The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1848-02-16

siaa. Wnuli giFe aeonsiEnrnse pOsSsks IN.
A = not lagal position lhzI eaR be nam
lzined. As bespesn individuals. ariUsl
possession n every arFe 81 ; srAri a Land
: not neressary % a Tiigiaa. III sc have
de tiile n the whole. md the artnal pos-
session 81 paEs. ihe rrsidue nos hfing
possessed By 4nnsheE, tbe actual poses
sion Of paTi will oPeEaae uhs constructive
possession of The whole. n i 50 with
assi0ns. Bat Texas had m right BY pos
session. - I shall dsmonsirsEe % Be the
ease and lie mere power % possess, u
shs had heen abe - take snd mllnian
possession. WHICH I ID nai admit. would
not give ! constructive possession. A
right 10 Ihe whale. coupled with pos
session Of a parl. would answer. Bot
Texas wss ; revolutionary government.
and could not diiesl The tile of Tamanli-
pas and o'her Mexican states 10 The lands
lyiag EIllia their respective and undouhl-
ell limits. except BY taking and holding
possession This she never did. either
b. her settlers or her soldiers; for the Oe-
easlnnal passage Of troops across The conn
try was not possession; and, in fart, the
Me1icans crossed IL thus, as well IS the
Texans. Predatory excursions and Dor.
der forays were never held 10 make pos
session.
Bul my colleague says shal General
Rnsk, Tor he purpose Of facllila,iag. the
removal Of those occupying the country
and Of watching the movements. Of the
Mexican army, and preparatory 10 an adj
vance upon Malamoras, despalrhed Gen.
eral Felix Houston with a suflicieni force
to take possession Of Corpus Christi, AMI
that was done. This was true, sir; and
this is good poini-I mean as 10 The night
Of Texas mp 10 that limit, which indeed |
freely admit 10 have been The frontier Of
Texas. Beyond this they did NOT go, be-
yond This they had No possession 10 the
legitimate sense Of the word, and there
lore | deny that the establishment Of the
port at Corpus Christi established the
claim Of Texas up 10 the Rio Grande.
Texas had no establishments there; she
had erected no forts, she had no civil OFF,
GERS in that country; no. I believe not so
much as justice Of the peace or con-
sable. Bul il is said, as a proof OF pos.
session Of this country, that M election
held at Corpus Christi in .Is42 certain
settlers came from the disputed territory
and voted. And il is asserted that Texas
thereby and then established her aulhori.
~, not where they voted. but where they
did not vote. Well. ! assert exactly the
reverse, and ] ask whether. if her auihori.
~ had been established on the Rio Grande.
abe would have required her citizens TO
travel $50 miles TO give their votes. Why,
Il Texas had established any authority OF
jurisdiction on the Rio Grande, she would
al least have had the election so held as
10 accommodate these poor fellows who
were so deslrous of exercising the cleo
tive franchise. Now, | care not whether
these people. went TO Corpus Christi 10
vote or not-nobody knows who they
were or .-'h~---~saev cama--hnwL ~ihas
were indnced 10 come. whether they were
the poor fishermen OF Padre Island, or
struggling herdsmen WHO attended their
fiocks like the Nomades of the eastern
world. The whole thing wants precision
10 make it valuable as fact !; and if Tex
as had not even an election precinct on
The Rio Grande.country, that Of itself is
sufficient proof that she had no establish
menl there which could constitute posses
sion.
The other fact which my,colleague cites
az an authority to prove The right Of Tex
as is what he stated. on the authority of
the Senator from Texas, that certain pur-
chases Of the colony grants OF Tamauli-
pas had their deeds recorded in Texas. We
do not know when they were executed
and acknowledged. This, too, wants pre-.
cision, detail, and finish, to give il certain
" and make il available. But suppose
that be 50. and what does it amount 10
more than this, that some shrewd, hedg-
ing fellows, knowing that the country was
claimed by Texas. and suPposing il might
one day be acquired by it. thought il pru-
dent TO have these deeds recorded in Tex
as, as well, probably. as at Matamoras, as
future evidence of their title. The fact,
indeed, is stated little too broadly, for il
is said this was done as far back as 1884;
when, in fact. the revolution in Texas on
ly took place in 1888. At all events. as
Stunning the fact in its fullest extent, i, on
lv proves that Texas had no clerks nor
record officers in the region of $50 miles
breadth. ..s-.e -.-.
My colleague says ihatro Mexican au-
ihorities were to be found there, and that
Mexico had lost the right she once had.
Now / propose TO refer to few authori-
ties 10 show you the other side of the
question; and | think thai these authori-
ties cannot be over,hrown. shall invoke
first the authority Of the Senator from Mis-.
souri,, whose elaborate research, and whose
accurate and minute information, have
been The boast of his friends and the adj