The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1848-01-06

- or congressman AaaasArAss
But II i rot stated IN ille Presidents
message h0fr far beyond lie Nueres lie
Jurisdiction Of Texas had been extended,
nor shai pGrt II Tie country between tliaI
rirer anil lie del Norie lad heen repre-
seniei in The Congress aud Convention u
Texas, and Was Then included within one
Of nur congressional districts.
Now tie actual jurisdiction beyond The
Nueces never extended farther dian Tie nd
ijaeeni seIilementnl san Patriotic. consisting
IL about twenty families. That small dis
lEiel. though beyond The Nneces, was CON
iiguous 10, and in lie actual possession Of
Texas. On this account II might he right
fully included within Tie limits which We
weUe bound 10 protect against Mexican
invasion.
but what was the country between Ills
small settlement Of san raiHcio, or BE-
tween Corpus hrisii and the Rio del
Nor.e, over which il might be supposed.
from the message, that The jurisdiction Of
Texas Ind been extended, 80 as 10 be in-
eluded within one Of our congressional
districts Here, again. Texas had erect
cd That small settlement into a county,
called san PsIricio, and declared that Ills
county extended to The Rio del None.
This, like al other declaratory acts Of the
same kind, was only an assertion, moi a.
ieciing the question Of right. The state
ofTexas might, with equal propriety. have
declared that their boundary extended 10
the Sierra Madre or To the Pacific. The
true question Of righi 10 any territory be-
You'd the Mexican limits Of the department
Of Texas depends Oh the facts: by whom
was the territory in question actually in
habiled and occupied and had the inlla-
biianis united with Texas in The insurreo.
lion against Mexico,
= The whole country between The settle
, mem Of San pa,ricio and Corpus Christi,
I'LL within a few miles Of the del Norie, is
q pelicc: desert, one hundred and sixty
, , miles wide by The route pursued by Gen.
Taylor, as stated BY himself, and near one
hundred and twenty miles in a straight
line.
The only settled part of il IL along the
lief. bank Of the del Norte. ard but few
!, miles in breadth. This bell was settled,
Inhabited, and occupied exclusively by
Mexicans. II included the town Of Lore
do; an! Mexico had custom house at
J.. B'asos, orlh of the mouth Of the river.
r rHI -ussulird by the American arms II
= had ever been, and was AT The ,inIc v hen
. invaded by Gen. Taylor, part of The de-
= partment Of 'ramaulipas, and subject 10
= the jurisdiction Of the Project of the north
ern district Of that department.
In the course of the war between Mex
y leo and Texas, incursions had been occa-
: sionally made by each party into the ter
i, ritores of the other. A Mexican officer
had onre or twice obtained temporary oc-
eupatlon Of San Antonio, within the limits
of Texas; and The Texans had on one
y occasion taken Loredo itself, and more
than once had carried their arms, not only
10 the left bank of the del Norle, but even
beyond that river. In both cases the ag-
! gressive parties had been repulsed and ex-
PEELED. The last Texan expedition of that
kind took place in December, ls42, aud
terminated in their defeat at Mler.
;, That the country adjacent, TO the left
bank of the river was exclusively in the
d possession Of the Mexicans, was we'll
known to our Government.
: When Gen. Taylor marched 10 the del
= Norte he issued an order, mo. 30,) trans-
lated into Spanish, ordering all under his
. command TO observe with the most scru-
pulous respect the rights of all the inhabi-
'ants who might be found in peaceful pro-
secuton of their respective occupations,
as we'll on the left as on the right side of
: the Rio Grande. No interference, he
: adds, will be allowed with the civil rights
or religious privileges of the inhabitants.
In June, 1915, Gen. Taylor had been
i, directed 10 selec, and occupy, on or near
: the Rio Grande del Nor,e. such site as
= would be best adapted to repel invasion
: and 10 protect our western border. But,
on the 9Th of July following, the Secreta-
ry of War Mr. Marcy addressed The fol-
. lowing letter 10 him:
"This Department ia informed that Mexico has
some military establishments on the east side of
: the Rio Grande, which are, and for some time
i have been, in the actual occupancy of her troops.
i In carrying out the instructions heretofore receiv-
T.. ed you will he careful to avoid any acts of ag-
+ erosion, unless actual state of war should ex-
ist The Mexican forces at the posts in their pos
session, and which have been So will not be dis
tnrbcd as long as the relations of peace between
Il the United States and Mexico continue"
On the 3oth of July, ls45, the secreta-
ry again addresses Gen. Taylor as follows:
;, You are expected to occupy, protect, and de-
" iend the territory of Texas TO the extent that it
S has been occupied by the people of Texas. Tho
= Rio Grande is claimed to he the boundary be-
tween the two countries; and up to this bounda-
ny you to extend your protection only except
G ing any posts on the eastern side thereof which
are in the actual occupancy of Mexican forces, or
g. Mexican settlements ever which the Republic of
IS Texas did not exercise jurisdiction at the period of
d snnexalon or shortly before that event tits ex-
&c pected, in selecting the establishment, for YOUR
1, troops, you will approach as near the boundary
IN thn Ia l.