Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1849-02-16

whether belonging to corporations or lndIvl-
duals. 1t secures to these inhabitants the free
exercise of their religion without restriction.
whether they choose 10 place themselves VI.
der the spiritual authority OF pastors resident
within the Mexican republic or the ceded ter
rltories. 1t was. i; is presumed. to place this
construction beyond all question, that the Sen
ate superadded the words "without restriction"
to the religious guarantee contained in the cor
responding article of the Louisiana treaty.
Congress itself does no. possess the power,
under the constitution, TO make any law pro-
hbiting the free exercise of religion. If the
ninth article of the treaty. whether in its orr
gnal or amended form, had been entirely o.
mitted in the treaty, all the rights and prlvile
ges which either of them con!ers would have
been secured 10 the Inhabitants of the ce;'ed
territories by the constitution and laws OF the
United States.
Tie Protocol asserts that the American
government. by suppres<ing the tenth article
of the treaty of Guadalupe. did not. in any
way, intend 10 annul the grants Of land made
by Mexico in the cedeI terr;:ories;'' that
'these grants. Notwithstanding the suppress
sion of the article of the treaty, preserve the
legal value which they may possess; and the
grantees NAV cause their legitimate titles to be
and then proceeds TO stale. that "conformahy
to the law of the United States, Iegiti nate IT,
ties to every description of property, personal
and real, existing in The coded territories, are
those which were legitimate titles under the
Mexican law in California and New Mexico
up 10 the thirteenth of May, 1886; and in
Texas, mp 10 the second of March, 1867
The former was the date of the declaration of
war against Mexico, and the latter that of the
declaration OF independence by Texas
The objection 10 the tenth article of the orr
ginaI treaty was, not that it protected legiti-
mate titles which our laws would have equal
lv protected without it, but that it most un-
Justly attempted to resuscitale grants which
had become mere nulIity, by allowing the
grantees the same period after the exchange
of the ratifcaiions of the treaty 10 which they
had been originally entitled after the date of
| their E ants. for the purpose of performing the
conditions on which they had been made. In
submitting the treaty to the Senate, had re-
commended the re lection Of this article. That
portion of it in regard TO lands in Texas did
not receive a single vote in the Senate. This
information was communicated by the letter OF
! the Secretary of State 10 the Minister for Fo-
| reign Affairs of Mexico, and was in possession
of the Mexican government during the whole
period the treaty was before the Mexican Con-
gress, and the article itself was reprohated in
that letter in the strongest terms. Besides,
our commissioners to Mexico had heen in
structed that g neither the President nor the
Senate of the United States can ever consent
to ratfy any treaty containing the 10Th article
of the treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo in favor OF
grantees of land in Texas or elsewhere" And
again: "Should the Mexican government
persist in retaining this article, then ali pros
pect of immediate peace is ended; and of this
J on may give them an absolute assurance"
On this point the language of the Protocol
is free from ambiguity but if it were other.
wise, is there any individual, American OIL
Mexican, who would place such a construc.
ton upon it as to convert it into a vain al
tempt TO revive this article which had been sc
often and so soemnly condemned? Surely
no person could for one moment suppose that
either the commissioners Of the United States
or the Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs
ever entertained the purpose OF thus setting al
naught the deliberate decision of the President
and Senate, which had been communicated te
the Mexican government with the assure nee
that their abandonment o. this obnoxious arti
Gle was essential 10 the restoration of peace.
But the meaning of the Protocol is plain. Il
is simply that the notification Of this article
was not intended to destroy valid legitimate
titles to land which existed and were in full
force independently of the provisions and
without the aid of this article Notwithstand
ing il has been eXpungei from the treaty, these
grants were to preserve the legal value
which they may possess" The refusal 10 re
vlve grants which had become extinct was no
10 nvaIiiate those which were in full force
and vigOr. That such was the clear under
standing of the Senate of the United States
and this in perfect accordance with the Proto
col, is manifest from the fact, that whilst they
struck from the treaty this un Just article, they
al The same time sanctioned and ratified the
last paragraph of the eighth article of the trea
ty, which declares that, 60 In the said terrific
ries property of every kind. now belonging tc
MeXlcans not established there. shall he invio
!ably respected The present owners, The
heirs of these. AMI all Mexicans who may
hereafter acquire sail property by contract
shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equal
Iy ample as if the same belonged to citizens
of the United States -
Without any stipulation in the ireatv Il
this effect, all such valid titles under the Mex
lean government would have been protecle,
under the consultation and laws of the u States
The third AMI last explanation contained If
the Protocol 1t. that "the government of tn,
UniteI Sta,eS, by snppreSsing the concluding
paragraph OF article twelfth of the treaty, die
not intend 10 deprive the Mexican republic o
the free and unrestraned faculty of ceding
conveying. or transferring, at any time, las i
may Judge beSt,) the sum of twelve millions
of dollars which the same government of tn,
United States is to deliver in the places desig
mated by the amended article''
The concluding paragraph, or rather sen
tence, of the original twelfth article thus sup
pressed by the Senate, is in the following Ian
guage: Sc Certificates, in proper form, for th
said in<taIments respectively, in such sums
as shall he desired by the Mexican govern
ment, and transferable by it, shall be deIivere,
to the said government by that Of the Unite'
States''
From this bare statement of facts the mean
ing Of the Protocol Is obvious. Although th
Senate had declined to create governmen
stock for the twelve millions of dollars, an
issue transferable certificates for the amount
in such sums as the Mexican government
might desire; yet they could not have inten
lie thereby 10 deprive that government of tn
> faculty which every creditor possesses of Trans
ferring for his own benefit the obligation O
, his dahfOr whatever thic may ho Uorth Or