The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-12-19

IDR COullIUlttl w spun NY tuO iNh'gf "Pp''N"
lions were made 20 that power, for grants OF
land, and snciI grants or permission of settle
ment, were in fact made by the Spanish Gov
eminent in filyor of citizens Of the U. 5
proposing to emgrate to TEXAS in numerous
families, before the declaration of indepen
dence by Mexico"
The Texas which was ceded to Spain ny the
Florida treaty of 1919 embraced all the coun
try now claimed by the state of Texas hetweeT
the Neuces and the fRio Grande, The re-
public of Texas always claimed this river al
| her western boundary, and in her treaty made
with Santa Anna in May, 1886, he recognized
| it as such. BY the constitution which Texas
adopted in March, 1886, senatorial and repre-
sentative districts were organized, extending
west ofthe Nueces, The congress of Texas
on the 10Th December, 1886, passed "an act
to define the boundaries 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 "civil and political jurisdiction" over the
country 10 that boundary. During period
of more than nine years, which interviewed
between the adoption of ner constitution and
her annexation as one ofthe States of our u
MON, Texas asserted and exercised many acts
ofsovereignty and jurisdiction over the ter
ritory and inhabitants west of the Nueces-
| She organized and defined the limits of coun.
| ties extending to the Rio Grande. She estab-
lshed courts of justice and extended her ju-
dicial system over the territory. She estnb-
lished n custom house and collected duties,
and also post offices and post roads in it, She
established land Office, and issued numerous
grants for land within its limits. A senator
and a representative residing in II were elect
ed to the congress Of the republic, and served
as such before the act Enumeration took place.
In both the congress and convention ofTexas,
which gave their assent TO the terms of annex
I A.. Al La
congress, were representatives residing west
ofthe Nueces, who took part in the act of an
ncxaton itself. This was the Texas which by
the act of our congress of the Goth of Dec,
1916, was admitted as one of the states of our
Union. That the Congress of the United
States understood the State of Texas which
they admitted into the Union to extend beyond
the Nueces, is apparent from the fact that on
the 3lst of Dec, 1916, only two days after the
act of admission, they passed law "to estab-
lish collection district in the state of Texas"
by which they created n port of delivery at
Corpus Christi situated west ofthe Nueces, and
being the same point at which the Texas Gus
tom house, under the law ofthat republic had
been located and directed that n 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 per
Torrance of his duties. All these acts of the
republic ofTexas and of our Congress, pre-
ceded the orders for the advance of our army
to the east bank Of the Rio Grande Suisse
quently, congress passed an act establishing
certain post routes," extending west of the
Nueces. The country west of that river now
constitutes part of one of the congressional
districts of TIE xas, and is represented in the
house of representatives. The senators from
that state were chosen by a legislature in
Nph ,rl tln yl.aNr -,
resented. In view ofall these facts, it is diff
cult to conceive on what ground it can be
maintained that in occupying the country west
of the Nueces with our army with view sole
ly to its security and defence, we invaded the
territory of Mexico. But it would have been
still more difficult to justify the Executive,
whose duty it is to see that the laws be faith
fully executed, if in the face of all these pro-
ceedings, both of the congress of Texas and of
the u. States, he had assumed the responsible
ty of yielding up the territory west of the NJ
eces to Mexico, or of refusing to protect and
defend this territory and its inhabitants, in
GLIDING Corpus Christi, well as the remain
der of Texas, against the threatened Mexican
invasion.
But Mexico herself has never placed the
war which she has waged upon the ground
that our army occupied the intermediate ter
ritory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande.
Her refuted pretenson that Texas was not in
fact an independent state, but a rebellious
province, was stinately persevered in; and
her avowed purpose in comme ncing war with
the United States was to reconquer TIE xas and
to restore Mexican authority over the whole
territory-not TO the Nueces only but to the
Sabine. In view of the proclaimed men aces
of Mexico to this effect, deemedit my duty
as a measure of precaution and defence, to or
der our army to occupy position on our from
tier as a military post, from which our troops
could best resist and repel any attempted in
vasion which Mexico might make.
Our army had occupied a position at Corpus
Christi, west of the Nueces, as early as August,
1S45, without complaint from any quarter
Had the Nueces been regarded as the true west
ern boundary Of Texas, that boundary had
been passed by our army many months before
it advanced to the eastern banks of the Rio
| Grande. In my annual message of December
last, Informed Congress that upon the invi.
tation of both the Congress and Convention of
Texas,l had deemed itproper to order u strong
squadron to the coasts of Mexico, and to con-
centrate an efficient military force on the
Western frontier of Texas, to protect and de-
fend the inhabitants against the menaced in
vasion of Mexico. In that Message inform
ed Congress that the moment that the terms
of annexation offered by the United States
were accepted by Texas, the latter became SC
far part of our own country as to make il
our duty to afford soch protection and defence
una tHat ior tnuI purpose our squadron haO
been ordered to the Gulf, and our army tc
stake position between the Nueces and the
Del Norte, or Rio Grande, and ''to repel any
invasion of the Texan territory which might
be attempted by the Mexican forces"
1t was deemed proper to issue this order,be,
cause soon after the President of Texas, in A,
pril 1S45, had issued his proclamation, conven-
ing the Congress ofthat republic for the pur
pose of submitting to that body the terms of
anne xation proposed by the United States, the
government of Mexico made serious threats
of invading the Texan territory.