
lied, extending west of the Neuces. The
Congress of Texas, on the 10Th of December,
1886, passed g An act TO define the bounda-
ries of the Republic of Texas in which they
declared the Rio Grande from its mouth TO
its source to be their boundary, and by the
said act they extended their g civil and poit-
ical Jurisdiction over the country up to that
boundary. During a period of more than
nine years, which interviewed between the
adoption ofher Constitution, and her annexa-
ton as one OF the States of our Union, Texas
asserted and exercised many acts of sove-
reignty and jurisdiction over the territory and
inhabitants west Of the Neuces. She organ
| lied and defined the limits of counties extend
| ing TO the Rio Grande. She established
courts of Justice and extended her judicial
system over the territory. She established a
ustom-house, and collected duties, and also
post Offices and post-roads, in it. She estab-
lished land office, and issued numerous
grants for land, within It's limits. A Senator
and q Representative residing in it were elect
ed to the Congress Of the Republican serv-
ed as such before the act Of annexation took
place. In both the Congress and Convention
of Texas, which gave their assent to the terms
of annexation to the United Safes, proposed
by our Congress, were representatives resi-
ding west of the Neuces, who took part in
the act of annexation ITSELF This was the
Texas which, by the act of our Congress Of
the 29th Of December, 1845,was admitted as
one of the States of our Union That the
Congress Of the United States understood the
State of TeYa. which they admitted into the
Union to extend beyond the Neuces is appa-
rent from the 1act, that on the 3lst of Decem-
Der, lS45, only two days after the act of ad-
mission, they passed law g to establish a COL
lection district in the state Of Texas" by
which they created port Of delivery at Cor
| puS Christi, situated west Of the Neuces,
and being at the same point at which the
Texas custom-house, under the laws Of that
republic, had been located, and directed that
a 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 nominated and
confirmed by the senate, and has been ever
since in the performance Of his duties. All
these acts Of the Republic of Texas, and of
our Congress, preceded the orders for the ad-
vance Of our army to the East bank of the
Rio Grande. Subsequently, Congress passed
an act " establishing certain post routes, )" ex-
tending west Of the Neuces. The country
west of that river now constitutes a part Of
one of the Congressional districts Of Texas,
and is represented in the House Of Represen-
tatiyes. The senators from that state were
chosen by a Legislature in which the country
west OF that river was represented. In view
of all these facts it is difficult to conceive
upon what ground it can be maintained that, in