The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1847-02-24


shave the honor TO communicate oyoar excelency the
following to be used us occasion may fedue. coN-nr,
"God and Liberty! July l6, 1886"
Most excellent Senior Minister of Fega Relations and Of
Police Transmit 10 The authorities depending upo" your
department.
'Mosr EXCELLENT SENIOR 1t being necessary that the
troops ofthe line should the frontiers Of the republic
and march towards Texas TO conquer that department
dS ss has un.ssa me to
this note 10 excite the zeal and patriotism Of the
the force which be collected in defence of the law to
be ready to serve as safeguard Of The 5especve aep1,
year, and the regulation Of the 7th instant.
.Your excslency will to the governor, ts
under which the czens contribute to the defence OF
their and :, sustain rights yoasd By M1ea o
h e hs s.s;ss ss S ss not q ys
Hoping that your eIccency will furnish me with nforna
important object your e1celency will please 70 accept my
God and Liberty Mexico July lc. !sts cospr
''To the most Excellent Senior Minister of Foreign Rela-
The honorable senator also invoked the authority
of the distinguished senator from Missouri MT BENTON
ON the point that DID not e IT. o reas Ss
senator correctly, he said his speech on the Texas
treaty, that he drew a broad line Of distinction between
province laid between the Sabine and the lower Rio del
Nore and between the Gulf of Mexico and the Red rv-
err 1t wholly southern province" He sir only dis
| Fe, Albuquerque, and other Mexican villages:
1919 sir when that senator was publishing those
Of % he florida say Of
he used this language "Before the establishment OF this
boundary CHATS, the Sabne,) all the country to the
was onrs and these opinions accord fully with that Of
Mr.. Cevaos that the Rio Grande to some extent the
western boundary of the old Spanish province o Texas
if not, certainly with the opinion of Mr. Jefferson
and that i was the western boundary OF Lt'uslana'
of all distinguished functionares who have wrnen
upon the subject He said, in his letter to Mr. B1rwell
of September 1906, commenting upon the strctu res OF
Decius, who had arragned the administration for the
conduct OF its minister in SPAIN whilst negotiating Tor
the western boundary OF Louisiana:
' is that minister's in agreeing TO establi sh
the Colorado boundary had been obliged TO
considered title good far the Rio Bravo, yet in
proportion to wha, they could obtain east of the Mssissp,
sacrifices We're marked out OF which even the Colorado
Mr. Laussat the commissioner of France, who de-
vered Louisiana U.S. admitted that extended to the
Rio Grande and as far up 80 deg north latitude CIV
Clear Mr. President that the Rio Gade was either the
boundary of Spanish Texas OF Louisiana and the re-
public OF Texas had right to declare it and she
least high up Loredo n27i deg north, it is right
fully to be considered her boundary to that extent GER
But the senator from South Carolina, mr. CALHouN,l
says was disputed by Mexico, and therefore troops
should not have been ordered to il that Congress alone
|
is true Mr. President Mexico did, and does now, dispute
it, and disputes also right to any portion OF Texas
She considered it yet rebeous province, which she is
that if we have to regard Mexico in the matter, we
could not enter Texas at all with our troops;
Butthe senator from North Carolina, MIR. BADGER
possession of Mexico and the movement OF our troops 10
act of war; and it was done by the Executive,
sued, the is chargeabe to the Executive, and 1t
therefore Executive war and he contrasts this con-
duct with that Of Mr. Jefferson Sd Sa on r sn
red Now, Mr.. President, to me the senator is
mistaken about the facts Mexico was not in possession
OF the country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande
and never had been There was warehouse at Brazos
Santiago used by the Mexcans, but permanent settle
had been made in that OF Texas by her But the
found in the conont facts OF settlement by the people OF
the nation claiming, and the extension OF her laws and
jurisdiction it, neither OF which existed in favor OF
Mexico In favor of Texas, we have the fact that she
had settlement at Corpus Christi, erected the dlstnct
of country adjacent to it into county called San Pd
the whole country up to the Rio Grande, with her urs
dcton maintained successfully, and extended her laws
over it, which were obeyed Here, then, s actual pos,
session, coupled with the title, to all the advantages OF
which we succeeded by the annexation
But, what was Mr.. Jeferson's on the occasion
to which the senator audes' reference to the docu-
ments will show.
The acquisition of Louisiana, Mr. President, was
mastery stroke Of policy, and consummated the high re-
nown OF its distinguished author 1t was done under
protest from SPAIN she contendng that France had no
right to cede it to u.s. and the of much irrta
ton A dispute the boundary of louisiana, both
east and west of the Mississippi, arose Spain claiming
Florida the east which, she contended extended west
to the Iberve and Texas the west extending to the
Rio Grande, whilst we conended that the eastern bound
airy of Louisiana, being the western OF Florida was the
Perddo river, and the western the Rio Grande. Tins
the state of things up to 1905. On the attn OF NO
vember 1903, Mr. Jefferson, in letter OF that date to MI
Livingston, then in Paris, who had negotiated the treaty
of the 30th April preceding, speaks OF the conduct
of Spain in protesting against the transfer, and pro,
ceeds to say " And we, four days ago, sent oil
orders to the governor OF Mississippi Territory, and Gen
Wilkinson, to move down with the troops at hand 70
New Orleans, to receive the possession from MT taus
If he is heartily disposed to carry the order OF the
consul into execution, he can probably command VOL
unteer force at New Orleans, and will have the AID OF
ours Also if he desires it, to take the possession ana
deliver to u.s. II he is not disposed, pe shall take
the possession" &c-(Vol. 4, Memoirs, page g. Here
sir, we see, in the face of the claim Of Spain, the
action of Mr. Jefersonsendng military force to take
possession of disputed territory and that too, without
any reference to Congress So in 1905, six days before
this confidential message in his annual message to Con-
gress Mr. jefferson refers to the unadJusted boundaries
between and Span-she being in possession OF the
Mobile, and subjectng commerce through tnat river
to heavy exactons, and he says: :,
"Inroads have recently been made into the territories oil
and their property plundered in the very ports OF the for
mer which had been actually delivered up by Spain, and
this by regular officers and soldiers Of that government
therefore found length To give orders
our citizens and repe by any similar aggressons in
future"
In the confidential message OF the 9TH he gives II as his
opinion that il is the intention of the Spanish forces to
advance on our possessions until they shall be repressed
by opposing force, and proceeds to say;